Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 251

Because of the traffic, they didn’t get back to the villa until the afternoon.
They had only had a small breakfast, skipping lunch due to the cave exploration. On the way back, none of them had much of an appetite, and then they got stuck in the chaos near the airport.
The airport was overwhelmed with tourists desperate to leave. The small terminal couldn’t handle the flood of people, and in the panic, a row of glass doors was shattered, leaving shards scattered across the floor. Many were injured, some seriously trampled. The situation became so chaotic that multiple police cars and ambulances arrived to restore order and transport the wounded to the hospital.
Yu Xi and her teammates had seen worse. They had experienced worlds shifting from peace to apocalyptic disorder. To them, this level of chaos was manageable. Whether the island was calm or in turmoil, they had no choice but to stay until the time limit expired.
On the way back, they drove Yu Xi’s jeep from Wu King City, taking advantage of the island’s disarray to stockpile more fuel.
Nobody was checking license plates anymore, so they went from station to station, refueling. Yu Xi used her spatial ability to move sealed fuel containers directly into her inventory. The space had a unique property that allowed her to manipulate liquids without direct contact. She simply opened the valve, and the fuel flowed straight into sealed containers, which she then stacked efficiently in her storage.
She had already allocated 20 cubic meters for water, and now fuel occupied nearly 15 cubic meters. By using box-shaped containers instead of barrels, she minimized wasted space, maximizing capacity. By the time she was done, she had roughly 15,000 liters of gasoline. It was enough to fuel any emergency situation—but still not enough to quiet her instinct to hoard supplies.
She wouldn’t feel secure until every available cubic meter was filled.
**
Their villa, located on the southeastern coast, was far from the chaos of the airport, the port, and the commercial streets where tourists were panic-buying supplies.
Most of the nearby vacation homes and overwater bungalows were abandoned. Tourists had retreated inland, avoiding the ominous coastline. The only ones still staying near the sea were either travelers like them—seasoned players who weren’t easily intimidated—or particularly confident locals.
After Lin Wu and Ya Tong checked the water supply, Yu Xi spent time filling the last of her water storage with warm, drinkable water. Once all 20 cubic meters were full, she finally took a hot shower and changed into clean clothes.
When she stepped out, she found Ya Tong and Lin Wu in the villa’s small island-style kitchen, preparing dinner.
They had barely eaten all day, and now that they were back in the safety of their coastal villa, hunger hit hard. Ya Tong decided to make a proper meal while they still had access to a working kitchen. Lin Wu, whose cooking skills barely extended to fried rice, was helping as best he could.
He washed and chopped okra and asparagus, then peeled garlic cloves under Ya Tong’s direction. Meanwhile, she worked on cleaning and preparing the mud crabs, removing their gills and breaking them into smaller pieces. She cracked the crab claws open slightly so they would absorb more flavor when cooked.
Seeing Yu Xi, she immediately asked, “Do we have doubanjiang? Lin Wu didn’t buy any.”
“Are you making spicy stir-fried crab? Yeah, I got some,” Yu Xi said, pulling out the fermented bean paste. “Anything else?”
“Give me a chunk of spicy hot pot base, too. It’ll add more depth to the sauce.”
Ya Tong only had an item inventory, not a spatial storage, which made it difficult to carry smaller supplies. She grumbled, “If I ever get the option to unlock a storage space, even if the other choice is a train ticket, I’m taking the space.” Carrying everything in a backpack was a hassle—even a trip to the restroom required asking Yu Xi for tissues.
Yu Xi handed her everything she needed, then took out two iced lattes and an iced Americano, passing one to her with a grin. “Well, aren’t I basically your personal inventory already?”
She reached for the crab claws and, with a practiced motion, cracked them open one by one, making quick work of it.
“Fine, you win,” Ya Tong smirked, handing over more crabs. “Then hurry up and finish these while I prep the shrimp.”
“Are we using tiger prawns?” Yu Xi asked. “How are you making them?”
“We still have a proper kitchen, so we’re doing it the best way—garlic butter crispy-fried shrimp. And we’re making pan-seared lamb chops with garlic sauce and blanched okra and asparagus with a light dressing.”
Yu Xi almost teared up in happiness.
“Oh, and when you’re done with the crab, help Lin Wu peel garlic. We need a lot for all the dishes, and he’s way too slow.”
