Chapter 16: Global Shopping

Jiang Yan calculated that she still had about 2.2 to 2.3 billion left, which gave her plenty of confidence.

But converted into U.S. dollars, that was only a little over 300 million.

She wasn’t sure what the prices of weapons would be, since she was a total novice in that area and could only make decisions once she was abroad.

In the meantime, she had tried every channel available and managed to exchange only a few million dollars.

Her black card supported automatic foreign exchange settlement, but even at the maximum spending limit, that only translated to about four million.

For the rest, she would have to rely on some special methods.

On June 1st, Children’s Day, after putting away thirty thousand portions of prepared meals (ordered from five-star hotels, Michelin restaurants, traditional old shops, barbecue joints, hotpot and dry pot restaurants, and braised food stalls) and eight thousand cups of milk tea in various flavors (from several popular milk tea chains) into her space, she boarded an international flight bound for Maple Country.

Jiang Yan had originally been a travel and food blogger. She traveled widely both at home and abroad, and her passport was full of visas, most of them multiple-entry, valid for a year.

Her first choice was Maple Country because she planned to purchase a large batch of supplies there, and her visa for that country was about to expire.

As for the other countries on her list, their visas were still valid for some time, so she could visit them later at a slower pace.

Although her physical condition had improved greatly thanks to the space, the endless running around and the over-ten-hour international flight still left her a little exhausted.

Fortunately, she no longer had to worry about jet lag.

Her destination in Maple Country was Vancouver.

There were many Chinese there, and since it bordered the Beautiful Country, many resources could be sourced conveniently.

But the very first thing she did after landing was buy a second-hand fruit phone and several anonymous SIM cards.

Then she went to a café, ordered an iced Americano, and logged into several well-known domestic websites. She registered accounts one by one and anonymously posted a warning:

#Attention!! A natural disaster will arrive in early August. We advise all citizens to stock up on supplies in advance!!#

Below that, she included some basic household stockpiling advice.

The post was successfully sent out.

Whether it would be deleted or whether anyone would believe it was no longer her concern.

Though it seemed a bit detached, she planned to continue posting such anonymous warnings targeting domestic audiences every day while she was abroad.

She had wanted to do this while still in the country, but she had been worried about causing unnecessary trouble, so she had held back.

After finishing this task and grabbing a quick bite, Jiang Yan began her day of overseas shopping.

The warehouses had been arranged remotely before she left China. She had already made detailed plans of where to shop and even notified suppliers in advance, in case they needed to adjust stock.

Maple Country, with its cold climate, was famous for its winter gear and outdoor survival products. It also had the world’s largest fisheries and was rich in timber.

In addition, it sold the world’s lightest mosquito helicopters, which required only fifteen hours of flight time to master.

Jiang Yan already had a private pilot’s license, and back when she was a travel blogger, she had even filmed herself flying planes for a few episodes.

So flying this little helicopter would be easy for her.

Speaking of cold-weather gear, the “Fighting Nation” was also excellent in that field, and it had abundant natural gas resources.

But with daily “boom boom boom” noises from that direction, it wasn’t safe, so she decided not to go.

As for fisheries, the Island Nation used to have the richest and best-quality resources.

But ever since they shamelessly started dumping nuclear wastewater into the ocean, she wouldn’t buy from them even if it were free.

The first things she bought were cold-weather clothes:

Down jackets, padded coats, fleece tops and pants, outdoor T-shirts, outdoor windbreakers, hiking boots, mid-calf outdoor boots, snow boots, waterproof shell jackets and pants — she bought various styles and sizes, about two hundred of each category.

Other accessories such as cold-proof masks, crampons, combat boots, anti-slip chains, goggles, earmuffs, etc., she bought three thousand each.

She had already bought plenty of winter clothing back in China, but here the same brands were cheaper. Still, she ended up spending over ten million.

Down jackets were the main culprit, starting at over ten thousand apiece. With everything else added in, the total was no small sum.

After the clothes, she bought a large amount of seafood.

Maple Country’s seafood was mostly unpolluted, and since the Island Nation’s nuclear wastewater hadn’t reached those waters yet, the seafood was delicious, especially when eaten raw.

She bought a thousand kilograms each of lobster, abalone, king crab, geoduck, tuna, yellow croaker, coral trout, sea cucumber, salmon, and other premium seafood, plus another thousand kilograms of regular seafood.

She also bought five hundred packs each of ketchup and chili sauce.

At the lumberyard, she didn’t know if it was because she suddenly thought of Bald Qiang or just on a whim, but she also bought three logging machines, two grapple loaders, one wood cutter, and three excavators.

On top of that, she bought five hundred tons of timber and two mosquito helicopters before crossing the border from Vancouver into the Beautiful Country.

The Beautiful Country was the key destination of this overseas trip.

After all, according to her stockpiling plan, weapons, yachts, helicopters, and amphibious boats all needed to be acquired there.

While some states in the Beautiful Country didn’t restrict firearms, buying weapons through official channels still required proper documentation.

Jiang Yan had practiced with real guns at shooting ranges a few times with friends, but that was just practice.

She wasn’t a citizen there, nor did she have a green card, so she couldn’t legally obtain a gun license.

However, during her earliest trips abroad, her parents had worried about her personal safety and had entrusted an agency to hire a few top-tier bodyguards for her.

That agency was said to be extremely well-connected.

This time, she naturally went directly to the local representative of that agency.

Although called an agency, it was actually an organization that operated both aboveboard and underground in the Beautiful Country.

Rumor had it they even had their own private mercenary force and were engaged in transactions not permitted on the surface — such as being behind-the-scenes supporters of the dark web.

But none of that mattered to Jiang Yan. As long as they could get her the weapons, that was enough.

The reason she wasn’t willing to deal directly with shady arms dealers was because that would be no different from delivering her wallet — and her head — straight into a predator’s mouth.

The agency, however, she had dealt with before. They had a fairly good reputation and credibility in the industry.

All she had to do was pay a hefty commission.

Compared to her life, that money was well worth spending.

Of course, exchanging large sums of dollars was also something the agency helped her with.

Before going abroad, Jiang Yan had already opened several securities accounts in Hong Kong at their request and had transferred 1.5 billion yuan into them through various channels.

The weapons were soon delivered to the warehouse she designated.