Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 61

If he is a woman, he doesn’t want to get married or have children under these circumstances either. If real danger comes, being pregnant means there’s no way to run. And if the child is already born, it’s even worse—mothers can’t escape at all and have to bring their children wherever they go.

If her husband is a soldier, he’ll be sent to the front lines the moment something happens. She’ll be left to flee with the child alone, with barely any chance of survival.

But as long as she doesn’t marry or have children, she can still run if things go south. And if running isn’t an option, she can still join the army and pick up a gun. That’s better than just waiting to die.

That’s the only option ordinary people can think of, even though it doesn’t benefit the base or help population growth.

But everyone wants to live. People weigh the pros and cons. If blame needs to be assigned, it should go to the zombie virus—not the people.

“Are you new recruits?” someone asks when they notice Ye Zhou and Zou Ming.

These soldiers have never seen Ye Zhou and Zou Ming before. Either they’ve never been to the supermarket, or Ye Zhou and Zou Ming didn’t leave the break room when they went.

Ye Zhou nods. “I’m new here.”

The soldiers respond kindly, “Then be careful when you go out later. Stay at the back and just make sure there are no zombies behind. Generally, zombies don’t go out of their way to attack; they don’t have brains.”

The soldiers sigh. “Fortunately, zombies don’t have brains. If they did, humans would’ve been extinct long ago.”

“Would you like to follow me later?” A soldier with thick eyebrows and big eyes approaches Ye Zhou and whispers, “I’ll protect you.”

Ye Zhou glances at him. Even if he isn’t gay, he can sense the strong ambiguous tone in the soldier’s voice.

His mouth twitches, and he feels a little embarrassed.

“Move.” Zou Ming shoves the soldier aside with a blank face.

The soldier suddenly seems to realize something, rubs his nose sheepishly, and mutters, “I knew someone would’ve already made a move.”

Even though everyone is enlisted, there are still fewer female soldiers than male ones. After all, women can do many factory jobs just as well as men. In comparison, men are more suited for combat, so male soldiers still make up the overwhelming majority in the camp.

Although most men are heterosexual, there are also many homosexuals. Sometimes, comrades who get along well become lovers.

Generally, heterosexual partners are mostly lovers, but people are always willing to partner up with those they get along with.

Seeing he’s unwelcome, the soldier quickly strides off.

Ye Zhou turns his head and whispers to Zou Ming, “The people here are really open.”

In his own world, being gay is still something people hide. Only a few dare to come out; most drag things on, making up endless excuses to avoid blind dates and marriage—some are even worse, engaging in sham marriages, pretending to be victims while actually hurting the woman involved.

Although Ye Zhou doesn’t know much about homosexuality, he despises such behavior. From the oppressed to the oppressor—it’s hard to feel any sympathy.

Zou Ming says calmly, “It’s even more open where I’m from.”

Ye Zhou asks, “How open?”

Zou Ming whispers in his ear, “Where I lived when I was a child, both men and women sold their bodies. A bottle of water could buy you a night. If you could feed them every day, you could do whatever you wanted.”

“…” Ye Zhou says dully, “This isn’t ‘open.’ This is outrageous.” Then he quickly asks, “You haven’t sold yourself, have you?”

He can’t imagine Zou Ming selling himself.

Zou Ming replies, “No, someone was protecting me.”

Ye Zhou thinks of something and sighs. “No wonder.”

Zou Ming asks, “No wonder what?”

Ye Zhou answers, “No wonder you liked him. Makes sense. If someone had protected me when I was weak, treated me well, I’d probably fall for them too. A big age gap wouldn’t even matter. Isn’t that the case between Concubine Wan and the emperor?”

Sharing joys and sorrows, being loved and protected—men and women alike would be hard-pressed not to be moved.

Ye Zhou suddenly feels like he understands Zou Ming a little better. He quietly apologizes, “I shouldn’t have said those things before.”

Zou Ming turns his head slightly, purses his lips, and says, “It’s fine. I’ve already forgotten.”

While they’re talking, the people ahead already go out, and the volunteers hand them masks and guns.

The guns are all labeled with serial numbers. After all, some soldiers are accustomed to certain guns and won’t easily switch unless necessary.

It’s another busy morning. Ye Zhou takes a deep breath before putting on his mask and mentally cheers himself up.

When he steps out of the quarantine room, sunlight spills over him. He lifts his arms and stretches, enjoying the moment.

It’s only comfortable now—soon he’ll be drenched in sweat, and the mask will make it hard to breathe from the heat.

“Boss!” Chen Shu has been waiting outside for them. She jogs over to Ye Zhou and says, “I applied for a sniper rifle for you. It’s about to be decommissioned, and the scope has a slight issue. We’ll need to find a spot to test it out later. It’s a bolt-action sniper rifle,” she adds, seeking credit. “Originally, they didn’t approve it, but I showed them my shooting skills.”

She’s basically spent the whole night showing off.

Ye Zhou looks confused. “You can use guns in the quarantine room?”

Chen Shu points behind her. “There’s a drill room over there. You can go in fully armed, but you have to apply in advance, and it’s only for practicing shooting. Fortunately, you sell bullets, or else the drill room wouldn’t even be usable. I asked them before. When there was a shortage of bullets, most of the bullets went to snipers, and many front-line soldiers could only use bayonets, axes, or long knives,” she sighs. “A lot of people died.”

After all, she’s also a soldier and can empathize with them. “The main issue is that it’s a waste of lives, and those who don’t die can’t return to the base. The base is short on manpower and can’t disinfect so many people, so they can only be isolated outside the barbed wire. The soldiers can only watch their comrades mutate. They call it voluntary quarantine, but out of every hundred, fewer than twenty make it back.”

As she speaks, Chen Shu can’t hold it in anymore. “Boss, what if I don’t take a salary? And you don’t pay me for teaching you either—just exchange it all for housing and donate it to the barracks. Buy more sanitary pads and tampons. The female soldiers really need them.”

Ye Zhou blushes a little. “…You can tell me these things in private.”

Chen Shu waves her hand. “Boss, don’t be shy. This is just biology. It’s fine to talk about it. There’s no room for shyness on the battlefield.” She smiles. “Boss, what do you think?”

Ye Zhou sighs. “Sure. I’ll chip in some too.”

Today is only the second day he’s been out, and he already understands how difficult it is to be a soldier. Male soldiers have no physiological limitations, but female soldiers are different. Their physiological structure makes things inconvenient for them every month, and high-intensity training or psychological stress might even cause them to stop menstruating.

Ye Zhou picks up the gun and says to Chen Shu, “I’m not that money-hungry anyway.”

He wants to go back and make money to unlock the protective shield, but he also wants to help where he can.

Making money and helping others don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Ye Zhou glances at the scope. “What’s wrong with this scope?”

Chen Shu points to a tree. “Shoot at that tree and see.”

Ye Zhou hesitates. “Just shoot like this? If I don’t lie down, won’t the gun shake?”

Chen Shu responds, “Then squat down and try it. I already tested it when I came out. There’s something off, but it’ll take some time to pinpoint exactly where.”

Before she finishes speaking, Ye Zhou already fires a shot, hitting the tree she pointed to.

It also hits the exact spot her fingertip indicates.

Chen Shu is stunned and looks down at Ye Zhou, who is squatting.

This is the first time she sees Ye Zhou like this.

His eyes are razor sharp, his lips tightly pressed, completely focused on the shot. Without his usual smile, he looks like a freshly sharpened blade. All it would take is one tap, and the edge would ring—ready to draw blood.