Apocalypse: Resources consumed by women will be returned ten thousandfold.

--Translated by likesnovel--

Jiang Fan descended roughly 100 meters underground before choosing a spot where the vegetation was relatively sparse and resurfaced.

In front of him was a massive parking lot.

The original asphalt roads were now almost completely covered in lush green grass, barely resembling their former state.

Not far away, another road stretched out.

The traffic lights were still functioning, switching between red, yellow, and green on their own, with no human control.

The traffic poles had been completely wrapped in thick vines.

Metal poles that once were the size of a dinner plate had become massive plant columns—so thick that it would take 2 adults to fully wrap their arms around them.

A rabbit the size of a pig was calmly grazing on grass that grew nearly waist-high.

Suddenly—

Jiang Fan moved slightly.

The rabbit immediately startled.

It leapt into the air, jumping over 7–8 meters high and sprinting more than 10 meters away in an instant.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Within seconds, it disappeared into the dense grass.

Jiang Fan did not pursue it. He simply stood still and analyzed calmly in his mind.

“Its speed is slightly higher than mine… but not by much.”

“Its strength is clearly weaker.”

“If creatures like this can survive in the wild, then I should be able to survive too.”

He quickly understood the general situation.

However, this was only the “current state.”

Evolution of plants and animals was still ongoing without any signs of slowing down.

The clearest example was the pine trees, which were still growing taller continuously.

And the rats.

Most rats had grown to the size of cats before stabilizing.

But a few special ones continued evolving endlessly, without any known limit.

No one knew where it would eventually stop.

Jiang Fan stepped onto the main road.

The ground was covered with thick bushes and weeds.

The asphalt had cracked and buckled under the pressure of overgrowth.

Although it was not yet sharp enough to pierce through his shoes, walking was already very difficult.

Normal vehicles were practically unusable.

Even driving slowly could easily result in tires being punctured by plants or debris.

Visibility ahead was less than 5 meters.

Everything was obscured by thick red fog.

Fortunately, his perception ability remained fully functional.

Along the way, he spotted a small convenience store with its doors tightly shut.

Beside it, a man was curled up on the ground.

He was still alive, but in extremely poor condition.

After walking a bit further,

Jiang Fan noticed plant thorns stuck all over his pants.

They were extremely hard to remove.

If he were accidentally scratched, in this virus-mutated environment, even he couldn’t be certain his body would resist infection.

On top of that, the ground was filled with waist-high grass.

Every step was difficult.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Fan tested a new application of his Formless State ability.

Whoosh!

His body continued walking forward,

but gradually began “phasing through” the surrounding plants and weeds automatically.

It was as if he was walking in a straight line through everything in his path.

He still retained the advantages of passing through solid objects and liquids,

without needing to sink underground and waste energy,

and without suffering from breathing difficulties.

Soon after,

Jiang Fan arrived at the entrance of Yida Plaza.

The once-bustling shopping mall now stood silent, like a deserted city.

The main doors were tightly shut, as if sealed in an emergency the moment the red mist descended.

There were no ivy vines here, but the grass was even taller than in the Fugui Center area—over 1.5 meters high, making it impossible for shorter people to see through.

Inside the grass were countless large insects.

Grasshoppers, crickets, and praying mantises.

The praying mantises in particular emitted a faint red glow, exuding a predator-like aura in the darkness.

Jiang Fan walked through the entrance.

Inside the mall was pitch black and chillingly cold.

There were no survivors.

He couldn’t find the light switch, so he used a flashlight while relying on his perception ability to carefully search for supplies.

Soon, he located the supermarket inside and headed straight there.

When he entered,

the scene made him narrow his eyes slightly.

Several corpses were scattered across the floor.

The flesh had been completely eaten away, leaving only white skeletons behind.

The bones were covered with bite marks, and some parts had even been dragged away.

Based on the torn uniforms,

they were likely security guards of the mall.

Jiang Fan immediately became more alert.

However, within his 50-meter perception range,

there were no dangerous threats—only rats and flies.

The moment he stepped into the supermarket,

a strong stench hit him.

The produce section near the entrance had turned into a massive pile of waste.

Vegetables, fruits, and meat had all rotted beyond recognition.

The smell was almost impossible to describe.

Flies swarmed everywhere.

Rats and cockroaches crawled across the floor.

“Ugh…”

Jiang Fan covered his nose and quickly walked past.

Soon he reached the shelves.

All goods were still neatly arranged.

There were no signs of being looted.

Jiang Fan guessed that when the red mist first descended,

Yida Mall was likely closed temporarily.

