The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 302

Chapter 302

“I’ve got clients looking to buy antiques, paintings, gold, silver, gemstones, anything like that. Think you could help me source some?” she asked.

Sven had already heard plenty about Nicole from Weasel, but meeting her in person still caught him off guard.

She was far younger and prettier than he had expected. After what happened tonight, he knew the rumors about her skills weren’t exaggerated either.

Honestly, he had been prepared for her to demand something outrageous in return.

Instead, she wanted antiques?

Sure, that stuff used to be worth a fortune, but that was back when the world still made sense.

At the start of the disaster, Sven had assumed society would recover eventually. Besides stockpiling cash, he had also hoarded gold, artwork, antiques, and collectibles. He figured he would make a killing once everything returned to normal.

Now, all of it just sat there collecting dust.

The cash Nicole gave him still hadn’t even been burned through as toilet paper yet, let alone the stacks of paintings and antiques sitting around his place.

These days, they were little more than fancy trash.

Still, something about Nicole made him uneasy. Everything she stockpiled seemed to become valuable sooner or later. Could she know something other people didn’t?

“No problem,” Sven agreed immediately. “Any specific kind of antique or artwork you’re after?”

Nicole shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. The older the better. Just make sure it’s real.”

“Easy enough. Give me an address, and I’ll have everything delivered once I find something worthwhile.”

Nicole almost laughed. In times like these, nobody in their right mind would hand strangers their home address.

She tilted her chin toward Weasel instead. “He knows how to find me.”

Sven understood immediately and didn’t press further. “Very well.”

The conversation ended there.

Nicole and Zeph disappeared back into the darkness, taking the gun they had seized from the thugs along with them.

Zeph handed it over without a word, and Nicole tossed it straight into her storage space.

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If even somebody as connected and experienced as Sven could get jumped that badly, then things outside were getting uglier fast.

Nicole quietly shelved her plans to sell water for the time being. She would wait and see whether Sven could actually get his hands on the things she wanted first.

Right now, expanding her storage space mattered more than anything else.

The temperature kept climbing by the day, and the top-floor apartment had turned into a furnace.

Nicole finally gave up pretending she could tolerate it and dragged out a battery pack to run the air

conditioner.

The unit had survived the deep freeze, though the outer casing had become brittle with age. Surprisingly,

it still worked.

The outdoor unit sat behind the balcony’s blastproof glass, which muffled most of the noise.

Jeremy’s group next door had already moved out, and the apartment downstairs sat empty, so nobody realized Nicole was secretly running the AC.

The moment cold air started pouring out, Nicole nearly melted with relief. At this point, air conditioning felt more valuable than gold.

Zeph’s apartment was just as miserable, but his outdoor unit hung off the exterior wall. If he turned it on, condensation would drip downstairs.

Nicole glanced at him. “Why not switch rooms?”

So Zeph moved into the master bedroom. Then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he added, Do you want to stay over, too?”

Nicole almost told him exactly where he could shove that idea.

Still, after changing rooms, the dripping problem disappeared, and he finally turned his AC on as well.

Zeph never asked her for supplies. Even so, Nicole worried he would eventually roast himself alive in the heat and reminded him, “If your battery runs low, tell me. I’ll recharge it for you.”

His battery pack stored around 50 kilowatt-hours, enough to keep things running for quite a while.

After staying home for two days, Nicole saw Lydia hauling seawater upstairs again and decided to head downstairs herself with a bucket in hand.

Weasel still looked awful. His face was swollen and bruised beyond recognition, but he was already back outside selling water.

The second he spotted Nicole, he lit up like he had won the lottery.

“You are seriously hard to find.”

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He quickly led her into a nearby alley, then carefully pulled out a rolled painting and a small porcelain wine cup wrapped in cloth.

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