for ($packed) { # alias $_ = $packed;
   pos = 0;

   /\G (.) /xgc or die;
   my $count = unpack('C', $1);

   for my $i (1..$count) {
      /\G (.) /xgc or die;                 # Extract data using a re
      my $length = unpack('C', $1);

      my $str = substr($_, pos, $length);  # Extract data using substr
      pos($_) += $length;                  # Don't forget to upd pos

      push @strings, $str;
   }

   # Make sure there's nothing extra at the end.
   /\G \z /xgc or die;
}