Edge of the Apocalypse
Chapter 10: Spears and Electronics

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Spears and Electronics

Yu Dong had a real talent for persuading people.

It didn’t take much effort to convince Xufeng.

Ding Ming was a man of few words and a lot of action. He didn’t much care what Yu Dong was up to; all he cared about was getting a few days of high-paying part-time work.

He was desperate for money. Not only could his family not support him, but they also needed him to send money home...

With three people, their efficiency skyrocketed.

They worked straight until 10 PM, finally managing to clear out both the 100-square-meter and 45-square-meter apartments. They stuffed them with the bulky items like water, rice, and flour.

The rest of the supplies required more careful organization.

After getting his 200 yuan daily wage, Ding Ming left, rushing to get back to his dorm before lights-out.

Xiangti Bay was very close to Yanhai University, less than a ten-minute bike ride away.

Xufeng, on the other hand, flopped right onto the bed.

"Dongzi, how about we sleep in the same bed tonight?"

Yu Dong laughed. "I’d love to."

’There wasn’t much time left to talk with his good friend.’

That night, the two of them talked for hours on end.

They talked about everything from videos to e-commerce, from roasted chicken to the notorious criminal Zhang San, from the restaurant chain Xibei to the future of the food industry...

Eventually, they stopped holding back.

They talked about history, society, military armaments, the future of the nation...

At the height of their discussion, Yu Dong shot upright.

"Brother, I don’t think the world should be like this!"

That night, Xufeng had a very strange dream. He dreamed that he and Yu Dong went to eat at a place known for its special seaweed egg-drop soup. When they arrived, the owner said they were out of seaweed... and also out of soup.

Early the next morning, Xufeng got dressed and ran five kilometers along the coastline before heading back to school, satisfied.

Yu Dong sat up and watched Xufeng’s figure running along the shore.

’Still on the grind. If you had just run a few fewer steps over the years, you wouldn’t have caught up to me in our past life.’

’I’m the one who was truly ground to death by the rat race...’

It was now 7:50 AM on Wednesday. Four and a half days remained until the apocalypse.

Yu Dong glanced at the dorm group chat. His roommate, Huang Zhiqiang, was tagging him again.

"Breakfast, Dongzi?"

"Dongzi, where’d you go?"

"Dongzi, come back! Dongzi! I can’t live without you, Dongzi!"

Yu Dong: "...Careful you don’t start to actually sound like him."

Huang Zhiqiang: "How come Xufeng went to your place yesterday and didn’t come back? Did you two sleep together? Damn it... you beat me to him."

Yu Dong: "???"

Xufeng: "Hold on! First of all, we didn’t sleep together. Second, something’s off about you, Zhiqiang. Something’s *really* fucking off."

Zhao Youcai: "Boring. We’re about to graduate, and you’re still not acting serious, Huang. The autumn job fair is tomorrow. You gonna talk to the recruiters about this?"

Instantly, the group chat went silent.

After that interruption from his roommate Zhao Youcai, Yu Dong lost all interest in idle chatter.

He glanced at the time. It was 8:30 AM. Four and a half days until the apocalypse.

He didn’t need to go out shopping today. First, Yu Dong needed to organize the supplies from the past few days and learn how to use the various tools he’d bought from the hardware store.

To be honest, even though Yu Dong had followed an expert’s guide to buy a ton of tools, he had zero practical experience with them.

Yu Dong read the manuals while watching online tutorials, slowly teaching himself how to use an angle grinder to cut steel, how to use an impact drill to make holes, and how to saw a wooden plank straight.

These skills were crucial for his final four lines of defense and had to be mastered quickly.

Ding Ming arrived at 9:30.

Just then, the medicine he’d ordered from Jingdong Pharmacy was delivered.

"Whoa, Brother Dong, this is all real medicine... For your stream, couldn’t you just buy some empty containers and set them up?"

"Because my channel is all about authenticity. I don’t do fakes."

"Badass."

’Ding Ming felt that Yu Dong was way smarter than him, especially when it came to part-time jobs. Yu Dong always managed to find the best ones.’

’If Yu Dong hadn’t been so focused on his studies, Ding Ming figured he could have easily landed a management position by now.’

Since the medicine had arrived, Yu Dong had Ding Ming start organizing it.

Ding Ming looked around.

"Brother Dong, how should I organize this? There aren’t any boxes... Should I just put them in the cabinets?"

Yu Dong thought for a moment and remembered that the storage bins he’d ordered online hadn’t arrived yet.

"Go downstairs and buy twenty large plastic bins. Get the ones with lids, good seals, and high quality. We’ll pack the medicine, canned food, and crackers in them."