Most employees and staff were trapped inside.

In the early stage, most people probably waited at home for rescue.

But as time passed,

the world evolved far faster than anyone expected.

Plants grew wildly, and animals mutated and expanded in size.

Until eventually…

humans were no longer able to return here again…

“I’ve got it all… it’s mine now!”

Jiang Fan chuckled softly as he swept all the supplies into his storage space without the slightest hesitation.

Whether it was cigarettes, alcohol, pots, pans, kitchenware, bedding, clothes, tissues, or mops—

he took everything.

Even the supermarket shelves and shopping carts were not spared.

He searched through the entire Yida Mall before finally finding the warehouse section.

In front of him stood massive industrial shelves that stretched all the way to the ceiling.

They extended deep into the red mist, disappearing beyond sight.

Every shelf was packed with unopened boxes of goods.

The quantity was far greater than what was displayed in the retail area outside.

Jiang Fan spent around 30 minutes sweeping all the goods—and even the shelves themselves—into his personal storage space.

Even 2 forklifts used for transporting goods were taken as well.

Inside the warehouse, there was also a large cold storage room still functioning normally.

When he opened the door,

he saw neatly arranged boxes of frozen meat.

Fish, pork, beef, lamb, chicken—everything was available.

Some of the ingredients were extremely expensive.

Before the apocalypse, he would never have dared to touch them.

But now, everything was right in front of him—free for the taking.

Jiang Fan smiled coldly.

“Hah… with this, I don’t have to worry about food anymore.”

He swept everything into his storage space without hesitation.

After that, he went to the CCTV control room.

The system was still running normally, but the footage was completely obscured by the red mist, making it useless.

To prevent anyone from tracing the disappearance of the supplies back to him,

Jiang Fan removed the server.

And since he was too lazy to destroy the hard drive,

he simply threw it into his storage space as well.

Yida Plaza had a total of 4 floors.

There were still many shops and restaurants above,

and there might still be remaining supplies.

But now… there was no need to waste time.

Jiang Fan checked his phone.

“It’s getting dark… I’ll come back tomorrow during daylight.”

After all,

survivors were becoming increasingly desperate for food.

Some of them might even risk coming here to loot.

……

After Jiang Fan left,

the silent, pitch-black Yida Plaza fell back into stillness.

But suddenly—

about 2 meters above the ground,

a circular blue “energy portal” appeared in mid-air.

It was about the size of a washbasin.

It trembled slightly, like the surface of water disturbed by a stone.

A moment later,

a young girl with braided hair poked her head out from the portal.

In one hand she held a flashlight, and with the other she carefully scanned her surroundings.

“This really is… Yida!”

she exclaimed excitedly.

“I’m a genius!”

She tried to squeeze through the blue portal and jumped down—

but misjudged the height and fell straight onto the floor.

“Ow!”

“My butt… it hurts so muchhh!”

She immediately burst into tears, eyes full of water.

After a while,

she slowly got up, still rubbing her sore backside.

The surrounding silence felt unnervingly heavy.

The flashlight beam cut through the red mist, making the atmosphere even more terrifying.

Fear began to creep into her expression.

But since there was no food left at home,

she had no choice but to risk coming here to find supplies.

She gritted her teeth and carefully continued exploring.

Fortunately, she was familiar with the layout of Yida Plaza.

Soon, she found her way into the supermarket area.

As she arrived at the entrance of the goods section,

a strong stench from the rotten produce hit her immediately.

Flies swarmed everywhere.

She quickly covered her nose and hurried past.

When she reached the shelves—

“Huh? Where are all the shelves?”

She froze.

Her eyes widened in shock.

“Did someone already clear everything out of Yida?”

She hesitated, wondering whether to go to the warehouse area.

At that moment—

the flashlight beam caught a pair of glowing green eyes at the end of the corridor.

A giant orange cat, the size of a tiger, slowly walked out.

It tilted its head at the girl and let out a sound.

“Meow?”

It seemed to sense something familiar in her presence.

“AHHH!!”

The girl screamed, her braids almost standing on end.

“Don’t come any closer!!”

Tears streamed down her face as she frantically waved her hand.

A blue line of light appeared in front of her.

She grabbed it and violently tore it apart, as if splitting space itself, then rushed into it to escape.

Whoosh!

The blue portal instantly vanished.

The orange cat tilted its head, staring at the empty spot in confusion.

It sniffed around once, then casually walked away, uninterested.

In its mind, it thought silently:

“If humans on two legs are this scary…”

“Then I must be a god or something…”