Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Another Loan
The glass-fronted refrigerators lined one wall, their contents long spoiled. The glass was fogged with grime, but she could make out the faint outlines of containers and bottles left behind.
The floor was littered with discarded wrappers, broken glass, and the occasional shoe, as if whoever had been here before had left in a hurry or maybe running away from danger.
Liora reached out and touched one of the shelves. The cold metal felt unfamiliar under her fingers. She trailed her hand along it, marveling at its structure and how neatly it must have been arranged once.
"This is incredible," she murmured, her voice filled with wonder.
Zhou Yinuo, still holding Liora's arm, smiled at her reaction. "This is just a small supermarket. You should see a mall. It's like this but a hundred times bigger."
"A hundred times?" Liora asked, her disbelief evident. She turned to look at Zhou Yinuo. "How could anyone need so many things?"
Zhou Yinuo laughed softly. "People lived very different lives before the apocalypse. They didn't just buy what they needed. They bought what they wanted, even if they didn't need it."
Liora frowned, trying to wrap her head around the concept. "How strange. Why would you buy something like this? Just to waste so much... it seems foolish."
As they walked further into the store, Liora's gaze fell on the glass windows lining the front.
They reflected her image faintly, along with the silhouettes of Zhou Yinuo and the boys. She paused to examine them, her fingers brushing the cool surface. The way the light refracted was mesmerizing.
Liora tilted her head. "This glass... It's so smooth and clear. As a princess, even she does not have this kind of mirror. So clear." She thought to herself. her eyes shining brighter as she looked at more and more strange things and advanced technology of this world.
She could not help but think how beautiful this world would be if not for the apocalypse...Ahh! such a pity."
They moved deeper into the store. Chen Wei and Liang Zihan took the lead, carefully checking each aisle for anything edible or recoverable. Zhou Yinuo stayed by Liora's side, ready to explain anything unfamiliar to her.
"Why are the shelves empty?" Liora asked, noticing how barren most of them were.
Zhou Yinuo sighed. "When the apocalypse started, people raided places like this to stock up on supplies. They took everything they could carry, and what they couldn't, others took later."
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"Then why send us here?" Liora's voice carried a hint of confusion.
"Sometimes people overlook things, or supplies are hidden. The base assigns these missions because even the smallest find can make a big difference," Zhou Yinuo explained.
Chen Wei called out from ahead. "I found something!"
The group hurried over to where he stood. He held up a dusty box of instant noodles. "It's not much, but it's something."
Liora peered at the box curiously. "What is it?"
"Instant noodles," Zhou Yinuo said with a grin. "You just add hot water, and it becomes food."
Liora blinked. "Food from water?"
Zhou Yinuo laughed. "It's not magic. It's just modern technology. You'll get used to it."
After some time, they had already scrounged the entire floor of the supermarket but only got a pitiful amount of supplies. Only three packets of instant noodles, a bag of chips, and several cans of meat.
All of them gathered around and showed what they could find. "I had a feeling it'd be like this. How could a big store like this still have anything left after people looted it? See, we barely found anything here," Zhou Yinuo muttered with a sad expression.
Chen Wei and Liang Zihan stayed quiet, but the worry on their faces said everything. The sun was already setting, and the shadows in the supermarket stretched longer with each passing minute.
They had spent hours searching through the aisles, but their finds were disappointing—barely enough to feed even one person for a single day.
The thought of going back to the base with such little food weighed heavily on their minds. The base had strict rules. Everyone had to do their part.
If someone didn't contribute, they could lose their spot, especially during hard times. The base couldn't afford to keep people who weren't helping to provide for the group.
Chen Wei's hands tightened into fists as he thought about how bad their situation was. Liang Zihan kept looking toward the exit, almost like he was hoping something useful might suddenly appear.
Neither of them wanted to face the punishment for returning with so little, but the shelves were empty, and time was running out. If they didn't find something valuable soon, their place at the base would be at serious risk.
Liora was also tapping her chin and thinking carefully. At first, she was too excited after entering the supermarket, but soon it died down when she found it was empty inside.
Ding.
[Rare item detected in the warehouse of the supermarket...]
"Host should grab it to upgrade the system further," the mechanical voice of the system rang inside Liora's mind, suddenly startling her.
"Rare item?" Liora raised her eyebrows as she pondered about it. This supermarket really has something worthwhile.
"Let's continue to find supplies. Maybe something was hidden here that was overlooked by most people," Liora said and got up. She had already given them a hint.
It would be good if they could find this warehouse, because she could not directly tell them that this supermarket had a warehouse, or it would raise their suspicions toward her.
"Yeah! We should find it. The base would not assign this place as a mission in vain," Chen Wei said, also standing up.
Liang Zihan and Zhou Yinuo also nodded and got up to search the supermarket once again.
All of them went in different directions to search the supermarket more thoroughly.
Liora also searched the supermarket carefully, but still, she could not find the warehouse of the supermarket.
System, where the hell is this warehouse? I still can't find it.
"You can activate the map to locate the warehouse," the system replied, its tone calm and matter-of-fact.
"Really? Then activate it!" Liora exclaimed, her frustration turning into hope.
"But it will cost you survival points," the system added nonchalantly.
"What the hell, where will I get points? I'm already drowning in debt!"
"You can get another loan from the system."