Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 63

On the towering city wall, countless soldiers stand on full alert, their guns aimed at the vast tide of corpses not far away.

Every step the zombie horde takes, made up of hundreds of thousands of undead, seems to shake the earth beneath them. They have no intelligence—or perhaps they share one mind. They move with a clear goal, and they never retreat. When they come, nothing can stop them.

Yang Guoqin stands on the wall. He isn’t wearing a uniform, but rather a set of camouflage gear for easy movement, with a gun placed beside him.

The cigarette in his hand burns down to the filter, but he doesn’t seem to notice it. He doesn’t put it out until it burns his fingers.

The former Hongyun Base is once the frontline of all bases. Compared to places like theirs that still house civilian populations, Hongyun is a true combat base.

Of the more than 300,000 people there, fewer than 50,000 are involved in production—the rest are all young men and women. As soon as they can move, they begin training with guns, from toy guns to real ones. As soon as they can read, they are taught how to kill zombies. They are the elite, raised with the blood and effort of every base, trained to defend the most dangerous frontlines of humanity.

But when the zombie tide comes, all the other bases give everything to support them. Aside from necessary guards, every available soldier is sent to Hongyun. Countless supplies, countless troops—some aren’t even eighteen yet.

And even so, Hongyun collapses in less than a week.

To this day, no one knows how the soldiers of Hongyun endure those final days. No one knows what they feel when they realize that manpower can no longer match the undead, when they can only watch as the zombies break through the lines, as their comrades fall one after another.

Yang Guoqin doesn’t dare think too deeply about it at this moment.

A general dies in a hundred battles. If he can’t hold Luoyang, then he’ll live and die with it.

“Where are the people from the vanguard camp?!” Yang Guoqin shouts to the soldier running toward him.

The soldier stops and doesn’t bother to salute. “They’ve gathered and are right below.”

Yang Guoqin’s face is stern. There is no wavering or fear on his wrinkled face, as if he is not facing hundreds of thousands of zombies, but simply performing an ordinary task. “We must resist the first wave of impact. The photon cannon cannot be used here.”

The photon cannon is their only hope. It can only be used once after charging, and they don’t know much about it. They don’t know its range of attack or how much damage it can do to the zombies.

They have to wait until the main horde enters its firing range.

And for the zombie scouts clearing the path ahead, they have to be stopped by manpower.

“General… is the photon cannon really reliable?” the soldier can’t help but ask.

Yang Guoqin pauses. He doesn’t respond, and the soldier doesn’t ask any further.

Right now, the photon cannon is their only slim hope.

After what happened at Hongyun, no other base will send reinforcements this time.

Luoyang isn’t the only frontline base. Everyone knows that if Luoyang falls, other bases will be affected too. None will remain unscathed. They all know that every base shares a common fate.

But reality is cruel—too many have died over the past thirty years, and there aren’t many young people left.

Last time, they are forced to burn their bridges. How many lives do they lose?

If they sacrifice more lives this time, what happens the next time?

If this is humanity’s last stand, they have to find a way to protect the last flame and send the remaining humans underground.

But that is the only option—The underground isn’t suitable for human habitation.

No one knows what humanity will become once they move underground.

At the city wall’s gate, Zhang Yao is checking her gun.

“Probably a few hundred thousand,” someone ahead laughs. “A large-scale zombie tide—dying here isn’t exactly a disgrace.”

Zhang Yao also laughs. She raises her head and shouts to He Zihao, who is heading to the cover area to set up his gun, “He Zihao! If I get bitten, remember to give me a bullet!”

He Zihao looks at her in silence, as though this is their last moment together. He engraves her face deeply into his memory.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely leave one for you!”

“Vanguard unit!” the lead officer barks. “Move out!”

The vanguard battalion of a thousand soldiers leaves the city gate in an orderly manner. The soldiers behind them watch, all with serious and solemn expressions.

The gate opens at that moment, and tanks begin driving out of the city, one after another, with the vanguard battalion leading the way and the tanks trailing behind.

But everyone knows that the tanks don’t have many shells, and they are just a temporary roadblock—one that can’t hold for long in the end.

In front of the barbed wire, the waiting soldiers exchange glances as they see the vanguard battalion approaching. When the leading sergeant reaches them, the barbed wire gate opens for the first time in a long while, revealing tens of thousands of small zombie groups right in front of them.

