Chapter 44: Quite Tempting

"Buzz buzz!"

"Buzz buzz!"

"..."

The moment Jiang Yan crossed the street and stepped onto the shopping center's grounds, the dozens of starving Blood Mosquitoes circling above her finally lost patience.

They split into groups from all directions, brandishing their slender, sharp proboscises as they dove toward her at high speed.

The dimension's enhancement of Jiang Yan's physical abilities wasn't limited to just stamina and endurance—her five senses, including vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, had all been sharpened to greater sensitivity.

With both hands moving flexibly in coordinated strikes, she swung her swatter with precision like perfect home runs.

The temperature had already surpassed sixty degrees Celsius. Though her Heat-resistant suit was heavy, she didn't even break a sweat.

"Whack! Zzzzt!"

"Whack! Zzzzt!"

"Whack! Zzzzt!"

"..."

The sounds of mosquitoes being struck by the swatter and electrocuted echoed from all sides.

Because the mosquitoes were so large, the Electric Mosquito Swatter quickly ran out of charge.

Fortunately, she had several fully charged ones in her dimension. With just a thought, she swiftly swapped them out in one smooth motion.

In less than a minute, all the Electric Mosquito Swatters in her dimension had lit up with red warning lights, and the ground around her was littered with mosquito corpses and dismembered limbs.

A few of the mosquitoes had already sucked some blood earlier, so when they hit the ground, they left behind sticky, bloody messes.

The ground was hot enough to fry an egg.

The moment the blood oozed from the mosquitoes' bodies, it dried into black stains within seconds—before any surviving mosquitoes could even attempt to feed on it.

A few stragglers still launched attacks at her, though nowhere near as densely as before.

Jiang Yan quickly made her way toward a shop she had scouted earlier while spraying Mosquito Repellent from her dimension all around her.

Truthfully, she was fully armed—wrapped tightly in a Heat-resistant suit, Heat-resistant Hat, and Combat Gloves—so the mosquitoes couldn't touch her at all.

But the moment she heard that infuriating "buzzing," she felt an overwhelming urge to swat every last one of them to death.

The shop Jiang Yan chose to take shelter in was a high-end branded coffee shop with premium decor.

Perhaps due to the quality of its construction materials, this was one of the few stores that remained largely intact.

However, upon closer inspection, she noticed signs of attempted break-ins here as well.

Though unsuccessful, the metal doors bore scratch marks from the attempts.

After observing from the entrance and confirming no one was inside, she eyed the three U-locks securing the bulletproof glass door.

Glancing around, she summoned an ordinary Chainsaw from her dimension with a thought.

The Chainsaw's blade was thin and just the right length to slide through the one-finger-wide gap between the glass doors.

The daytime sunlight was blinding, but she had already worn sunglasses beneath her Heat-resistant Hat before leaving, so she wasn't worried about the sparks hurting her eyes.

With a "click," she turned on the Chainsaw and began cutting through the locks.

As the deafening roar of the Chainsaw filled the air, bright sparks flew in all directions from the metal being sliced apart.

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

"Snap!"

The three U-locks were quickly severed, but the noise left Jiang Yan's eardrums nearly shattered.

She didn't open the door immediately.

Because behind her, another swarm of Blood Mosquitoes had gathered, buzzing furiously.

Retracting the chainsaw into her dimension, she swiftly pulled out two bottles of mosquito repellent and sprayed wildly behind her before smoothly opening and closing the door in one fluid motion.

The repellent was quickly carried away by the hot wind, and the returning Blood Mosquitoes crashed against the glass door with a pitter-patter.

Jiang Yan stared at their proboscises and long legs, took a silent breath, and pulled out a new U-shaped lock from her dimension, quickly securing the door.

For extra safety, she added another lock.

The mosquitoes fluttered for a while, unable to get in, but unwilling to leave. Eventually, they settled on the glass door, staring hungrily at her.

Jiang Yan gave them a cursory glance and nearly triggered her trypophobia.

She had no choice but to ignore them.

After all, there were more important things to do.

Besides, the fact that the shop was locked from the inside could only mean two things: either there was a back door leading elsewhere, or—someone was still hiding inside.

For now, she needed to confirm.

Drawing a sharp dagger from her dimension, Jiang Yan cautiously made her way deeper into the shop.

The store was only about 200 square meters.

Soon, she spotted a side door at the back.

It was also made of glass, offering a clear view of the mall's atrium.

It dawned on her—many shopping center stores had front and back doors connecting to both the street and the mall interior.

The side door was locked from the outside, with signs of forced entry.

This suggested that whoever had been here had retreated into the mall.

They might have even taken temporary shelter in the underground supermarket or parking garage—standard features in such shopping centers.

For now, Jiang Yan left the side door's lock untouched.

All she needed was a temporary resting place before midnight.

But it was still too early to retreat into her dimension.

She decided to browse the shop, seeing if she could scavenge anything useful.

Clothes, food—she already had enough stored to last several lifetimes.

She wasn't particularly interested in searching for those.

But as a coffee enthusiast, she felt compelled to look around.

This shop's coffee had once been famous in the area.

The first things that caught her eye were two coffee cup display stands.

Ceramic, metal, glass—there was no shortage of styles.

Designed for summer, the cups were dazzlingly vibrant.

Jiang Yan had been an avid cup collector since childhood.

Her previous villa had an entire wall dedicated to cups she'd collected from all over the country and the world.

Now, faced with these, she couldn't resist.

And who could turn down the thrill of a free shopping spree?

The tea bar in her dimension's Apple Cabin had two exquisite display shelves—still empty.

Picking out some beautiful cups to decorate them would be perfect.

With that thought, she willed all the cups from the display stands into her dimension.

Near the counter, there was another shelf of pretty cups—she took those too.

A glance at the pastry display case revealed everything had spoiled.

But the imported, high-priced bottled water placed there for price comparison was still intact.

She stepped behind the counter and stored the bottles in her dimension.

Water was a resource you could never have too much of.

Even if undrinkable, it could still be used for watering plants or washing hands.

At the pickup counter, there were some napkins, cinnamon, small paper bags of sugar, and the like.

The quantity was too meager to catch her interest.

A shop of this size most likely had a storage room.

Jiang Yan searched around but couldn't spot it, so she returned behind the counter and pushed against the wall.

With a creak, a hidden door—painted the same color as the wall—came into view.