Chapter 90: The Gas Station
"If I could gather all the supplies, it wouldn\'t just be enough for me; it could feed thousands of people."
However, the real question was whether those supplies were still here.
Zhang Yi took out his handgun and crowbar, heading to check the nearby RT-Mart warehouse first. He smashed the window from the top and peered inside, only to find the huge factory building empty.
"Did they move everything out?"
Zhang Yi was not surprised; he had expected this. He continued to other warehouses, finding the same results. Medical equipment, daily necessities, food, even snacks, and pet food—everything had been cleared out.
"Just as I thought."
"When a disaster strikes, the experts notify the authorities first. They would prioritize moving the supplies."
This was why Zhang Yi had emptied the Walmart warehouse a week before the disaster. He knew that when a disaster struck, those in power would only think of themselves, disregarding ordinary people\'s lives.Zhang Yi didn’t give up searching. There were hundreds of warehouses here; he might find something useful.
After half a day, he found a warehouse storing cars. The massive area, over a million square meters, was filled with cars neatly arranged like sardines. Among them were many luxury cars worth millions before the apocalypse, but now they were practically useless. Even though they couldn’t be driven in the snowy conditions, Zhang Yi decided to collect some.
"Men love cars. Seeing these luxury cars, I might as well collect a few for fun, even if I can’t drive them now."
He chose a dozen of his favorite cars and stored them in his alternate space.
The rest of the day was spent combing through the warehouse district. Most warehouses had been emptied, leaving behind large machinery and building materials that were too cumbersome to move. There was no food or daily necessities to be found.
Zhang Yi bit his lip, collecting various items like a scavenger. Heavy trucks, excavators, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, bulldozers—anything that might be useful in the future.
"If I need them, they’ll come in handy," he convinced himself.
Finally, Zhang Yi decided to stop. He had gathered everything useful from the area and didn’t need anything urgently for now.
He took out a piece of chocolate, quickly ate it, and then gulped down some snow to wash it down. Drinking hot water was impossible in this freezing weather; it would cool down within minutes.
As he finished, he thought of one more place to check—gas stations. He had gathered many vehicles and thought of gasoline and diesel.
His current stock of fuel in the alternate space was enough for daily life, but given the situation, he would rely heavily on the snowmobile for transportation. This meant his fuel reserves might not last.
Out of caution, Zhang Yi decided to visit a gas station and see if he could get more fuel. He rode his snowmobile towards the largest gas station in Tianhai City.
When he arrived, the sight made him exhale a long breath of white smoke. The huge gas station was completely buried under snow, and he could only identify its location by the tall buildings around it.
Though he had expected this, Zhang Yi couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
"Gas stations don’t have high-rise buildings, so how am I supposed to find a place to refuel?"
"Damn it!"
Zhang Yi frowned at the situation. With the snow depth, digging it out manually was nearly impossible. Plus, who knew how long this snow disaster would last? Would he have to ration fuel strictly?
Based on his current fuel reserves and the snowmobile’s consumption, he might run out in twenty years.
"Humans are so weak. If only I could use heavy machinery to dig," Zhang Yi thought wryly.
Just as he was about to leave, an idea struck him.
"Excavation equipment?"
"An excavator might work!"
He had just collected several work vehicles from the warehouse, including excavators. He had originally picked them for future use, not expecting to need them so soon.
Although using an excavator to dig through snow was unusual, the idea seemed feasible. The snow had accumulated for less than a month and hadn’t formed a hard ice layer yet. An excavator could easily handle it. He only needed to dig down to the doors or windows and break in.
"It can work!"
Zhang Yi decided to act immediately, taking a large excavator out of his alternate space.
"Boom!"
The nearly twenty-ton excavator hit the ground and sank more than a meter into the snow.
Zhang Yi laughed. "This makes it easier. Saves me some digging."
The snow on the surface was still relatively thin and couldn’t support such weight. The snow below, however, was compacted and firmer.
Though it was his first time operating an excavator, it wasn’t difficult. During his warehouse job, he operated cranes, forklifts, and large trucks. After a bit of tinkering, he figured out how to drive it.
His technique wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to get the job done.