’But whoever comes to scavenge has to be quick. Otherwise, these things will spoil before long.’

But she quickly told herself she was overthinking it. ’When people are truly out of food, they’ll eat anything, let alone food that’s merely started to spoil.’

After clearing the fourth floor, Stella Sterling turned her attention to the third, which was home to drink and snack shops. She swept through them quickly.

Inside the various snack shops, the freezers were filled with semi-finished ingredients. Stella Sterling left a few things she didn’t like, swept the rest into her personal space, and even took several large freezers. She also selected some clean cooking oil to take with her.

The bubble tea shops didn’t have much. She managed to get some milk and the like, along with some fruit that was no longer fresh.

’I have the ingredients in my space,’ she thought, ’so I can try making some when I’m bored. If not, I can always dismantle the machines for spare parts. They’ll be useful eventually.’ So, she also stored the bubble-tea-making machines in her space.

She collected a large number of the bubble tea cups as well.

Stella Sterling felt like a starving person who would eat anything; she was shoving everything into her space, whether it was useful or not.

Thankfully, her space had expanded considerably these past few days from her tossing items into the "exchange area." It was now nearly ten thousand square meters; otherwise, she would have truly run out of places to stack everything.

However, no matter how many items she’d thrown into the exchange area recently, only the storage section had grown larger. There had been no other changes, and she had no idea why.

Next up was the clothing section on the second floor. Those designer brand stores she could never afford in the past... now, she cleaned them out without batting an eye. The feeling was incredibly satisfying.

She felt like she was getting a taste of what it was like to be extravagantly wealthy.

The second floor sold men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing.

However, May was the season for summer collections, so while there were some winter clothes, they were scarce.

But Stella Sterling took everything, winter and summer apparel alike. After all, besides the great snow, other extreme weather events were bound to happen, and these clothes would all come in handy. Plus, clothes tended to get damaged quickly during conflicts, so it was always better to have spares.

As for the men’s and children’s clothing, even if she couldn’t use them herself, she could always sell them to others in exchange for things she needed.

The first floor housed a supermarket, phone stores, and gold and silver jewelry shops. She headed to the supermarket first—the place she was most excited about.

She swept past row after row of shelves—the vegetable section, the fruit section, the dry goods section, the snack section...

She left a little of each type of item behind, while the rest vanished into her space. In the end, looking at the once-packed shelves, now holding only a few scattered items, she felt a profound sense of satisfaction.

Beyond the food and snacks, she was also very pleased with the other daily necessities she found, like paper towels and shampoo. These were her guarantee for a high-quality life down the road.

Leaving those scattered items behind was a small act of her dwindling conscience.

At the shelving near the cash registers, Stella Sterling found a good number of condoms. She thought for a moment and collected them as well. ’This stuff might be useful in the future.’

’Not necessarily for my own use. Giving them to someone else would be a huge favor. If I’m willing to sell them, people will be willing to buy. The more desperate the environment, the more unhinged people become.’

Next were several jewelry stores, all with their doors shut tight. Unfortunately for them, they had the misfortune of meeting Stella Sterling, who was acting like a common bandit.

If a lock could be picked, she picked it. If not, she resorted to the most brutish methods to smash her way in. The crisp, loud sound of a door being battered—BANG! BANG! BANG!—echoed endlessly throughout the silent mall.

She cleaned out every single store, leaving nothing behind. The gold was a hard currency, but even the silver jewelry had its use—she could wear different pieces to amuse herself when she was idle. ’Keeping my spirits up is important, too.’

With the first floor completely looted, Stella Sterling looked up.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh floors were still untouched. The fifth floor was full of furniture stores, and Stella Sterling planned to go up and pick out a few pieces she liked. The sixth floor was a video arcade, and the seventh floor, which wasn’t open to the public, seemed to be the administrative offices for the mall staff.

She left the last jewelry store, destroying the security cameras on her way out as a matter of course, then started climbing.

With no electricity for the elevators, she had to use her feet. It was time to test the results of her recent training. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

’This body used to be so small and frail, but now...’

After working tirelessly for so long, she now climbed all the way to the fifth floor in one go without even panting. Stella Sterling was very pleased with herself. ’Looks like it won’t be long before my physical fitness surpasses what it was in my past life.’

’But this is still far from enough. I have to get stronger.’

’I refuse to be someone with a hoard of supplies but no ability to protect herself.’

She swept through the fifth and sixth floors quickly, then arrived at the seventh.

The stairwell to the seventh floor was blocked by a large padlock. One swing of Stella Sterling’s axe, and any lock would give way. She strode inside. It was indeed an office area, and there wasn’t much worth scavenging.

Aside from a few snacks left behind by employees, there was nothing but office supplies.

’I came all this way. It would feel wrong not to take *something*.’ And so, she collected all the office supplies too.

She was truly taking everything that wasn’t nailed down.

Finally, there was a single, separate office that was obviously the boss’s.

She entered, her heart filled with anticipation.

Stella Sterling didn’t give the luxurious office decor a second glance. Her gaze was fixed on the wall-to-wall display cabinet on the far side of the room.

It was filled with all sorts of fine teas and expensive liquors. Cartons of cigarettes were also stacked row after row on the shelves. It was a heart-stoppingly tempting sight.

"So this is a rich man’s collection!"

Stella Sterling exclaimed in awe. She walked over and swept everything into her space, then found a separate area within it to store these new acquisitions.

’Some things are valuable, even if I can’t use them myself.’

Moreover, Stella Sterling was sure these were all premium goods that would always be in demand.

’In the apocalypse, items like these are the most precious things you can find, second only to life-saving food.’

She smiled at the person in the photograph on the desk and muttered a "thank you." Then she spotted several extravagantly wrapped gift boxes in a corner, which she also put into her space before finally turning to leave.

She planned to backtrack the way she came, but as she reached the fifth floor, she heard voices in conversation. "The window’s been smashed open! Someone got here before us. We gotta move fast, we can’t let one person take it all!"

"What’s there to be scared of? There’s a bunch of us. You really think one person can out-loot us? They better be long gone. They should pray they don’t run into us. If they do, I’ll take ’em out myself and make sure they leave empty-handed."

"*Hiss*... damn, you’re ruthless!"

"Heh, ruthless? You think you can survive in this goddamn world without being ruthless? You’re telling me you’re any different?"

"Good point. Haha—"