Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 62

After practicing with a gun for a month, Ye Zhou feels as though he’s been reborn and has become a sharpshooter.

He looks no different from before he left. After all, he has to wrap himself up tightly every day when leaving the base, so he doesn’t even have a chance to get a tan, even if he wants to.

Originally, Ye Zhou wanted to continue going out with the soldiers every day. He can clearly feel the changes in his body.

He isn’t stronger, but his physical strength and endurance are much better than when he first started.

Even if he’s busy all morning, he doesn’t feel tired. He still exercises with Zou Ming for a while before going to bed.

At first, he can only do dozens of push-ups, but now he can do hundreds.

This change surprises Ye Zhou—who doesn’t want to be in good health?

With a good body, you can escape faster than others.

However, due to the arrival of Yang Guoqin, Ye Zhou has to return to the supermarket. He still has business to attend to.

“Is the farm built?” Ye Zhou asks, a little surprised. “So fast?”

He changes into a white short-sleeved shirt and jeans, making him look like a student who hasn’t left school yet.

Yang Guoqin smiles and says, “It’s built. We didn’t plan to make it too perfect at first. We can always renovate and add more later.”

Ye Zhou responds straightforwardly, “Alright, I’ll send over the chickens and ducks we agreed on. You want fertilized eggs too, right?”

After all, they haven’t hatched yet, and fertilized eggs are cheap in the system—cheaper than live chickens or ducks.

There aren’t many corn cakes left in the base now, and fewer and fewer residents are making a profit off the supermarket’s cornmeal.

Yang Guoqin nods. “I’m still paying with a gun this time.”

Ye Zhou has no objections. “Then find me a decent bolt-action sniper rifle.”

Yang Guoqin grins and holds up a bottle of Coke. “I know. Now those idiots think you’re a sharpshooter I transferred from somewhere else. You really never used a sniper rifle before?”

Ye Zhou feels a little proud, though he still says reservedly, “Maybe it’s just talent.”

Even Chen Shu has praised him like this. Some things are extremely difficult for some people, but for others, it’s as easy as drinking water.

When Ye Zhou is in school, he doesn’t understand why some classmates don’t seem to study hard, yet their test scores are so good.

After a long time, he can only comfort himself that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. There’s no need to compare your weaknesses to others’ strengths—his grades aren’t so bad that he can’t get into a second-tier university.

Now Yang Guoqin is genuinely curious. “How did you train? It usually takes years to train a sniper.”

The most important qualities for a sniper are patience and endurance. Most soldiers aren’t suited for it. Their patience is limited. When they see zombies, they’re more likely to charge ahead with their guns than lie in wait for the perfect shot.

Ye Zhou shrugs. “I don’t know either.”

If he knows, he can teach others.

Yang Guoqin doesn’t stay at the supermarket for long. He’s very busy now. There are suddenly more things to do in the base. Like a real manager, he needs to manage things other than fighting. The civilian work in the base is gradually increasing. People are beginning to realize that there are more fixed positions and temporary jobs.

It seems that as long as you have good hands and feet, you can find a job.

Only when there are enough supplies can the base create new positions.

The sparsely populated flat land is now full of people waiting to hear the results of their job applications. They almost all bring their families along. The family members look up at the red paper on the wall, which is covered in names.

“Did you find my name?!”

“F*ck! I saw my name!”

“I saw it too!”

“It can’t be! How come my name isn’t there?”

Those whose names are listed shout in excitement, hugging those around them and spinning in circles. Their joy is plain to see.

Those without names leave with slumped shoulders, rubbing their faces.

Some of those not recruited yell: “Why not me? Am I not better than them? Am I not more capable than them?!”

“That’s right! We’re all from the base. Why do they get in and we don’t?”

The work at the breeding farm is a good job. Not only do you get a fixed salary every month, but you also receive benefits such as eggs.

During this period, everyone in the base has been preparing for the job. As long as one family member is hired, they won’t need to worry even if the supermarket closes.

As long as the base is there, their livelihood is secure.

The person in charge can only wipe the sweat from his face and step forward to maintain order. “Be quiet! Don’t be anxious! This is just the first batch of people! We’ll recruit more when the farm expands! What’s the point of yelling now?!”

The person in charge holds a loudspeaker in his hand, his throat almost sore. “There are plenty more jobs in the base now, so stop focusing only on the farm. It hasn’t started production yet, so why are you in such a hurry?”

Perhaps because he’s too exhausted to speak any longer, he waves his hand, and a group of fully armed soldiers step forward with guns.

The people who have been clenching their fists go silent and stop arguing.

