Supermarket Sweep!

Jake walked 100 meters (approx. 328 feet) underground, found a place with fewer plants, and went up to the surface. Before him was a parking lot. The asphalt ground was now covered with green grass. Next to it was a road. He could faintly see the traffic light still stubbornly working, constantly switching red, yellow, and green lights. The traffic light pole was covered in climbing plants. What was originally a metal pole as thick as a dinner plate had now become a huge plant column that two people could hug around.

A rabbit comparable in size to a pig was eating grass in the waist-high grass. Jake suddenly made an attacking motion. The rabbit was startled. With one jump, it leaped a full seven or eight meters (approx. 23-26 feet) high and over ten meters (approx. 33 feet) far. Scamper, scamper, scamper. It disappeared in just a few movements.

Jake let the rabbit leave, silently estimated: "Its movement speed is a bit faster than his, but not by much. Its strength seems much weaker than his. If this kind of rabbit can survive in the wild, he probably can too." Jake understood the situation.

However, this was just the current situation. Plant and animal evolution was still ongoing. The most obvious example was the height of the pine trees, still growing. And rats. Most rats grew to the size of cats and then stopped growing. But there were also some exceptionally gifted rats whose sizes were still increasing. No one knew when they would stop.

Jake walked onto the road. The ground was covered with bushes and wild grass. The asphalt was pierced. Walking on it wouldn't puncture his shoe soles, but it was very difficult. Ordinary vehicles probably couldn't drive. If driven too fast, rubber tires could easily be punctured. His eyes couldn't see beyond 5 meters (approx. 16.4 feet). All around was a vast red haze. Fortunately, Perception was unaffected.

A small supermarket by the roadside with its door tightly closed. A man was curled up on the ground, still alive, but in very bad shape. Jake walked a short distance and got a large patch of burdock-like plants stuck to his pants leg. They were very difficult to remove. It would be troublesome if a wound was scraped now that viruses are mutating. Jake didn't know if his constitution could withstand it. Coupled with knee-high bushes everywhere, walking was extremely difficult.

Jake thought for a moment and decided to try a new use for Phasing. Phasing! He was still walking on the ground, but his body phased through the bushes along the way. This way, he could enjoy the advantage of phasing through solids and liquids, moving in a straight line. And he wouldn't sink underground, where the soil would slow down his movement and make breathing difficult.

Not long after, Jake arrived in front of the Mega Mall. The mall that used to be bustling with traffic was now completely silent. The Mega Mall's main entrance was tightly closed. It seemed they had emergency closed when the red fog descended. There was no Virginia creeper here, but the wild grass was much taller than at Fortune Center Apartments, exceeded 1.5 meters (approx. 4.9 feet). Slightly shorter women couldn't even see over the grass. The grass was full of giant insects like grasshoppers, crickets, and mantises. Especially the mantises, emitting a faint red light, looked very trouble-some at a glance.

Jake phased through the main entrance. The mall interior was gloomy and dark. There wasn't a single survivor. Jake couldn't find the light switch. He could only take out his flashlight, and with Perception, he could barely search for supplies. He simply identified the direction, then headed straight for the supermarket inside the Mega Mall.

As soon as he entered the supermarket, he saw several skeletons lying on the floor. Flesh and blood completely eaten. Only bone fragments with numerous tooth marks left, and many parts were missing. They were probably dragged away by some animal. Judging by the torn clothes next to the skeletons, these people were likely the mall's security guards. Jake was secretly wary. However, his 50-meter (approx. 164 feet) Perception range detected no danger at all. Only some animals like rats and flies.

As soon as Jake entered the supermarket, he smelled a strong stench of decay. The fresh produce section at the entrance had turned into a huge garbage dump. Large amounts of meat, vegetables, and fruit had completely rotted and spoiled, emitting an indescribably foul smell. Flies buzzed around. Rats and cockroaches crawled everywhere.

Ough~ Jake covered his nose and quickly passed through, arriving at other sections. Products were neatly displayed on the shelves. There were no signs of anyone having been there. Jake guessed that the Mega Mall temporarily closed to avoid problems, leaving only a few security guards. At first, people might have still been waiting for rescue at home. As a result, everything evolved at light speed. With wildly growing plants and enlarging animals, people couldn't come here anymore even if they wanted to.

"It's all mine!" Jake chuckled slyly. Without hesitation, he took all the supplies into his Portable Space. Regardless of cigarettes or alcohol, pots, pans, dishes, and cutlery, or bedding and clothes, tissues and mops, he took everything. He didn't even let go of the shelves and shopping carts; he took everything. The Portable Space is infinite. The apocalypse had arrived. Humans didn't know when civilization could be rebuilt; each one used was one less.

