Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 18

The two new employees arrive without bringing any personal items. Sarah’s room has a basic bathroom, so she can wash her face and brush her teeth there. Ye Zhou only needs to bring her a set of toothpaste, a toothbrush, a towel, and a pair of children’s pajamas.

Zou Ming stays with Ye Zhou in the break room. Aside from a bed and toiletries, he doesn’t need anything else.

Ye Zhou is so excited that he probably won’t be able to sleep until dawn. He watches Zou Ming wash up, and when Zou Ming returns, Ye Zhou can’t wait to ask, “Are you Chinese? Special Forces? How did you end up on the system list?”

He’s curious about both Zou Ming and Sarah, but even more so about the system. He hasn’t had the chance to learn about it before. Now that a “super soldier” has basically fallen from the sky, he’s dying to get answers out of him.

Zou Ming lies on the bed, wearing the light blue pajamas Ye Zhou gives him. He leans against the headboard, the top two buttons of the pajamas undone, revealing most of his chest. His honey-colored skin looks especially attractive in the light.

He turns his head to Ye Zhou and says in a calm tone, without any coldness or distance, “I’m not Special Forces. I am Chinese.”

Ye Zhou’s smile widens instantly. When fellow villagers meet, there’s an automatic bond, and he immediately feels like Zou Ming is a hometown friend.

But Zou Ming quickly adds, “But in my era, the concept of a country has disappeared.”

Ye Zhou’s smile remains, though confusion flickers across his face. “Ah?”

After Zou Ming explains, Ye Zhou understands why he says that.

Zou Ming isn’t Special Forces. Although he considers himself Chinese, the era he comes from is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Human civilization has rapidly regressed after wars and natural disasters. The earth is no longer suitable for farming, and steel gets scrapped easily for various reasons. Many areas are still shrouded in the shadow of nuclear pollution.

Arable land is scarce, and water resources are critically short.

In Zou Ming’s time, human conditions are far worse than what Ye Zhou is experiencing now with refugees.

The shortage of resources leads to constant competition, with people either fighting or preparing to fight.

Zou Ming obtains the system by accident and registers voluntarily, because only money earned through the system can be used to buy goods circulating in the plane trading system.

Ye Zhou is stunned after hearing all that. A little embarrassed, he asks, “We’re probably not even in the same plane of existence, are we?”

Zou Ming answers, “No. We’re not.”

Ye Zhou lets out a sigh of relief. Even though it’s something from the future, he still doesn’t want to imagine such a thing happening in his own world.

After chatting for so long, Ye Zhou checks the time—it’s already past four in the morning.

He turns to Zou Ming and says, “Sorry for keeping you up so long. Go ahead and sleep—we can get up late.”

After all, no one’s going to wake him up here.

Chen Liu carries a bundle in his arms, filled with rations prepared by The Lord Immortal. He can’t meet the Huang bandit brothers because he now holds a job given by The Lord Immortal and has to follow Wu Yan’s orders when going out.

Now that he’s stepped through The Lord Immortal’s gate, he’s supposed to cut ties with his past, but The Lord Immortal saved his life—and so did his brothers. Yet, he only has his own flesh and blood and can give it to only one side.

These rations are all he can offer for now.

Seven or eight young men sit around a fire. They don’t seem strong or fierce, nor do they resemble the notorious Huang bandits. They lean on each other, their cracked, dry lips healing over and over. Though they no longer bleed, deep cracks remain.

They’re lucky to have made it this far.

Except for the first group of survivors who reach the pass, the rest mostly perish on the road. Those who make it this far are either lucky or have strong endurance.

Among them is a man who appears stronger than the others. He wears the same clothes, and though he’s also haggard, with long, yellow, messy hair, he sits silently with the others, staring dazedly at the fire.

No one speaks.

Chen Liu squats not far away. Having escaped from disaster himself, he knows that after surviving, people lack the strength to speak or even cry.

At that moment, he doesn’t know what he’s thinking. But looking back, it feels as if he’s a corpse that can still breathe.

Eventually, someone beside the fire closes their eyes and falls asleep. Chen Liu lifts the bag and tosses it toward the fire.

Though short, he has strong arms, and the bag lands right next to the tallest man.

“Who’s there?!” a coarse, raspy voice suddenly shouts.

Chen Liu jumps in fright. He doesn’t want to be kicked out of his current team—his parents are still at the supermarket. It’s fine to deliver food, but he can’t reveal his identity.

He crouches low behind a tree, nervously listening to the noise outside.

The bag is opened. Before they left, The Lord Immortal specifically tells them not to discard any packaging and to take everything back to the supermarket.

No one objects or finds it strange. After all, it’s something from The Lord Immortal’s world and shouldn’t be left in the human one.

“Big Brother! It’s a bundle!” a skinny man uses a companion’s shoulder for support and staggers toward it. He wobbles as he walks, staring blankly at the bundle once he reaches it.

The people who were asleep begin to wake up. They still don’t understand what’s happening, their dull eyes showing no life.

