Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 42

The gunshots outside sound like continuous firecrackers. Even though the supermarket has good sound insulation, Ye Zhou still finds himself distracted by the noise.

However, he can still hear that Yang Guoqin, the man who claims to be the highest commander of Luoyang Base, is speaking a mix of truths and lies, not revealing everything.

“Mr. Yang,” Ye Zhou reminds calmly, “I actually don’t mind you recording or transmitting our conversation. You can bring it out now.”

Ye Zhou’s hearing has become sharper, and he can tell that the sounds coming from Yang Guoqin don’t belong to the supermarket. There’s electrical noise mixed in with the sound.

It doesn’t take Ye Zhou long to figure out what the other party must have brought in.

But he doesn’t feel offended. They each have their own purposes, are wary of each other, and don’t fully understand each other.

Yang Guoqin’s eyes flicker slightly, but his expression remains calm. He places the miniature intercom on the table and smiles at Ye Zhou. “We are also afraid of the tiger at the front door and the wolf at the back door.”

Ye Zhou doesn’t respond, merely nodding slightly. “Mr. Yang, don’t worry about who I am or where I come from. You don’t need to know, and I won’t answer. What I can tell you is that I am here to do business. What I can provide depends on the value of the exchange,” Ye Zhou continues. “I won’t harm you, and you can’t harm me.”

Ye Zhou’s words are half true, half false.

He needs to cooperate with the people at the base. Though he could return to the Daliang Dynasty, the supermarket won’t move. It will remain where it has landed.

Even if the zombies can’t hurt him, the people at the base can’t do anything to him. Once the zombies break through the Luoyang Base, returning to a base full of zombies won’t help him do any business. Zombies can’t be sold for money.

“Mr. Ye,” Yang Guoqin smiles, “Since we want to cooperate, both sides should show sincerity, right?”

Ye Zhou nods. “What I just said is the greatest sincerity I can show. I can leave at any time, but you have to stay here. I can go somewhere else if I don’t do business with you. I have options. You don’t.” Ye Zhou shakes a finger lightly. “This is a supermarket—everything is fixed price. No bargaining.”

Yang Guoqin realizes this youthful-looking man isn’t easy to deal with. He is highly guarded, or perhaps simply impatient with explanations. At last, he can’t help but ask, “May I ask… are you from the future?”

As soon as he asks, Yang Guoqin regrets it.

Ye Zhou answers naturally, “I’m not.”

To be more precise, he’s from the “past.”

Yang Guoqin presses on. “Now we need ammunition, and the bullets will be replaced tomorrow. I don’t know if we can exchange them for grenades and explosives.”

There are six checkout counters. Including Ye Zhou, Sara and the others have all helped tally up the goods, and even then, they barely finish scanning a single cart of corn cakes.

They make a decent profit, but the grenades in the system are too expensive.

Ye Zhou speaks, “Corn cakes are worth 50 yuan, and a grenade costs 300,000 yuan.”

In the system, two grenades cost 500,000. He is already being generous with 300,000 for one—he doesn’t think it’s unreasonable.

Yang Guoqin smiles. “That’s good.”

Ye Zhou quickly adds, “It’s better not to pay with corn cakes.”

Using corn cakes as payment is physically painful for him.

Yang Guoqin asks, “We also have a stable currency. I wonder if it can replace corn cakes?”

Yang Guoqin is merely guessing. He thinks Ye Zhou needs something that can replace currency, not corn cakes.

Sure enough, Ye Zhou nods.

“As long as I can confirm the value is stable,” Ye Zhou says. “Anything else you want to ask, Mr. Yang?”

Yang Guoqin realizes he won’t get more information, so he shakes his head slightly. “Nothing more to ask. Sorry to bother you.”

Ye Zhou stands up. “Business is business; it’s not a bother. I’ll show you out.”

“By the way,” Yang Guoqin suddenly asks, “If the zombies are repelled later, can the people in the base also enter the supermarket?”

Ye Zhou leads the way. “Of course.”

Yang Guoqin glances at the back of Ye Zhou’s head, curious. He doesn’t sense any malice or murderous intent from Ye Zhou. He looks like an ordinary college student from the world before the apocalypse, but it’s hard to read him.

