Several people went upstairs to search, only to find the place thoroughly ransacked. Almost everything in the office was made of plastic. Occasionally, they came across wooden desks, but those were made of sawdust and glue, which not only burned easily but also released toxic fumes.

The same situation applied to the other office building. They only found some leftover instant food, a few boxes of bottled water, and a small amount of wood.

They returned to the building where Zhang Chao’s company was located. There were also signs of intrusion, but the condition was relatively better.

Most likely, the looters realized it had already been picked over, so they rushed to the other two buildings instead.

Jiang Ning had guessed right—there were fewer traces the higher up they went.

She suggested searching again, this time staggered, since everyone notices different things and they might have missed something before.

Jiang Ning rechecked the areas Lu Yu had searched the previous day, while Zhang Chao swapped with the person in room 1801.

Yesterday, their focus was on medicine and food. Today, their priorities had changed.

With 150 cubic meters of additional space available, Jiang Ning—ever wary of the future—wanted to fill it up as much as possible.

She collected books to enrich the spirit, elegant vases from executive offices, solid wood desks, wardrobes, jade ornaments from bookshelves, and even mop handles from janitorial closets.

When it came to scavenging, men weren’t as meticulous as women. Jiang Ning found lots of missed snacks, rechecked deliveries, and collected suitable clothes and shoes.

She discovered a jade company. The front counters were empty, but there were no signs of forced entry.

After wandering around, she found the manager’s office locked tight.

It was another fortress-like door. She took out her tools and pried it open. Inside the office were four safes.

They probably contained jade. Jiang Ning put all of it into her storage space, also taking the tea, cigarettes, and alcohol she found. She even used her Tang sword to chop up the office furniture.

At an outpost of a sportswear brand, she took back sizes that would fit her team and swept everything else into her space.

One company seemed to have been preparing for a team-building activity—the administration office had several large boxes of barbecue charcoal and some outdoor cooking tools.

After scavenging four floors, Jiang Ning returned to a clothing live-streaming company, collected another batch of clothes, and even picked up underwear and bras that the men were too embarrassed to take.

She also went back to the home appliance company from the previous night and secretly took a batch of potentially useful devices, including a luxury massage chair worth tens of thousands.

She quietly slipped into areas the other three had already searched, avoiding overlapping their time, and took anything useful she found, filling up the extra 150 cubic meters of space.

To make transport easier, all solid wood furniture was dismantled and cut into uniform lengths. Two assault boats and three inflatable boats were filled to capacity.

They got back earlier this time, and even after unloading and distributing everything, it was just past nine o’clock.

After today’s events, the 18th floor had earned an infamous reputation. The other residents in the building were now visibly uneasy around them.

They didn’t bother hiding anymore, openly carrying wood upstairs.

Once the door was shut, Jiang Ning entered her space. The safes were sitting steadily in a corner, but the living room, balcony, and bathroom hadn’t expanded.

Could the jade be fake?

Unwilling to give up, she opened the master bedroom door…

Eh? A new bathroom had appeared, about 10 square meters in size.

The safes couldn’t be opened, but they likely contained genuine jade. Still, all she got was 10 extra square meters—clearly, the upgrade conditions were very strict.

No matter. She could keep searching.

In the apocalypse, gold, silver, and jade weren’t worth much. When the time came, bartering was always an option.

She slept until midnight, only to be woken by loud noises and shrill screams downstairs.

Such things were common in the apocalypse. Jiang Ning simply turned over and went back to sleep.

She woke up naturally in the morning, had two red bean buns and shumai for breakfast, and felt full after a bottle of milk.

The weather was awful, and the vegetables she had planted were yellowing badly. Jiang Ning diluted some nutrient solution and watered them, hoping to revive them.

She checked her space with her mind—the timer had only increased by 2 hours. Slower than a snail.

She’d gained 10 square meters of black soil, so she decided to keep planting vegetables, aiming to store up two to three years’ worth before growing other things.

Of course, fruit saplings grew slowly, so she planted those early. Older trees would definitely yield fruit by next year.

Her physical training had clearly paid off—tilling and sowing now saved her 15 minutes.

In a harsh environment, 15 minutes could be the difference between life and death.

Just as she left the space, Lu Yu knocked on the door.

When she opened it and saw his bruised and swollen face, Jiang Ning was startled. “Who hit you?”

Lu Yu looked embarrassed. “Well… Zhang Chao and I aren’t in great shape, so Wei Li started training us hard last night.”

She used to not even touch him, but now she was putting him through hell.

