Chapter 20: Officer Rabbit

Upon hearing Maria Sharapova’s words, everyone inwardly exclaimed that it was an absolute steal.

Many people do not realize the cost of a spacesuit, thinking it’s just a piece of clothing. Such a view is truly uninformed.

The reality is that even the cheaper spacesuits cost tens of millions, while the more advanced ones can run into hundreds of millions of US dollars. Is there some inflation in these prices? Certainly, but the quality is genuinely top-notch.

Regardless of whether they are useful now or not, if the day ever comes when you need one, many items simply aren’t available for purchase anywhere.

One must admit that in this grand and prosperous place, money can buy just about anything. Yang Jie even mused that if he found a good enough excuse and offered enough money, he might be able to buy an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

“Hui Zhu, what about yours?” he asked.

Cui Huizhu replied, “Sophia and the others think Zhan Ting is quite good; she knows how to use a bow and arrow. I’ve bought many bows and arrows, so if she joins us, they’ll come in handy.”

She tossed her hair, her skin still as youthful and radiant as that of a woman in her twenties or thirties, despite her middle age.

“I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve barely had time to rest. I agree, we’re a bit short-handed!”

Yang Jie said nothing in response but tilted his head to glance at a tall cabinet behind Sophia.

“What’s this?” he asked.

Sophia immediately opened the cabinet with pride, revealing rows upon rows of meticulously arranged luxury watches.

“If we go to Longguo, bring this entire box of watches with you.”

Sweat beaded on Yang Jie’s forehead. “We’re fleeing for our lives, and you want to bring a whole box of watches?”

Sophia was a fanatic collector of luxury watches, but many of them were so expensive that even with her income, buying so many was a strain.

Later, through Yang Jie’s introduction, she connected with a zero-cost purchase organization. Each order included dozens of watches. Normally, a single luxury watch would cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But buying in bulk from the zero-cost group, a batch of dozens cost only about a hundred thousand dollars—an incredible bargain. The only catch was that there were no purchase records, but paying taxes was straightforward.

Yang Jie shook his head helplessly. These items could only be stored in the ring space. They were luxury goods, and if processed through normal customs, the taxes alone would make him spit blood.

He waved the list in his hand.

“Fifty percent of the supplies are here. Everyone, keep it up. In three days, we’ll be heading back home!”

***

After the meeting dispersed, everyone dragged their exhausted bodies back to their rooms, while Yang Jie opened a domestic app and began browsing.

After a meal like today’s, he couldn’t help but crave more dishes like that in the future.

His sense of foreknowledge felt strange. In the past, it was like being immersed in the moment; this time, it felt more like a god’s-eye view.

It was like in a TV drama: the protagonist clearly knows there’s a pit ahead but steps right into it anyway, making viewers shout in frustration. Sometimes, watching the protagonist’s foolishness, Yang Jie nearly smacked his thigh in disbelief.

So, while Yang Jie understood the harshness of the apocalypse, he couldn’t truly experience it firsthand.

The next day.

Yang Jie rose early and drove to the warehouse at the dock to collect supplies. When the doors opened to reveal a mountain of goods, he handed the dock’s security personnel tens of thousands of dollars.

He signaled that these were their own supplies and that they would need help opening the doors in the future for convenience.

After storing the goods in the ring space, Yang Jie returned home and began making phone calls.

“Hello, Kaizi, did you find the place I asked about last time?”

A gruff voice answered from the phone.

“Big brother, what kind of ridiculous request is this? The place has to be in the suburbs, not too far from the city, with only a single road in front and no nearby residences. Where on earth is there a place like that?”

Hearing this, Yang Jie was a little disappointed. “No such place?”

He thought for a moment and shook his head helplessly. Having been away for ten years, he had long forgotten what his hometown looked like and probably only recognized the areas close to his family home.

Kaizi’s real name was Zhang Kaikai. He was currently in Longguo and was Yang Jie’s childhood friend. Even after Yang Jie went abroad, they never lost contact.

Later, after Yang Jie arrived in the prosperous city, the two agreed to cooperate by each running foreign trade companies.

Wherever there was profit, they sold goods to each other’s markets.

For example, a few years ago, chamber pots, ritual paper, and some traditional items sold well, and Yang Jie made a fortune.

Later, leveraging the zero-cost purchase channel, they specialized in collecting bags and luxury watches to send to Laomo, where they registered a company to sell counterfeit goods back home.

If the apocalypse hadn’t come, Yang Jie would probably still be selling three-wheel motorcycles, with profits rivaling arms dealing.

***

A three-wheeler costs about three thousand yuan, but selling it in the prosperous city, the price could jump to five thousand to over ten thousand US dollars.

Even after deducting shipping and customs fees, the profit margin was about tenfold.

Had the apocalypse not occurred, Yang Jie might have remained under the radar for another year or two, fostering more politicians he supported in the state legislature and investing money into farms to expand local influence.

He might even have used the city’s clout to break into the Japanese and Korean markets and engage in stronger business ventures.

It was worth noting that Zhao Baitong had close ties with Wall Street, the true benefactor of the Korean nation.

While Yang Jie was eating breakfast, Zhao Baitong sent over Chris’s information, including her daily internet and shopping records.

Yang Jie bit his nails as he studied the data. Over the years, he had encountered both good people and many ruthless ones, including numerous Islamic fanatics in the Middle East. He had seen all kinds.

After a brief analysis with Zhao Baitong, they developed a psychological profile of Chris.

Yang Jie rubbed his brow. “She once served in the Marine Corps? Damn, can she handle the equipment?”

During his time in the Middle East, Yang Jie had a drill instructor who came from the prosperous city’s Marine Corps, so he had some idea about their training intensity.

“Since she served in the Marine Corps and retired smoothly, she must be professionally competent. She also became a police officer and recently trained in Los Angeles on police CQB and tactical team operations.”

Yang Jie chuckled. “From what we know so far, this Officer Rabbit is definitely a tough character—far from the innocent appearance she projects!”

Zhao Baitong asked curiously, “Are you thinking of recruiting her?”

Yang Jie nodded. “Whether it’s the apocalypse or not, talent is talent. In a crisis, having a teammate with professional skills can be a lifesaver!”

Professional knowledge was one thing, but what Yang Jie valued most was that Officer Rabbit was known to fiercely protect her comrades in combat.

Recruiting a traitor would be a huge problem.

At that moment, Yang Jie’s phone rang. When he saw the caller’s name, his pupils suddenly contracted.