Han Ning woke up to find his Spiritual Power fully restored.
He rubbed his eyes and walked into the kitchen. Staring at the dwindling supplies, he used the cassette stove to cook a fist-sized portion of rice. Without any seasoning, he mechanically chewed, feeling the faint energy released as the starch broke down in his mouth.
He then crumbled the last half of a compressed biscuit and forced it down with the last few sips of water.
Food—he could last a few more days.
But water? Only six bottles remained.
Today, he had to find a water source.
Before setting out, Han Ning double-checked the equipment in his backpack:
A set of lock-picking tools—hammer, screwdriver, a bottle of water, a roll of bandages for emergencies, painkillers, half a roll of duct tape, and some wire.
And… the spare kitchen knife gripped in his hand.
Everything was accounted for.
He walked to the security door, slowly turned the handle, and cracked it open just enough to peer outside.
His gaze swept across the empty hallway before settling on the tightly shut door of Unit 701 next door.
His previous actions had been rushed, leaving no time to thoroughly search every room on this floor.
Now that he was stronger, he decided to start scavenging from his own floor.
Without the hesitation he'd felt the first time, Han Ning stepped out decisively, his feet splashing through the puddles as he approached Unit 701.
The door was firmly shut, the lock intact.
He tried turning the handle—no movement.
Pressing his ear against the door, he heard only silence.
Instead of resorting to brute force immediately, Han Ning placed his palm against the barely noticeable gap between the security door and the floor.
Pfft—
A faint green glow flickered as a vine, thin as fishing line, slithered through the gap.
Like an extension of his own fingers, it crept upward along the door until it reached the lock. With a gentle tug—
Click.
The door swung open.
A musty wave of dust hit him.
Sweeping his flashlight beam across the room, he found the living room empty, furniture draped in thick white sheets—clearly abandoned for a long time.
Han Ning searched the entire unit but found no food.
Next was Unit 702.
The moment he reached the door, an extremely faint sound seeped through the thick wood.
Not rain. Not wind.
But… voices?
Two people, whispering urgently, their words fragmented and muffled.
Han Ning leaned his head against the door, listening carefully.
"Water… almost gone…"
"…outside… too many monsters…"
"…wait… few more days."
"Mom, I'm hungry!"
"Waaah!"
Survivors.
Should he try to communicate with them? Maybe trade for supplies?
"Forget it…" After a moment of hesitation, Han Ning turned and headed for the stairwell.
From their conversation, they were clearly struggling for supplies too.
He had no intention of becoming a home-invading thief.
He searched every room on the floor, but the results were disappointing.
Still, it wasn't all bad news—at least he hadn't encountered any Crocodile Lizards today.
Entering the stairwell, Han Ning cautiously checked both the ascending and descending directions.
Confirming no wandering Crocodile Lizards were nearby, he chose to go up.
The reason was simple—the higher the floor, the lower the chance of running into those creatures.
The layout of the eighth-floor hallway mirrored the seventh floor, with four units per level, though the water accumulation seemed shallower here.
The lighting was also dimmer.
He first tried Unit 801—pushing the door open to find it unoccupied.
Unit 802 was the same.
Unit 803… When his hand gripped the icy doorknob, the door was locked.
Han Ning repeated his earlier method, using vines to force the door open.
The moment the door swung ajar—
A pungent, overpowering stench, mingled with the faint decay of food, surged out.
"The smell of spoiled food."
Han Ning wrinkled his nose, his heart leaping with excitement. He quickly sidestepped into the room, gently closing the door behind him.
Inside, it was pitch black, the curtains tightly drawn.
No monsters lunged at him as he'd imagined, nor were there any terrified screams from survivors.
The beam of his flashlight swept across the living room, revealing a warmly decorated suite.
Snack wrappers and empty drink bottles littered the coffee table, and a crumpled blanket lay on the sofa.
Suppressing the stench, Han Ning cautiously made his way toward the kitchen.
A high-end double-door refrigerator immediately caught his eye.
He opened it.
An indescribable mix of odors assaulted him—
Overripe fruit's cloying sweetness, the sour tang of rotting vegetables, the putrid stench of spoiled meat.
Foul as it was, the fridge was full.
No—more accurately, it was packed to the brim!
In the refrigerator compartment, plastic-wrapped fruits and vegetables were piled haphazardly, many already blackened, moldy, oozing thick, slimy juices.
Several apples had rotted halfway through, and a bag of cucumbers had melted into a soggy mess inside their plastic.
A dozen unopened milk and yogurt cartons were crammed into a corner, their packaging slightly bloated.
Opening the freezer door revealed an even greater variety of food—
Packed with vacuum-sealed meats, frozen fish, dumplings, glutinous rice balls…
Thanks to the low-temperature freezing and excellent sealing, even after losing power and being stored in a well-insulated space with relatively cool room temperatures, some packages still bore a thin layer of frost.
"Hmm? What's this?"
Han Ning's gaze inadvertently drifted to one side of the fridge.
Inside the kitchen, there was a small storage room.
Its door was ajar, and no smell of spoiled food emanated from within.
He raised his flashlight, directing the beam inside.
Neatly stacked in the corner were four unopened vacuum-sealed bags of rice, each weighing a standard 10kg.
On the shelves nearby stood several jars of dried goods—mushrooms, wood ear fungus, daylily flowers—along with unopened packs of noodles, boxes of self-heating rice, compressed biscuits, and even a few canned goods (luncheon meat, fermented black bean and dace).
Two plastic storage bins sat on the floor—one filled with unopened salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and other seasonings.
Against the far wall, half a wall's worth of bottled water and assorted beverages were piled high.
"Holy shit…"
Even with prior expectations, Han Ning couldn't help but mutter a low curse, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.
Perhaps influenced by the indescribable events of the past few years, the homeowner had been a hoarding hamster, stockpiling supplies in their apartment.
For some unknown reason, they'd never returned.
And now, all these supplies had fallen into his hands!
"Jackpot. This is a real jackpot!" Han Ning was exhilarated, though he quickly forced himself to calm down.
There's no way to move all this stuff in one trip.
Since the owner of this apartment hasn't returned yet.
He might as well just move in directly.
That would save him the trouble of moving everything.
Being on a higher floor would also be safer.
He just needed to bring over the useful items from his own Unit 703.
In theory, Units 703 and 803 should have similar layouts, but his place didn't seem as spacious as this one.