As they leave the supermarket, Yang Guoqin remains somewhat confused.

Although he wants to believe the strange supermarket isn’t a threat, it doesn’t help him to think that way.

As the highest commander of Luoyang Base, he knows he should report the existence of the supermarket to his superiors.

But now is the most dangerous time. He can’t afford to waste time making reports.

“General,” a soldier jogs up to him and asks in a low voice, “How did it go? You scared me half to death!”

Yang Guoqin gives a bitter smile and shakes his head. “I didn’t get anything out of him. He said he’s just here to do business.”

The soldier clearly doesn’t buy it. “He’s definitely got something up his sleeve.”

Yang Guoqin looks back at the supermarket’s entrance, his voice heavy with exhaustion. “Whatever he’s hiding, we don’t have a choice right now—we have to trade with him.”

The soldier, knowing they’re out of options, grits his teeth. “I don’t know what’s going on in the rear. We’re working hard in the front, but what are they doing in the back? They said the factory is short of people, so we sent almost all the strong laborers! Those left behind are either soldiers or the old, weak, and sick! We give them whatever they ask for, but what about us?!”

Yang Guoqin knows the soldier has been holding back too long. He would explode if he doesn’t express his frustration. Before, the crisis was imminent, so complaints were suppressed. Now, though, he can see a glimmer of hope that they might survive the zombie tide, so the soldier no longer hides his dissatisfaction.

“We don’t have a military factory in our base,” Yang Guoqin explains. “There are two factories, one for disposable masks and the other for fertilizers. We don’t have much of anything ourselves, so of course, we have to give them whatever they want.”

“General! There are so many kids in the army, starting to hold guns at 14 or 15, carrying their lives on their waistbands every day, and the rear can’t even provide bullets!” The soldier’s voice grows louder, his anger rising. “We are sacrificing for everyone! No one wants this position at Luoyang Base. You volunteered, and countless ordinary people are willing to share the danger…”

His eyes well up, but he tries not to cry.

Why do they always sacrifice? Why do they always take risks? Why must they use their lives to fill the gap?

Yang Guoqin asks, “Do you have cigarettes?”

The soldier shakes his head. “You smoked the last one yesterday.”

Yang Guoqin sighs. “I should’ve bought a pack in the supermarket. Do you have candy?”

The soldier pulls out a candy box from his bag and hands it to Yang Guoqin.

Yang Guoqin pops a mint in his mouth and exhales long and slow. “It’s not easy in the rear either. Don’t hold onto this much resentment. Moving supplies is already difficult enough. And those people… anyway, don’t say stuff like that again. Don’t think like that either. There are more than a dozen bases guarding the front line. It’s impossible for the rear to send all the supplies to us.”

Yang Guoqin continues, “You only see the people who died here. Why not think about the soldiers who died in other bases? Teenagers holding guns aren’t unique to us.”

The soldier falls silent, and Yang Guoqin says, “It’s useless to blame anyone. If you want to blame someone, blame the zombies for being too strange. We still don’t know what they are.”

The soldier asks, “Didn’t scientists say they’re parasites?”

Yang Guoqin chews his candy and swallows it. “That’s what they say, but no one has ever told us what the parasites look like. No one knows what they look like once hatched. No one knows if it’s true, and scientists aren’t sure. Let’s go. We still need to go to the command room.” Yang Guoqin opens the car door and sits in the back seat. He rolls down the window and stares at the direction of the iron net.

The soldiers are still fighting. There are too few of them, so each soldier has to do the work of two. They don’t have much rest time, and some haven’t slept for days. All they can do is nap when they have the chance.

Their average life expectancy is growing shorter by the day.

It feels like humanity’s end is truly near.

Yang Guoqin’s eyes are filled with sadness, but they gradually grow firm again.

He suddenly says, “Don’t report this to the rear.”

The soldier exclaims, “What?”

Yang Guoqin looks serious. “Don’t say anything until you’re sure the supermarket is harmless.” He isn’t being selfless. What he hopes for most now is that Luoyang Base can survive. If the supermarket can only provide ammunition to one base, then it must be Luoyang.

“He looks so imposing,” Ye Zhou says, feeling relieved after Yang Guoqin leaves. He wipes the non-existent sweat from his forehead, looking as if he has just survived a disaster, and turns to Zou Ming. “He seems like a man who’s seen a lot of battles.”

