Chapter 83: Looting the Machinery Factory

By evening, the temperature had dropped from 42°C to 38°C. An Nan put on her temperature-regulating suit, getting ready to go out for a “zero-cost shopping spree.”

The past two days had been pleasantly cool, but there were too many people out and about—everywhere was packed, making it inconvenient for her to act. Now, with the sudden heatwave, everyone was hiding indoors, too afraid to step outside. In a few more days, people would gradually adapt to the high temperatures, and as their food supplies ran out, they’d start risking it to search for resources again. So, if she wanted to move quietly without being disturbed, now was the perfect time.

After putting on her temperature-regulating suit, An Nan tried turning off the air conditioning. The room heated up quickly. Fugui, who had been comfortably curled up in his dog bed, immediately stood up, eyes wide and tongue lolling, looking at his owner in alarm: What’s going on? Is something on fire?!

The heat was so intense that just moving a little would make you break out in a sweat, but An Nan didn’t feel any change in temperature at all. She couldn’t help but touch the suit in delight. That Zhao Ping’an really knows his stuff!

Seeing how uncomfortable the dog looked, she quickly turned the air conditioning back on. This time, though, she didn’t set it too low—just to 28°C. After all, the dog couldn’t stay indoors forever; sooner or later, he’d have to go outside. Even with the suit’s protection, he couldn’t be too weak. Out there, it was survival of the fittest—those who survived would gradually adapt to the heat. That’s humanity’s resilience for you.

So, while she and Fugui didn’t have to suffer through the worst of the heat, they couldn’t always stay in a perfectly cool environment and get too comfortable. She decided to gradually adjust the indoor temperature to match the outdoors, so long as she struck the right balance—they’d both adapt to the heat without risking heatstroke.

Fugui, finding the temperature much more comfortable, lazily flopped back into his bed. He only got up again when he saw An Nan preparing to go out.

“Woof woof woof, woof woof woof?”

Where are you going? Sneaking off to meet that handsome guy without me again?

An Nan couldn’t help but laugh at his accusatory look. “I’m going out to look for supplies. You want to come with me? It’s really hot outside!” As she spoke, she picked him up and opened the window.

A wave of heat blasted in, making Fugui scrunch up his face in discomfort.

“Woof woof woof woof!”

Fugui howled like a pig being slaughtered, wriggled out of her arms, and dashed back to his bed, barking twice as he went.

“Woof woof woof! Woof!”

Close the window! It’s too hot!

An Nan laughed and shut the window. She remembered reading a parenting tip once: If your kid keeps trying to stick their hand in the door crack, how do you stop them? The answer: Let them get pinched once, and they’ll never be curious about it again.

That was exactly Fugui right now. His curiosity was gone; he just lay in his bed, quietly watching An Nan change her shoes at the door. Go wherever you want, boss. I don’t care if you sneak off to see that handsome guy. It’s too hot out there—this dog is not going to suffer through that!

…

Once outside, An Nan found a secluded spot and took out her Knight XV. She climbed in, turned on the air conditioning, and let out a contented sigh. Stroking the luxurious interior and the comfortable steering wheel, she hummed a tune and stepped on the gas.

The powerful acceleration instantly reminded her what true horsepower felt like. After all this time, she finally had a chance to take her beloved car out for a spin.

She caressed the steering wheel, her tone light and cheerful:

“Baby, I know you love to guzzle gas. Don’t worry, big sis will keep you well fed!”

The main goal of this trip was to get more gasoline. The fuel she’d gotten from the oil thieves would last her ages if she only used it for the generator and her Wuling minivan. But now she had the Knight XV—a beast of a vehicle, armored to withstand fifteen kilos of TNT, weighing six tons, and capable of hitting 240 km/h. In every way, it was perfect—except for one little flaw: its terrifying fuel consumption.

Her Wuling used about 6 liters per 100 km, and her RV only about 10 liters. But her beloved war machine? Sixty liters per 100 km. That’s right—sixty!

Her fuel reserves, which could have lasted decades, would now barely keep the Black Knight running for a few years. The first thing she thought when she got the car was: I need to get more gas. But back then, the whole city of Linbei had turned into a water world—there was nothing she could do.

Now, with no flooding and not a soul in sight, it was the perfect time to scavenge for fuel.

The streets were eerily quiet—not a living thing in sight, just trash and corpses everywhere. Ordinary cars wouldn’t make it through roads like these, but for her Black Knight, these obstacles were nothing. Even a small car in the way would be flattened without a second thought.

Driving the armored vehicle, An Nan crushed her way easily to her destination: a large machinery factory.

Before she could get the fuel, she needed the right tools. Entering through the factory gates, she found the place divided into different sections. In the first area, she spotted her target—excavators.

With an excavator, she could dig up the underground fuel tanks at gas stations. The whole section was full of them. Although they’d all been submerged before, the recent heat had dried them out. An Nan tried them one by one; most wouldn’t start, but after careful selection, she found one that worked.

She stored the excavator in her space, then started gathering attachments—grapplers, rebar cutters, quick couplers, and, most importantly, a hydraulic breaker. Once attached, it could smash through the concrete at gas stations.

After collecting the excavator and all the attachments, she hesitated for a moment, then decided to store the water-damaged excavators as well. Zhao Ping’an should be able to fix them—he was always collecting scrap at the floating market to tinker with. Who knew, maybe after some repairs, these machines could be useful again.

Leaving the excavator section, she wandered into the next area—and was surprised to find it full of agricultural machinery.

An Nan’s eyes lit up. She’d always thought her farming methods were too primitive—exhausting and inefficient. If only she could automate farm production at her estate… Looks like fortune really does favor the prepared."