Grenades explode in mid-air before even hitting the ground.

The sound of gunfire and explosions nearly shatters the soldiers’ eardrums.

Blood and flesh fly everywhere, and broken limbs litter the ground.

Zhang Yao holds her gun, and within less than half an hour, her mask is destroyed.

She doesn’t know where the piece of iron comes from, but it cuts a huge gap in her mask, one that can’t be repaired.

It’s over, Zhang Yao thinks, a strange sense of relief washing over her when those two words come to mind.

Since she joins the army, it feels like she’s been waiting for this day—waiting for death to come, waiting for death to “save” her from her fear.

But now, at this moment, she is truly fearless.

Zhang Yao removes her mask. She breathes freely on the battlefield, letting the air that might carry the virus hit her face.

Her hands are steady. All her worries and fears disappear when she sees her mask is broken.

Since she is destined to die, she might as well do what she can before that happens.

“Do you have any more grenades?” Zhang Yao shouts to the people behind her.

The soldier behind her is stunned for a moment when he sees her uncovered face, but soon shouts back, “Two more!”

Zhang Yao replies, “Don’t waste them! I’ll clear the way for you! Throw them over there!”

The soldier shouts, “Okay!”

Zhang Yao doesn’t know how many comrades are ahead of her. She only knows to keep moving forward.

Her gun is always aimed at the zombies ahead. She treats every shot like it will be her last.

The bullets whistle through the air, almost inaudible.

The zombies fall, but if they aren’t hit in the brain or spine, they stand up again. They seem incapable of dying, and they never stop rushing toward the soldiers.

Zhang Yao passes several comrades who have been bitten.

She doesn’t waste any bullets but drops behind small knives she carries with her.

She only hopes that if she is bitten by a zombie, someone will leave her a knife.

She can end her life with dignity, as a human being.

When Ye Zhou reaches the top of the wall, what he sees is a battlefield of pure carnage—and this is just a small part of the tide, not even a third of it.

The vanguard camp opens the way, tanks guard both sides of the city gate, and ordinary soldiers continue to pour out.

But no one knows how many people will return, or if they survive, whether they’ll have anywhere to go in the end.

Ye Zhou stares at the scene outside the city wall in amazement, witnessing a true sea of blood and corpses.

Compared to this zombie tide, the one he first sees when he comes to this plane seems like nothing.

He can’t even see the end of this zombie tide; all he can see are zombies as dense as ants.

Even the zombies scouting the front are more numerous than the entire zombie tide last time.

The soldiers pouring out of the base are like mantises trying to stop a chariot in front of such a tide of zombies.

Even if he doesn’t understand war, Ye Zhou knows that these soldiers are effectively sending themselves to their deaths.

No matter how absurd the story, it can never end with the soldiers returning triumphantly.

“Why not use the photon cannon directly?” Ye Zhou asks Yang Guoqin, his anxiety clear.

Yang Guoqin is no longer as relaxed as he was when dealing with Ye Zhou before. He whispers, “If we use the photon cannon now, even if we eliminate the zombies in front, what about the ones behind?”

Ye Zhou falls silent. He knows Yang Guoqin is right. The photon cannon takes too long to charge. Once it’s ready, it can only be used once. But watching countless soldiers die like this, every explanation feels pale.

Yang Guoqin commands the reserve soldiers to step in. When a group of soldiers in the front falls, the soldiers behind quickly fill the gap.

“Where are the tanks? Can’t the tanks be used?” Ye Zhou asks.

Yang Guoqin shakes his head. “The range is limited, and our energy is insufficient. We must wait until the zombies reach range.”

Ye Zhou can no longer hold back. He turns to Zou Ming, who stands beside him. “Where is my gun?”

But Zou Ming doesn’t follow his request. Instead, he grabs Ye Zhou’s arm and whispers in his ear, “Go back to the supermarket. If the situation worsens, jump planes.”

Chen Shu doesn’t move either. She doesn’t want to participate in the defense.

“Do you remember what you said?” Zou Ming continues to whisper. “This isn’t your plane. You don’t need to risk your life for the people here. You still need to go home.”

Ye Zhou freezes.

