Chapter 124: Duffel Bags
Now back in their country, the group decided to do one last shopping spree.
They arrived at the airport nearest the capital, though it was still a few hours away from their destination (the capital metropolitan region was massive).
The basics had long been covered, so what was bought was mostly for comfort and wish-fulfilment.
Hans bought about a dozen powerbanks, three good-quality solar chargers, a high-grade camping backpack with cool patterns, and...three nice merchandise hoodies from his favorite show.
He did not forget to buy every console available, two duplicates each, and then bought about a hundred games.
Naia said there would be a period of time when they’d be stuck indoors. They were required to train, but not the whole day, so he was determined to stock up on his otaku stocks.
Linlin bought some cosmetics, shampoos, and other things with brands she could only stare at before. She wasn’t vain, exactly, but she was girlish at heart, and she knew that her cousin already had everything else.
Oh, and she bought a few large packages of feminine products too. There can never be too much of these.
She wasn’t much of a fashionista, and her style was relatively simple clothes, primarily because they were convenient. She basically just bought herself a few more sets of similar clothes. She also bought a number of shoes of different styles, but all of them were comfortable.
They got the customized cars delivered to the City, and they also bought scooters, bikes, hoverboards, laptops, several go-pros, and so on.
Grandma bought a lot of seeds from various sources. Whether they were from grocery stores or herbal medicine stores, she bought them. Naia had sacks of these in the space, but like with everything, nothing was ’too much’. She had space anyway.
Not to mention, Grandma could’ve taken the herbs she had forgotten. These herbs were too useful, and as much as possible, she couldn’t miss one.
Gale and Glen also bought a few things, including some personal effects. While everyone went shopping before—some of which were even bought abroad—there were plenty of times when they’d remember that many of these things would become consumables.
When this happened, 100% of the time, at least one person would panic buy. It was better to get stocked up for decades than miss it later.
Each of them had their own units in the space, and they could fill it up however they wanted.
Naia also got a lot of pet supplies. Naia had neglected this during the first round, but she remembered the increasing number of animals in her space.
While she let them roam free and fend for themselves, there were a few domestic animals there too. Further, dog food and cat food could be useful for other animals, including humans, so there was no loss in stocking up.
They not only bought pet food, but they also commissioned a full pet playground set for cats and dogs.
Over the past month or so, she took in every stray she found, so now there were three dozen cats and a dozen dogs in her space. She assigned a small parcel of land for them, though the boys almost always bring along their kids.
Finally, they didn’t just buy for themselves.
They still had a bit of time and a lot of money remaining; how could they forget their friends and acquaintances?
...
What they did was to schedule delivery to certain addresses about a week or two later to ensure they didn’t get used up before the actual Fall.
For the most part, this would come in the form of a customized duffel bag. It was the kind that was big enough to fit whatever could fit in a standard wheeled travel luggage and could double as a backpack, too.
The bags did not have a brand, but they were very durable and waterproof. They were military-grade, coming from accredited official factories. This was a connection Kael forwarded to her before.
They got different kinds of bags, coats, and other things produced here. Over the past month, they practically rented out the factory to do their own bidding.
This customized request was actually much more expensive than the supplies inside, even if it didn’t look like it.
Everyone was allowed to send things to whoever they wanted—whether it was a neighbor, a relative they couldn’t pull with them, a roommate, a classmate, and so on.
They also had the option of sending anonymously or not. In most cases, it was the latter. After all, who’d trust random packages from strangers? What if the recipient threw it away instead?
They gave each person in a household so they could manage it well. It was filled with some basic necessities like several bottles of water, compressed biscuits, protein bars, instant noodles, jerky, packaged juice, and the like, which should last them a while as they adjusted to the new normal.
There were also some basic hygiene items like a small bottle of shampoo, a bar of soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and so on.
They also added some multivitamins, some basic medicine, and a small first aid kit.
There were also some premium foods like canned smoked salmon, spices, small bottles of condiments, instant coffee, and a few other things.
For tools, each bag would have a flashlight, a fire starter, a Swiss knife, a few bottles of insect repellent, a sleeping mat, and the like.
For select people, there was a dagger. Only those with strong mental fortitude were allowed to have something like this.
Finally, perhaps most importantly, all bags had a paperback version of Linlin’s webnovel squeezed in.
As soon as the book was marked complete, Naia—with assistance from Kael—made and distributed hard copies of the book.
They were also translated into three of the most commonly used languages in the world, to be published everywhere. They also heavily advertised the books, even hiring influencers and small stars to hype them up.
This way, even when the signal was gone—and many radio towers would go offline within a few weeks—they could still use the book as a reference.
There was a mandatory education in their country, but that started some two or three decades ago. Many of the old people learned to read on their own or through their children or grandchildren, so their vocabulary was naturally limited.
However, webnovels were called easy food of the literary world for a reason. They were designed to be easy to read, no matter by whom. As long as people could understand the words, they would be able to understand.
These neighbors and friends had no idea that they would owe their survival to a book, and how the duffel bag had so many methods for a person to keep their lives.
As finishing touches, they placed letters of instruction into the duffel bag. As for whether they’d notice it or not was Naia’s concern.
...
Hans and Linlin ordered the most number of duffel bags. They sent one not just to their friends, but also to each one of the classmates that they remembered. Getting addresses was not difficult at all.
They also sent some to their teachers, twice more for their favorite ones. Hans even gave one to the school gardener who had protected him from bullying back then.
Hans had been bullied a lot in school. The gardener, if he were in the place, would spray water with his hose, targeting the bullies. The gardener was a huge guy with a scar, so the bullies didn’t dare fight against him.
Hans was not an ungrateful kid. He would remember the adults’ kindness for the rest of his life.
...
Marcus sent some to his friends and former coworkers, though fewer than a handful of them were given. He apparently wasn’t that close with the others, and some were even bitter enemies after what they did to him.
Heck, if they received a package from him, maybe they’d throw it away without opening it. Worse, they could report him due to some imaginative scenario happening in their heads.
Grandma and Granduncle sent one per person in Tuzi Village. The kids sent some to their friends along with them.
Naia also got someone to connect with the village head and supply with a few tons of rice, hundreds of gallons of water, and so on under the guise of a sponsor looking for random villages to support.
As for Glen and Gale, they didn’t have any relatives anymore, but they did have their old friends and colleagues before their lives were turned over. They sent some to those people.
They weren’t the only ones. Even Naia sent a few bags.
She sent them straight to the Amber City Police Station, giving one bag to each officer there. She didn’t forget to send a message to Luke in advance lest they treat the bags as bombs or something. She also told him they’d be heading out soon, by the way.
What she didn’t expect was that the next day, before they left, there was someone waiting in the hotel lobby where they checked in.
It was none other than Luke, of course.
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