Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 65

The soldiers lean against the wall, chatting. They carry guns, but their eyes are no longer filled with panic. Workers dismantle the barbed wire, intending to move it outside to expand the base’s activity space for its residents.

Everyone is dripping with sweat, yet no one complains. When it’s time to rest, someone calls through a loudspeaker to signal them to stop, and sometimes even shouting is needed to get them to stop.

“Eat first!” a young man shouts, hands on his hips, his voice stern. “Who will work if you faint from exhaustion?!”

The workers exchange glances, then smile and go to grab bowls for food.

“There’s meat!” A worker who just turned sixteen holds his bowl, watching as the person serving rice puts a large spoonful of potatoes and braised meat on it. He quickly says, “That’s too much! Give me less!”

The server looks confused. “You don’t like meat?”

The worker beside him smiles and explains, “We taught him to ask for less in the first bowl. After a few bites, he can get a second one right away.”

“I couldn’t eat this kind of braised meat before,” the worker adds. “I could only dream about it while going to sleep with no blanket.”

Everyone laughs and begins to queue. Just like they said, everyone asks for only a small portion in the first round.

They squat aside with their bowls and eat quickly. Once finished, they line up again for a second round, this time receiving full bowls.

“Come help out!” A soldier pushing a cart takes off his cap and wipes the sweat from his forehead.

A worker not far away asks, “What did you bring?!”

The soldier shouts enthusiastically, “Good stuff! But you won’t get any if you don’t hurry!”

The workers run over with their bowls, carefully trying not to spill the meat. Some start eating as they run, and by the time they arrive, only a few grains of rice are left in their bowls.

“The supermarket owner gave it to me for free,” the soldier says with a grin. “Lemonade.”

The soldier swallows, salivating. “There’s a lot of rock sugar in it.”

The ready-to-drink lemonade at the supermarket isn’t cheap—three to five yuan a bottle, and big brands can even cost seven or eight. But Ye Zhou buys lemons and rock sugar himself from the system supermarket, which is both cheaper and healthier.

Even if it’s not chilled, it’s still better than the big-brand stuff.

The workers each receive a cup and line up for lemon water. Some bring large personal cups—bigger than bowls—planning to save some for the afternoon.

Although there’s an abundance of supplies now, few are willing to buy fruits, let alone lemons to soak in water.

When they do occasionally buy fruit, they usually opt for the cheapest options.

“It’s a little hot,” one person can’t resist taking a sip of lemonade, then quickly moves the cup away. Despite the heat, they can’t help but take another sip. “It’s so sweet.”

“I heard we’re also going to build a sugar factory.”

“But we don’t have sugarcane here.”

“Beets could work, right? I heard lots of sugar factories use beets—they produce a lot.”

“It’s true that beets have a large output, but other bases had sugar and salt factories before. Why are they still short on sugar and salt?”

“Are you stupid? It’s not about output. It’s because the factory is short on manpower. Not enough workers, and it’s hard to transport supplies.”

“Then why not just use transport companies?”

“How much can a transport company move? Maybe two or three hundred kilograms at a time. If two or three hundred kilograms is distributed to a base, how much does each person get?”

The workers wave to the soldiers, calling, “You drink too.”

The soldiers wave them off. “We already had some. We’re staying here for now. Once the previous team comes back, we’ll head out.”

The workers sigh, “You really have it tough.”

Being a soldier is tough. The pay is low, the treatment isn’t great, and they’re always on the front lines when problems arise.

The soldiers simply smile.

Although the zombie tide has been wiped out, sporadic zombies still appear around the area.

For the safety of the base, the soldiers still need to go out on patrol to eliminate any lingering zombies before they can gather together.

After Yang Guoqin’s experiments, it’s confirmed that people who are enveloped in the white light when the photon cannon is launched are no longer affected by the zombie virus or the eggs of any parasites. Unfortunately, many residents weren’t exposed to the white light during the initial wave.

This means it will be at least a month before residents can freely enter and exit the base. Until then, they have to stay inside, and anyone entering or leaving the base still needs to be disinfected.

But this discovery gives everyone at the base a renewed sense of confidence.

For people, the real fear isn’t the zombies themselves. Zombies are just corpses. Although children and the elderly might struggle against them, adults in their prime can easily face zombies one-on-one with weapons in hand.

What’s truly scary are the viruses and parasite eggs, which seem to be everywhere.

The scariest things are the ones the naked eye can’t see.

After lunch, Ye Zhou takes a short nap in the break room. It’s been nearly a week since the zombie tide struck.

During this time, he’s been extremely busy—buying supplies from the system and settling accounts with Yang Guoqin.

Yang Guoqin exchanges the last remaining idle guns and corn cakes in the base for the materials needed to renovate the base. Even so, he doesn’t seem the least bit reluctant.

