Chapter 41: A Complete Makeover
“I swear, I will always be loyal to God’s Supermarket and complete my duties diligently!” Liu Xiaona held up four fingers, swearing with absolute sincerity to the ceiling.
He was surrounded by a tight protective circle of Little Meat Bun, Song Yuqing, and Gaha. As for Nanjiao, Chen She, and the other refugees—along with the Xie brothers, who had been violently shaken out of the building next door—they were all plastered against the outside glass windows of God’s Supermarket, jostling and vying for a clear view through the crowd.
“There’s no need to swear a blood oath. Just press your thumbprint right here,” Master Fu chuckled, as a yellowed parchment contract materialized out of thin air in front of Liu Xiaona.
“Sister Qin is gone, so I’m following Sister Song now,” Liu Xiaona murmured to himself, his expression turning deeply serious as he studied the document.
Thump.
He smeared his thumb in a pool of crimson ink and firmly pressed his palm against the parchment.
“Congratulations! You have officially registered as a core clerk at God’s Supermarket.” Before Master Fu could even finalize the automated announcement, Song Yuqing led the applause.
“Next, we will officially initiate the structural tier upgrade for God’s Supermarket.”
Before Song Yuqing could even process the words, the seismic tremors that had briefly quieted down violently erupted once more.
The entire environment of God’s Supermarket was completely reborn out of the earthquake. The floor area instantly doubled in size, the old, mottled walls were repainted a pristine, gleaming white, and the cash registers and display racks were replaced with brand-new, ultra-modern fixtures.
Gaha silently took Song Yuqing’s hand, while Little Meat Bun and Liu Xiaona anchored themselves on either side to shield her.
Song Yuqing felt a sharp, electric current surge from the soles of her boots, racing through her entire body. She turned her head to check on the others; Liu Xiaona’s jaw was wide open as he stared straight ahead, while Little Meat Bun and Gaha were twisting their bodies in a series of bizarre, involuntary spasms as the system upgraded their thresholds.
The crowd outside the shop was entirely captivated by the sudden metamorphosis, desperately wishing they could edge closer to the glass, yet a localized repelling force systematically forced their boots backward. A sprawling web of geometric cracks rippled outward from the foundation of God’s Supermarket, and at a speed virtually invisible to the naked eye, fresh green grass began to aggressively sprout from the asphalt. A heavy cascade of loosened soil rained down from the overhangs, the rising dust storm nearly blinding the onlookers. Only when the exterior of God’s Supermarket emitted a soothing, perfectly soft white light did the air clear, allowing them to open their eyes.
As the seismic vibrations finally ground to a halt, the heavy midnight darkness fractured, and the first rays of daylight broke across the horizon. However, the natural dawn was entirely overshadowed by the spectacular cosmetic upgrade of the storefront. Song Yuqing couldn’t wait a second longer; she threw open the front doors, leading the entire group outside to rediscover the compound.
The primitive metal framing that had previously wrapped the exterior of the building had completely vanished, replaced by a sleek, silver mirrored wall that gleamed beautifully under the morning sun—yet curiously failed to reflect a single human silhouette.
“What an absolute pity… that old frame was a personal gift from Sister Qin,” Song Yuqing sighed deeply, a wave of nostalgia hitting her chest. She had grown deeply accustomed to operating out of the shabby, primitive version of God’s Supermarket, and a part of her was reluctant to leave the history behind.
“Gaha!” Gaha squealed, pointing a pale finger at the silver paneling.
The mirrored surface flawlessly tracked and reflected every single one of the zombie girl’s dancing gestures, yet there was absolutely no visual trace of Song Yuqing or the other living humans standing right beside her.
“This infrastructure operates exactly like a mystical funhouse mirror,” Chen She murmured, reaching out a hand to touch the smooth facade. Even under the blistering, fifty-degree solar radiation baking the lane, the silver panel remained completely ice-cold to the touch.
“It’s a reflection of pure beauty. See how adorable you look?” Nanjiao smirked, staring at the glass as his lips curled into an involuntary, proud smile.
Xie Hao: “…” Is this tech geek seriously flirting with a zombie right in front of me?
“Hey, look! The security gate is completely different now!” Chen She shouted, drawing everyone’s focus toward the scanner terminal.
Compared to the sweeping, structural overhaul of the main building, the modifications to the security checkpoint appeared remarkably subtle. The only visible addition was a transparent, glowing holographic frame floating just above the main archway.
“What exactly is this interface tracking?” Song Yuqing muttered, stepping closer to inspect the display. She reached out to touch the floating holographic frame, but her fingers passed cleanly through the light, meeting no physical resistance.
Curious, Song Yuqing slid her hand directly through the security checkpoint’s primary sensor field.
“Ding~ High-level spatial psychic calibrated: Priceless.”
Priceless?
Fascinated by the digital readout, Chen She eagerly thrust his own hand into the sensor’s tracking path.
“Ding~ Primary temporal psychic calibrated: Priceless.”
Another priceless classification!
“Well, that makes perfect logical sense. Human lives are inherently priceless,” Song Yuqing smiled warmly, reaching over to affectionately ruffle Chen She’s hair. The boy put on a highly theatrical display of intense irritation, swatting her hand away as he pouted.
Witnessing the interaction, the surrounding onlookers immediately swarmed the terminal, eagerly thrusting their arms into the checkpoint to have their baseline attributes tested by the database. The readouts flashed in rapid succession: Little Meat Bun registered as a high-tier mystical panda, Liu Xiaona calibrated as a high-tier water elemental, and the rest of the scavengers mirrored their previous evaluations perfectly. Their attributes remained fully stable, carrying no immediate level adjustments.
