The moment Su You had the thought—

Sure enough, the next second, the system’s mechanical prompt rang out:

“Congratulations, Host. You have met the upgrade requirements for Lv4.”

【Base Upgrade: Lv3 → Lv4】

【Space Modules: Warehouse (100,000 sqm), Rest Area (100,000 sqm), Trade Zone (100,000 sqm), Farm Zone (100,000 sqm)】

【New Function Unlocked: System Mall. Items available for exchange: Basic Body Enhancer, Base Identity Black Card】

【Space Clip: Real-world buildings can be completely clipped into the warehouse, rest area, trade zone, or farm zone】

【Space Overlay: Base space can overlap with real space, activating the Space Gate mode】

【Base Population Capacity: 1,000 people】

The first thing Su You noticed in the module panel was that, aside from the usual expansion of each area, there was now a brand-new farm zone of 100,000 square meters.

Her heart stirred immediately—what perfect timing.

With a thought, she entered the base space, arriving at a stretch of flat, open land.

The farm zone was divided into three sections, each marked by different colors:

Yellow for crops, green for livestock, and blue for aquaculture.

The yellow planting area was the largest, green second, and blue the smallest.

Above this farm zone was a blue sky and simulated sunlight, making it look no different from real farmland. If she hadn’t known, she never would’ve guessed it was inside the base.

Looking at the fertile black soil, even catching whiffs of that earthy freshness unique to farmland, Su You felt her ancestral farming instincts flare to life. She almost grabbed a hoe on the spot to start digging.

But rationality won over impulse.

She had already bought seeds—wheat, corn, rice, and soybeans—but the large agricultural machinery hadn’t been delivered yet.

On land this vast, manpower alone was far too inefficient. Farming required machines.

Now with the farm zone, she could grow crops, raise cattle and sheep, and breed poultry. Even if outside resources were cut off, the base’s population could achieve complete self-sufficiency.

Next was the system mall—the newly unlocked item exchange function.

Her eyes fell on the only available item.

【Basic Body Enhancer: Strengthens human physique, including strength, speed, endurance, explosive power, defense, vision, hearing, and perception.】

【Exchange Points Required: 10】

Her points bar showed she only had 10 to start with.

According to the system, points were earned by rescuing people after the apocalypse and bringing them into the base.

But Su You suspected these 10 points were actually a reward from when she brought Amber into the base a few days ago.

Without hesitation, she exchanged for the body enhancer.

A flash of white light, and a small blue vial appeared in her hand.

She opened it and drank it in one go.

The liquid had a faint refreshing taste. As it slid into her stomach, warmth spread through her limbs and bones.

Instantly, her weariness from handling affairs vanished, replaced with sharp mental clarity.

Even her eyesight—deteriorated over the years—cleared. The world was crisp and sharp again.

She flexed her wrist. Her knuckles felt strong and solid.

Back at the gym, her max punching force had been 50 kg. Now, it was easily doubled—100 kg. Stronger than, or at least equal to, the average adult male.

In the apocalypse, with that level of combat power and no weapons, she could take on three at once and still protect herself.

Of course, that was in extreme cases.

With weapons, she could handle far more.

Now, with her body’s strength and speed fully enhanced, she felt she could challenge even greater numbers.

If given the chance, she wanted to test it.

Finally, her gaze landed on the base’s new population limit—1,000 people. Nearly ten times more than before.

The doomsday website she built had already filled the initial quota of 100 rescue slots. More screening would be needed.

Since so many believed the rescue quota was just a “closed beta player list” for a game, she saw no need to correct them. It kept the website safer that way.

Besides—scarcity breeds value.

She had no plans to release the remaining slots immediately, but to wait for the right time.

—

Su You planned to stay in Country A for ten days to complete her stockpiling mission. To be more efficient, she and Amber split up.

Aside from placing daily supply orders, she also had her eye on local gourmet food. She rented a suburban villa and hired a reliable private butler.

Using the excuse of “hosting daily parties,” she ordered massive amounts of restaurant takeout, which the butler helped manage and receive.

Australian lobsters in garlic butter and cheese, medium-rare snowflake ribeye, tomahawk steak, wagyu, charcoal-grilled beef, king crab feasts, lobster pasta, sashimi, roast goose, sweet shrimp, tuna sushi, sea urchin beef sushi, grilled oysters, garlic oysters, grilled abalone, shrimp tails, lamb chops, seafood hotpot—

Chicken macaroni, pastrami on rye, smoked salmon bagels, burgers, pizzas, salads—

Soups, cocktails, wines, fruit pies, puddings, tiramisu, and assorted desserts—

When it came to medicine, she went further. She purchased a fully-equipped private hospital, ordering chemical reagents, medical supplies, vaccines, and rare new drugs.

Especially gauze, bandages, hemostatics, and other first-aid necessities—there could never be too much.

Meanwhile, Amber was busy hoarding chips, monitors, computer parts, tablets, phones, high-capacity memory sticks, bulk SSDs, fiber optics, and servers—preparing to build an internal website.

He even bought entire scientific literature databases off the dark web, securing the latest research papers.

For physical archives, he went as far as buying a private library.

Su You: emmm.
She admitted, when it came to reckless spending, Amber outdid her.

At that moment, she stood on the deck of a 30-meter yacht, listening to the agent brag about its excellent performance.

Sea wind whipped across the deck, mingled with the cries of gulls. Entering the cabin, she saw the white control room.

It was a small private yacht—simple enough for her to pilot solo. Perfect for her needs.

After a full inspection revealed no issues, she signed the contract with the agent. Their cooperation went smoothly, and she hinted she’d keep buying.

The agent, thrilled with the fat commission, was more than happy to keep her as a long-term client.

She had thought about buying a larger luxury yacht or a cargo ship, but that would require a captain and crew—highly reliable people, hard to find.

With time running short, she had to put that aside.

Everything else was going smoothly.

Just when she thought her trip to Country A was about to end perfectly—Amber suddenly sent a message.

“Yao-jie, I’ve got an emergency here.”