Lu Yu knew the world had changed. He couldn’t always rely on Wei Li and Jiang Ning to protect him.

Starting now, he wanted to man up and protect his woman.

“Yeah, you two definitely need the training.”

Jiang Ning suddenly remembered something and went back inside to grab a black bag. “Found this in an office building. Thought you and Sister Wei Li might need it, so I kept it.”

When he saw what was inside, Lu Yu looked awkward, then laughed. “Thanks. I’ve been looking for this.”

He almost forgot the main point and asked with a grin, “Did you hear what happened last night?”

“Nope, slept like a log.”

“Yang Weicong and Su Mengyao got robbed.”

Lu Yu disliked Yang Weicong for stringing along multiple women, including trying to seduce Jiang Ning. Thankfully, she pulled away in time. “They brought supplies back so high-profile yesterday—it’s no surprise someone targeted them.”

Yang Weicong was renting 802, and the two-bedroom apartment was too crowded, so they’d also stuffed people into 1202.

The attackers hit 1202 first. If Yang Weicong and others hadn’t rushed up in time, Su Mengyao could’ve been assaulted by several men.

The attackers fled, but when they got back to the 8th floor, all their supplies were gone.

Jiang Ning was surprised. “A decoy maneuver? Even robberies require brains these days.”

“Most of their stuff was on the 8th floor, but their assault boats and inflatables weren’t taken.”

Jiang Ning smiled. It wasn’t that the looters didn’t want them—they were just planning to raise the victims like leeks and harvest them slowly.

“One of the robbers got injured and shamelessly came knocking, asking you to treat him.”

But no matter how loud they shouted, no one from the 18th floor responded.

Another thing—two people from other units came this morning.

“They wanted to pledge allegiance. Wei Li drove them off.”

Jiang Ning couldn’t help but laugh. The 18th floor was just trying to survive—how did they become a feared gang?

While chatting, Zhang Chao, also bruised and swollen, came out. “Are we heading out again today?”

“I’m staying in. If you need to go, feel free. I’ll watch the place.”

Most places had already been scavenged. There wasn’t much left that Jiang Ning needed. Plus, Zheng Weili and Lu Yu had been brainwashed by Zhang Chao’s apocalypse theories—they now believed they were lacking everything and had a heightened sense of danger.

After some quick goodbyes, the three took the inflatable boats and left to collect supplies and gather intel.

Shortly after noon, three more people came to swear allegiance.

Jiang Ning was annoyed and stuck a notice on the door: “No Alliances.”

It wasn’t just those with ulterior motives—even with Zheng Weili and the others, she couldn’t fully let down her guard.

In the apocalypse, human hearts were the hardest to read. People had eaten their own children in darker times—forget friends or colleagues.

If things ever fell apart, she wouldn’t hesitate to walk away.

She lacked nothing in terms of daily necessities. As for the rarer supplies, she’d have to figure out how to expand her storage space first.

With the others gone, Jiang Ning relaxed completely. She took out spicy chicken feet, squid strips, cold dishes, and braised duck intestines—snacking and reading to pass the time.

It was still early, so she took out pre-mixed meat filling and started wrapping wontons.

She made over a thousand while binge-watching a show. Then she heard the others come back.

They were carrying wood and two stainless steel doors from a mall.

Compared to Jiang Ning’s and room 1801’s doors, Lu Yu felt deeply insecure. He had taken measurements and spent a long time finding those doors in the mall.

They spent ages hammering and fixing things, and finally completed the transformation of room 1803.

There was an extra door, which they installed on the stairwell.

Now, getting to the 18th floor required passing through three checkpoints.

Watching Lu Yu apply cement, Jiang Ning asked curiously, “Where’d you find that?”

“Passed by a construction site, climbed in, and grabbed two bags.”

The three of them planned another trip to get some glass to enclose the balcony. With the constant rain, it was too damp.

Jiang Ning reminded them, “Get good quality ones. If a typhoon blows the glass out again, it’ll be a mess.”

Lu Yu agreed and told Zhang Chao about a few apartments in the complex where glass had shattered.

After thinking about it all day, Jiang Ning was still convinced that the expansion of the space was related to spiritual energy.

The disappearing antique shelf was probably linked to its wood material.

High-quality wood takes decades, even centuries to form. For example, golden phoebe takes thousands of years.

Museums had been flooded, and ancient artifacts were either salvaged or evacuated early. Gold, silver, and jade were easier to find after the floodwaters receded.

Now, her only viable path was wood.

Wood?

Jiang Ning…