Apocalypse Rebirth: Crazy from Day One

Chapter 481: Chapter 490: The Convenience Store’s Owner

Zane Xavier paused for a moment, then smiled. "Miss Sterling is right."

Sure enough, he slowed his pace. Though he was still working, he was no longer going at it with the same fervor as before, choosing instead to gradually recover his strength.

’Just moments ago,’ he thought, ’all I could think about was the massive cache of supplies that might be buried here. I was so excited, I just wanted to haul it all back.’

If he worked this hard, the Three Tigers Corps would take a large share of the spoils anyway.

But in the end, he and Miss Sterling would still be able to get a huge amount of food.

Miss Sterling had said they wouldn’t go hungry or thirsty if they followed her.

But still, no matter how vast her supplies were, they would eventually run out if they just kept consuming them.

You could never have too much food. Even if they had some now, it was always wise to store more for the future. There was nothing wrong with being prepared.

There was another reason, too. He noticed that Miss Sterling’s movements were clumsy; a single glance was enough to tell she’d never done this kind of work before.

He didn’t know what her background was, but back at Sanctyr Base, he’d heard rumors that Miss Sterling came from a powerful faction.

She clearly used to be a leader and had never done such grueling manual labor.

’As her most loyal subordinate, it’s only natural for me to do more.’

Otherwise, the resentful glares from the Three Tigers Corps would have been boring holes into them.

Since Miss Sterling wasn’t skilled at this, he figured if he did more of the work for the two of them, the Three Tigers Corps couldn’t complain.

But after hearing what Miss Sterling said, it dawned on him. It wasn’t that she couldn’t do the work; she was simply a far better strategist than he was.

Here he was, working himself to the bone. If he exhausted all his energy now and they ran into danger, neither of them would be able to fight back.

The men from the Three Tigers Corps seemed decent enough, and their leader, Hunter Night, had a good reputation. But that was all just hearsay. Zane had never interacted with him in depth, so he didn’t truly know what kind of person he was.

Even if Hunter Night was as good as the rumors claimed, he and Miss Sterling weren’t his subordinates. He might help them with small favors, but that was it.

If they ran into real danger, Hunter Night’s priority would be himself and his own men.

That was only human nature. No one could be blamed for it.

But if he and Miss Sterling had no strength left to face that danger, their only fate would be death.

What was the point of working so hard, then? Even if they were allotted a mountain of food, it would be useless if they were dead.

No matter what they did, their primary goal was to stay alive.

And to stay alive, they had to think three steps ahead. They couldn’t just focus on immediate gains; they had to plan for the future.

Miss Sterling was so much smarter than him. The work had to be done, but only in moderation.

The worst that could happen was they’d get a smaller share, but that was far better than working themselves to death only to get nothing in the end.

After figuring this out, Zane Xavier’s admiration for Stella Sterling grew even deeper.

He stood beside Stella Sterling, and the two of them worked methodically, neither slacking nor overexerting themselves.

Seeing that the two of them were now working earnestly, the men from the Three Tigers Corps looked away.

It wasn’t that they were being petty. After all, a portion of any supplies found would have to be shared with these two. If they didn’t pull their weight, the corps members would naturally feel it was unfair.

Now that the pair had resumed a normal work pace, the others naturally stopped staring.

Hunter Night breathed a sigh of relief. He had wanted to help the pair, but if their slacking had been too obvious, he would have had a hard time explaining it to his men.

With more than ten people working at once, their progress was swift. They soon finished clearing most of the rubble.

As they dug through the ruins, they managed to find some food buried beneath the debris.

It seemed to be snacks that had been left in the office building.

Much of it had rotted away, but some pre-packaged items were still preserved. Though they were now crushed flat, filthy, and long past their expiration dates, everyone’s face lit up with excitement and joy. Not a single person looked disgusted.

As long as it was still edible, that was all that mattered.

The men from the Three Tigers Corps collected everything into a single bag, and then everyone continued digging.

Soon, the small convenience store appeared before them.

The store was remarkably intact. Compared to the dilapidated buildings outside, it seemed to have suffered almost no damage at all.

Stella Sterling observed the small store and realized it must have been modified.

Its building materials and walls had been reinforced, many of them with a special type of material.

Back when Stella Sterling was in the Orilon Complex, her own room had been modified with similar materials.

No wonder it was still standing, even though the office building above had collapsed and the ground beneath it had sunk.

The previous owner of the convenience store had probably been the one to do it.

Everyone went inside, grabbed their bags, and began clearing the shelves.

Zane Xavier joined them.

The convenience store was well-stocked, even better than they had imagined. It was as if it had just been restocked.

The men of the Three Tigers Corps let out quiet gasps of amazement.

This was a huge score. Today was an absolute windfall.

If they brought all this back, it would be enough to last the Three Tigers Corps for a very, very long time.

If they rationed it carefully, they wouldn’t have to worry about food for a long time to come.

Unfortunately, a large portion of the items inside were completely ruined and inedible.

Everyone divided the food they found into two piles. One pile was for items that were relatively well-preserved and still edible.

The other was for things that looked mostly spoiled but weren’t completely rotten. They planned to take those back as well, to see if they could salvage anything edible after cleaning them up.

Stella Sterling was also collecting items in a bag, but she spent more time surveying the convenience store itself.

She was searching for what she truly wanted.

’The chances are slim, but who knows if the owner had any unusual collecting habits?’

’After all, judging from the modified shop, its owner must have sensed something was coming before the apocalypse and made preparations.’

Stella Sterling’s gaze swept from left to right. Then she found the drawer of the cash register, pulled it open, and her eyes lit up.

Inside were several gold bars. Beside them lay a locked diary.