Chapter 70: Sweeping the Supermarket

A few of them climbed into the pickup truck’s cargo bed, while one of Zhao Rui’s men drove it toward the rolling shutter door.

The shutter door was the delivery entrance, located in a hidden spot at the back of the mall. Despite this, the sound of the truck still attracted a number of zombies, which began to stagger over.

Fu Jingmo quickly dispatched them with two black blades. Zhao Rui’s eyes narrowed in realization—so, this guy hadn’t even used his full strength when he had attacked them earlier. If he had, Zhao Rui’s thick skin might not have saved him from getting a cut.

The group stepped lightly as they disembarked in front of the shutter door. Fu Jingmo spoke up, “Who here can control metal?”

When they had arrived, Yu Hong had already briefed them on the basic situation of A2. Without that information, Fu Jingmo wouldn’t have made these specific arrangements.

A short, thin man stepped out from behind Zhao Rui and raised his hand. Unlike Zhao Rui’s arrogance, this man seemed a bit apprehensive.

“Try it—see if you can cut through this door!”

Fu Jingmo’s black blade could do it, but striking the rolling shutter door would undoubtedly create a lot of noise.

The man seemed like he had never done anything like this before. He nervously rubbed his hands together, momentarily frozen in place.

“Focus your energy into your palms, then cut from the top down. Just make the opening about half a person’s height,” Fu Jingmo instructed.

It seemed that the man trusted Fu Jingmo. He reached out and slowly drew a vertical line from top to bottom on the rolling shutter door. The metal, as if it were paper being sliced by a knife, split open, revealing a gap.

The man looked at his hand in surprise, clearly delighted by the unexpected effect of his ability.

Without paying him any more attention, Fu Jingmo reached out, and with a strong pull of his forearms, he tore the gap wider, creating an opening. He bent down and was the first to step inside.

Everyone followed closely behind. Once they were all through, Fu Jingmo grabbed a nearby shelf and pulled it over to block the opening.

He stood tall, looking over the rows of shelves to survey the entire supermarket.

The group kept their voices low, and the nearby zombies had already started moving toward them.

Using the shelves as cover, Fu Jingmo made a hand gesture, signaling Zhao Rui to take his men to the front entrance.

“Close the door, and clear out the zombies inside the supermarket.”

Following the plan, Zhao Rui took two men with him, sticking to the right side as they moved out.

Fu Jingmo dealt with the two nearby zombies with a few swift strikes of his black blades, then tugged on Lin Mu’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”

Lin Mu followed closely behind. This was a large supermarket, and since it only had one floor, it covered a significant area.

Perhaps this area had fallen quickly, so even though the supermarket had been looted in the early days of the apocalypse, a significant amount of supplies still remained on the shelves—at least half of the items.

The floor was littered with trampled packaging from various snacks, clothes, and other goods.

The two moved along the wall, carefully navigating through the gaps between the shelves. A zombie, pinned to the ground by two toppled shelves, reached out toward them. Lin Mu calmly walked past it.

As they turned a corner, they were in luck—this section was the snack aisle. The team’s primary targets were staples like rice, flour, and cooking oil, so the snack area hadn’t been completely ransacked.

Fu Jingmo nodded at Lin Mu, glanced around, and whispered, “I’m going to close the door. You give it a try.”

What he meant, of course, was for Lin Mu to test his spatial ability.

Lin Mu nodded, adding, “Be careful.”

Closing the door was crucial to prevent zombies from outside from rushing in. The zombies inside the supermarket were scattered, making it manageable to deal with them one by one. But if the ones from outside poured in, it would become a much bigger problem.

Lin Mu moved closer to the space between two shelves and took a quick glance. These shelves were mostly stocked with biscuits and potato chips.

Remembering how He Ze had been munching on the knockoff biscuits he’d scavenged from a small village store every day, Lin Mu decided to upgrade his diet a bit.

He took off his backpack, even though no one was around, choosing to be cautious.

He tossed the food into the backpack, and as soon as it went in, it transferred directly into his space.

This way, if someone suddenly showed up, they’d just think he was putting things into his bag.

He grabbed some chocolate pies, sandwich cookies, and canisters of potato chips.

Well, everyone has cravings from time to time. Lin Mu didn’t clear out the shelves completely; he left about a third of each item and then moved on to the next shelf.

…Ah, jelly cups, various candies, chocolate-covered nuts, and gum.

Hmm, maybe when he gets home, he could use these to cheer up Xiao Yuan—perhaps even plant a flower or some greenery he likes as a companion.

With that in mind, Lin Mu quickly swept a large amount of the items into his space.

Suddenly, he heard the faint rustle of a packaging box being stepped on behind him, followed by the dragging of feet and an increasingly strong stench of decay. Lin Mu quickly ducked into a forward roll, then turned back, releasing vines from his palm to take down a zombie wearing a supermarket uniform.

After clearing out several shelves, Lin Mu finally came across something more useful—instant noodles.

Instant noodles were definitely a prime target for hoarding at the beginning of the apocalypse, so there wasn’t much left. But that was in terms of the entire supermarket.

For Lin Mu, the remaining instant noodles on the shelves were more than enough to last them several months if they used one pack at a time. He packed all the different flavors into his space.

Hmm, chicken stewed with mushrooms? Let’s take that too…

Next, he grabbed milk, drinks, and nuts—packing some of each. All the while, he continued clearing out zombies and moving between the shelves.

He instantly realized the immense benefits of having the space. With this space at his disposal, as long as they stored enough supplies, they’d never have to worry about food again.

Unfortunately, the rice, flour, and other staples seemed to be on the side where Zhao Rui had gone.

It only took about ten minutes to clear out this section. As Lin Mu turned a corner around a shelf, he saw Fu Jingmo returning.

Fu Jingmo nodded at him and walked over. “How did it go?”

“No problems. I left some behind,” Lin Mu replied, a rare hint of excitement in his tone as he smiled.

“Good. The area I just covered had clothes, blankets, and similar items. You might want to grab some of those too,” Fu Jingmo suggested.

Thinking about how they had been washing and re-wearing the same set of clothes for nearly two months, Lin Mu wholeheartedly agreed.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yu Hong and Shen Rangchen were clearing out zombies in the center of the supermarket. With the help of a few strength mutators, it wasn’t too difficult.

They were clearing their way toward Zhao Rui’s side, where the rice and flour—today’s key targets—were located.

Once most of the zombies had been dealt with, the strength mutators began moving the rice, flour, and other easily stored items toward the rolling shutter door.

Zhao Rui had also closed the front door, but it was a glass door. Although it was shut, the zombies outside had already spotted them.

Perhaps there had been a struggle here before, as some of the nearby floor-to-ceiling glass windows were shattered, resembling spiderwebs.

Although Zhao Rui was usually arrogant, his position as A2’s captain meant he was reliable when it came to getting things done. He knew they needed to speed up, otherwise, if more zombies gathered, those few glass panels might not hold.

Turning back, he crushed the heads of two zombies behind him with a single punch and then moved to regroup with the others in the center.

Meanwhile, in a place they were unaware of…

If one were to look down at this commercial district from above, it would appear as if the supermarket building were a giant heart, with the surrounding streets extending out like a network of veins.

And in that moment, every zombie on the streets, after a brief pause, began surging toward the heart like blood rushing through veins.