The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 298

Chapter 298

Even if there were still grain reserves left, the southern coastal regions sat too low geographically to ever qualify as major national grain storage locations.

At best, they only kept limited reserves locally, and most supplies had always been shipped in from other

states.

Now that disasters had hit the entire world, every region was struggling to survive on its own. Nobody was going to loosen their grip on their grain stockpiles and hand food over to somebody else.

Even if the central government ordered redistribution, the largest bases would get priority first. By the time anything reached smaller cities, there probably wouldn’t be much left.

In the end, people still had to save themselves. Nobody could survive forever waiting for handouts.

No matter what happened, Nicole believed things would turn out better this time around, even when the earthquake finally came.

And so, life continued one day at a time.

Jeremy and the others leaving actually made things easier for Nicole in some ways. At least she no longer had to hide everything so carefully.

She planned to move the rooftop water tanks into the storage space, relocate the rabbits into Hughie’s apartment, then start incubating the fertilized chicken, duck, and quail eggs as quickly as possible.

The sooner they could achieve unlimited poultry and eggs, the better.

Zeph interrupted her planning. “How much room do you still have left in your storage space?”

Nicole looked at him curiously. “Do you have another idea?”

No matter how large the storage space was, it couldn’t withstand two people stuffing it full nonstop. They barely had any room left.

Zeph nodded. “I want to make a trip to Grayport. Maybe the Ashmont coastline, too.”

Nicole frowned. “What for?”

Zeph always prepared for the worst.

They had plenty of grain stockpiled already, and the farmland inside the storage space could still grow crops, so starvation probably wouldn’t become a problem anytime soon.

However, meat was another issue entirely. They needed to prepare ahead of time.

“Inland cities live off the mountains. Coastal cities survive off the sea,” he said.

Drought-resistant sweet potatoes took too long to grow. Cities couldn’t keep feeding survivors forever. Eventually, people would have no choice but to turn to the ocean.

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Two straight years of disasters, especially the yearlong freeze, had kept fishing boats from going out to sea. If nothing unexpected happened, marine life should have recovered in huge numbers by now.

The moment he said it, Nicole remembered.

In her previous life, many lower-class survivors really had migrated toward the coast.

Nicole never went.

Even if she had, it would’ve been pointless. She didn’t know how to fish, and she didn’t own a boat.

Even fishermen who could still catch fish wouldn’t hand over seafood to somebody arriving empty- handed. They weren’t running charities.

But things were different now. She had the storage space, and she had stockpiled enough supplies to barter for seafood.

Nicole loved seafood. Unfortunately, seafood prices had always been brutal.

Back when she only had some money saved up, she could barely justify stocking regular meat like

chicken, duck, or pork for occasional meals. Expensive seafood never even crossed her mind.

Inside the storage space, fish and pork were the only meats stocked in serious quantities. Everything else remained limited, so expanding their food variety still mattered.

Nicole had already been considering a trip herself. Space was tight, but storing enough food for three people and one dog to eat for the rest of their lives still wouldn’t be difficult.

Zeph’s next sentence, however, sent chills crawling across her skin.

“The extreme heat could melt the polar ice caps. Ancient viruses might contaminate the ocean. And if

tectonic plates collide, coastal nuclear plants could be destroyed, too. Radiation leaks wouldn’t be impossible.”

Nicole’s mind went blank for a second.

Nuclear contamination was only Zeph’s theory. In her previous life, he died before any of that could happen, so nobody knew for certain.

Still, after everything the world had already endured, it made sense to prepare for the worst.

Nicole felt goosebumps rise across her arms. “So you’re saying we don’t just need to stockpile more… We need to stockpile a lot more.”

If marine life became contaminated or mutated, humanity’s food supply would shrink even further.

If they had the opportunity, they needed to gather as much as possible, not only for themselves, but for future trade as well.

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