Chapter 15: The Sample Warehouse: Do We Really Still Need to Go Into the City?

“Do we really still need to go into the city?” Ji Li stood on the top floor of the New Media Group, asking Gao Lan with a completely serious face.

Gao Lan crossed her arms, thinking for a moment. “We go. Haven’t you always felt something was off about this Zombie Apocalypse? We might not find answers, but at the very least we should take a look at the most densely populated place.”

“Fine,” Ji Li sighed theatrically, then rolled up his sleeves, a sunshine-bright grin spreading across his face. “Let’s split the loot!”

Gao Lan laughed too. “Hold on, let me buy a wristband upgrade. There’s too much stuff—I’m afraid it won’t all fit!”

You couldn’t blame them for acting like this—the building had simply given them far too much.

At first light that morning, Ji Li and Gao Lan had gone up to the fifth floor and found it, like the fourth, full of cubicles, with much the same stuff. They skimmed through quickly and moved on to the sixth floor.

It was only at the sixth floor that they finally worked out what this New Media Group actually did.

Livestream e-commerce and influencer management, with some short-drama production on the side. But unlike the self-media industry parks Ji Li had seen back when he delivered food, this group company had a big name but a small operation.

In the end it was the experienced Gao Lan who cleared it up for him.

“Probably a traditional media company trying to transform, setting up this new subsidiary dedicated to new media.” Gao Lan pointed at the professional cameras in the room. “Equipment like this is wasted on short dramas.”

Ji Li nodded in sudden understanding, watching well-dressed zombies wander through a room dressed up as a living room set.

Besides the drama zombies, Ji Li also spotted livestream zombies, and behind them, a broadcast room crammed with sample products.

The view was so clear because both sides of the sixth-floor corridor were nothing but glass partitions. Walking along, they could see every detail of every room.

But while the view was clear, the glass was ultra-thick triple-laminated soundproofing. Without Ji Li’s Window Breaker, they’d have been crying at all those rich supplies from the wrong side of the glass.

After sweeping the sixth floor, the two of them split fourteen Zombie Cores apiece, plus five brand-new pillows, three pairs of sneakers, five boxes of nuts, two air fryers, and a pile of sanitary pads.

That last item Ji Li didn’t take—he gave all of it to Gao Lan.

The seventh floor was more of the same. Aside from a few cores, Ji Li finally got replacement tracksuits, Gao Lan came away with a pile of women’s underwear, and they also divided up the set furniture from rooms without zombies—shame there were no beds.

They’d assumed the eighth floor would be more broadcast rooms, but once up there they discovered that half the rooms were sample warehouses, shelves lined with every kind of merchandise—bedding sets, small household appliances, clothing, electronics—a dazzling variety.

Of course, being samples, the quantities of each item were small, but more than enough for the two of them.

“Just no food. And almost everything is winter gear.” Ji Li clutched a down jacket in one hand and thermal underwear in the other, clicking his tongue.

“It’s fine. It’ll come in handy sooner or later.” Gao Lan was examining shoe soles, first picking out pairs in sizes they could wear, then splitting the rest straight into two piles.

Ji Li set the sorted clothes aside, ducked into another sample warehouse, and came running out shortly with a box in his arms, face glowing.

“Sis! There’s booze in here!”

Gao Lan blinked at his excitement. “You like alcohol?”

“Not really, I don’t drink.” Ji Li set the box on the floor and pulled out a handsome glass bottle.

It wasn’t big, maybe 500 ml. Judging by the packaging and the color of the liquid, it was a low-proof sweet wine.

“Then what are you so excited about?” Gao Lan came over and took the bottle, examining it closely.

“This is hard currency! Every novel says so!”

Gao Lan scoffed. “Hard currency, my foot. When people can barely eat, who’s drinking? Though for Players with real skills, alcohol counts as a luxury that improves quality of life.”

“See, see! There’s more over there—different varieties. I’ll go sort them.” And he dashed off again.

They worked until three in the afternoon before finally finishing the top floor. Their combined haul: four down jacket sets, four sets of thermal underwear, three cashmere sweater sets, four pairs of snow boots, three pairs of hiking shoes, three electric blankets, five bedding sets, eighteen bottles of alcohol, four skincare sets, five bottles of vitamins, three blenders, two countertop dishwashers, two massagers, three electric toothbrushes with five replacement heads, two VR-glasses-style game consoles, and two air purifiers.