The farm is ready to start operating. The soldiers drive trucks to transport chickens, ducks, and even more than a dozen pregnant sows. The feed is also being shipped out by the ton.

Yang Guoqin doesn’t even blink when paying for it.

In addition, Yang Guoqin is contacting nearby frontline bases and trying to sell them photon cannons.

However, the response is underwhelming. When Yang Guoqin visits Ye Zhou in the afternoon, he sighs. “No one believes me. They think I’m crazy.”

Cao’er Niang brings in the tea she brewed. She no longer shies away from Yang Guoqin. After setting the teacup down, she says, “Then just explain it to them properly.”

Yang Guoqin, now familiar with the supermarket employees, sighs. “It’s no use. They thought I was crazy when I first mentioned the supermarket.”

Ye Zhou: “…”

If one of his friends suddenly told him that a supermarket had fallen from the sky near his home, selling everything—including photon cannons—he would definitely touch his friend’s forehead and say, “Brother, go to the hospital, don’t delay treatment.”

Ye Zhou picks up the teacup, takes a sip, and awkwardly suggests, “In that case, let’s invite them to come see the photon cannon once it’s fully charged. Seeing it for themselves will be more convincing than hearing about it.”

Yang Guoqin says, “Right.”

Ye Zhou sets down the teacup. “Once they buy the photon cannon, it’ll be time for me to leave.”

Yang Guoqin is momentarily stunned, caught off guard. “Leave?”

Ye Zhou nods. “It’s not that I won’t come back, but I have somewhere to go. I can visit in the future. Maybe by then, this won’t be Luoyang Base anymore, but a modern metropolis.”

Yang Guoqin is silent for a few seconds. He looks into Ye Zhou’s eyes and sees a hint of helplessness there.

He understands what Ye Zhou means and no longer insists. He smiles. “Will you at least say goodbye before you go?”

Ye Zhou shakes his head. “No.”

“That’s cold.” Yang Guoqin chuckles and takes out a cigarette, holding it in his hand without lighting it.

He understands Ye Zhou’s concerns.

Before, when facing a powerful enemy, even though he knows Ye Zhou doesn’t belong to this world and might pose a threat to mankind, Yang Guoqin still chooses to cooperate with him. Because, compared to Ye Zhou, who doesn’t know much about their world, the zombies outside the base are far more terrifying.

But if others come to believe the zombies are no longer a threat, would they turn their weapons on Ye Zhou instead?

Yang Guoqin can’t say for sure.

If Ye Zhou hadn’t appeared at the right time, and if Yang Guoqin hadn’t had his own selfish motives, he and Ye Zhou wouldn’t be sitting here, drinking tea. They should have been enemies.

“Considering everything I’ve done for the base, I hope you won’t reveal my existence until the photon cannons are sold,” Ye Zhou says to the weary-looking middle-aged man. “Once I’m gone, you can tell anyone you want.”

Yang Guoqin smiles faintly. “I still don’t know why you’re really here.”

Did he come to make money? The goods he has could be traded for an entire base—if anyone is willing.

He’s more generous than the elves in fairy tales. Yang Guoqin only sees him giving, never taking.

Because from his perspective, Ye Zhou’s gains don’t seem to match what he’s sacrificed.

Ye Zhou smiles. “Do you think I’m from the future? I came here to help you.” He chuckles at his own “shamelessness” and whispers, “Whether this place gets better depends not on me, but on you. What I can do is actually very limited. I’m just a businessman. It’s the people living here who truly protect this place with their own hands, defend their dignity, and rebuild their hometown. The farmers, workers, soldiers, medical staff, scientists—they use their flesh and blood to protect this home.”

When Yang Guoqin leaves, he’s still a bit dazed. He walks out of the supermarket door but stops involuntarily after walking for a while. He turns around to take another look.

The supermarket still looks the same as it did when it first appeared. It’s square, with a somewhat crude sign. It looks new, but not high-end. It’s just like any ordinary large supermarket before the end of the world. It seems like it’s always been there, and not something that would suddenly vanish.

The adjutant, seeing Yang Guoqin standing still, asks curiously, “General, why’d you stop? There’s a meeting soon.”

Yang Guoqin suddenly asks, “Do you believe in gods?”

The adjutant is baffled. “General, we’ve at least had some schooling—even if not much. Who still believes in gods these days?”

But Yang Guoqin says, “I think I kind of do now.”

The adjutant is dumbfounded. “Huh?”

Yang Guoqin doesn’t continue speaking. He’s confused, unsure of how to articulate many of the things on his mind.

He gets in the car, looking at the flat land in the distance, feeling a strange peace.

It’s not a concrete person, nor is it an illusory god or Buddha.

It’s a symbol—one that can give people hope and encouragement in the face of a massive crisis.

On a battlefield full of corpses—

It falls from the sky.