Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Everything Went into Her Pocket

The intense light was as bright as day, leaving nowhere to hide.

Fortunately, there was a patch of tall grass a dozen or so meters behind Chen Xing.

She was already hidden before the light reached her.

After the harsh light faded, Chen Xing began to survey the factory complex.

There were a dozen or so factory buildings of various sizes, each a considerable distance from the next.

Each building was a standalone structure, separated by simple fences. Small gates, wide enough for two people to pass through at once, connected them.

What looked like an ordinary factory complex at first glance was actually designed with great security in mind.

Even if a problem broke out in one building, they could guarantee the safety of the others just by closing the connecting gate in time.

Moreover, each building had guards patrolling its perimeter, making it difficult to get close.

Chen Xing crept forward to the edge of a fence to get a closer look.

She saw spots of rust on the fence; it had clearly been there for some time.

The people inside moved with a well-established order, not like something thrown together after the zombie outbreak.

It was as if they had known the zombie outbreak was coming.

’If I hadn’t seen those zombie dogs earlier, I might have doubted what I’m seeing now.’

But after fighting the zombie dogs, she figured it wasn’t impossible that some people had prepared in advance.

After all, the zombie dogs from the Research Institute had shown up just a tad bit before the apocalypse began.

Some people at the Research Institute must have known about things like zombies, so it was possible word had gotten out.

None of this was important to her.

What mattered was that these people had tried to take what was hers. That was something she absolutely couldn’t tolerate.

Just as she was wondering how to get inside, she heard the sound of vehicles approaching in the distance.

A convoy of vehicles appeared, their headlights cutting through the darkness.

A few motorcycles led the way, followed by several SUVs, with three cargo trucks bringing up the rear.

At the gate to the factory complex, the leader roared impatiently, ”Open the fucking door!”

Despite all the noise, no one came to open the gate.

After a moment, one of the underlings ran over to open it. Seeing his boss was in a foul mood, he immediately scurried to the side.

’Chen Xing completely understood the leader’s mood. It’d be stranger if he *didn’t* throw a fit.’

They had gone to all that trouble, luring zombies into the safe zone, only to come back completely empty-handed.

”Are you deaf?” the leader barked, getting out of his vehicle and kicking the underling who had opened the gate.

The underling crumpled to his knees in pain but didn’t dare make a sound.

Just then, Gundam came running out from the central factory building, pulling on his clothes as he went. ”Boss, did it not go well?” he asked.

The leader was furious. He shot Gundam a sideways glare. ”Didn’t you say your inside source was reliable? Reliable my fucking ass! I didn’t find a goddamn thing!”

”That’s impossible!” Gundam said, shocked. ”He was crystal clear. The main force from the Military Department was supposed to leave the safe zone for the Capital City around three.”

”They left, alright, but they took every last fucking thing with them!” The leader was so angry he flung his arms, looking like he wanted to hit someone.

But he didn’t lay a hand on Gundam.

This Gundam might look frail and incapable, but he was highly intelligent and always the one to come up with their plans.

Even if this trip was a bust, they’d still made some small gains from the foot of the mountain.

Gundam couldn’t figure it out.

”My source was clear that they’d only take enough for the road. The warehouse should have had plenty of food and ammunition. How could it all be gone? Did someone sabotage us?”

Chen Xing smiled smugly.

’Of course someone did!’

’All the supplies went right into my pocket.’

’The Military Department thinks they were robbed, and this biker gang thinks the military took everything.’

At that moment, Chen Xing was inside the last cargo truck, listening clearly to the conversation outside.

She had slipped into the truck when it had stopped at the gate, successfully infiltrating the factory complex.

The truck rolled to a slow stop in a spacious factory yard.

Since the haul was a bust, the driver got out and joined the others gathered outside the central building where the leader was talking.

After waiting a moment, Chen Xing slowly opened the truck door.

Seeing that everyone was gathered in one spot and no one was paying attention to her, she quietly slipped over and blended into the crowd.

Because the crowd was large, no one noticed her.

”Boss, I feel like something is off about this whole thing.” Gundam had always been cautious, never acting unless he was absolutely certain.

’Even with all my caution, something still went wrong. I’ll have to be even more careful from now on.’

The leader was still angry, but he always trusted Gundam’s judgment. ”What’s off?”

Gundam began his analysis. ”When the Military Brigade Commander led his men away, we were watching from a distance. They definitely weren’t carrying any extra gear. We also had eyes on the sanatorium’s exit the entire time; not a single vehicle left for hours. How could that much stuff just vanish? You don’t think they carried all those supplies with them while fleeing for their lives, do you?” After all, they were escaping up a mountain!

”That’s right! We didn’t enter the sanatorium until it was safe,” the leader said, the realization dawning on him. ”I searched that underground garage you told me about several times over. All I fucking got out of it was this useless broad!” Just thinking about it made him sick.

They had to wait for the zombie horde to clear out before they could go in, so they were stuck waiting outside the sanatorium for hours. In the end, they didn’t find a single grain of rice, just a bunch of old, weak, and sick people.

He gestured, and one of his men dragged a young woman out of a vehicle.

It was Yan Caini.

Chen Xing had been in such a hurry to secure the supplies that she hadn’t noticed Yan Caini had also made it to the underground level.

Yan Caini’s face was deathly pale with fear, and she was trembling so hard she barely dared to breathe.

”Tell him what you just told me,” the leader said. His tone wasn’t as harsh with the woman, especially a pretty one.

”We were originally trying to escape up the mountain...” Yan Caini explained how Chen Xing had suddenly led them underground. ”When we got down there, there was really nothing left!” Even with ten brains, she never would have guessed that Chen Xing had taken everything.

”We have maps of the sanatorium. There are definitely no other exits or warehouses. This is bizarre!” Gundam was stumped. ”Don’t tell me someone has one of those magical bags that can hold anything?”

Chen Xing was speechless. ’It’s not a bag, but he’s basically right. I do have a badass space that can hold a ton of stuff.’

She fixed her gaze on Gundam.

Gundam wasn’t particularly tall. He wore glasses and had a somewhat scholarly air about him.

But behind those glasses, his thoughts were impossible to read.

”Like hell that kind of thing exists!” The leader didn’t believe a word of it. ”If something like that was real, would I have to bust my ass searching the whole damn world for supplies?”

”You’re right, it’s impossible,” Gundam agreed, having only said it because he couldn’t find any other explanation. ”Boss, don’t worry for now. I’ll contact my source again when I have a chance and see what went wrong. We’ll figure something out. It’s getting late, you should get some rest.”

The leader nodded, then grabbed Yan Caini by the arm and pulled her into a lounge area built inside the factory.

Yan Caini didn’t dare resist. Her mind was consumed with a single thought: ’Just do as he says and I can live.’

Gundam then gave his orders. ”You few, take the vehicles to the underground garage. The rest of you, go on about your business. Dismissed!”

As Chen Xing watched the vehicles slowly drive toward the large gate of a factory building on the east side, a woman sidled up to her.