Ice Apocalypse (Season 1)

Chapter 90: Gas Station

Zhang Yi was very familiar with this area. In the entire Tianhai City, warehouses of hundreds of corporations were concentrated here, ranging from large to small. If he could gather all the supplies, it wouldn't be a problem to sustain not only himself but also a few thousand people.

However, the main problem was whether those supplies were still there.

Zhang Yi took out his pistol and crowbar, approaching the nearby warehouse of Darunfa.

Holding the crowbar, he smashed the window from the top. When he peeked inside, the vast warehouse had become empty.

"Transported away?"

Zhang Yi was prepared for this, so he wasn't too surprised. He continued to check other warehouses, and the results were the same. Medical equipment, daily necessities, food, snacks, and even pet food warehouses—all emptied.

"Just as I expected."

"When disasters strike, experts from the government will report it immediately. Those in power will surely prioritize moving the supplies."

That's why Zhang Yi had emptied the Walmart warehouse a week ago. He knew that when disaster struck, those influential figures would prioritize themselves over the common people.

Despite the disappointment, Zhang Yi didn't give up the search. With hundreds of warehouses in this area, there might be something useful left behind.

Sure enough, with determination, Zhang Yi found a warehouse storing vehicles. It had an area of over a million square meters and was spacious. Cars were neatly arranged on steel racks, from luxurious cars that could sell for millions before the apocalypse to high-end models.

Although these cars were now useless, Zhang Yi thought of collecting them for fun. Even though he couldn't drive them in the current icy conditions, he could still appreciate them.

"Just consider them as high-end models."

He chose a dozen of his favorite cars and placed them into his spatial storage.

For the rest of the day, Zhang Yi busied himself in this warehouse area. Most of the warehouses had been emptied, and the remaining ones held inconvenient items like large machinery or batches of construction materials. There was not a single edible or useful item in sight.

Zhang Yi gritted his teeth, picked up various items like heavy trucks, excavators, Rolls-Royce Phantoms, and bulldozers.

"In case they might be useful in the future."

He persuaded himself.

However, he found it amusing that in this icy environment, these vehicles couldn't move an inch. But, thanks to the spacious spatial storage, he could store them all without any issues.

After working for a while, Zhang Yi felt satisfied. The area had no further value for exploration, and he didn't urgently need anything else. He took out a chocolate bar from his spatial storage and quickly consumed it. Eating in such cold weather was not enjoyable, with the freezing wind rushing into his mouth.

Unable to drink hot water now, as it would cool down within half a minute after opening the bottle, Zhang Yi grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and put it in his mouth, making do as a substitute for water.

Then, he thought of another place he needed to visit—a gas station.

Considering the numerous vehicles he collected, he realized he would require a significant amount of gasoline and diesel. Although his spatial storage had some reserved for daily use, the consumption rate for the snowmobiles might deplete it in the long run.

Being cautious, Zhang Yi decided to visit a gas station and see if he could obtain more fuel.

Riding on his snowmobile, he contemplated for a moment and headed towards the largest gas station in Tianhai City.

Before long, he reached the location from his memory. However, what he saw upon arrival made him exhale a long puff of white smoke.

The enormous gas station was completely covered by fallen snow. Zhang Yi could only estimate its location based on the surrounding tall buildings.

Despite his mental preparation, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"Gas stations don't have high-rise buildings. So, does that mean there's no place to refuel?"

"Damn it!"

Zhang Yi furrowed his brows, feeling somewhat helpless about the situation.

Given the current thickness of the ice and snow, manual digging was almost impossible. Moreover, who knew how many years this snow disaster would last? Would he have to save on fuel in the future?

"Human strength is indeed weak. If only I could use large-scale machinery for excavation."

Zhang Yi self-deprecatingly smiled.

Just as he was about to turn the key to leave, a sudden realization struck him.

"Excavation equipment?"

"Can I use an excavator?"

He had just picked up some construction vehicles from the warehouse, including several excavators, initially intended for future use.

Never had he thought he would use them so soon!

Using an excavator to dig into the snow was a piece of cake. However, this idea was quite uncommon. After all, on the previous planet, it was rare to encounter such deep snow.

People didn't use excavators to work in the Arctic; they used icebreakers.

After careful consideration, Zhang Yi deemed this idea feasible. The accumulated snow hadn't turned into a solid layer after less than a month, making it possible for the excavator to dig through.

The snow underneath wasn't too deep, probably around ten meters. He just needed to dig to reach the entrance like doors or windows, and he could enter through the broken window.

So, it wouldn't take much time.

"Feasible!"

Zhang Yi acted on his decision, directly summoning a large excavator from his spatial storage.

"Boom!"

The nearly twenty-ton excavator heavily landed on the ground, sinking more than a meter deep. Seeing this, Zhang Yi chuckled, "This is good. It saves me from digging."

The snow on the surface was relatively thin and couldn't bear such weight. However, the snow below should be thicker.

Although Zhang Yi had never operated an excavator before, there wasn't a big problem. He had operated cranes, forklifts, and large trucks during his time at the warehouse. Operating this machine wasn't much different; after a little thought, he figured out how to drive it.