Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 222: Preparation

Since he had been holding her during the call, he had heard everything she discussed with Denton.

Mariella's excitement was instantly interrupted by reality. She snapped back to attention. "Uh, right, we really don't have that much grain. As for supplies..."

She clenched her teeth and counted on her fingers, preparing to make some painful sacrifices. "The most valuable things right now are watercraft. We took 14 wooden boats from Black Bear. We'll keep the two largest ones, plus one medium and one small one. Out of the remaining ten, we'll take four to trade first.

"We also raided Harvey's warehouse, the Elmgrove Estates warehouse, and Tigre's warehouse. Altogether, there are tens of thousands of pounds of grain and cooking oil. We'll take part of that for emergency use.

"But I promised Kieran supplies worth 200 million. I can't break that promise. He gets priority, and whatever is left will go to the gemstone deal."

Chandler listened carefully and added a few suggestions from time to time.

The two discussed things for quite a while, but they still couldn't gather enough supplies to take in all 156 tons of gemstones.

"Let's secure part of it first," Chandler finally said. "We'll deal with the rest step by step."

Mariella rubbed her hands together, already impatient and excited.

...

They stayed inside the storage space for more than two hours.

Chandler finished all the farming work in the fields, then used the seeder to plant wheat and corn, and also planted potato seedlings.

Mariella sat beside the field on a chair, holding a thermos and chatting while watching him work.

At last, she made her final decision. "We have to trade for all 156 tons of gemstones! Once the storage space absorbs them, we'll gain more farmland and a larger pond. That means more grain, more fish, shrimp, and crabs. So I've decided—we're using up all our stored grain!"

Except for seeds, everything else would be cleared out.

After all, the storage space could regenerate resources, and they already had all the farming machines. As long as the farmland expanded, they could farm on a large scale and no longer worry about small losses.

"And the berries we picked, plus fresh fruits and vegetables—those rare foods can sell for several times the price of grain.

"If we keep feeding the pond properly every day, fish, shrimp, and crabs will be ready for harvest soon. Ordinary refugees can't afford fresh food like that, but wealthy people are different. They'll definitely pay several times more grain for it.

"We'll take the gemstones in batches. The farmland will keep expanding, and grain production will increase along with it. Based on my estimate, it won't be long before we can absorb all the gemstones!"

Mariella laid out a complete plan for absorbing the legendary 156 tons of gemstones.

It wasn't easy to come across such a concentrated source of high-quality materials, so she had to seize the opportunity.

When they left the storage space, Mariella chose not to teleport and instead exited at the same location.

Since they were on a mountain, teleporting randomly could be dangerous.

Her teleport range had increased again by two inches, now reaching 18 inches.

The moment they stepped out, they heard voices and were both startled.

They quickly hid themselves and discovered that several groups of people had come onto the Hillcrest Range.

They had arrived by inflatable boats or kayaks to collect firewood.

The authorities had already issued an extreme cold warning. Besides searching for survival supplies, refugees were now forming groups to gather firewood for survival.

Usually, they traveled in groups of three to five families. One-third stayed behind to guard the boats, while the remaining people went up the mountain.

If too few people went, firewood could be stolen. If too few stayed, boats docked at the foot of the mountain could be taken.

At times like that, teamwork mattered a lot.

Chandler helped Mariella slowly down the mountain.

They found a secluded place, and Mariella took out an inflatable boat from the storage space.

After boarding, she said, "Let's go check whether our wooden boats have been stolen."

Chandler drove the inflatable boat around the Hillcrest Range and eventually spotted their wooden boats.

Number Five and Number Nine were standing on deck. Both were fully armed, wearing bulletproof helmets, tactical vests, and carrying AK rifles.

Just their presence alone was enough to intimidate most refugees.

As for large armed groups, they wouldn't waste bullets just to steal firewood.

With that level of equipment, they would rather target grain or coal instead.

So the No. 98 team's arrangement was quite smart.

Mariella nodded in satisfaction. "Before the extreme cold arrives, everyone should just keep gathering firewood."

After all, she had already secured enough gas fuel to last their team for decades.

Even if it ran out, the villa still had pipeline gas. When the time came, Chandler could figure out how to refill the tanks.

She felt confident and hopeful about the future.

...

At that moment, Celestine Ridge was in the middle of large-scale construction. Almost every homeowner had contributed building materials, cold-weather supplies, gold, or grain.