Lin Wu: …
Right, why didn’t they just buy pre-peeled garlic? Oh, that’s right—because someone had said fresh garlic had a stronger flavor…
Preparing seafood took time, but with all three of them working together, they finished quickly. Afterward, they left the cooking to Ya Tong.
She started with the crispy-fried shrimp. Each prawn had been deveined and seasoned with black pepper and salt. She deep-fried them until crisp, then sautéed a mix of minced garlic and onions, adding breadcrumbs at the right moment to toast them to golden perfection before tossing the shrimp back in. The trick was to keep the breadcrumbs from burning—once they turned golden, the dish was done.
Next, she made the spicy stir-fried crab. Since the crab meat was thick, it had to be cut into smaller pieces so it would cook evenly and absorb the sauce.
With those two dishes done, the rest was simple—pan-seared lamb chops, seasoned and cooked to a juicy medium-rare, served with cumin and garlic sauce. The okra and asparagus had already been blanched, so she just drizzled them with garlic soy dressing.
When dinner was ready, they set everything out on the low coffee table in the living room. Lin Wu grabbed a variety of drinks, while Yu Xi pulled out wet wipes and disposable gloves for easy cleanup.
As they started eating, they turned on the local news.
It was the same as before—government officials urging tourists not to panic, claiming that they were working hard to arrange extra ships and flights for evacuation. They suggested that visitors temporarily relocate to inland hotels, offering free accommodation to those with passports.
They also warned against hoarding, assuring the public that the island had more than enough supplies.
The broadcast was predictable, mostly emphasizing how disorderly behavior—like the airport stampede—only made things worse.
Yu Xi wasn’t paying much attention. She had already pulled out her tablet and started checking online forums. She wanted to see if posts about the island’s blood rituals and the Blood People were spreading beyond the island.
But the results were clear—zero engagement.
Her posts had been up for half an hour, yet they hadn’t reached a single person.
It wasn’t just that they couldn’t leave the island. They were completely cut off.
The island had an invisible boundary, preventing them from physically escaping. And now, even information couldn’t get out. Any attempt to communicate with the outside world was blocked.
To the rest of the world, it was as if this place didn’t exist.
Yet, aside from that, everything else felt completely normal.
So… was this island even part of the real world?
The video showed a person being ambushed, their arms and legs firmly grasped by the Blood People. The victim struggled desperately but couldn’t cry out for help. The blood coating the creatures’ bodies shifted, like a living membrane, slithering toward the person’s mouth and nose until it fully covered their entire head.
No matter how wide the victim opened their mouth to gasp for air, the viscous blood clung tightly to their face. It acted like a suffocating film, refusing to let any oxygen through. The person convulsed as they suffocated, their struggles becoming weaker until their body finally went limp. Only then did the Blood People drag the lifeless form away.
The attack pattern reminded Yu Xi of the passengers who got off at the wrong door on the arrival platform. The method was identical.
At the end of the video, the uploader left a three-word message:
Does it match?
Anyone who had stepped onto that arrival platform would immediately know what they meant. It was a silent signal to others who had experienced the same phenomenon. This poster was clearly another passenger.
Yu Xi thought the platform would quickly take down such a graphic video, but hours passed, and it was still there. Even after they finished dinner and cleaned up, it remained online.
**
The next ten days passed in uneasy routine. They still stayed in the villa, but they no longer slept in separate rooms. Instead, they dragged the mattresses into the living room and locked the bedroom doors each night.
Two people slept while the third stood watch near the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the terrace. With all three of them together, it felt just a bit safer.
During the day, they continued to stockpile fuel. Yu Xi worked tirelessly to fill the 15 cubic meters of fuel containers in her space. After a few days, however, the island began restricting gasoline sales.
First, the main road stations limited purchases; then the small, out-of-the-way gas stations followed suit. She managed to fill about seven or eight cubic meters of her fuel storage, along with the containers in her item inventory. Altogether, it was more than enough. The three of them decided not to risk venturing further for fuel.
Maybe it was luck, but their villa remained untouched by Blood People attacks.
That didn’t stop Officer Ron from showing up again.
When he arrived, he glanced around at the empty neighboring villas and then sniffed the air. The rich scent of hot pot wafted from their open windows. His expression turned complicated.
“Why are you still here?” he asked, genuinely confused.
“And where would we go?” Yu Xi gave a short, bitter laugh. “Did any of those people who camped at the port or slept in the airport actually leave? This ‘Paradise Island’ of yours really lives up to its name. Once you arrive, you never leave.”