Yes, this is what he once said to Zou Ming.

But now, looking at so many soldiers ready to die, he feels a kind of grief and anger he has never experienced before.

Ye Zhou wipes his face.

He knows Zou Ming is right. He isn’t ready to sacrifice his life here.

There are no relatives or friends here, no people of his own country.

But he still says, “If, if the base really falls, we can find a chance to leave. But before that, I think I need to do something.”

He doesn’t want to regret it in the future. He doesn’t want to look back on today and be overwhelmed with shame.

“Where is my gun?” Ye Zhou looks into Zou Ming’s eyes.

His eyes are clear and firm, like he has cast off something deep inside.

Zou Ming purses his lips. “I’ll get it for you.”

Ye Zhou looks at Chen Shu. He only holds himself to this standard, never demanding it of others. So he says, “Why don’t you go back to the supermarket first?”

Chen Shu smiles at Ye Zhou, shaking the gun on her shoulder. “Although you’re quite talented, you still need practice to catch up with me. Let’s go. I’ll take you to the cover area, Zou Ming knows where to find us.”

While Ye Zhou and Chen Shu are talking, Yang Guoqin is called to the other side by the soldiers.

The photon cannon is carried to the city wall, with more than a dozen soldiers guarding it.

As a “cannon,” the photon cannon is small. It doesn’t look impressive or powerful.

Although the shell of the photon cannon isn’t plastic, it almost looks like plastic.

Except for Yang Guoqin and Ye Zhou, almost no one believes that this little thing can save Luoyang Base.

Ye Zhou believes in the power of the photon cannon because he knows the quality of the weapons sold by the system.

The pistol sold by the system is far superior to the ones provided by Yang Guoqin.

Since it is a cannon, no matter how small its power, it won’t be much smaller than a regular cannon.

And Yang Guoqin believes in it because it is their last hope.

“General, the zombie tide has reached range,” the soldier reports to Yang Guoqin.

Yang Guoqin nods and shouts, “Prepare to fire!”

Zhang Yao can hardly stand. Her face is covered with blood. Occasionally, when she lowers her head, she can see the blue veins on her arms, a sign of transformation into a zombie.

Her shoulders and arms are scratched or bitten by zombies.

She has been in the army for many years and knows she only has two hours left.

In two hours, she will go from being a soldier guarding the base to a zombie attacking it.

Maybe she will die at the hands of her comrades, or maybe, she will become the murderer who kills them.

The soldiers she is protecting are just like her. They have thrown all the remaining grenades and used up all the bullets in their guns. They can’t return to the barbed wire for resupply. After using all the bullets, they must rely on cold weapons like bayonets.

The zombie tide is less than two hundred meters away.

Zhang Yao still stands, her back straight, and she turns her head to look at the city wall.

She knows someone is watching her from there, with a gun pointed at her.

Zhang Yao squeezes out a smile, uglier than crying. If this is the last expression she leaves in this world, she hopes the other person at least sees her smiling in her final moments.

“Here they come!” the soldier beside her shouts. “Don’t be distracted! Hold up your guns!”

He still tries to encourage his comrades, “Hold on this wave, and we will retreat!”

But everyone knows they have no way to retreat.

Zhang Yao raises her gun and points the bayonet at the vast tide of zombies in front of her.

Slowly, they can see the faces of the zombies in the tide.

No one knows how long they have been dead. Many zombies have maggots crawling on their faces, and their skin is almost completely gone. They are like living people walking, neither fast nor slow. If they turn around and run, there seems to be a glimmer of hope.

But no one runs.

The hundreds of elites left in the vanguard camp are like isolated islands in the vast ocean, facing the impact of the waves.

Zhang Yao’s vision begins to blur, and she can no longer see the zombies in front of her.

Strangely, she begins to hear a voice—like someone calling her. The sound makes her feel calm and relaxed.

The pain and fatigue in her body disappear as the voice echoes in her mind. It feels as if her soul has left her body, drifting above it.

Just as she thinks she has already died, that whispering voice vanishes, replaced by an eerie electrical buzzing that rises and falls.

Zhang Yao lifts her dazed gaze to the sky.

BOOM—

A blinding white light erases her vision.

Heaven and earth are engulfed in that light.

Hotter than the sun.