The Chef Rules the Last Days
Chapter 233 - 231: Scouring

Chapter 233: Chapter 231: Scouring

This also meant it was time for them to start scavenging the mall.

Su Mo wandered slowly at the back, shaking her flashlight as she went, looking into almost every store. Besides the disordered pile of items, most of the goods were still intact.

After the apocalypse, had no one come to clear these supplies?

Su Mo wondered inwardly, which was clearly not normal.

The first floor was huge, but it was all summer wear. The temperature at that time meant there were few long sleeves to be seen, and no one wanted to linger there.

Su Mo, however, crouched down and crawled into a sports clothing store.

Come winter, there would still be a need for some comfortable clothes to wear under the heavy cotton jackets.

Seeing her stop, Jin Han wasn’t in a hurry to go upstairs, so he and the people from his group waited at the entrance for her.

Su Mo only picked out some long sleeves, and only this kind of store stocked them at that time, even though they were breathable.

Without caring about male or female sizes, she packed a large bag full and put it into her System Bag.

As she walked out of the store, Li Qian was squatting at the door, examining a charred corpse sitting beside it.

"There’s one here too?" Su Mo walked over, having been focused on the clothes, she hadn’t yet noticed the corpse.

"Mhm," Li Qian didn’t touch it, but leaned in closer to scrutinize the body.

Jin Han squatted down next to him, his face somber, "Is something not right?"

Li Qian nodded, stood up, and raised a finger to point around the shops, "Take a look at the surroundings, there are no signs of fire damage. The car accident fires outside could still be plausible, but here?"

"Logically, with this level of charring, this shopping mall should have been a ruin by now," another superpower user analyzed.

"Could it be the plants that are problematic?" Su Mo asked, pursing her lips.

Jin Han said, "Very likely, we saw the same kind of stuff on the windows of the upper floors from the outside."

"Let’s go, be alert, and check upstairs," Su Mo said, gripping her knife and bracing herself fully.

The mall’s upper and lower levels were connected by escalators that had stopped working. By the time they got there, the people from the first floor had finished passing through.

Alongside the handrails of the escalator, several charred corpses were lying or sitting.

Li Qian scanned the entire floor with his spiritual power once again, so clean that not even a mouse was present.

Occasional sounds of things falling to the ground came from upstairs, making some people from the group anxious. Jin Han also said, "Let’s hurry upstairs, else we won’t even be able to scrape a spoon."

The group headed to the second floor, which was the noisiest because it was a whole floor dedicated to a food court.

The Fire Wolf Mercenary Group had allocated half their people to cover this floor.

With no zombies, no monsters, and no signs of the place having been cleared before, they frantically stuffed their bags with items.

Su Mo glanced at the map next to the handrail. The 7th floor was a special tea area. Instantly deciding, she said, "I’m going to the 7th floor. The rest of you can figure out what to do."

Jin Han cast a glance at the map and said, "Among the fifteen of us, I’ll take the Space Superpower User and split into one team, the others will follow you."

Su Mo had no objection, and the group quickly moved towards the upper floors.

Almost every floor below them was occupied by people from the Mo Yan and Fire Wolf Group.

Their manpower was even sparser, only two to three people per floor, because the higher the floor, the more the greedy wanted to take.

Su Mo headed straight for the seventh floor, and along the way, she didn’t see Lu Chen’s figure, only soldiers divided into small teams, holding walkie-talkies and searching for something.

Li Qian cast a glance at them, and a sharp light flashed through his eyes behind his glasses, he said softly, "This doesn’t look like they’re here to collect supplies."

Just wandering around with guns, what kind of supply collection is that?

Su Mo had a faint idea in her heart. As she walked, she said, "It’s none of our business, let’s just do our own tasks, and don’t forget that the reward this time is double."

Zhao Changsheng followed, cautiously saying, "Don’t you think there are more charred corpses as we go higher up?"

The four people left behind by Jin Han nodded in unison.

"Indeed, that’s the case."

"It’s possible we’re getting closer to that creature’s nest," Su Mo casually mentioned.

Of course, that’s what she thought too.

Finally reaching the seventh floor, this special product area was expectedly a whole street selling tea leaves, and most of them were still well-preserved.

Su Mo’s eyes lit up, "Go look for a tea called Zijuan."

"What does Miss Su want tea leaves for?" the superpower user behind her asked curiously.

Just as Zhao Changsheng was about to answer for her, Su Mo’s calm voice came through, "Nothing much. It’s just that Admiral Lu loves drinking tea. You help look for it, and when Mo Yan brings the supplies, you can have half of it."

Zhao Changsheng glanced at the person who just came up from the stairwell, his face turned cold, and called out with an unnatural expression, "...Momo."

"Quick, go take a look. If there’s Jasmine or Biluochun Tea, you can also bring them to me," Su Mo said without looking back, straight into a shop.

Lu Chen, leading the soldiers, glanced at the vanishing figure and continued to move upstairs.

Upon hearing Su Mo’s offer, the superpower users immediately sprang into action without agreement.

Su Mo stood in the shop with Biluochun in one hand and Jasmine in the other, her eyes shining several degrees brighter. She also successfully found the scarce Zijuan Tea and several other varieties she didn’t recognize or had not brewed before.

Su Mo placed all the varieties she hadn’t brewed before on the ground outside the shop, while Zhao Changsheng and Li Qian moved all the items over.

"Hmm?" Zhao Changsheng paused, having just accidentally stepped on the leg of a charred corpse.

She looked down and saw beneath the layers of charred skin, a multitude of purple blood vessels.

"What is this?" Zhao Changsheng put down her things and squatted in front of the corpse.

Seeing her reaching out to touch it, Li Qian quickly stopped her, his gentle voice carrying a hint of gravity, "Don’t touch it."

Su Mo walked out and saw the two squatting in front of the corpse. She packed up everything and piled it together, approaching them, "What’s wrong?"

"Momo, look," Zhao Changsheng pointed at the corpse.

Su Mo’s pupils constricted swiftly; she pulled the two to their feet, "Keep away. It’s very likely a type of parasitic plant."

"What do you mean?" Li Qian asked.

Su Mo headed back, hastily packing the tea, and urgently explained, "I’ve encountered Cannibal Flowers on Southern Island that can induce hallucinations. They can release agents that subdue living organisms, coaxing people to be eaten willingly. Whatever’s here could very well possess a similar superpower, likely even more strange."

Hearing her say this, the two immediately realized the severity of the situation and hurried over to help her pack.

Su Mo seemingly pulled several sacks out of nowhere, stuffing the packaged tea into them.

She filled a total of five large sacks; Zijuan Tea, Jasmine, and Biluochun each took up three large sacks, while the other unknown varieties filled the remaining two.