The man called “Big Brother” walks over. He’s probably the only one who can still stand, barely.

The others, unable to walk, sit where they are and turn to look at the bag on the ground.

They can’t even begin to guess where the bag comes from, who threw it, or why it was thrown.

Yet no one believes it actually contains food or water.

Water and food are rare and precious at this time. In times of peace, food is cheap; in times of chaos, it’s invaluable.

A sip of water can save a life.

“Big Brother” crouches down slowly. As he does, he trembles twice and almost collapses.

Once he steadies himself, he reaches out to open the bundle.

When it unfolds, everyone who sees the contents of the bag holds their breath. The first thing that catches their eye is the bulging water bag. “Big Brother” instinctively looks toward the nearby woods.

“Water…” someone hoarsely whispers in disbelief.

“Big Brother” doesn’t pay attention to anything else. His hands, weak for so long, suddenly gain surprising strength. He grabs the water bag with one hand, pulls out the wooden plug, and sniffs the opening. Not detecting any foul smell, he tastes it carefully.

After confirming it’s water, he eagerly takes a long gulp!

But he doesn’t forget to leave some for his brothers.

“It’s water.” “Big Brother” hands the bag to the closest person. “Don’t drink too much—leave some for the others.”

The person takes the water quickly and gulps it down without a word.

Even though the water bag is large, only a small half remains after each person has a sip.

Though they’re still thirsty, no one dares drink more.

This is the most water they’ve had in days.

If you’re lucky, you might come across a muddy puddle where wild animals drink. Even if the water is hard to swallow, it can still quench your thirst.

If you’re unlucky, you’ll have no choice but to drink your own urine.

And even that isn’t always available when you need it.

Although they can barely resist the urge to drink all the water, they know that once it’s gone, there’s no more.

After drinking, “Big Brother” looks at the items under the water bag.

“It’s all food,” he says, unable to help but swallow his saliva.

There are strange slices of steamed bread, with a yellow outer ring and white interior, thick dried meat that seems to be beef rather than pork, sugar cubes, and dry cakes.

The variety isn’t much, but the quantity is large.

“I don’t know which hero is helping us!” “Big Brother” forces himself to look away. He stands up and shouts toward the woods, “I am Yang Zhi from Huangshan! Please come out and accept the respect of my brothers!”

Chen Liu, hidden in the darkness, grits his teeth and dares not speak.

There’s no response, so “Big Brother” gathers his remaining strength and shouts, “It doesn’t matter if the hero doesn’t want to show himself. I will leave a token here. If you’re lucky enough to survive, take this token and find me. Yang Zhi will definitely respond. I will repay you with my life!”

With that, Yang Zhi takes something out of his pocket and places it on a stone respectfully. He takes a small portion from the bundle and distributes it to everyone. The brothers eat hungrily, choking as they do, even swallowing without tasting.

Yang Zhi’s gaze lingers on the edge of the woods. He’s certain the person who threw the bundle is still hiding there. Although he doesn’t know their purpose, he doesn’t believe them to be an enemy—rather, someone who has crossed paths with them and the Huang bandits. But when he thinks about it, he can’t imagine anyone connected to the bandits who could gather so much meat, food, and water. They’re bandits, after all. Whether they do good or bad, in others’ eyes, they’re murderous outlaws.

Aside from a few villages at the foot of Mount Huang, anyone who hears the words “Huang bandits” runs in fear.

Banditry is rampant, and anyone with the word “bandit” in their name is considered demonic by the people.

The brothers don’t ask where the food came from. They aren’t interested in investigating, nor do they have the energy to. With food in their bellies, their exhausted bodies finally give out, and they lean against the trees, falling into a deep sleep.

Chen Liu watches Yang Zhi. In truth, he has never interacted directly with Brother Yang. He’s just a lowly lackey who usually moves with others of his rank. Even if he’s seen Yang Zhi before, they’ve never spoken.

But he’s heard the others say that Brother Yang comes from a good family—he’s the young master of a landlord’s household, yet not the kind of landlord who’s heartless and cruel.

To protect his tenants, Yang Zhi once led the long-term workers to the county, banging drums to complain, angrily accusing the local magistrate of taking human lives lightly and misusing public funds.

As a result, Yang Zhi was imprisoned, and his family’s estate was raided.

It was the mountain king who sent men to kidnap Yang Zhi’s parents and sisters from their execution, saving his life.

Though Yang Zhi isn’t the leader of the Huang bandits, he’s literate, physically strong, and utterly loyal to the king. Even without a title, he’s treated no differently than the second-in-command.

He’s a good man.

Chen Liu clenches his fists at the thought.

But good people often meet the worst fates.

He looks at the “token” Yang Zhi has placed on the stone, and his eyes suddenly light up.

The Lord Immortal has magical powers! As long as they see this token, they’ll know Brother Yang is a good person! Then The Lord Immortal will save him!

There’s only one main road here. If he’s fast enough, he can make a round trip in one day and night.

Chen Liu makes up his mind. He bends his body, intending to take the “token” while Yang Zhi and the others sleep.