The difference in strength between the two sides was vast. Shuxin and her group, wearing ice skates, were much more agile on the ice surface. The dozen or so people were no match for them and were quickly knocked down, with no chance to resist.

When they got home, Shuxin still felt a lingering excitement. Unfortunately, no one else came to bother them on their way back.

While they were teaching the group of robbers a lesson, a few other people from the same building, who had also gone out to scavenge, happened to pass by and witnessed the whole thing. They spread word of the swift and brutal way Shuxin and her group dealt with the robbers, and combined with the memory of the last group that had been thoroughly beaten, they mentally labeled them as untouchable.

Unknowingly, this had significantly reduced a lot of unnecessary trouble for them, and life began to return to normal. They still went out occasionally, though.

As for Ye Yu’an, her life had become much busier.

During one of her trips to search for supplies, Ye Yu’an made an unexpected discovery. When she had casually thrown a piece of exquisite jade into her space while scavenging, it mysteriously disappeared. To her surprise, the space, which had previously been filled to the brim, now had a small gap of unused space.

It was a truly tiny gap—if she hadn’t been meticulous about ensuring that every inch of her space was maximized, with no gaps left, she might not have noticed this subtle change.

A bold thought emerged in Ye Yu’an’s mind: the space inside the bracelet could expand!

Verifying her hypothesis was simple—she just needed to place jade or similar gemstones into the space and see if it responded.

At the time, she was in a large shopping mall, which happened to have several world-famous jewelry and luxury stores on the top floors, making it a convenient location for her experiment.

The results confirmed her guess—Ye Yu’an was right! As long as she placed jade or gemstones into the space, the bracelet would automatically absorb them. Depending on the quality and quantity of the jade, the space would expand by different amounts.

After looting all the jewelry stores, Ye Yu’an’s space had increased by about fifty cubic meters. A larger space meant more storage for supplies, and Ye Yu’an fully understood the importance of this.

Knowing that the bracelet’s space could expand, Ye Yu’an began to venture out more frequently in search of supplies.

Since most jewelry stores were located on the ground floor of shopping malls and didn’t yield much, Ye Yu’an shifted her focus to the offices of the wealthy.

After searching through the private vaults of four wealthy individuals, she was indeed rewarded. The rich really liked to buy such things for their collections. Three of the vaults contained jade items that Ye Yu’an wanted, while one was packed full of gold bars. When Ye Yu’an opened the safe, she was nearly blinded by a whole box of gold bars.

“Sigh, so vulgar! So unbearable!”

Ye Yu’an’s lips curled into a wild smile as she quickly packed up the gold.

“Antique treasures in times of peace, gold in times of chaos.”

This principle has been true throughout history, and it was no different in the end times.

In the resource-scarce apocalypse, the value of various items skyrocketed, and precious metals like gold were no exception.

While Ye Yu’an was out expanding her space and collecting supplies, in the community, Du Hanxu and Wang Yayun were busy scheming to have someone deal with Ye Yu’an, recklessly rushing down the path of self-destruction.

After months of silence, the government took action once again, establishing more than a dozen shelters across the country and dispatching a large number of military personnel for rescue missions. They began to escort those willing to go to the shelters, sending them to nearby refuge centers for protection.