Chapter 68: Leave Nothing for Those People

’So that’s why they set this vicious trap.’

"That’s right. While this is a bad thing, from another perspective, it’s also a good thing," Nina Jacobs said.

This meant that the supplies inside this mall hadn’t been taken yet.

"Looks like I’ve underestimated how things are now."

A strong sense of crisis suddenly washed over Chester Pearson.

Their enemies weren’t just zombies.

"Let’s figure out how to get in first. Since they want the supplies inside, they must have left an entrance," Nina Jacobs said as she observed their surroundings.

Her gaze landed on a brand-new billboard not far to the side.

"That over there was added later," Nina Jacobs said, almost certain.

After an acid rain, even the highest quality billboard would show some corrosion.

But that billboard was new.

It looked completely out of place.

"You’re right."

Chester Pearson directly conjured a Fireball and set the billboard ablaze.

The outer layer of the billboard quickly caught fire, and soon, only the metal frame inside was left.

"Just as I thought, there’s an entrance hidden there."

Chester Pearson sneered.

It was a floor-to-ceiling glass window that could be opened from the outside.

It had probably been left for workers to clean the windows or install things.

But it had been completely blocked by the billboard.

"Yeah, but we still need to be careful."

Nina Jacobs had already scouted the area with her Five Senses Enhancement, and she couldn’t hear any zombie growls inside.

But she couldn’t rule out the possibility of zombies or other traps.

"Let me try."

Ian Chandler held onto the metal frame and tried to Control the glass door from a short distance.

His Space Superpower allowed him to control objects without touching them.

It was a bit like the Gravity Technique.

Under the effect of his Space Superpower, the glass door actually began to open slowly.

"Nice work."

No zombies charged out from inside.

Nina Jacobs took out a flashlight and tossed it inside. The flashlight instantly illuminated the passageway, making it as bright as day.

"It’s safe for now."

Once they were finally inside the mall, Chester Pearson understood what Nina Jacobs had meant about someone having a backup plan.

This corridor was clearly a safe passage someone had prepared in advance.

On either side were only a few stinking zombie corpses.

Nina Jacobs checked and found that none of these zombies had formed a Crystal Core yet.

The corridor led directly to the supermarket’s snack aisle.

Nina Jacobs took out a few more high-powered flashlights to illuminate the supermarket.

The two of them flanked Ian Chandler, protecting him as he collected the supplies.

Wayne Warner stood behind the three of them.

Nina Jacobs noticed Wayne Warner staring at a spot on the shelves.

"You want some?"

It was the section with meat snacks.

Seeing Wayne Warner nod, Nina Jacobs opened a pack of braised chicken legs and handed it to him.

Come to think of it, Wayne Warner had eaten a lot during breakfast too.

It seemed Doctor Sinclair was right; his body was mostly fine now.

"These people are pretty capable, sealing off the supermarket so early on."

Chester Pearson walked about halfway around the supermarket, sticking close to the shelves, and found that there wasn’t a single zombie.

Not even a corpse.

It had obviously been cleared out by someone.

’Who could have reacted so quickly?’

"Yes, very capable indeed."

In her past life, Nina Jacobs had never been here.

She had no way of guessing who had made these preparations so early.

But she could be sure of one thing: they were short on Space Superpower Users who could carry all these supplies.

However, it was more likely that they had already stockpiled a large amount of supplies.

They just hadn’t had time to take the supplies from here yet.

"Grandpa said the number of casualties has increased a lot these past few days. Could it be related to this?" Ian Chandler asked, listening to their conversation while he collected supplies.

Late last night, he had seen Justin Lawson sitting alone at his desk with red-rimmed eyes.

He wanted to comfort him but didn’t know what to say.

That’s why he had requested to go out today, wanting to do something concrete to help.

"I’m not sure about that."

Nina Jacobs couldn’t be certain either.

She had only been at the shelter for two days.

"But it’s never wrong to be on guard."

They had to guard not only against zombies, but also against people with malicious intent.

"Looks like people are starting to fight over supplies."

Chester Pearson’s voice grew cold.

Ian Chandler fell silent and tried to gather the supplies from the shelves as quickly as possible.

He had basically cleared out his space before they left.

Only a small corner was left, holding the supplies Nina Jacobs had from before.

Nina Jacobs opened another chicken leg for Wayne Warner.

"Thank you."

Wayne Warner seemed very interested in food.

After they passed the food section, he stopped staring at the items on the shelves.

"There are a few more snack chain stores on this floor. Can your space still hold more?" Chester Pearson asked, taking out a map of the mall’s stores.

"It can."

Ian Chandler’s unhesitating reply made Chester Pearson curious about how big his space actually was.

He knew that when other teams went on supply runs, they needed to bring several Space Superpower Users.

But today, Justin Lawson had only sent him with Ian.

At first, he thought it was so he could better protect Ian.

Ian had also said he alone would be enough.

He only knew that Ian’s space was bigger than others’, but he didn’t know exactly how big.

"That’s a secret. You don’t have to worry about running out of room."

Ian Chandler wasn’t trying to be mysterious on purpose.

Nina Jacobs had intentionally reminded him before not to let too many people, aside from those he trusted, know the true size of his space.

"Alright, since it’ll fit, let’s take all of it. Don’t leave a single thing for those people."

Chester Pearson was delighted. He couldn’t wait for Ian to pack away more.

Including the daily necessities and clothing sections—it would be best to empty out the entire mall.

"If there’s anything you want, Nina, you can tell me. I can hold on to it for you."

Ian Chandler winked, implying that Nina Jacobs could pick whatever she wanted from the mall.

"Okay, I’ll go pick some things out."

Nina Jacobs didn’t refuse.

The layout map Chester Pearson had showed several gold shops right next to the supermarket.

She just didn’t know if there was any gold left inside.

Chester Pearson had already checked the supermarket and found no danger, so Nina Jacobs planned to check next door.

"Be extremely careful. The floor below is full of zombies," Chester Pearson didn’t forget to remind her.

"Okay."

Nina Jacobs had to thank those people, because according to her Five Senses Enhancement, all the zombies were concentrated on the floor below.

When she walked out of the supermarket area, the scene outside made her understand.

The entrances to all the elevators leading to the first floor were blocked.

The surrounding emergency exits were also locked shut.

The zombies on the first floor wouldn’t be able to get up anytime soon.

"Wait for me here. I’ll be right out."

Seeing that Wayne Warner was still following her, Nina Jacobs told him to stand guard outside the gold shop.

Wayne Warner nodded at her and watched her enter the shop.

Just like the previous gold shop, the gold and silver jewelry in the outer glass display cases had already been taken.

The vault door was tightly locked. Nina Jacobs stopped and listened for a moment but heard nothing.

However, there was an extremely heavy stench of rotting flesh.

She kicked the door open, and a foul stench immediately assaulted her nose.

In the corner of the vault were two human corpses, which had decomposed beyond recognition in the hot weather.

The safe door was surprisingly open, but thankfully, the Gold Bars and jewelry inside were still there.

It looked like the two had fought over it, and neither had come out on top.