She and the Mervyns were still putting in the same work and earning the same returns, but now the Griffiths brothers could pocket some extra profit by reselling water. Honestly, it turned into a win-win-win. Natalie wasn't the type to be greedy. She believed that dividing the gains fairly was the only way to keep cooperation lasting. Besides, she had traded with these two many times already. They knew each other well enough that the risk was much lower. She never had a favorable view of Tyro Group, and she'd rather steer clear of them if possible. So she said with a smile, "Let's all make money together. Appreciate you two handling this errand." Dennis broke into a wide grin. "Ms. Ashford, you're refreshingly straightforward." Natalie shot him a glance. "But I need to see the merchandise first." Dennis responded, "No issue. Tomorrow, when we return the empty tankers, we'll bring the bracelet along. "If you like it, the next day you pass us the water, and we hand over the bracelet. If you're not happy with it, we'll stick with the usual water-for-food trade." Natalie agreed with a nod. Nearby, Arnold finished unloading the grain and rushed over. "Dennis, there's something new on the radio!" Dennis's eyes lit up. "What's the announcement now?" Natalie leaned closer to listen as well. Arnold said, "The central base is short on fuel. They're paying sky-high prices."The two brothers traded looks, both catching the spark of opportunity in each other's eyes. Natalie stayed calm and didn't react much. She recalled that the last time the base broadcast the same message, it set off a frenzy for fuel. Everyone went crazy searching for oil, even clashing over it, which triggered another surge of deaths. But the rush faded quickly. Not long after, the base got supplied by some mysterious major backer and stopped buying from smaller sellers. Natalie kept only enough fuel for herself. She needed it for her generator and her car, so chasing scraps from that big backer was pointless. She had no chance of winning anyway. The brothers noticed her calmness and exchanged another look. Dennis asked, "What's your take on it, Ms. Ashford?" Natalie gave a shrug. "No opinion." Dennis studied her expression but didn't press her further. The brothers left with the four vehicles, making two trips. Natalie waited until they were fully gone before collecting the food and heading home. In the following days, she examined the emerald bracelet and closed the deal with the brothers. Then, just as agreed, she traded another three tons of food and sold 3,000 liters of water to both Harold and Olivia's families at one-third of the standard price. She was exhausting herself, and at the same time, Cassian had suddenly gotten busy too, leaving early and coming home late just like her.They barely crossed paths during the day, only sitting down together for dinner. On the fifth day, Natalie finally wrapped up all her water trades and could stay home to rest. While Cassian was out, she brought the three little ones along with the 50-million-dollar emerald bracelet into her storage space. The emerald vanished instantly, just like before. The three little ones went straight for the water as usual, while she arranged supplies and kept track of the time for her experiment. To her delight, she discovered she could now remain inside the storage space for a full two hours. That was an incredible gain! She had swapped some of the villa's endless tap water for a huge extension of time. Even though her Blink distance was still capped at 300 feet with no upgrade, Natalie was very pleased. The longer she could stay in the storage space, the better her survival odds. If she could eventually upgrade it to a full day, she could just live in there permanently and never fear the apocalypse again! She was lost in thought when someone knocked on the hallway door outside. It was Harold. When he saw Natalie and Olivia, his face was serious. "This building is no longer safe to live in." Natalie and Olivia exchanged looks. Harold went on, "I've been inspecting the building's damage these past days. It's basically a safety hazard now. If nothing happens, we're fine, but even a minor earthquake would bring it down."Natalie knew there wouldn't be quakes any time soon, so for now, it was safe enough to stay. In the previous timeline, she hadn't left until the extreme cold hit, then she went to the hillside villas to look for her useless father. Of course, this time, she didn't plan on staying forever. The dense fog would arrive soon. When it came, the whole city would spiral into chaos. In the past, she had been broke and kept her head down, so she avoided trouble. This time would be very different. Things wouldn't be peaceful at all; she'd likely face raiders repeatedly. Olivia frowned after hearing Harold. "So do we move?" Natalie had already reached her decision, but she still asked Harold, "What do you think?" She knew that in the last timeline, Harold had moved out around this point. She was curious where he'd gone. Harold seemed confident with his plan: "I think we should relocate somewhere less crowded. There'd be fewer issues and it'd be safer. "What do you think about the hillside villas?"