The area around the 4S store had plenty of leisure and entertainment facilities along with several banks making it convenient for transactions and loans.

Money had lost its value but many people were still curious about the banks, and several had pried open doors.

Inside, everything was a mess. Vaults and safes had been broken into, and a lot of items were taken. However, before leaving it seemed like they realized the things were of no use and discarded them carelessly.

“Wow, gold bars, diamonds, jewelry… Is it really okay to waste all this? I’ve never seen so many valuable things in my life. Sis, can we take them?”

“Sure, they’re not worth much, but they’re quite pretty.”

“Right? I think so too. Take your time, Sis, I’ll go pry open all the doors.”

Miao Miao was busy and having the time of her life, already excited.

Jiang Xiang watched coldly, observing how strange humans were. What was the point of all these hard, tasteless items?

After finishing with a few banks, they went to several entertainment facilities—foot spas, massages, facials. They had their fill of treatments from head to toe, collecting massaging chairs, serums, face masks, and so on. They had enough to last for years if they ever opened a shop; they had even collected plenty from the mall earlier which they could now use and discard as needed.

They also came across a huge children’s store, catering to ages zero to ten, covering everything from physical health to mental well-being, physical development to intellectual growth, and play to education. Lan Shiru nearly wanted to uproot the entire building—it truly felt like they had stripped it down to just four walls.

Miao Miao swallowed nervously. “Sis, do you think Little Le Bao can play with all this stuff?”

“It’s fine. If he can’t play with it, just leave it. Let’s move on to the next place.”

Miao Miao could never really understand what it felt like to be a mother. Moms would post about their kids everywhere, and even when shopping, everything was for the child. Even when drinking water, they’d think about bringing something back for the kid. Motherly love was truly great. She suddenly missed her own mom.

“Sis, I want to be a mom too. Can you help me find someone in the future?”

Lan Shiru twitched the corner of her mouth. She had never considered that role for herself. “Find someone yourself.”

“Alright…”

Their next target was a high-end restaurant. These places were full of rare ingredients, things they couldn’t afford before, but who knew what the future would hold.

“Ugh,” someone exclaimed.

Outside the luxurious Western restaurant, Jiang Xiang stopped.

Lan Shiru frowned. “Are there a lot of them?”

“Woof, woof.” A lot.

She muttered to herself what a pity before saying. “Let’s move on. There are too many people here.”

Miao Miao swallowed nervously. Coming from the countryside, she had never had western food before. She had heard that dishes like steak and foie gras would make people feel like they were in heaven. She had been expecting a hearty meal, but now, she was just disappointed.

They moved on to a seafood restaurant, but the taste was far from heavenly. “It’s all gone bad.”

“Probably due to the water being contaminated with acid rain. Let’s see if we can find some usable seasonings or cooking tools. These things aren’t bad.”

After ten minutes of rummaging, they moved on to the next place.

It was a buffet restaurant. No need for anyone to remind her; from behind the glass walls, she could see countless decaying corpses wandering around. “Why are there so many? Were they locked in here?”

“Maybe they don’t cook at home, so they decided to eat out for convenience. They never expected to run into these corpses. They probably took refuge here, but got trapped in the end. Let’s move on to the next place.”

They checked out more than ten larger restaurants, gathering a lot of supplies and taking down quite a few zombies. The living people they encountered barely acknowledged each other. Everyone kept to their own business, with no interest in drawing attention. Those brave enough to be out at night didn’t want to deal with any unnecessary drama or burdens. Everyone just did their own thing.

“Sis, I think it’s really peaceful out here at night. If it were during the day, we wouldn’t have found so much. I know there’s a big market ahead. Want to check it out?”

“Let’s go. Is it far? If it’s far, we can ride an electric scooter. The noise from driving would be too loud.”

“It’s not too far. It would only take about ten minutes to run there.”

“Then let’s run.” The area around the large market was surrounded by residential neighborhoods, so the situation inside the market wouldn’t be good.

“Quick in and out. We can’t get surrounded. Stay cautious. No need to go to the fresh food or rice and noodle sections, they’ve probably been looted by the locals. Do they sell seeds and seedlings inside?”

“Yes, a lot of residents like to grow their own vegetables, so there’s a section for that.”

“Alright, let’s head straight to the seed section. Do they have gas canisters?”

“Yes.”

“You lead the way. First, go to the seed section. If we have time and it’s safe, we’ll check out the gas canisters. Jiang Xiang and you, stay ahead. I’ll cover the rear.”

“Got it, Big Sis.”

The two of them quickly made their plan, took a deep breath, and dashed out.

The zombies were slow to react, and as long as they weren’t in the way, neither of them paid any attention to them, charging forward without hesitation.

When they passed the butcher shop, they ran into a cluster of zombies. There was no way around it—they had to charge straight through.

Jiang Xiang was the first to show his claws and limbs, leaping forward and taking down four zombies in one swift motion. Miao Miao followed closely, swiftly severing two heads with a single strike. The strength was definitely an advantage—her hand moved like a blade, without hesitation.

The pair continued to charge forward, leaving the rear to Lan Shiru.

Lan Shiru naturally wouldn’t let her teammates down, taking care of anyone who tried to get too close.

Miao Miao was on a roll, but when a zombie from a nearby shop was pushed into her back, its foul mouth aimed straight at her shoulder. She saw it coming but couldn’t free a hand, trusting Lan Shiru to have her back. With a cold glance, she focused on dealing with the zombies in front of her.

Lan Shiru leaped over in a single bound, slicing off half the zombie’s head, and a disgusting, slimy liquid splattered across Miao Miao’s face.

Miao Miao wanted to cry out, “Sis!!”

Lan Shiru grinned. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

Well, they kept charging forward.

After fighting through twenty minutes of bloody chaos, they finally arrived. The soil and water sources were all destroyed by acid rain, and the seeds and seedlings were no longer in demand. However, the shops themselves were still intact.

Lan Shiru glanced around—there was a wide variety of seeds, including small fruit tree saplings that could be grown indoors, like kumquats and dragon fruit. With a wave of her hand, she collected them all. An unexpected surprise was the neighboring store—a farming supply shop with both small and large equipment, as well as fertilizers and nutrient soil. Though the stock wasn’t much, it was still a good find.

“Sis, there’s a generator here. Can we use it?”

It was a small home generator, perfect for their needs. “Yes, we can. There aren’t many zombies around, so we can look for more.”

The planting area wasn’t large—just four or five shops, plus three or four stores selling tools and fertilizers.

“That’s it, sis. Up ahead is a live poultry shop. There are a lot of zombies there eating meat. It’s too disgusting. Let’s skip it.”

“Alright, let’s check out the gas canister shop.”

“Okay, this way.”

Nowadays, most neighborhoods used natural gas, so gas canisters weren’t in high demand. The older neighborhoods, mostly inhabited by migrant workers, still relied on them. With over ten shops, there was a fair amount of stock.

Lan Shiru collected it all, and there were still several stores selling bottled water, though a lot had already been looted. She didn’t mind, collecting what was left.

“Woof, woof.” it was getting dangerous. “We should go, quickly.”

Jiang Xiang suddenly tensed, his fur standing on end, his violet eyes glowing with a dangerous light in the darkness.

“What is it?” Lan Shiru couldn’t help but shiver. Whatever had made Jiang Xiang wary wasn’t just some small creature.

“Woof, woof.” it was a bug. A hateful bug.

>>>