Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Massive Collection

’Looks like the zombies from before were lured away somewhere else.’

Chen Xing had already taken the remote from the manager’s body. With a press of a button, the shutter door slowly rose.

She stepped out cautiously and looked around. There was nothing.

She was currently on the fourth floor. Walking over to the directory, she checked the building’s layout and was surprised to find quite a few designer brand stores.

Of course, she wasn’t interested in designer clothes or bags. She wanted high-quality thermal gear, as well as home goods and kitchenware.

These items were on different floors. Outdoor gear was on the nineteenth floor, luxury home goods on the thirteenth, and kitchenware on the ninth.

’Alright, I’ll start from the top and work my way down, collecting as I go.’

She hurried toward the elevator.

The elevator door opened with a DING, revealing someone inside.

He was holding a club, crouched and ready to fight for his life at a moment’s notice.

When he saw a woman covered in blood standing at the entrance, looking like she’d just escaped from a mental asylum, he froze for a second. Then, still gripping his club tightly, he asked irritably, ”You getting in or not? If not, get lost!” ’Who hesitates at a time like this?’

All he wanted was to find a safe place to hide and wait for rescue as quickly as possible.

For him, the safest place right now was high up.

Chen Xing paid no mind to his harsh words and stepped into the elevator.

From the man’s expression, she could tell he was annoyed by how slow she was, and even more disgusted that she had pressed the button for the nineteenth floor.

’How dangerous is it for the elevator doors to open even once at a time like this?’

He wished he could get to the top floor in one go.

The elevator quickly reached the nineteenth floor. The man had already tightened his grip on his club, ready for action. He had a plan: if anything looked wrong outside, he would kick the girl in front of him out.

DING... The doors opened.

There were no zombies right at the door, but the sound of the elevator had attracted some from a distance, and they were now frantically running toward them.

The man thought Chen Xing would close the doors and continue up with him, but to his surprise, she stepped right out of the elevator.

”...” ’Does she have a death wish?’

’She’s looking for death. It has nothing to do with me!’

The moment Chen Xing was out, the man frantically slammed the ’close door’ button, wishing he could smash it.

Even if this woman screamed her lungs out, he would absolutely not soften his heart and open the door.

Chen Xing ran forward, taking down the approaching zombies one by one with her blade.

Luckily, she was right in front of the outdoor gear store.

Inside the open shop was everything one could possibly need for wilderness survival.

Thermal gear, tents, sleeping bags, moisture-proof mats, flashlights, long-range walkie-talkies, climbing ropes, binoculars, compasses, fire-starting tools... there was even portable food with a long shelf life.

Chen Xing wasn’t picky. She took everything she saw.

Now that she had her dimensional space as a warehouse, she didn’t need to overthink it. If she thought it might be useful, her rule was simple: take it!

In the blink of an eye, Chen Xing had emptied the several-hundred-square-meter store.

She did another sweep, killed a few more zombies, and grabbed some useful items from other stores before heading to call the elevator.

The elevator was a bit slow to arrive. After a few dozen seconds, it finally started descending from the top floor.

’That stop was a bit strange.’

After that man reached the top floor, he must have run out quickly, and the doors would have naturally closed. For the elevator to remain stationary for so long, either someone else got in, or zombies did.

Chen Xing didn’t stand too close to the elevator doors.

With a DING, the elevator doors slowly opened, revealing it to be packed with zombies.

And among the horde of zombies, the man from the elevator—his eyes now gray—was snarling and clawing at her.

Chen Xing didn’t care whether he’d become a zombie or not. Right now, she just wanted to gather supplies. Killing zombies could wait until she had secured food and warmth.

She turned, entered the stairwell she had scouted out earlier, and shut the door behind her.

’Good thing I chose to go from top to bottom.’ She quickly descended several floors, reaching the thirteenth.

She had to get more home goods.

The entire thirteenth floor was a haven of home goods, with stores for all sorts of brands, all of them top-tier.

She didn’t have many major demands. Of course, she wanted to eat well, but her living conditions had to be comfortable.

In her previous life, because she hadn’t been prepared, she had slept on hard floors almost every day. At best, it was a hard plank bed; a comfortable mattress was never something she had.

Since heaven had given her the means in this life, she refused to just make do.

She began her harvest, dealing with zombies as she went.

Not only did she collect bedding, she even took the display beds themselves.

Perhaps she got too greedy. By the time she was almost done with the thirteenth floor, her space was full. Even the two depressions were filled with things.

She immediately looked for a place to hide, but the vast floor was completely open-plan.

Left with no choice, she squeezed into a decorative wardrobe.

Not long after she got in, she froze as if petrified. Sure enough, the upgrade was starting.

’This thing is just too good. If it keeps getting infinitely large, won’t I hit the jackpot?’

’There are enough things to harvest in this building alone, not to mention all the large shopping malls in Hualai City!’

Her mind was filled with thoughts of collecting supplies, and she was reveling in her own delight when she suddenly heard footsteps and the sound of conversation.

”Brother Xiao... it looks like all the monsters here have been dealt with.”

”Let’s still be careful. Didn’t you see the supermarket downstairs was completely emptied? I think it must have been the army or an organized team. How could the two of us possibly compete with that many people? Let’s just quietly find some useful things and hide quickly.”

”You’re right, one person couldn’t possibly kill this many monsters! But... I can understand taking the food from the supermarket downstairs, but why would someone take bedding? Don’t tell me this place hadn’t even opened for business yet?”

He was curious too, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. ”There are still some things over there. Let’s go take a look.”

Chen Xing: ”...” She heard the footsteps getting closer and closer.

’I still can’t move. If they see me and decide to kill me, there’s nothing I can do.’

The footsteps entered the store she was in. As if worried about danger, both of them lightened and slowed their steps.

”It looks like only a small portion of the stuff here is left...” The one who spoke was a middle-aged man. His hand reached for the wardrobe door.

Chen Xing estimated she would be able to move in another minute or two.

She sent her consciousness into her space and moved a pig into the outside world.

Fortunately, her hand was touching the wardrobe, so the fat pig was successfully placed just outside it.

With a loud SQUEAL, the fat pig started running around the shop.

At first, the two men were startled and prepared to kill it, but then their expressions became indescribable.

How could a live pig appear in a place like this?

It seemed that aside from the farms and slaughterhouses outside the city, it was impossible to see a live pig in Hualai City—especially one that was so full of life.

Watching it scamper about so joyfully, you’d think it was having the time of its life.

”Brother Xiao, what the hell is this thing?”