After storing her share in her wristband, Gao Lan studied the projection and frowned. “This wristband can be upgraded, but each upgrade only adds one cubic meter, and it’s absurdly expensive.”

Ji Li’s hands froze. “Huh? Really?”

“Really. With the cores I have left, after the Repair Card purchase, I can afford maybe one more wristband at most. My three cubic meters are already stuffed full.”

Gao Lan raised a hand and dragged her fingers through the air—probably reorganizing the supplies in her wristband.

In projection mode, you could rearrange items by dragging them around.

Ji Li glanced at his own projection: supplies neatly arranged, a car parked inside, and it still wasn’t even half full. He said, guiltily, “Uh… it’s not so bad… Items in the bracelet can be stacked freely without toppling, so you can use every inch of space. That part’s pretty handy…”

“True, but if you pack it too tight, the stuff in the middle becomes impossible to reach… Fine, I’ll just buy another one.”

Watching Gao Lan purchase yet another wristband, Ji Li opened his mouth, then closed it again, and in the end said nothing.

It wasn’t that he distrusted Gao Lan. It was that one look at the Main Quest revealed a simple fact—the Zombie Apocalypse was only the first level of the Survival Game. Countless challenges would follow.

Nobody knew what people or events the future would bring. Guarding his own secret was a hundred benefits and zero harms, for him and for Gao Lan both.

Supplies sorted, Gao Lan jerked her chin toward the fire door. “Come on, up to the roof. Let’s see if we can confirm which direction the city’s in.”

Ji Li answered and followed her up the stairs to the rooftop.

Standing at the edge, the first thing that caught his eye was a university campus not far away.

The greenery was so lush that, apart from a few modern teaching buildings, many of the older ones were hidden behind branches and leaves, their positions only guessable from those overly tidy rooflines.

Beside the campus, and indeed all along the road to the right, there was nothing but empty lots and construction sites—not a hint of the city.

To the left lay large stretches of abandoned farmland, plus open ground formed for who knew what reason.

Only directly in front of the office building, in what looked like a basin, could they see buildings stretching unbroken into the distance—that had to be Cheng’an City.

“We’re probably in the hilly area around Cheng’an City,” Gao Lan said, pointing at the cluster of buildings. “Places like this usually aren’t far from the city—no more than a half-hour drive.”

Ji Li nodded, then asked the key question. “So which way do we go?”

Gao Lan pondered. “Right. Judging by how old the school and this building are, the school was probably built early in the city’s history. This building isn’t new either, but it came much later than the school.”

“The earlier a building was built, the closer it sits to the city. So head right along the road, and we’re bound to reach the city.”

Ji Li couldn’t help applauding. “Sis, you’re amazing!”

Gao Lan laughed. “Amazing, nothing. Walk around enough places, see enough things, and you pick up a few tricks. Come on, let’s pick a car, then siphon fuel. Though I’ve no idea where we’ll put the fuel—no proper containers.”

“Would plastic bottles work? I’ve got plenty.” Ji Li hurried to keep up.

“No—static electricity. Metal containers are best. Glass bottles would do in a pinch…”

At that, Gao Lan couldn’t help glancing at Ji Li. It took him a second, then his eyes went wide. “You mean… No! That’s such a waste!”

“Fine, fine, we’ll use my wine bottles.” Gao Lan shook her head helplessly. “You kid. You don’t even drink, so why are you more protective of the bottle than an old drunkard?”

At those words, Ji Li’s face twisted in agony. “We can’t use all of yours… F-first let’s use the big bottles…”

Watching Ji Li clutch his chest in heartbroken pain, Gao Lan laughed and was about to nod when her steps suddenly stopped. “Hey, Little Ji, you think… could a Space Bracelet hold gasoline?”

Ji Li blinked. “Maybe… it could?”

“Come on, let’s test it!”

The two hurried down to the second floor and poured a bottle of mineral water into a metal lunch box. Ji Li took out the Space Bracelet that held corpses and carefully touched its smooth face to the water.