The establishment of God’s Supermarket had officially leveled up, and while the core staff’s internal capacities had undergone a massive evolutionary upgrade, their public tier classifications remained locked.
Song Yuqing turned her sharp gaze onto Gaha, who had never actually passed through the scanner matrix before.
“Gaha!” The zombie girl shuddered violently, instinctively retreating to hide behind Nanjiao’s broad shoulder.
“Go ahead and give it a shot, Gaha. There is absolutely zero danger involved,” Song Yuqing coaxed gently, waving her over with a soft, comforting smile that she privately hoped mimicked the soothing energy of a kindergarten teacher.
Gaha hesitated for a tense moment, but after receiving a supportive nod of encouragement from Nanjiao, she took a series of trembling, hesitant steps toward the golden archway and tentatively extended her hand.
“Ding~ Elite-tier variant zombie calibrated. Asset value equivalent to exactly one hundred million standard credits—exceeding the aggregate retail value of all corporate inventory currently held on shelves.”
Startled by the booming chime, Gaha violently wrenched her hand back, nervously rubbing a small patch of necrotic tissue at her fingertips that had subtly began to sizzle from the scanner field. Nanjiao rushed forward in a panic, intensely monitoring her hand until the flesh completely regenerated before letting out a massive sigh of relief.
The entire plaza stared at Gaha in absolute, breathless amazement. One hundred million credits! Her individual biological mass could literally be traded to liquidate every single piece of premium inventory contained within the multidimensional vault!
Song Yuqing’s expression instantly hardened into a fierce frown. She swept her cold gaze across the clearing, leveling a murderous, protective glare at anyone whose features betrayed a flicker of predatory greed—explicitly locking her eyes onto Xie Zetian and the gaunt, middle-aged psychic standing behind Chen She.
“Let me make this transparently clear to everyone present: bury whatever ideas you’re cooking up regarding Gaha right now. She is a permanently registered clerk of this establishment, not a commercial commodity to be traded for capital.”
Xie Zetian let out an awkward cough, averting his eyes as he led the trek back inside the newly renovated interior of God’s Supermarket.
Two massive, pristine rows of empty display racks had been seamlessly integrated into the expanded layout. Song Yuqing was already internally calculating what tier of premium supplies she wanted to procure during her next dimension-jump when Master Fu’s voice boomed through the speakers.
“Incredible! The commercial metrics have successfully cleared the threshold, and the retail storefront has officially achieved a far more impressive corporate profile!”
“Next, I will formally outline the updated operational guidelines governing God’s Supermarket.”
The AI proceeded to deliver a relentless lecture that dragged on for a full thirty minutes. Aside from the official store clerks, who were mandated to listen, the surrounding scavengers completely lost interest, yawning and drifting away to lounge in the aisles.
To summarize Master Fu’s exhaustive corporate manifesto, the new regulations anchored three primary structural shifts: first, Song Yuqing was stripped of her executive authority to arbitrarily calculate retail prices; all merchandise values were now strictly hardcoded by the security checkpoint’s valuation matrix. Second, she was issued a mandatory, non-negotiable monthly sales metric of exactly three thousand zombie liquidations. Third, the spatial matrix had officially unlocked access to the building’s second floor, introducing a fully integrated corporate coffee lounge.
“A target of three thousand zombies?!” Song Yuqing gasped, her voice cracking in utter disbelief. The monthly quota had just undergone a staggering, hundred-fold spike!
“Precisely! God’s Supermarket is transitioning into a continent-wide digital online shopping platform! Do not minimize your own corporate potential!”
Song Yuqing shot a highly skeptical look at Nanjiao, who was currently idling in the corner. Over the past few days, the scrawny programmer hadn’t made a single move to construct a functional network grid; he had spent his entire shift lazily playing with his elemental vines.
“Ascend to the second tier and familiarize yourselves with the new corporate layout,” Master Fu prompted smoothly.
Sighing, Song Yuqing temporarily shelved her anxiety regarding the e-commerce expansion, guiding her crew toward the back of the shop. The old, battered light green door had been replaced by a heavy, reinforced silver vault door. Passing through the threshold, the core residential dormitories remained intact, but directly adjacent to the hallway, a sleek spiral staircase now curled upward into the ceiling.
The group climbed the metal steps, emerging into a beautiful, fifty-square-meter industrial-style cafe. The lounge featured its own independent automated security gate, a polished hardwood bar counter framed by a minimalist hanging menu blackboard, several plush beanbag loungers, and an elegant arrangement of tables and chairs.
However, none of those luxury fixtures caught Song Yuqing’s immediate attention. Her eyes locked squarely onto a single, pristine white window frame set into the concrete wall directly behind the barista bar.
If her geographical memory of the building’s layout was correct, that specific exterior wall was supposed to lead straight out into a dead, solid concrete alleyway.
While the rest of the staff scrambled and laughed, eagerly fighting over the premium spots on the lazy sofas, Song Yuqing stepped behind the counter and reached for the latch to test the installation.
The window pane was split into two perfectly symmetrical halves, swinging smoothly outward on heavy brass hinges.
A breathtaking view of a brilliant, endless blue ocean violently flooded her vision. The sudden cross-breeze carried the unmistakable, crisp scent of fresh sea salt and crashing waves straight into the room.
The boisterous laughter and teasing among the crew instantly died down. The absolute second the sea air brushed their faces, a deep, reverent silence blanketed the lounge.
Stunned by the visual, Song Yuqing slowly extended her arm out past the frame, attempting to touch the pristine world outside—only for her fingers to instantly collide with a solid, unyielding concrete barrier.