If only he could go scavenge a large supermarket... Jake thought to himself while scavenging. When the situation stabilizes a bit, he'd go to the nearest large supermarket. Not possible now. One reason was that he had no safe way to go outside. He didn't think his combat power was invincible in the wilderness yet. Even if his hand-to-hand combat ability was strong, if he were bitten by a poisonous insect, he couldn't handle it.

Another reason was that there are still quite a few survivors in the building. These people are starving. If he left, it was unavoidable that someone would try to harm Olivia and Michelle. They were Jake's tools for farming supplies. They couldn't die easily.

After scavenging, Jake punched through another wall and continued to the next apartment.

Jake spent over half an hour scavenging all the empty rooms above the 21st floor. The collected supplies were countless. All the major brands of instant noodles were gathered, with over 30 flavors in total. Over ten types of ham sausages. All sorts of common packaged foods, drinks, ham sausages, chocolates, cookies, bread, spicy snacks, various meat snacks, cola, beer, etc. Frozen chicken, fish, beef, lamb, pork. Unopened cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and various seasonings. All sorts, all flavors. Furniture, appliances, tissues, condoms, shampoo, soap, toothpaste. Various common medicines. Furniture and home appliances were also moved. In short, Jake didn't miss a single thing.

The collected living supplies were enough for 10 people for 1 year. If he scavenged all the empty rooms in the entire complex, there would be no need to go to residential areas to collect supplies. He might as well go directly to large supermarkets. The variety of supplies there was much richer.

Jake stood in a room on the 21st floor. The red fog had reached knee height. Next door was Lily's apartment. Jake "saw" her eating instant noodles. Lily seemed reluctant to finish eating. She ate half, left half, and then put it in the freezer. This woman is foolish. It would be strange if it didn't spoil after eating half.

Jake put Lily out of his mind and continued scavenging for supplies. A thought sparked in his mind. His body phased through the floor and dropped to the 20th floor. This floor was completely covered by red fog. The indoor red fog was barely lighter than the outdoor fog. When he looked with his eyes, it was very blurry a few meters (approx. several feet) away. But when he looked with his perception, it was unaffected!

Jake's mouth curved slightly. He quickly collected the supplies in the room into his Portable Space. Then, Jake phased through the wall, entered the next apartment, and continued scavenging. He went through the 20th floor one by one, then proceeded to the 19th floor, 18th floor, 17th floor...

...

Suddenly, 2 meters (approx. 6.6 feet) high in mid-air, a pale blue circular membrane, the size of a washbasin, appeared out of nowhere. The circular membrane vibrated slightly, rippling in circles, like a water surface. Not long after, a twin-tailed girl poked her head out from the blue membrane. She was holding a flashlight, cautiously observing the surroundings for a bit.

"It really is the Mega Mall!" The girl saw the rows of shelves and instantly said triumphantly: "I'm truly a genius!"

She struggled to get through the blue membrane and jumped into the supermarket. Unfortunately, the height exceeded her expectations. She fell on her butt.

"Oh dear!" "Boo hoo, my butt hurts so much!" Tears streamed from the girl's eyes. For a long time, only then did she stand up, rubbing her butt with tears in her eyes.

The surroundings were utterly silent. The red fog, illuminated by the flashlight, emitted a bizarre blood red color. The girl was scared to death, wanting nothing more than to open the door and go home immediately. But there was no food left at home; she could only take the risk.

The girl tremblingly held her flashlight and cautiously explored. Fortunately, she was very familiar with this Mega Mall and soon found the supermarket entrance. Looking at the dark, cavernous entrance, the girl swallowed hard with difficulty, and braced herself to walk down. Upon entering, it was the fresh produce section, emitting a nauseating smell of decay. Flies buzzed around.

The girl covered her nose and quickly walked past, finally arriving at the supermarket shelves...

"Huh? Where are the shelves?" The girl stared confusedly at the empty space. "Did the Mega Mall staff transfer all the supplies?"

The girl was hesitating whether to look for the warehouse area. Suddenly, a pair of huge green eyes appeared at the end of the flashlight beam. A ginger cat comparable in size to a tiger slowly walked out, tilting its head and looking at the girl:

"Meow?" It seemed to smell a familiar scent on the girl.

"Oh my god!" The girl was so scared her twin tails almost stood on end: "Don't come any closer!"

She was shedding tears, drawing a line in the air with her hand. A blue line appeared in front of her. The girl grabbed the blue line with both hands, tore open a blue membrane by pulling it apart, and scrambled in, terrified.

Pop~ The blue membrane disappeared.

The ginger cat tilted its head, looking at where the girl had just been. It couldn't understand how this bipedal creature had disappeared. The ginger cat slowly walked over, sniffed around, and then left, bored. All bipeds are so afraid of me. I must be a god!