The person in charge lets out a sigh of relief. “Okay, those whose names are on the paper, go over there to register. You’ll start working tomorrow. If anyone is lazy, doesn’t work well, or steals things from the farm, don’t blame me for being ruthless. This is the property of the base. I’ll be responsible if anything goes wrong, and those who cause trouble must get out. Do you understand?!”

The people left behind shout in unison: “I understand!”

“Hurry up and register! We’ll feel relieved once we’re registered!”

The person in charge waves his hand, and people immediately rush to the registration office, fearing they’ll lose their jobs if they’re late.

Even without going all the way to the farm, Ye Zhou can hear the cheers from the crowd.

He stands nearby, watching the smiling faces, and can’t help but smile himself.

“There are so many people,” Sarah says, surprised. “Does the farm need this many people?”

The driver beside her replies, “Kid, we’re offering jobs. If we hired based on actual workload, half of them wouldn’t be needed.” He sighs. “There are more jobs now, but the population of the base is even greater. Only a few families don’t have elderly or children to support. Life is tough.”

Perhaps because the driver himself has a stable job, he feels extra sympathy.

Sarah isn’t angry at being called “kid.” She pulls on Ye Zhou’s clothes. “Is it fun to raise chickens?”

YYe Zhou: “… probably not fun. Nothing is fun once it becomes a job.” He sighs.

Sarah looks at the children surrounding the adults. They’re also happy that their parents can work. Perhaps they don’t fully understand what it means yet, but the good mood of the adults tells them it must not be a bad thing.

Sarah’s eyes flicker slightly, and she slowly looks away, not continuing to watch.

Everything before her feels like something from peacetime—people celebrating a good job offer, or feeling disappointed at not being hired.

Ye Zhou exhales a long breath, thinking that the base should be on the right track after a while.

This plane doesn’t seem too scary, but he doesn’t know when the protective shield will be unlocked. Once it is, he should leave.

Although he feels a bit reluctant, that reluctance is nothing compared to his desire to go home.

However, just then, the accident happens.

Right when the last person registers and the person in charge is about to let everyone disperse—

The base suddenly blares a shrill alarm.

The sound is like countless people screaming in one’s ears, almost enough to shatter eardrums.

“Beep-beep—”

The sound persists for a long time.

The residents who have been excited and thrilled suddenly flee in panic. They don’t know where to escape to, so they can only run to the factory that hasn’t started operating yet.

Almost in an instant, their expressions twist, and the atmosphere of fear rises sharply.

Ye Zhou doesn’t know what has happened yet. Since he came here, he’s never heard such an alarm.

Ye Zhou, whose hearing is better than others, can only cover his ears with his hands and shouts to the driver next to him: “What’s going on?!”

Zou Ming reaches out to help cover Ye Zhou’s ears. He turns his head and repeats Ye Zhou’s shout, asking the driver, whose face has gone pale and whose lips have lost all color: “What alarm is this?!”

The driver’s lips tremble. He repeats himself several times before finally managing to speak. “The zombie tide is coming. This alarm means a super-large zombie tide…”

His eyes are bloodshot, and he doesn’t even realize that tears are already streaming down his face. “This kind of alarm only goes off when there are more than 100,000 zombies. The last time… the last time we heard it was at Hongyun Base…”

The driver’s whole body shakes. He doesn’t seem to know whether he’s talking to others or just muttering to himself. His voice rises and falls, unstable and broken. “Hongyun Base was breached after that alarm. Over 300,000 people—no one made it out.”

Overcome with fear, the driver scrambles toward the car, desperate to get inside.

He wants to run! Run to the rear!

Run to a safe place. Whether the rear will be threatened after the Luoyang Base is breached doesn’t matter to him right now. He can’t think about that.

He only knows that if he doesn’t run now, he’ll be the one to die later! He can’t stay here. Staying here means dying like the people at the Luoyang Base!

Zou Ming grabs the driver by the collar and stares into his eyes. “We have to go back now, you’d better be able to drive.”

The driver gives an expression that’s a mix of crying and laughing. “Go back? For what? To wait for death?! You are aliens, people from the future. You’re not afraid, but I am!”

He struggles almost crazily, tearing at his collar with both hands, as though he’d rather rip his clothes off than stay.

“We can’t stop a tide of hundreds of thousands of corpses!” The driver finally realizes he can’t break free. He gives up struggling, collapses to the ground, and says numbly, “We can’t stop it…”

Zou Ming: “If you don’t try, how will you know if it works?”

“No base can stop it,” the driver stammers. “At that time, all the bases’ supplies were close to Hongyun Base—hundreds of cars a day. We tightened our belts, didn’t keep anything for ourselves, and didn’t even keep a few boxes of bullets. We gave it all to Hongyun. It only lasted a week.”

The driver looks at Ye Zhou, his voice faint. “More than 300,000 people… and more than 200,000 of them were young soldiers. It only lasted a week.”