Chapter 11: The Big Shot’s Gift

Near the checkout counter, there were piles of cigarettes and condoms.

An Nan didn’t smoke herself, but these things could be used as currency in the future. For old smokers, cigarettes were the ultimate luxury in the apocalypse—every stick smoked was one less in the world.

As for the condoms… Even though she didn’t have a boyfriend, she remembered that in her previous life, the rich ladies in the villa district had spent a fortune stocking up on them. After all, in a post-apocalyptic world where people would eat you alive, getting pregnant was basically half a step into the grave.

With a wave of her hand, An Nan swept everything into her storage space.

By now, the floodwaters had risen even higher. An Nan quickly swam to the stairwell and climbed up to the second floor.

On the second floor, one side was lined with cosmetics counters, and the other side had bags and shoes. An Nan ran from south to north, sweeping everything she could touch into her space, not bothering to pick brands or styles.

The third floor was all women’s designer clothing. Although she’d already stocked up on clothes at the wholesale market, the quality couldn’t compare to these branded goods. Especially for underwear—those had to be good quality.

After clearing out the third floor, her storage space was nearly full, so she skipped the men’s and children’s clothing on the fourth floor.

She went straight to the fifth floor, the home goods section.

Here, there were not only leather sofas, solid wood beds, rosewood tea tables, and massage bathtubs, but also mosquito nets, bamboo mats, bedding sets, and all kinds of home textiles. There were also appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, and small gadgets like fans, ovens, blenders, and hairdryers.

Although she already had these things at home, if she ever had to move, she’d need some new home goods. In a chaotic apocalypse—or even in peaceful times—who doesn’t move house a few times in their life? With all these supplies, she could make a home anywhere.

The sixth floor was a movie theater. An Nan took a quick look around, but aside from the popcorn machine, there was nothing useful.

Finally, she reached the top, the seventh floor.

This floor was the mall owner’s private area, and she couldn’t get in.

An Nan pulled out a hydraulic cutter and a sledgehammer, and forced the door open.

The moment she stepped inside, she was hit by the aura of luxury. An enormous desk and tea table, priceless teas and teaware, famous calligraphy and paintings on the walls, and even the random decorations in the room were antiques.

But what caught An Nan’s eye the most was a four-meter-long, three-ton jade landscape sculpture against the wall. The jade was of excellent quality and beautifully carved.

An Nan admired it for a moment, then unhesitatingly stored it away.

In an instant, the space that had been crammed full with goods from the entire mall suddenly expanded by 4,000 square meters. The dingy two-story house inside her space turned into a 200-square-meter two-story villa.

Such a huge upgrade?

An Nan checked her space, marveling. It seemed the level of upgrade depended on the quality of jade. This sculpture was not only high quality but also huge, and it had boosted her space by so much at once. The jade bracelet on her wrist had also upgraded from “glutinous” grade to “glutinous ice” grade.

An Nan felt this trip had truly been worth it.

After her excitement faded, she happily collected the rest of the boss’s treasures: A5 wagyu, Boston lobster, caviar, black truffles in the mini fridge… Famous wines in the cabinet—Dom Pérignon, ’82 Lafite, Feitian Moutai—all swept into her space. There were also cigars, tea leaves, golf clubs, foreign classics… and—a box of car keys?

Whatever, just take it all. If she could see it, she took it.

There were also antiques and calligraphy scrolls. In the apocalypse, antiques were worthless; during the extreme cold, these paintings and relics would just be burned as firewood. Might as well take them—her space was big enough now.

In no time, she’d cleaned the place out, except for a floor vase with a bird pattern in pastel colors. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t store it.

What was going on?

An Nan tried to move it and found it was fixed to the floor.

No wonder it couldn’t be stored.

“Is there some secret to this vase?” she wondered, studying it. She discovered that while it couldn’t be lifted, it could be rotated.

She slowly turned the vase, and the bookshelf in front of her began to move, revealing a hidden door.

A secret room?

An Nan drew her bayonet and cautiously stepped inside.

The room was empty except for a plain bed and a small wardrobe.

Huh? That didn’t fit the big boss’s extravagant style. Was this just a hideout the boss had prepared for himself?

When she was little, An Nan had fantasized about carving out a secret space in her bedroom to hide in if bad guys broke in. Turns out the boss was just as paranoid as she was.

Bored, An Nan opened the ordinary wardrobe—

Inside, it was packed full of gold bars.

He didn’t put these in a safe or a bank, but in a shabby wardrobe? This boss really had style.

An Nan didn’t hesitate to sweep them all into her space, then noticed a large trunk at the bottom of the wardrobe.

She dragged it out and opened it.

Inside was… an Uzi submachine gun?!

Boss, you’re hardcore.

An Nan stared at the gun and half a trunk of bullets, stunned. This boss wasn’t just paranoid—he must have seriously pissed off some criminal group. Who needs a pistol when you can have a submachine gun? Ready to take on ten at once!

How insecure did he have to be to keep a gun in his office?

Clicking her tongue, An Nan stored the gun and bullets away.

Thank you for the gift, big boss!

With the submachine gun in hand, An Nan felt invincible.

Having thoroughly looted the seventh floor, she went downstairs, satisfied.

After a moment’s thought, she went back to the fourth floor and swept up the men’s and children’s clothing too. Now that her space was bigger, it didn’t matter whether she needed it or not—better to take it all.

Those rich tycoons hoard so much wealth they couldn’t spend it in several lifetimes, but you never see them stop trying to make more.

After emptying the mall, An Nan headed to the high-rise office building connected to it.

The office building had forty floors, belonged to the mall, and had only just opened for business. An Nan went in and found that many areas hadn’t been rented out yet; only a few floors had companies.

Since she was here, she might as well see if there was anything worth taking.

Taking advantage of the still-working elevator, An Nan went straight to the top floor.

The top floor was empty, except for a small door on the east side, locked up tight.

Her experience in the boss’s office told her: the tighter the lock, the more treasure inside.

So she pulled out her tools and forced the door open.

After a lot of effort, she found it only led to the stairs up to the roof.

Why lock a stairwell so tightly…? An Nan was speechless.

After all that effort, she decided she might as well go up for some fresh air and a break. She’d been running around all night and was out of breath.

When she got to the top, she found there was even a helipad. But right now, the green helipad was empty.

An Nan couldn’t help but think, if only there were a helicopter here—she could fly away to safety during earthquakes or tsunamis.

Just as she was feeling regretful, she suddenly caught sight of a dark shape in the distance…"