Chapter 39
Chloe’s spiritual space was now about the size of a basketball court. Instead of just dumping stuff in there, she’d started being picky about what she kept.
Chloe
put
the emerald in its designated spot, and it got absorbed, but her spiritual space still didn’t change at all. She figured that the spiritual space must level up somehow, and right now, hers wasn’t even at level one.
The mall’s first floor was clean, with no zombies, or signs that anyone had been there since everything went to hell. It was good news for Chloe. She still had six months to strip Hevenscale bare since the city was a lost cause anyway.
With Emily still passed out on her back, Chloe found a quiet corner, pulled a tent out of her spiritual space, and layered the floor with foam pads so it wouldn’t be too hard to sleep on.
She tossed a few blankets on top, and then lay Emily down gently.
Emily looked pale, so Chloe placed a translucent zombie core in her hand. Emily’s power was totally drained, but a core like that would help her bounce back fast.
Next, Chloe treated the gash on her left arm. She grabbed some medicine from her spiritual space, sprinkled it over the cut. and wrapped it tightly.
Once everything was settled, Chloe zipped the tent shut, sat on the blankets, and closed her eyes to absorb the mutated core’s energy.
Once everything was settled, Chloe zipped the tent shut, sat on the blankets, and closed her eyes to absorb the mutated core’s energy. Her wind power was almost level three, but her ice and plant powers were still stuck at level one. She needed balance.
She moved the three fire power cores into her spiritual space.
Emily slowly came to her senses, still looking pale. She tried to speak but paused when her
eyes lit
- up.
“I—”
“Congratulations, Emily,” Chloe said, catching her confused look. “You’re a level one powered human now. Sometimes hitting rock bottom is what kicks your power into gear.”
“Thanks,” Emily replied with a shy smile.
“We’re a team,” Chloe said.
Emily nodded. “Yeah, we are.” She scanned the area with her spirit power, and her expression turned serious. “Chloe, there are survivors in the sixth–floor food court. About a hundred of them.”
Chloe brushed it off. “Let’s steer clear.” She wasn’t big on dealing with people. If Emily hadn’t shown so much potential, Chloe wouldn’t have bothered saving her at all. Later, she’d realize just how lucky she was to have a spirit–powered human
on her side.
Just then, Emily stood by the hidden stairwell, eyes wide as she pointed into the gloom below. “Chloe, there’s a huge underground warehouse down there.”
Chloe froze for a second, and then broke into a grin. Stocking up was only possible early in the apocalypse. The more supplies, the better her odds of surviving this hellscape.
“It’s packed with stuff,” Emily added, and then frowned. “But your space is already full of dorm blankets, right? You probably don’t have much room left.”
Chloe nodded. Her basketball court–sized space was half–covered in blankets already. “Can you sense if there’s any high–end gemstones nearby?”
14:33 Tue, Dec 23 M
Chapter 39
After a moment, Emily shook her head, looking disappointed.
Chloe pressed her lips together. “Stay here. I’ll be quick.”
Emily looked worried. “But that warehouse is huge. My power can’t cover everything. It might be dangerous,”
Chloe sighed, “Honestly, it’s more dangerous if you come with me.”
Emily blushed, admitting she’d be a liability. “Just be careful, okay?”
わ
The mall had no power. Even though it was daytime, the basement was pitch black. Chloe flicked on her flashlight and made her way down into the warehouse.
At the same time, she mentally rearranged the stuff inside her spiritual space, pushing everything together to free up more
room.
The moment Chloe stepped inside, her jaw dropped. The place was stacked to the ceiling with flour, daily necessities, instant noodles, cookies, chocolate, milk, juice, and canned goods.
Without hesitation, Chloe started shoving everything into her spiritual space. The storage building inside had eighteen. floors, with wide aisles between sorted items. Now, she crammed it all together, turning those gaps into extra storage and clearing a whole floor’s worth of space.
The deeper she went, the more excited she got. Mountains of food were everywhere. In no time, she’d cleared out half the warehouse.
Suddenly, a chill shot down her spine, like something was watching her. She spun around, summoning a wind blade, and locked eyes with a pair of glowing, savage eyes in the dark.
She swung her flashlight toward it and nearly lost her balance. It was a spotted leopard. It was not some mutated house cat, but the real deal.
The leopard was huge, almost three times the normal size, muscles tensed, and crouched low like it was about to spring. The light made it squint, and it let out a low, rumbling growl.
They stared each other down, neither making a move. The air was thick with tension.
Finally, Chloe tried to reason with it. “Look, we’re pretty evenly matched. You can’t take me down, and I can’t take you. How about we just go our separate ways?”
The leopard just stared at her, silent as ever.
“Okay,” Chloe tried again, “if there’s something here you want, I’ll leave it for you. Deal?”
The leopard kept staring, still not making a sound.
Chloe scratched her head. “So… you don’t want anything? Then I’m taking it all.”
The leopard stayed put, muscles coiled, not budging an inch.
Chloe knew that she could probably escape if she had to, but she wasn’t leaving these supplies behind.
In her previous life, she’d been extremely poor. So now, even a pack of instant noodles felt like treasure.
Slowly, she edged along the stacks of boxes, her back pressed against them, stuffing whatever she could reach into her spiritual space while keeping her eyes locked on the leopard.
Just as she got closer, the leopard pounced. Chloe flashed the light straight into its eyes. Blinded, it shut them tightly.
14:33 Tue, Dec 23 M
OM
Chapter 39
In that split second, Chloe shot a wind blade from her right hand.
The leopard dodged in a blur but planted itself right back in front of her again, roaring angrily.
That was when Chloe spotted a man lying motionless behind the leopard.
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