The torrential rains and typhoon had only just begun to unveil the disaster. In the days ahead, food would become increasingly scarce and precious.

Tang Xiaoman had no intention of letting her team develop the habit of wasting it.

If they ruined a dish, they would pay for new ingredients out of their own pockets.

Only when it hurt their wallets would they remember.

Some of the bodyguards pulled out cash, while others asked to transfer money, lining up to buy fresh ingredients from Lu Jingming.

Tang Xiaoman smiled faintly and turned to Lu Jingming. “Cash only.”

The bodyguards fell silent.

“I remember there are several ATMs in Tianlai Villa,” she added casually. “You’ll just have to pay a small interbank fee. If you still have money in your accounts, withdraw it as cash. I only accept cash here.”

The bodyguards nodded, half-understanding.

After the chaotic breakfast finally ended, the storm outside still raged—howling winds and sheets of rain pounding relentlessly.

On the massive wall-mounted television, disaster relief experts were explaining how to survive floods, urging citizens to help one another through the crisis.

Watching the surging waters on screen—the shattered ruins, the desperate victims waving for rescue—the bodyguards stood in a daze, as if they were in a completely different world.

Inside this fortified sanctuary, they felt none of the devastation. No crushing despair. No biting terror.

The only inconvenience was the absence of food deliveries.

They had to cook for themselves.

And the one who had given them this refuge was their employer—Tang Xiaoman.

They looked at her with newfound respect, even reverence, falling silent as they awaited her next command.

Tang Xiaoman turned and swept her gaze across them before instructing Zhou Yichen, “The storm isn’t stopping anytime soon. We’re not going out today. Everyone stays in the villa and trains.”

Without hesitation, Zhou Yichen led the ten bodyguards out of the dining hall and into the spacious courtyard, where they quickly formed ranks and began drills.

The courtyard had been created by merging the yards of two adjacent villas, forming an open space of five to six hundred square meters. Even with the storage sheds, well, and parking areas taking up space, there was more than enough room to train a team of a dozen.

Lu Jingming and his daughter followed out as well, watching with interest.

Tang Xiaoman seized the moment. “Why don’t you two learn some self-defense while you’re at it?”

Survival in a world like this would be brutal. No one could protect you forever. Strength was the only reliable safeguard.

Lu Jingming looked embarrassed. “They’re all trained professionals. I’ve never learned martial arts. Won’t I just get in their way?”

“I’ll have Zhou Yichen teach you personally. Shanshan can learn too,” Tang Xiaoman said with a smile, then turned to the little girl. “Do you dare to learn how to fight?”

To her surprise, Shanshan pulled out a small surgical scalpel from her waist and bared her little white teeth like a fierce kitten. “I dare to fight—and I dare to use a knife!”

Lu Jingming gave an awkward laugh. “Yesterday she was guarding Storage Room No. 3 alone, so I gave her the scalpel for self-defense.”

He hadn’t taken it back. Letting his daughter keep it close was, in itself, a form of vigilance.

After all, the villa was full of grown men. One could never be too careful.

Tang Xiaoman reached out and ruffled Shanshan’s hair. “Good girl. I’ll have Captain Zhou teach you some knife techniques. Make sure you learn well.”

“Okay!” Shanshan clenched her little fists, clearly excited.

Tang Xiaoman called Zhou Yichen over. “Can you teach Dr. Lu and Shanshan some basic self-defense? She wants to learn knife skills.”

Zhou Yichen glanced at the father and daughter, then nodded. “No problem.”

*

After arranging the team’s training, Tang Xiaoman returned to her bedroom on the second floor.

Not because she was slacking off—but because she had something more important to do.

She picked up her phone and opened the Gu Corporation work group chat.

Although she hadn’t gone back to work, she had never left the group. With Gu Heng detained again and Shu Jia under criminal investigation, no one had noticed she was still there.

The chat was in chaos—filled with cries for help and complaints about the useless advice from so-called experts.

“My place is about to flood—can someone please come save me?!”

“These damn experts only talk theory—mutual aid, self-rescue—but not a word about when relief supplies will arrive. I never cook at home, always order takeout. Now all I have left is bottled water.”

“Does the company have any boats? Speedboats, rubber boats, anything! Someone from the company, come get me!”

“I’m one of the security guards still at the office. The water’s already reached the fourth floor. No boats, no rafts. We searched the storage rooms and only found a dozen expired life vests. God help us—please don’t let the water rise any further.”

“At least the office building’s glass is sturdy—we don’t have to worry about it shattering in the wind. My windows blew out. I barely managed to hold onto the door handle so I wouldn’t get blown away. Please, just stop the typhoon already!”

…

The chat was a chorus of despair. Most of them were ordinary employees crammed into aging apartment blocks—the first to suffer when disaster struck.

Compared to them, those trapped inside the company building were actually in a slightly better situation.

The problem was, just before the storm, there had been three straight days of extreme heat. The government had ordered work and school suspensions, so most companies had closed and employees stayed home.

When the flood hit, only a handful of staff and security guards were left in the office building.

After confirming the situation at Gu Corporation, Tang Xiaoman began forming a plan.

She knew Gu Heng had a private vault.

In her previous life, he had once complained to her—offhandedly—that all the gold bars and cash he’d hoarded had become worthless in the apocalypse. He’d said it would have been far more practical to stockpile food instead.

He had also somehow acquired a cache of firearms, which proved extremely useful in the post-disaster world.

Tang Xiaoman suspected those weapons were hidden in that private vault.

She didn’t know its exact location, but she was certain it wasn’t far from his executive office.

For this operation, she decided to bring Fubao along—relying on the dog’s keen sense of smell to locate the hidden vault.

Tonight, she would raid the Gu Corporation headquarters—

and Gu Heng’s private treasure vault.