Jiang Xiang turned without hesitation, moving on to the next place—a stir-fry restaurant. It wasn’t open in the mornings but they would have prepped ingredients so there should be plenty of fresh food, frozen goods, and drinks. The door was locked, but with the number of corpses drifting around inside, it seemed unlikely anyone was still alive.

“Claw it open.” Lan Shiru instructed.

With one swipe of Jiang Xiang’s paw, the thick glass door gave way silently. His claws could punch through ten centimeters of concrete not to mention a glass door was no match.

Sensing fresh prey, the corpses turned but Jiang Xiang made quick work of them, dispatching each with a single swipe. Lan Shiru barely had a chance to join in.

She went straight to the counter and kitchen, sweeping up all the food and drink, and selecting the most useful kitchen supplies. They’d stocked a lot of spices and paper towels—both essentials—so she took them all.

Next door was a hotpot place, loaded with broths, sauces, and ingredients. They had plenty of drinks, paper goods, and—best of all—portable gas canisters for cooking. Lan Shiru stashed these as well, along with extra stoves. They’d be able to cook proper meals now. She thought of all the hotpot ingredients she could use later.

“Jiang Xiang, do you like hotpot?”

Jiang Xiang tilted his head. Hotpot? What’s that?

Thwack! Another corpse fell to his claws.

Lan Shiru puffed her cheeks in amusement. Poor Jiang Xiang had never tasted hotpot. When he was young, he was too little for it, and later, they were always on the run with no chance to enjoy a real meal. “We’ll have some when we get back. I’m sure you’ll love it.”

Jiang Xiang licked his nose. Whether he liked hotpot or not, it didn’t matter as long as there was meat.

They circled the hospital, passing all kinds of restaurants. Some still had survivors inside, which they didn’t approach, but they raided the rest. Whether it was snack bars or full-service restaurants, Lan Shiru collected all the ready-to-eat food she could find, storing it in her space to keep it fresh for when little Le Bao grew up. There wouldn’t be any more food like this in the future.

Even if there were ingredients, it didn’t help. Lan Shiru admitted she didn’t have the talent for cooking.

Especially for things like fried chicken, fries, and hamburgers—children’s favorites. Not that they were junk food, but in the apocalypse, those were luxury items. So, when they raided the old man’s store, Lan Shiru took his cooking machines, including the oil he had prepared for the day, but it went unused.

By the time they had finished their sweep, it felt like the entire place had been ravaged by locusts. They’d worked quickly—three hours, but it had been exhausting. Lan Shiru felt like her legs weren’t even hers anymore. Jiang Xiang was doing better than her, but he wasn’t exactly at ease either. He’d taken care of most of the corpses, while she focused on collecting supplies.

“Jiang Xiang, can you still hold on?” Lan Shiru slumped in a corner, feeling like a puddle of exhaustion. Her voice was hoarse and weak as if someone had strangled her.

Jiang Xiang lay nearby, panting heavily. “Woof, woof.” I can.

Lan Shiru pulled out a bottle of water and gave it to Jiang Xiang, watching him drink. “Alright then, let’s raid the nearby pharmacies and maternity stores, then head to the mall. We’ll take a look and grab what we can, then rest in the secret space. How does that sound?”

“Woof, woof.” Sounds good.

Lan Shiru smiled, finishing the water Jiang Xiang had left behind, wiped the sweat from her face, and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

Jiang Xiang leaped up energetically, once again looking like a lively and handsome young companion.

The pharmacies and maternity stores weren’t privately owned, and no one was on watch at night. In the morning, the stores were still closed, with the doors locked from the outside, so there was no concern about encountering any zombies inside.

Jiang Xiang was in charge of opening the doors, while Lan Shiru handled the destruction of the cameras. The two of them had developed this teamwork over time, always aiming to keep things as low-key as possible.

While they couldn’t guarantee they were completely off-camera, they could be at least 80% sure.

Once the doors were open, Jiang Xiang stood guard, while Lan Shiru began looting without hesitation, planning to organize everything later.

They raided three pharmacies and four maternity stores around the hospital. The stores weren’t too big or too small, but they had a respectable amount of supplies. Along the way, they also hit a chain supermarket and then made their way down the street toward the mall.

The mall’s front doors were open, with bloodstains on the floor. It seemed they had been preparing to open for business during the day, but were interrupted by a zombie invasion. After some kind of battle, it was unclear who had won or lost. Despite the time that had passed, no one had come to clean up the mess, indicating that the big boss didn’t care much about such a small mall—or perhaps the boss was in no condition to care for it.

Either way, it was all a bonus for Lan Shiru who was quite pleased.

She took care to destroy any visible cameras, then started looting. To avoid suspicion, she took about 90% of the items, while scattering the rest around the store to create the illusion of a group of people having raided the place.

The mall had ten floors, including a basement. Each floor had at least a few zombies. To be cautious, Lan Shiru had Jiang Xiang sniff around to check for any living people.

They were lucky—there were no signs of survivors.

There weren’t many zombies as at the onset of the acid rain, the authorities had made extensive public calls urging everyone to stay indoors.

Most people followed the advice, staying inside and avoiding the acid rain, but they couldn’t avoid the virus. The virus was insidious, penetrating everywhere—there was no escaping it, not even underground, unless one stopped breathing entirely.

Most of the zombies in the mall were employees. A few reckless individuals had paid the price with their lives, though some might have been lucky enough to escape and make it back home.

Starting from the basement, they worked their way up floor by floor: food, home goods, clothing, bags, and further up, luxury items—jewelry, clothing, bags, trinkets, antiques, and jade. They raided every single one.

By the time they reached the top floor, the sky had already brightened. Fortunately, they had gathered most of what they needed, including a warehouse full of supplies. Lan Shiru was highly satisfied—there was enough for their small family to last a lifetime.

Of course, being content wasn’t possible—she just tried to calm herself down.

The apocalypse would last a long time. Little Le Bao’s father and a few of his good friends couldn’t be left to enjoy the good life while the rest of the group watched, hungry and pale.

So, there wasn’t enough. But they didn’t need to rush anymore. They could afford to take their time with the next phase of the plan which was to head to the outskirts of the city. There, they would find wholesale markets, seed markets, and livestock markets—things that her space would need, and things they would need to survive in the future.

She found a temporary rest area for employees. After Lan Shiru and Jiang Xiang entered, she locked the door behind them securely.

It seemed to be a boss’ break room, complete with a small restroom.

Lan Shiru took out two large plastic bathtubs—one for the bathroom and one for the break room—and filled them with water. She and Jiang Xiang soaked in the baths, separated by the wall, and enjoyed the relaxing experience.

One word: bliss.

Looking out the window, Lan Shiru noticed the street had brightened with the early morning light. More people had started cautiously venturing outside, hiding and watching from various corners.

The fact that people who had been hiding all day were now coming out signaled that the true chaos of the apocalypse had begun.

After finishing their baths, Lan Shiru and Jiang Xiang entered her space.

Little Le Bao had wet himself again and even had a little accident. He didn’t cry, though, just fussed a bit in discomfort.

Lan Shiru quickly cleaned him up and fed him before preparing food. The hotpot ingredients, including the base, sides, pot, stove, and gas, were all ready—just set up and it was good to go.

Jiang Xiang could already smell the food, saliva dripping as it eagerly awaited the feast.

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