But the next second, a picture frame and a desk lamp appeared out of nowhere above the zombie's head, smashing heavily down on it. The zombie quickly fell. Jiang Yuntan had just finished clearing this counter. As she turned toward the storeroom, she casually struck the zombie with an iron rod to make sure it was completely dead. Then she moved the picture frame and desk lamp to a dead corner where no one would see them unless they walked right over. Only then did she head to the gold shop's storeroom.
Shen Hegui saw this and smiled. He knew it—the daughter raised by Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang couldn't be completely lacking in courage. Besides, she had grown up under the old man's watch. These past few days, she'd probably just been scared by the sudden change. Now, she was doing well—decisive and cautious. Still, if she had always been afraid to face the apocalypse, they wouldn't have forced her. But that would mean she could only be protected forever, never stepping into the outside world. Seeing that she was fine, Shen Hegui continued clearing the first floor's zombies. They weren't collecting supplies now, but it was a good chance to practice. He found that the more he used his ability, the more proficient he became, and it seemed to grow stronger too.
After Jiang Yuntan entered the gold shop's storeroom, she understood why a zombie had burst out earlier. Judging by its clothes, it must have been the store manager, who had stayed overnight to inventory new stock. The room was filled with boxes of jewelry. She opened one to check—everything was already neatly packed in boxes. Not knowing what they were for, she simply stored them all into her Showcase. On a nearby table lay cut-up gold pieces, probably items brought in for recycling. She tossed those directly into her trading interface with Mu Qingtang.
Jinbao asked in confusion, [That woman is a proper commandery princess. She shouldn't lack such things. Why are you giving her this scrap gold?]
"Since when did gold become scrap? If you know where such 'scrap' is, tell me, and I'll go pick it up," Jiang Yuntan deflected. She didn't want Jinbao to know what she was planning yet. If it tried to stop her, all her efforts would be wasted.
Soon, she cleared the storeroom, even taking the blowtorch used for melting gold. When she came out, she went straight into the watch shop next door. She took the watches off the display and placed them into her trading interface with Mu Qingtang. After clearing three or four counters, she headed into the back room and emptied the entire inventory. As for the watches on the counters, she couldn't take too many—otherwise, her space capacity would be hard to explain. Gold was easier to justify; it looked nice and might actually be tradeable for supplies. So she had to leave the ones on the counters and only take what wasn't displayed.
Shen Hegui found it odd that she entered the watch shop. "Don't you want gold anymore?"
"I do, but I also want some watches. We don't know if phones will still work later, so I'll rely on watches to tell time," Jiang Yuntan said without batting an eye.
Shen Hegui:... That made some sense, but he already had a watch.
Yu Ke, hearing this, also stopped to browse, planning to pick one for himself.
Just as Jiang Yuntan was about to leave, she spotted several elegant women's watches priced over a million each. Right in front of them, she cleared that entire counter's watches. These high-end pieces were suitable as gifts for the commandery princess. Besides, she had a favor to ask.
Seeing Jiang Yuntan dash into yet another jewelry store, Yu Ke wondered aloud, "Isn't our little sister's space only one cubic meter? How can she fit so much?"
Shen Hegui replied concisely, "I gave her the crystal core I got yesterday. She practiced all night until she passed out. The next morning, she found her space had upgraded." To avoid any misunderstandings, he added honestly, "Her space expanded to ten cubic meters, but she said Half of it is for her own stuff. I don't mind."
Yu Ke nodded. "After all, it's her space. It's already generous of her to let us store Half of our things." Even if she didn't tell them about the upgrade, they wouldn't have known. He couldn't help but remark, "Is an upgrade that powerful? Instantly expanding tenfold?" He glanced at Shen Hegui. "Our little sister already upgraded. When will you? You're not going to be worse than her, are you? You awakened your ability earlier."
Shen Hegui:... He had only learned today that using his ability frequently—especially exhausting it fully—could accelerate growth. Before, he had held back, worried about emergencies.
Changing the subject, Shen Hegui said, "Done picking? There are no zombies now. Let's help her collect some more. Otherwise, once those people come down, we won't be able to take things openly." This was still the early days of the apocalypse, and Jiang Yuntan was the only spatial ability user they'd seen. If others got ideas, she'd be in danger.
"Got it, almost done," Yu Ke said, grabbing a dark gold-red watch that matched his flashy personality.
The two began collecting gold and jade from the counters. Jiang Yufeng picked a understated watch and stood guard with his weapon, watching for any zombies that might emerge from other floors.
Jiang Yuntan was surprised they came to help, but while they were distracted, she slipped into two cosmetics and skincare shops, taking their entire stock—boxes of products—and storing them into her Showcase, mixing them with other boxes. She could see the labels on the boxes, so she knew what they contained.
By the time they had cleared more than Half of the first floor, noises came from upstairs. Shen Hegui and Yu Ke, in perfect sync, dropped their bags at her feet, signaling her to put them away quickly. Jiang Yuntan wasn't stupid; she stored both bags into her space, leaving only the bag in her hand untouched. After all her work, if she had nothing in hand, it would arouse suspicion from Lin Tingxue and the others.
"Let's go," Shen Hegui said, picking up the heavy bag of gold jewelry she was holding. He wondered what she planned to do with all this. If she just liked them, they were all jumbled together anyway.
Jiang Yuntan didn't stand on ceremony. As they walked a few steps, Lin Tingxue and her group appeared at the stairwell.