Hearing Dong Qi say this, Dong Hao couldn't refute it for a moment.

  "So, brother, if you believe me, you don't need to go bankrupt. Just stock up on more supplies in the next couple of days."

  "Anyway, rice, flour, oil, and such are cheap right now. Before the prices go up, stocking up on twenty or thirty thousand yuan's worth should be enough."

  After listening to Dong Qi's advice, Dong Hao really did plan to go back and stock up on some supplies. Actually, if you're just buying basic necessities like rice, flour, and oil, twenty or thirty thousand yuan would be enough to cover a family of three for about a year.

  But seeing Dong Qi still looking somewhat gloomy, Dong Hao couldn't help but ask curiously, "It's not that I don't believe you. There's a wholesale market right in our area. I'll go ask for leave as soon as I leave."

  Hearing Dong Hao misunderstand his concern, Dong Qi explained, "Actually, stockpiling supplies is a minor issue. What I'm afraid of now isn't a shortage of supplies, but subsequent chain disasters."

  "You need to understand, in the vast majority of novels, whenever superpowers are involved, it's basically always accompanied by a spiritual energy resurgence."

  "While a spiritual energy resurgence brings benefits like cultivation for everyone and increased lifespan for the Awakened, in the early stages, whether it's natural disasters or human conflict, things generally won't be very peaceful."

  "Compared to human conflict, which the imperial court can manage if they are determined, I'm still somewhat fearful of those unstoppable natural disasters."

  "Putting the rest aside, I suspect that in the future, disasters that ordinary people find difficult to withstand are very likely to occur."

  "When that time comes, it won't be like this snow disaster, where you can stay safe just by hiding at home."

  Seeing Dong Qi continue to extrapolate further, Dong Hao suddenly shivered and immediately stopped him, "Alright, stop being such a jinx. It's good to see you're okay here. I have things to do, so I'm leaving now. Don't overthink the other stuff."

  Watching Dong Hao leave, Dong Qi's heart grew even more anxious.

  Sometimes, with certain matters, if you don't pay attention, you won't think deeply about them. But once you start focusing, you can't help but delve into them thoroughly.

  It seems I still need to find opportunities to continue upgrading my Fated Artifact. As long as I am strong enough myself, I can easily face any problem.

  Thinking this, the status panel reappeared in Dong Qi's mind.

  Fated Artifact: Light Passenger Vehicle

  Grade: Mundane Artifact

  Body Frame: Initial Enhancement (20%)

  Power System: Initial Enhancement (20%)

  Electrical Systems: Initial Enhancement (20%)

  Other Equipment: Unenhanced (0%)

  Manifestation from the Tide of Thought

  Times Manifested: 1

  Unknown Special Energy Value: 10.1

  (Each manifestation consumes a minimum of one hundred energy points, with no upper limit.)

  After the last enhancement, seeing the change in the Unknown Special Energy Value, I originally thought this energy would automatically absorb and increase each day.

  But from the last increase until now, the energy value has remained stuck at 10.1 without any change.

  It seems the increase in energy value isn't related to time. So, during the process of it rising from 0.1 to 10.1, the only variable was that I upgraded my Fated Artifact.

  Although I don't know what this unknown energy actually is, I've at least figured out one method to increase the energy value.

  The next goal is quite simple: as long as I devour a large number of vehicles, I can rapidly upgrade my Fated Artifact.

  In this day and age, although cars aren't exactly cheap, they have become a common sight everywhere.

  If Dong Qi were bold enough, he could just go to the city at night. Cars are everywhere on the roadside streets, and he could probably complete several enhancements in a single night.

  However, if Dong Qi really acted so recklessly, devouring parked cars on the street indiscriminately, someone would probably come knocking to investigate within a few hours.

  So, at this point, he needs to find places similar to the parking lot near him—locations that not only have a large number of vehicles parked but also don't attract much attention on a daily basis.

  Indeed, there are similar parking lots scattered around Pengcheng—in the northern, eastern, and southern parts of the city.

  However, Dong Qi isn’t very familiar with them.

  But finding such places is actually quite simple—you can just ask any traffic warden for the addresses.

  The vehicles in the western city parking lot have already been devoured by Dong Qi's life-bound object.

  Although this hasn’t been discovered yet, it won’t remain hidden for long.

  If others notice that Dong Qi specifically asked about the locations of the other three parking lots, anyone with a bit of sense could connect the disappearance of vehicles in the west lot to Dong Qi.

  Therefore, this matter cannot be inquired about directly.

  Searching online is even less likely.

  Generally, parking lots with large numbers of abandoned vehicles aren’t openly marked on navigation apps or maps.

  Aside from parking lots, the only other place Dong Qi can think of with a large concentration of cars is the vehicle storage areas of 4S dealerships.

  However, compared to the old cars in parking lots, the vehicles at 4S dealerships are all brand new.

  The management there is also stricter, though it’s still more relaxed than the heavily surveilled parking lots in the city center.

  At this moment, there probably aren’t many people around, since the snowstorm has just ended.

  Worried about missing this opportunity, Dong Qi acts quickly.

  The 4S dealerships in Pengcheng are mostly concentrated in the southern part of the city.

  While not in the west, these clustered areas are relatively remote.

  Under normal circumstances, people without car-buying needs wouldn’t go there just to wander around.

  As Dong Qi anticipated, although the working indicator lights on the surveillance cameras in those lots were still on at night, none of the guards who should have been on duty were present.

  Dong Qi may not know how to effectively avoid surveillance areas, but he does know how to disable surveillance cameras.

  After his physical enhancement, his body control has greatly improved, and so has his accuracy.

  With just a few pieces of rubble, he successfully destroyed the surrounding cameras.

  Although he isn’t sure if there are any hidden cameras around, he can’t afford to worry too much about that now and begins devouring once more.

  Unfortunately, even after devouring all the vehicles in the parking lot, the upgrade progress of Dong Qi's life-bound object only reached 72%.

  However, although a direct upgrade didn’t occur, during the process of devouring some hybrid and many pure-electric vehicles, an indirect transformation of the power system was completed.

  The power system of the life-bound object has now changed from purely fuel-based to a hybrid system.

  The original small battery pack in the vehicle has also been replaced with a large battery pack similar to those in electric cars.

  The maximum stored energy has reached 100 kWh.

  Under normal conditions, this amount of energy would be enough to travel three to four hundred kilometers, barring extreme weather.

  Initially, Dong Qi hadn’t expected that after absorbing hybrid and pure-electric vehicles, his purely fuel-based car would undergo such a change.

  Fortunately, this change is merely an enhancement and has no impact on other aspects.