Yang Guoqin had been smiling, but Ye Zhou had felt a heavy pressure, as if the smile itself was a weight. It is the first time Ye Zhou feels that kind of oppression. Along with the nervousness, there’s an indescribable excitement. The feelings are so complicated that Ye Zhou can’t fully express them.

“Do you think what I said is alright?” Ye Zhou asks.

Zou Ming nods. “No problem. The less they understand us, the more cautious they’ll be, and the less likely there’ll be any friction.”

Ye Zhou agrees. “I think so too.” That’s why he hasn’t given Yang Guoqin the chance to ask questions from the start. “Go and rest,” Ye Zhou yawns. Though he is still excited, his body is begging for rest. “If you need to sleep, go get some earplugs.”

Sarah now sleeps with Cao’er every night, so the security room is now Chen Shu’s domain. Zhou Yuanhe has set up a bed in the warehouse and hung a curtain. That will be his resting place from now on.

Ye Zhou still needs to convert the utility room into a medical room. It has no windows, so he figures the door will have to remain open, with a curtain hung on a telescopic rod for privacy.

Zhou Yuanhe doesn’t question Ye Zhou’s arrangements. His only request is that he wants a bouquet of flowers in his medical room every day—preferably roses, with blue roses being the best. Whether they are natural or dyed doesn’t matter to him.

“Go take a shower first,” Ye Zhou says, turning on the computer. “I’ll see if there’s anything else I can buy.”

Zou Ming nods. “Okay. But don’t stay up too late, go to bed early. They’ll come for the exchange tomorrow.”

Ye Zhou stretches, and as he does, half of his waist is exposed. His waist is paler than his arms, slim and lean but still carrying the strength of an adult male.

“Go ahead,” Ye Zhou waves without looking back.

Zou Ming’s eyes briefly linger on Ye Zhou’s waist before he hurriedly heads to the bathroom.

Ye Zhou returns to the system store, scrolling through the items. The grenade is still at the same price, but something new catches his eye.

“Photon Cannon.” Price: 12,000,000 yuan.

Ye Zhou stares at the screen, dumbfounded.

Although he is very tempted by the name of the weapon, isn’t twelve million a bit too ridiculous?

He even counts the zeros twice just to be sure he hasn’t made a mistake, and once confirmed, he gives up on the idea.

There’s no way he can afford it himself, but he can at least ask Yang Guoqin if he is interested in buying it.

Twelve million is a fortune for him, but for Yang Guoqin’s people, backed by a country—or even a fraction of one—it is definitely affordable.

The system doesn’t offer details on how powerful the photon cannon is, only showing a picture. It looks simple, with a silver metallic shell, but not as big as its name suggests. It is about the size of Sarah, and one person can operate it.

Ye Zhou strokes his chin and decides to be a little bold. He will tell Yang Guoqin it will cost 15 million, marking up 3 million for himself. After all, he still needs to buy a protective shield, which is more important than the photon cannon.

After browsing for a while longer, Ye Zhou hears Zou Ming’s footsteps coming out of the bathroom. He closes the computer, yawns, and stands up, stretching.

He and Zou Ming have been roommates for so long that they have no privacy. Zou Ming is more particular, always careful not to undress in front of Ye Zhou, while Ye Zhou has never cared. He has lost count of how many times he has been naked in front of Zou Ming.

Back in college, it was the same in their dorm. The guys from their dorm—and even others—would run through the halls without even wearing underwear.

When guys made bets, it was usually something like washing their hair while doing a handstand or streaking down the corridor.

Everyone in the building is male anyway—no one cares.

Ye Zhou starts undressing as he walks toward the bathroom. By the time he takes off his pants, he is down to just his underwear. Sitting on the bed, Zou Ming turns his head away and, unable to hold back anymore, says, “Can you at least wait until you’re in the bathroom before taking off your underwear?”

Ye Zhou: “……”

Ye Zhou: “Alright, got it.”

Sigh, is his body really that unpleasant to look at? Or does Zou Ming have some kind of aversion to seeing a man’s body? But didn’t he himself have the same one?

Men really are impossible to understand, Ye Zhou thinks with a faint sense of grievance.