Ron opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words. Her blunt observation left him visibly uncomfortable. His ears reddened with embarrassment, and the guilt that had been simmering beneath the surface finally broke through.
He had come hoping to ask if they had discovered anything he hadn’t. His own investigation had hit a wall at Tide Island. His superiors had ordered him to stand down. No more resources, no more covert operations. If he continued, he’d be risking more than his career.
But faced with Yu Xi’s sharp gaze and mocking tone, he couldn’t bring himself to voice his real reason for visiting.
“I’m sorry,” he said at last. “I really am.”
Then he turned and walked away without another word.
Yu Xi thought maybe they could hide away like this until the time limit expired. But five days before their scheduled departure, an earth-shaking explosion shattered that illusion.
Lin Wu was on night watch that evening. The moment the blast hit, the villa trembled under a shockwave that rolled across the island.
Yu Xi and Ya Tong snapped awake. Without a word, the three of them grabbed their essentials, shoving stray belongings into Yu Xi’s space before climbing onto the roof. From there, they scrambled up the hill behind their villa to get a better view.
In the pitch-black night sky, the northern horizon was ablaze. Fire and smoke billowed upward in thick plumes, turning the dark sky an ominous shade of orange.
“That’s Tide Island,” Ya Tong said grimly.
Yu Xi didn’t respond. She was already pulling out her drone equipment. She handed the monitor to Lin Wu, secured her goggles, and launched the drone.
The drone’s battery wouldn’t last long enough to reach Tide Island, but if she could get it high enough, she might at least see the situation more clearly.
When the drone hit peak altitude, the source of the explosion became clear. Tide Island was engulfed in flames. The blast had obliterated the outer reef, leaving jagged fragments of rock jutting from the sea like broken teeth.
As the camera zoomed in, figures swarmed through the burning wreckage. Hundreds of them. Blood People, pouring from the island’s core like ants from a shattered nest.
“That wasn’t an accident,” Yu Xi muttered.
“Do you think a passenger did it?” Lin Wu asked.
“Or the island’s officials.” Ya Tong crossed her arms. “If they think they can cover everything up with a fire, maybe they set off the explosion themselves.”
Yu Xi brought the drone back and packed it away. Whatever the cause, this was only the beginning.
“By morning, the whole island’s going to descend into chaos,” she said. “We still have five days and four hours left. What do you think—should we stay here or head to the deepwater pool near the hidden station?”
“It’s safer near the pool,” Lin Wu said after a moment of thought. “Even if we run into other passengers, we’ll be close enough to the station to leave on time.”
“I don’t care either way,” Ya Tong said. “We’ve got enough supplies for weeks. We’ve turned most of the fresh produce into pre-made meals and packed them into your storage. We’ve got fuel, water, medicine… Just tell me where to drive.”
Decision made, they returned to the villa. Lin Wu resumed his night watch while Yu Xi and Ya Tong caught a few more hours of sleep.
**
At dawn, they each took quick showers, dressed in breathable waterproof gear, packed their bags, and loaded the electric car.
The drive inland was uneventful until they left the coastal area. Then the reality of the island’s collapse hit them like a wall.
Supermarkets had become battlegrounds.
At nearly every store, crowds of tourists and locals pounded on locked doors, shouting for the owners to reopen. In some places, people smashed glass storefronts to get inside. Once the glass broke, the mob surged through the opening, climbing over one another to grab food and water.
Others fled with stolen supplies in hand, only to find their cars missing—stolen while they were inside. Those with strength retaliated by hijacking other vehicles. The weaker ones were left behind, clutching their bags and scanning the crowd with fearful eyes.
Injured people staggered into pharmacies, grabbing whatever medical supplies they could find. The few shop clerks who tried to stop them were shoved to the ground.
Traffic accidents littered the streets. Bent metal and shattered glass marked where desperate drivers had collided in their rush to escape. Arguments flared into fights.
Ya Tong gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles pale.
Beside her, Yu Xi browsed the island’s local forums.
The headlines were all the same:
The explosion came from inside Tide Island. The reef has been destroyed. Hundreds of Blood People escaped into the sea.
Throughout the night, countless tourists and residents had been attacked. Many were dead. Others were missing. Panic was spreading like wildfire.
No one cared about the officials’ reassurances anymore.
The only thing on everyone’s mind was survival.
Yu Xi lowered the tablet and stared at the chaos outside.
The tide of destruction had finally broken through.
Paradise Island was done pretending to be paradise.