Chapter 176: 176, Prepare to flee

After Ren Xiaosu had visited over a dozen goldsmiths, the cash in his hands had reached nearly four hundred and thirty thousand. To be honest, the money he had earned that day was probably more than the total he had made in his first seventeen years combined.

He had never felt so wealthy before. The savings of most families in this barrier probably amounted to no more than this, or even less.

Yet at that moment, the Palace suddenly spoke: "Detected that the host’s money exceeds the threshold to unlock storage space permissions. Unlock?"

Ren Xiaosu froze. He had unlocked it once before in Jing Shan, trading twenty thousand cash for one cubic meter of storage space.

At the time, he had known the space could be further unlocked, but he was unsure how much money the next tier would require. He could only wait for the Palace to notify him again.

And now, he had finally received the notification.

Even if Ren Xiaosu loved money, he understood that compared to the portable storage space, money was secondary.

Moreover, they were about to flee. With a larger storage space, he could easily carry more supplies, more clean water. If they encountered another ruined relic, he could even scavenge more gold...

What puzzled him was that the Qing family’s money could be exchanged, the Li family’s money could be exchanged, yet this Palace demanded money from any bank.

But what use did a Palace have for money?

"Can you tell me what you need the money for?" Ren Xiaosu asked in his mind.

The Palace replied: "No permission to disclose."

"You actually just can’t stand seeing me have money, can you?" Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.

The Palace said: "...No permission to disclose."

After pondering for a while, Ren Xiaosu said: "Do you accept hell money?"

This time, the Palace fell silent...

"Heh," Ren Xiaosu grew annoyed: "Isn’t the currency issued by the underworld still currency? Are you looking down on the underworld?"

He mused that if the Palace accepted hell money, he might unlock the storage space to its maximum level.

Too bad...

Ren Xiaosu no longer hesitated and said in his mind: "Unlock!"

The next moment, the Palace’s original one-cubic-meter storage space immediately expanded outward. Ren Xiaosu watched in dismay as his four hundred and thirty thousand cash turned into one hundred and fifty thousand!

Wait! Ren Xiaosu was shocked—why had it decreased so much?

He observed the storage space carefully, estimating it had grown about fourteen to fifteen times larger.

A quick mental calculation made him realize the volume and money were probably equivalent.

Unlocking one cubic meter = twenty thousand cash.

Increasing two cubic meters = forty thousand cash.

Increasing four cubic meters = eighty thousand cash.

Increasing eight cubic meters = one hundred and sixty thousand cash.

Thus, this time Ren Xiaosu had spent two hundred and eighty thousand cash to expand his storage space to fifteen cubic meters!

Ren Xiaosu smacked his lips—this space was still quite spacious.

Now he had fifteen thousand left. He thought it was more than enough for purchasing escape supplies.

...

This escape was well-prepared. What did a person need to survive in the wilderness?

Ren Xiaosu went to a grocery store and bought over a dozen bags of salt. Other items like sugar and compressed biscuits were countless. The shopkeeper, seeing this, realized he had a major customer.

The shopkeeper laughed: "Why are you buying so much salt, sugar, and food? Ordinary people can’t afford this much."

Ren Xiaosu glanced at him: "Better safe than sorry."

The shopkeeper chuckled: "Years ago, someone like you kept saying the barrier wasn’t safe and needed to stockpile supplies. But when the goods spoiled, nothing happened to the barrier. Look how well it’s been doing for decades."

"I’m preparing for the worst," Ren Xiaosu replied.

"Young man, I really advise you not to buy so much. What if they spoil at home?" the shopkeeper urged.

Ren Xiaosu thought the shopkeeper had a kind heart, actually discouraging him from buying instead of pushing sales. But he couldn’t tell the shopkeeper that the barrier would face disaster in a few days—others wouldn’t believe him anyway.

The shopkeeper stopped pressing when he saw Ren Xiaosu’s stubbornness. After he left, the shopkeeper laughed to his employees: "This young man is crazy. Watch out—his food might last decades without the barrier having any issues."

This wasn’t just at the grocery store. When Ren Xiaosu went to the pharmacy to buy medicine, the shopkeeper also couldn’t understand why he needed so much.

The medicines he bought were targeted. Anti-inflammatory drugs were unnecessary, but antiviral ribavirin and antifungal ketoconazole were useful. Montmorillonite powder for diarrhea was essential in the wilderness.

Especially diarrhea—if one wasn’t careful with food in the wilderness, they might end up with over twenty bouts a day and die.

The rest were tools: hammers, saws, shovels, pliers, ropes, plastic buckets, toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap...

Plus a few backpacks, dozens of matchboxes, compasses, blankets.

Ren Xiaosu spent an entire day shopping. Only someone who had survived in the wilderness would know what to bring. If someone had never experienced it, they might only think of vague concepts like "food," "water," "knives," and panic once in the wilderness.

Throughout the day, Ren Xiaosu faced many questions due to his large purchases but never explained.

He didn’t return to the shops but took the tram directly to the rented courtyard at the westernmost part of the barrier. Yan Liuyuan and the others were already there.

On the tram, he overheard young people talking about a small music festival to be held in a few days, with some male and female idols set to perform.

Someone whispered gossip about stars in the barrier, like the actress named Zhila who liked cooking, or the actress named Fang Yujing who had studied traditional Chinese medicine years ago.

The tram rumbled along the tracks toward the setting sun, golden pillars of light piercing through cloud gaps from the sky. Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt out of place with words like "music festival."

The bustling and peaceful scenes before him seemed about to crumble.

Ren Xiaosu wasn’t one of the ignorant masses. He knew the test subjects were coming. He knew the various factions were preparing to wage war against the Li Consortium within three days, so he had made preparations.

Perhaps the entire barrier would be devastated, but Ren Xiaosu was confident he would gain an advantage over others.

Yet thinking of so many people dying, he suddenly felt this wasn’t something to be happy about.

This era itself carried a tragic hue.

When they arrived at the rented courtyard, Ren Xiaosu was stunned—Jiang Wu was there too.

Yan Liuyuan whispered beside him: "I brought Jiang Wu here. We can ignore the others, but we should remind Jiang Wu."

"Mhm," Ren Xiaosu patted his head: "You didn’t do anything wrong."