Chapter 362: Chapter 362: A Mysterious Windfall

When Manager Grant first received the text from Melody Summers, he thought it was some kind of scam.

After all, the number looked foreign, it contained special symbols, and the message itself was just too outrageous.

Manager Grant frowned at the message on his phone screen, muttering to himself, ’It’s the second year of the cataclysm... How have those scammers from Southeast Archanea not starved to death yet? They’ve really got some staying power...’

Then he casually deleted the message and went back to his work.

But for some reason, over the next half hour, Manager Grant grew increasingly uneasy. He couldn’t get the contents of that "scam" message out of his head.

It was as if a voice in his head kept telling him:

’Go take a look. What if it’s real? That’s coal and food!’

’Go take a look. What if it’s real? That’s coal and food!’

"..."

The thought kept circling in Manager Grant’s mind, and he felt an agonizing itch he couldn’t scratch.

He agonized over it for a while before finally deciding to go to the back hills himself and see what was going on.

He didn’t have high hopes for the message; he just wanted to check it out for his own peace of mind.

He hadn’t known what to expect, but one look was all it took to give him the shock of his life.

When he and Hollis trudged through the snow to the back hills, the scene before them was so shocking his hair stood on end.

Staring at the four mountain-like piles of coal, Manager Grant reached out a trembling hand, grabbed Hollis, and stammered, "I... I must be dreaming, right?"

’It has to be a dream!’

’Otherwise, why would I be seeing four mountains of coal?’

’It’s like they appeared out of thin air!’

’This is straight out of a fairy tale!’

Hollis pinched himself hard. Feeling the sting on his arm, he answered in a trembling voice, "N-No, it’s not a dream, Manager Grant. I see it too! Even if this is a dream, there’s no way we could be having the same one..."

With that, they locked eyes, each seeing the same ghost-like shock and utter disbelief in the other’s gaze.

The four mountains of coal before them seemed to have fallen from the sky, their appearance both sudden and mysterious.

Manager Grant took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He slowly approached one of the coal mounds, picked up a small, jet-black piece, and muttered, "It’s real... This really is coal... There must be at least fifty tons here..."

’Where on earth did all this coal come from?’

’Why did it all suddenly appear here?’

Before Manager Grant could even process these questions, he heard Hollis shout, pointing to the front left, "Manager! Look! Behind that pile of coal, I think those are potatoes!"

Manager Grant followed Hollis’s finger and was shocked all over again.

Behind the leftmost pile of coal, he saw mounds of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins.

Manager Grant’s eyes widened. "My god..." he murmured.

The scene was so overwhelming that Manager Grant even started to wonder if he’d been transported to another world.

Once the shock wore off, Hollis asked in confusion, "Manager... How did so many supplies suddenly show up here? Who brought them? Could it be a donation from one of the residents? Maybe from one of the rich ones in the villa district?"

Facing Hollis’s barrage of questions, Manager Grant waved a hand, a headache forming. "I don’t know either! Didn’t I just tell you? I just got a text message saying there were supplies in the back hills and to come get them to distribute to the residents!"

"The text came from either an international number or a virtual one—definitely not a domestic area code. At first, I thought it was a scam message from Southeast Archanea! Who could have guessed there would actually be supplies, let alone this much!"

Hollis listened to Manager Grant, finding the whole thing just as incredible.

’This is surreal!’

Looking at the mounds before them, Hollis scratched his head and asked hesitantly, "Manager, all this coal and food just appeared out of nowhere on the back hills. It’s too bizarre, like something out of a fantasy show... With something this strange happening, shouldn’t we report it to the higher-ups?"

Manager Grant froze at the suggestion, then nodded reflexively. "Right... right... Report it... We have to report it to the higher-ups! This is too insane!"

With that, Manager Grant took out his phone, ready to make the call.

But before he could press the call button, he abruptly put the phone away. He frowned. "...No... We can’t! We can’t report it!"

Meeting Hollis’s confused gaze, Manager Grant’s expression shifted. He lowered his voice. "These supplies were donated to our community by that kind person who sent the text! If we report this, the higher-ups might take them and give them to those fancy communities in the city center. That would be a disaster!"

Hollis was taken aback for a moment—then he realized Manager Grant had a point.

Hollis nodded in agreement. "You’re right, we can’t report it! If we do, there’s no guarantee this shipment will even stay in our community!"

Thinking about what had happened during recent supply runs, Hollis seethed.

He continued in a resentful tone, "Every time we go to the factory to pick up supplies, those few ritzy communities in the city center get priority. Our people get there first, but we always get cut in line by them!"

"Manager, isn’t it completely unfair? Just because we’re far from the city center, have fewer people, and our property values are lower, does that mean the higher-ups see us as disposable?"

Manager Grant sighed and nodded. "You’re right... If our people didn’t fight tooth and nail every time they went for supplies, our share would have been withheld on several occasions."

Everyone said that The Metropolis Residences had its supply situation under control and that there were no shortages, but they didn’t know this was only because the members of the emergency management office fought relentlessly for every last scrap.

To ensure they could bring the supplies back safely every time, The Metropolis Residences always sent their own people with their own vehicles, even paying for the gas out of their own pockets.

To keep other urban communities from taking their supplies, Colin Summers and Finn Lynch would often go line up at the factory as early as two in the morning.

Meanwhile, those high-end communities in the city center had their supplies delivered directly by government vehicles every time.

Thinking about all this, Hollis started grumbling, "And another thing, I heard that during the last distribution, those fancy communities in the city got white flour and mixed-grain rice in addition to their five pounds of rice. We didn’t get anything extra. It’s so unfair..."

By comparison, The Metropolis Residences was like the forgotten stepchild.

The thought of this unequal treatment left both Manager Grant and Hollis feeling deeply bitter.

Perhaps this shipment of supplies right in front of them was a sign that heaven was watching, a form of compensation.

Manager Grant clapped a firm hand on Hollis’s shoulder and said in a low, serious voice, "Hollis, go back and get help! Have Lynch and Summers bring the truck over, and get Tate and the others to bring the flatbed carts and whatever else they can find! We need to move everything from these hills back to the community, and fast!"

Considering the current situation, Manager Grant added a stern warning, "And do it quietly! Don’t let a word of this get out! The Garden Community is too close. It’ll be a disaster if their people find out and come to take our supplies!"

Hollis nodded vigorously and thumped his chest in assurance. "Got it! Don’t worry, Manager! I’ll go get everyone right now! These supplies belong to our community!"