8: Go to the mall to open a blind box

The night passed without a word, and the next day dawned.

In the apocalypse, it was difficult to see a clear sun in the morning. The sky was always hazy, covered by a fine, gauze-like layer.

The mercenary squad woke up very early. They drank some water and ate some cockroach biscuits. But their spirits were clearly much better than yesterday.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, stay here and look after Lord Pan. The rest of you, follow me to the nearby community to find gold," Qin Zhong announced.

"Qin Laoda, I want to go too," Pan Han waved his hand.

"Hmm, alright. Seventh Sister, you are responsible for Lord Pan's safety," Qin Zhong agreed after a brief thought, because there were very few zombies in the nearby community, so the risk was very low.

"Understood, Laoda!" Cheng Xiao patted the pistol at her waist.

The reason Pan Han wanted to go was, firstly, to explore the map, and secondly, to see what other valuable items there were besides gold. These things he could only judge himself; there was no way to tell the mercenary squad members.

"Alright, let's go," Qin Zhong led, with Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother in one car. Sixth Brother, Cheng Xiao, and Pan Han were in another car.

Qin Zhong was in the first car. He sat in the passenger seat, holding a walkie-talkie, communicating with Cheng Xiao behind him. They were going to a small shopping mall about 3 kilometers away. This small mall was a community mall that served the residents before. Besides buying vegetables and meat, it also had a small counter that dealt in gold.

This alternate world was different from Pan Han's universe. There were so many gold mines here that the price of gold was not much more expensive than brass. Many electrical appliances also contained a large amount of gold. There were even restaurants specializing in gold foil dishes.

Pan Han was unaware of this situation, but he couldn't just directly ask how much gold they had. He was afraid of revealing information. However, he didn't care; wasn't it just canned goods? Enough to go around!

Three kilometers, they arrived quickly.

Qin Zhong got out of the car first, leading Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother to spread out in a combat formation, entering the small mall first.

"Didn't you say there weren't many zombies left? Why are you still so nervous?" Pan Han asked.

"The zombies in this area have been cleared out countless times already. But there might be wandering zombie hordes, and mutated creatures could also appear. So, it's better to be careful," Cheng Xiao replied.

"Lord Pan, for the past few years we've been out and about, we've relied on three things!" Sixth Brother said proudly.

"Ruthlessness, loyalty, and many brothers?" Pan Han quickly guessed.

"Haha, ruthlessness and loyalty are definitely there, but not many brothers. The third thing is actually caution. In the apocalypse, there is never a moment of safety," Sixth Brother rubbed the back of his head, expressing approval that Pan Han guessed two correctly.

Pan Han agreed, this also seemed to be the principle he should follow in building his influence here.

At this moment, Qin Zhong sent a signal, indicating that it was safe inside. Cheng Xiao led Pan Han in, while Sixth Brother stayed outside to guard the perimeter.

Less than 20 meters from the mall entrance was the gold counter. The glass was long gone, and the gold on the counter was also gone.

"When the apocalypse first started, everyone still looted some gold. So, what was on the surface should have all been taken. We'll go check the safe or other cabinets below," Qin Zhong explained to Pan Han.

"Hmm, I'll also see if there's anything else useful."

Pan Han took out his flashlight and first looked at the ground, which was covered in broken glass and some unknown liquids. Only after ensuring there were no pits on the ground did he begin to move.

Below the counter were storage cabinets. Pan Han felt like he was opening a blind box. He slowly opened the first cabinet.

Inside were only some accounting ledgers and packaging boxes. Pan Han flipped through a few packaging boxes but found nothing.

He opened the second cabinet, which contained several photo frames. Various photos of a family of three. The shop owner was a middle-aged uncle, and his wife and child were quite beautiful. It seemed that on the day of the apocalypse, they must have encountered a sudden zombie attack, otherwise, the family photo frames would surely have been taken away. Pan Han sighed, not knowing what to say.

Pan Han then opened the third cabinet. Inside were two boxes, one large and one small. Pan Han's heart stirred, was a surprise coming?

Pan Han opened the large box first and almost died of anger; inside was an adult toy rod, along with some chains, ropes, and small balls.

"Damn, you old pervert," Pan Han cursed under his breath.

Suddenly, he discovered a conical plug. Although the plug wasn't very clean, it was golden-orange, most likely made of gold!

He really wanted to take it, but he felt it was dirty.

At this moment, Cheng Xiao came over, saw the plug in the box, and picked it up without hesitation.

She weighed it in her hand, then wiped the surface with her hand, and then bit it with her teeth.

"Your luck is good, a great start, and it's not light," Cheng Xiao said, handing the item to Pan Han.

Pan Han looked at Cheng Xiao as if she were an idiot.

Whose subordinate is this, to be so brave!

Pan Han waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "You keep all the gold. We'll tally up how much we found at the end."

Cheng Xiao thought it was reasonable and stuffed the plug into her back pocket.

At this time, Qin Zhong and the others had also pried open the safe.

Cheng Xiao and Pan Han also ran over to look.

Sure enough, inside were twenty gold bars. Each one looked to be about a kilogram.

Pan Han's head was buzzing again. If he took these back and sold them, how much money would he get?

And not only was there gold, but also some finished jewelry: gemstones, jade, gold pendants, gold bracelets, and so on.

"Take it all," Pan Han called out to Qin Zhong, urging him to bag them quickly.

"Okay, these gemstones, I always wanted to save money to buy them for my wife before, and now I can just take them. It's a pity she's no longer here," Qin Zhong muttered to himself while packing the goods.

"Qin Laoda, my condolences!" Pan Han hadn't expected to touch on Qin Zhong's sad past.

"Lord Pan, you worry too much. I might go find her at any time."

"I didn't realize, Qin Laoda, that you're such a devoted man."

"Now that my wife is gone, all I have left are these brothers. You ask them why they follow me?"

"Hmm, I understand. That means I didn't pick the wrong person. We'll talk about our cooperation when we get back."

"Alright, let's look for other cabinets. Fourth Brother, you go see if there's any gold or silver jewelry on the corpses. If not, then retreat. Try to stay outside as little as possible."

So everyone started to act separately again.

It must be said, there is truly a lot of gold in this world. The few skeletons lying in the mall were all adorned with gold and silver. Fourth Brother came back with several more strings of jewelry.

Qin Zhong saw that it was enough, so he led the team out.

Sixth Brother was still on guard outside. He was holding a round wooden stick, about the thickness of a finger, in his mouth, occasionally smacking his lips.

Pan Han saw it and thought, isn't he imitating smoking a cigar?

The two teams got into the cars. Pan Han sat in the back and asked Sixth Brother, "Sixth Brother, are you smoking a cigar?"

"Lord Pan sees things so accurately. It's been so many years since I smoked. Although I don't have a nicotine addiction anymore, the habit of having something in my mouth has remained," Sixth Brother replied.

Pan Han secretly made a note. In the future, arranging cigarettes, beer, and peanuts would probably solve any problem with anyone.