Blue light swept past. The water vanished without a trace, and the lunch box stayed right where it was.

“It works!”

Ji Li whooped, and Gao Lan’s face lit up too. “Quick, take it out and check!”

Ji Li pressed the button and opened the projection. The mineral water that had entered the bracelet had formed a small cube, sitting neatly in the corner.

He tapped the little cube; the projection appeared, and after a few adjustments, the water dropped into the lunch box. He pressed the button again, and the next second the cube reappeared, filling the box to the brim.

Gao Lan’s eyes gleamed as she made for the parking lot. “Perfect! That’s the plan!”

“Wait, Sister Lan.” Ji Li caught her arm, insisting on rigorous experimental method. “Just this isn’t enough. If the gasoline merges into one blob inside the bracelet, it’ll be hard to get back out. We need to see how multiple portions of the same liquid behave in there before deciding if bracelets can hold gasoline.”

Gao Lan stared at him, half-lost, as Ji Li repeated the process—storing the water, then pouring a second bottle into the lunch box.

After storing the second box of water, Ji Li opened the projection with a grave expression. Gao Lan found herself inexplicably nervous too, waiting a while before asking, “Well?”

Ji Li looked at the little cubes stacked perfectly one atop another, equal parts amazed and puzzled.

What principle was this state even based on?

But the question flashed by and was quickly forgotten. He tapped one of the little cubes—project, release.

The small cube appeared, filling the lunch box exactly. Ji Li raised his wristband and declared, “Experiment successful! Bracelets can hold gasoline!”

“Great, great, great!” Gao Lan clapped him on the back, laughing. “Wouldn’t have guessed it—you’ve got real experimental spirit.”

Ji Li grinned, then quickly frowned. “Storing the gasoline is solved, but what do we use to transfer it? The lunch box is too small, and pouring it into the tank would be a nightmare.”

“How hard can that be? The Soup Bucket!” Gao Lan operated her wristband and produced the stainless-steel soup bucket from the cafeteria.

After taking out the kitchen tools inside—wok, iron ladle, and so on—and storing them back in her bracelet, she pulled a long-handled water dipper from the bottom of the bucket.

“We’ll use this for pouring fuel for now. If we pass a gas station on the road, we’ll switch to something better.”

Ji Li nodded, picked up the cardboard box, and followed Gao Lan to the parking lot.

Gao Lan first took the thirteen car keys out of the box, matched them to vehicles one by one, picked out the most suitable car, and drove it around to face the main gate.

As she got out, she couldn’t help grumbling, “I know you can’t be picky while scavenging, but why do you always aim for the front windows? At least this car escaped unscathed.”

“I… just habit.” Ji Li rubbed the back of his head, not daring to admit that this car’s rear window had actually been destroyed in a parking-lot crash, which was why he’d never loot-boxed it.

Gao Lan’s pick was a compact SUV—high clearance, resistant to scrapes, thirstier than a sedan but less than an off-roader, perfect for long-distance travel on man-made roads.

Their destination was the city anyway; this kind of car was the most practical.

Car chosen, they started siphoning. First they connected the washed straws and wrapped the joints with tape to form a crude siphon, then fed the straw into the fuel tanks and drew the gasoline into the Soup Bucket by siphon action.

The only thing to watch was not sucking too fast—easy to end up with a mouthful of gasoline.

The Soup Bucket was huge; it took Ji Li and Gao Lan siphoning half the parking lot to fill it once. After storing it in the wristband, they started on the rest, and it wasn’t until the sun set that every tank was empty.

Ji Li spat out a mouthful of gasoline-flavored spit, stowed the bucket and dipper, and asked Gao Lan, “What time do we leave tomorrow?”

“Seven. We leave early to leave time to find a place to hole up. Barring surprises, we won’t be coming back. And if there are surprises… we’ll deal with that then.”

Ji Li instantly understood the unspoken words behind Gao Lan’s trailing sentence, and nodded silently.

Cities had more supplies, more zombies—and naturally, more Players.

The next morning, Ji Li sat in the passenger seat with Eno on the dashboard, listening to Gao Lan’s driving lecture as they drove toward the great unknown of Cheng’an City under the hazy dawn sky.