"The bottom's just... empty. Like the canteen's supermarket was never even there. Not a trace left. This poisonous rain is really something."
Since the supermarket was a bust, the only option left was to try their luck at the supply co-op.
Fortunately, the co-op wasn't far. The route was clear, with nothing blocking their way, so it didn't take long for them to paddle over.
The co-op used to be a large supermarket. Buildings like this usually had high floors, so it hadn't been flooded—yet. Still, only the top levels remained visible, and at this rate, they'd be underwater by morning.
But even now, getting inside was nearly impossible. And retrieving supplies, then swimming back out? That was downright unrealistic for them.
The two inflatable kayaks circled around the outside of the co-op for a long time. Eventually, Lao Gao made a suggestion. "It's glass on the outside. What if we break through the glass and go in from there? What do you think?"
Huang Jinghe shook his head immediately. "That's not gonna work. The glass is see-through. Even if it's foggy, you can still tell there's no water inside. If we break it and try to go in through there, we'll fall straight from the second or third floor down to the ground floor. That kind of fall would kill us—or leave us crippled. What supplies would we be looking for then?"
Lan Jin had also been observing the outside for a while. She said, "We're actually not that far from the roof. What if one of us climbs up first, then pulls the others up? We can break through the roof instead. Then we just slide down slowly through the hole and grab whatever we can find. The acid rain's corrosion is strong. Every house is leaking now. The roof shouldn't be hard to break through."
Ling Jiang said, "But we'll need a rope to get back down. We brought one to drag supplies, but it's way too short."
"I have one. Just in case, I packed a long rope."
Lan Jin had brought a large backpack when she left home. It was perfect for carrying supplies, and it gave her cover to sneak out with whatever essentials she needed. A rope didn't take up much room, and now it came in handy.
Of course, everyone had done the same today. All four of them had left home carrying their biggest packs.
With rope in hand, things became much easier.
They found a spot where they could dock their kayaks. Lao Gao climbed up first, then helped pull the others up. Once everyone was on the roof, they started hammering away.
As Lan Jin had predicted, the roof wasn't difficult to break through. Everyone had some kind of tool in hand, and it didn't take long before they broke a small hole.
But just as they took turns peeking through the opening into the co-op below, a new problem arose.
There was nothing inside.
That's right—completely empty.
A supply co-op of that size had absolutely nothing inside. That was strange.
If the supermarket had been empty, that could be blamed on the poisonous rain. The entire building had collapsed, so it made sense that everything inside was gone too.
But the co-op?
They'd seen it clearly while drifting past. There wasn't even a scratch on the exterior. It wasn't just that the supplies were gone—there weren't even any shelves.
Supplies could be eaten. That was understandable. But the shelves? They were numbered. You couldn't eat them, and you couldn't trade them for contribution points. Taking them was useless. The fact that even the shelves were missing made the whole thing feel suspicious.
Lan Jin squatted down, lost in thought. Ever since her rebirth, she had sensed that something was off. Whether it was in her past life or this one, the higher-ups always reacted too quickly. It was as if everything had been prepared in advance.
Like the door-to-door registry before the poisonous fog appeared. Or the emergency food rations that followed.
In such a chaotic time, most people barely had time to take care of themselves. Who would still think about feeding dogs? And yet, they had dog food ready. That was odd.
You could argue that they had some kind of equipment to detect the disasters beforehand. That might explain it.
But even the most advanced tech couldn't predict things so precisely. If a reborn person was involved though—then it all made sense.
Even if the timeline of disasters had changed, the sequence hadn't. With advanced equipment and a reborn person's foreknowledge, early warnings and preparations were entirely possible.
So the co-op being empty? That just meant someone knew the heavy rain season was coming and cleared everything out ahead of time.
But for the people living here, this just meant life was going to get even harder.
That wasn't something she could worry about, though. With nothing left inside, there was no point continuing to break through the walls.
The four of them slumped down near the hole they had made, forming a small circle. They let the rain patter against their raincoats.
After a long, gloomy silence, Lan Jin spoke. "What about the office building? Lots of people used to work there. There has to be something left behind."
"Nope," Ling Jiang replied. "The higher-ups already swept through it once. Anything worth taking was already collected."
"But there's always something missed, right? If we don't go now, we might never get the chance again. It's just next door."
Lao Gao was still optimistic. "Let's do it. We're already out here, might as well take a look."
The four of them adjusted their gear, got back in their kayaks, and paddled toward the office building.
The doors were a no-go, of course. But office buildings had windows. After being weakened by the poisonous rain, it only took a few tries for the two men to smash one open. One by one, they climbed inside. Once the kayaks were stored away, they began searching for supplies.
They had entered on the third floor. It was an office space, mostly empty. Still, compared to the co-op, there was at least something here. Their luck wasn't great though—after searching the entire floor, there wasn't a single edible item.
They moved on to the fourth floor using the stairs. Judging by the logo near the entrance, the company used to sell bottled water.
Huang Jinghe looked excited. "A company this big... there's no way not even one bottle is left. Let's search quickly!"
He and Ling Jiang headed straight for the break room. The counters and cabinets were completely bare. But around the corner, they found a small employee lounge.
And inside, there really was something.
Lan Jin, sharp-eyed as always, spotted six boxes of bottled water stacked against the far wall behind a shelf. She rushed over and said, eyes bright, "Six full boxes. None of them opened. This has to be drinkable."
Ling Jiang quickly came over for a look and finally let out a breath of relief.
Not just because they had found water, but because this building might actually still hold more supplies.
"But we can't take all this back so openly," she added. "Someone's bound to notice."