Dennis quickly chuckled and explained, "Oh, I didn't mean it like that, Ms. Ashford, your integrity is beyond question. I was just curious ... how are you planning to haul all that grain?" I mean, no way she was planning to move 15 tons in a van, right? That'd take forever! Natalie smiled. "I'm just here for the trade. I've got workers coming soon to handle the loading and transport." Dennis nodded, now understanding. "Right, of course." She clearly had people behind her. No way a single girl was going to move 15 tons of grain on her own. Just then, Arnold finished unloading their shipment. Both sides did a quick inspection of what the other had brought. Everything checked out. Natalie's herbs, of course, were top-notch. As for the brothers' grain, the variety was all over the place, but the quality was acceptable. Natalie had stocked enough food before the apocalypse to feed herself for years. The grain she was trading for now was essentially just currency, not something she planned to eat. As long as it was edible and the weight was right, it was good enough. The Griffith brothers quickly loaded the 500 pounds of echinacea onto their truck, then turned to Natalie, both in good spirits. "Ms. Ashford, always a pleasure doing business. See you tomorrow!" Natalie gave them a nod. "Take care." Once Dennis and Arnold left, Natalie trailed them in her van from a distance, just to be safe. After confirming they were really gone, she looped back to the warehouse. With barely any effort, she stored the entire 15 tons of grain into her storage space, then drove home humming a tune.As she stepped off the elevator on the 14th floor, she saw Olivia knocking on her door. Olivia blinked in surprise when she saw her. "Nat? You went out?" Natalie nodded. "Yeah, just took a little drive." Then she shifted back a step. "I haven't disinfected yet, and you're not wearing a mask. Head back to your place first, I'll come by in a bit." But Olivia just waved her off casually. "It's fine, I've been drinking echinacea tea every day. Plus ... " Natalie cut her off, clearly not buying it. "That's not an excuse to get careless. Even if there's medicine to treat it, getting sick still sucks." Olivia knew Natalie was just looking out for her, so she nodded obediently. "Alright, I'll head back. Come over once you're done getting cleaned up." Natalie gave a nod and waited until Olivia stepped inside before shutting the hallway door. Then she stood in front of the elevator and thoroughly disinfected herself from head to toe. When she finally opened her apartment door, Lucky and Cash practically launched themselves at her. A beat behind, Baron came hopping over right after Lucky, eager for attention. Natalie gave all three of them some love, one by one, before changing into a fresh set of clothes. Then she got ready to head to 1401 to see Olivia. Lucky noticed she was about to leave again and started whining, sticking close behind her. Natalie glanced down at her, sounding half-amused, half-resigned. Olivia liked dogs anyway, she wouldn't mind if she brought Lucky along. "Alright, you can come. But no misbehaving, no wrecking the place. Got it?" Lucky's tail wagged like crazy as she spun in a happy little circle around her.But Cash wasn't having it. Why was the big dumb dog getting to go while he had to stay? With a dramatic flap of his wings, Cash leapt up and landed right on Lucky's back. If he's going, I'm going too. Lucky growled in protest and started spinning in circles, trying to shake him off. Baron, seeing Cash "bullying" Lucky, quickly bounded over to help out. Cash flapped his wings and dodged left and right with ease. In seconds, the apartment turned into a full-on zoo—dogs barking, wings flapping, and rabbits bouncing all over the place. Natalie sighed and raised her voice. "Alright, alright! Everyone's coming, okay?!" Only then did the chaos settle. When Olivia heard the knock and opened the door, she was met with quite the sight—Natalie holding a leash, a chicken under one arm, and a giant rabbit hopping alongside her. She blinked. "Well ... this is a full house!" Natalie looked slightly embarrassed. "I brought the gang, hope we're not a bother?" Olivia quickly shook her head. "No, no, not at all! Come in, come in!" One woman, one chicken, one dog, and one rabbit made their way into the apartment. Olivia followed behind them, watching the strangely peaceful parade of humans and animals with wide-eyed curiosity. "Nat, what is it with you? Every animal that ends up at your place ends up looking like a champion fighter." They were all fat, muscular, and looked like they could take on a whole pack of strays if needed.Natalie chuckled. "Maybe it's the good environment in unit 1402." As they chatted, Olivia's own chicken, Snowy, and two rabbits came out of the back room. Snowy was already well-acquainted with Cash. The moment she saw him, she strutted over and circled around him once before heading right back into the bedroom like nothing had happened. Cash, at first, stood tall and aloof, his neck stretched high, eyes darting around proudly. But just a few seconds later, he casually strolled in after Snowy like he totally didn't care. The two rabbits, on the other hand, made a beeline for Baron. All three had come from the same breeder, rescued together from Harold's place. But now, Baron had grown twice their size. The two smaller ones clearly hadn't gained any intelligence yet. They still acted mostly on animal instinct. Baron, thoroughly unimpressed, turned his fluffy butt toward them and loyally stayed by Lucky's side like a bodyguard. Natalie sat on the couch, watching all this unfold, then noticed something. The little female rabbit had a noticeably round belly. She raised an eyebrow. "Olivia, are your rabbits already pregnant?" Olivia nodded with a grin. "Yep. Rabbit meat freedom is just around the corner."