"You got it~"

’That was the one downside to online shopping—the shipping time.’

Today, Ding Ming’s job was to sort and organize the smaller supplies, while Yu Dong continued to practice his skills with the hardware.

Measuring, cutting, grinding, drilling, securing...

These tasks seemed simple, but were incredibly difficult in practice.

Even for someone like Yu Dong, who had been great with his hands since he was a kid, it took a full day just to get a basic grasp of how to use the tools correctly.

To use them proficiently would take several more days of practice.

Ding Ming left after dinner. Xufeng was busy today and didn’t come by to help.

Late that night, Yu Dong lay in bed doing the math. After subtracting what he’d paid Ding Ming, plus the cost of the bins and food for the day, he had 8,350 yuan left.

’There wasn’t much money left. I’ll hold off on paying Ding Ming for the next few days.’

’A simple switch to weekly pay would save 800 yuan for now.’

’I’m still missing one key piece of equipment: a primary weapon for dealing with zombies.’

Although Yu Dong had bought a long-handled axe, four knives, a combat shovel, and an expandable baton from that "Tactical Vanguard" shop, they were all for close-quarters combat... Too close to be effective against zombies.

So, he decided to buy a long weapon highly recommended by an expert on Zhihu—a spear.

A long-range weapon designed for thrusting attacks.

Compared to weapons like axes, machetes, daggers, or crowbars, the spear had the advantage of length and delivered a piercing, thrusting attack.

It would allow Yu Dong to inflict effective damage on zombies from a relatively safe distance.

Yu Dong found a seller on Taobao and bought ten 1.75-meter, full-blade manganese steel spears.

Total cost: 1,070 yuan.

Yu Dong had no repair skills, so he bought extras as backups. If one broke, he could just grab another.

He found a long video on how to use a spear on Bilibili and downloaded it. There would be plenty of time to practice after the apocalypse began.

’The rest of the money can be used for some entertainment items.’

In his shopping sprees over the last few days, Yu Dong had only bought absolute survival necessities—the kind of things he couldn’t live without.

With the essentials taken care of, it was time to make his post-apocalyptic life a little more comfortable.

Yu Dong glanced at the Ningde Era outdoor power station that had arrived today. The big beast could store 20 kWh of electricity and was a little taller than his nightstand. Thankfully, it had wheels, making it easy to move.

He had been charging the massive battery for a full day, and it was almost full.

’The solar panel installers are coming tomorrow. With three panels, I can generate 6 to 9 kWh on a sunny day. That gives me a basic power supply. I need to allocate it carefully.’

Power hogs like an induction stove or a water heater were out of the question; the solar panels couldn’t generate nearly enough electricity for them. The power would primarily be for low-consumption, high-utility items.

’Charging power tools and mobile devices, as well as lights like flashlights and desk lamps, are all necessary. Thankfully, they don’t use much power.’

’As for entertainment... I’ll need a high-performance laptop and a high-performance tablet.’

Yu Dong didn’t own a laptop or a tablet, and he didn’t have enough money left to buy them. But... thankfully, Xufeng did.

’There won’t be any internet after the apocalypse. I should download some offline resources in advance. Novels, movies, TV shows... those will be my luxuries.’

Downloading everything himself would be too much of a hassle, so Yu Dong just bought a portable hard drive off Taobao.

A 14TB portable hard drive, pre-loaded with 4,000 highly-rated movies and TV shows from Douban, for 1,654 yuan.

He also batch-downloaded several hundred web novels onto his phone.

’These things will keep me from getting too lonely while I wait for the world to return to normal...’

After a quick calculation, Yu Dong figured that as long as he wasn’t using the laptop intensively, he’d have power to spare.

’Maybe I could get a fridge. And some Coke.’

Yu Dong imagined how amazing it would be to lie back at home after the apocalypse, crack open an ice-cold bottle of Coke, and watch a movie.

He ordered a 93-liter Haier single-door mini-fridge on Jingdong. It was a top-tier energy-efficient model, and customer service claimed it only used 0.38 kWh per day. Yu Dong figured that was probably an exaggeration, but it should still be manageable at one kWh per day.

Cost: 638 yuan.

Canned Coke was cheap. If you bought it by the case, it was only 1.8 yuan per can. Mirinda was the same price.

Yu Dong bought 500 cans of Coca-Cola and 500 cans of assorted Mirinda flavors, spending 1,800 yuan.

His remaining balance was just 3,188 yuan.

’What else should I buy...’

Lost in thought, Yu Dong drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

Early the next morning, Yu Dong was woken by a faint noise in the hallway. He sat up and quickly got dressed.

He opened the door and saw a small box sitting on his doorstep.