Chapter 91: The Elderly Man (Part 2)
“┗|｀O′|┛ Ao~~”
Little Meat Bun let out a massive, lazy stretch. If Song Yuqing hadn’t strictly forbidden it, he would have collapsed and gone to sleep right then and there.
“I’m exhausted too,” Liu Xiaona muttered, her eyelids fluttering heavily.
Song Yuqing desperately wanted to reach the Base Zero Service Station of God’s Supermarket, but when the old man mentioned it would take another hour on foot, she realized she had reached her absolute limit.
“Forget it, let’s sleep!”
“Want to crash at my place?” The old man tilted his head, holding up a single finger. “Just one hour away.”
No! Song Yuqing, Liu Xiaona, and Little Meat Bun shook their heads frantically.
“I literally cannot take another step,” Song Yuqing groaned. Her legs gave out entirely, and she squatted right down on the pavement.
“…” The old man stared down at her dramatic display and shook his head helplessly. “Fine, then where exactly do you plan on sleeping? If you’re going to crash inside your pocket dimension, you’d better take me with you. Otherwise, I’ll never find you guys later.”
It was Song Yuqing’s turn to fall silent. It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered pulling Gaha, Liu Xiaona, and Little Meat Bun into her spatial inventory, but this old man was someone they had just met. Was it really wise to let an outsider glimpse her ultimate secret?
Song Yuqing narrowed her eyes, carefully studying the lines on the old man’s face. While he didn’t seem malicious—and had been kind enough to guide them all the way to Base Zero—something about him still felt incredibly strange.
“We’re not going into the space. We’ll just sleep right here.”
Ignoring the old man’s astonished stare, Song Yuqing summoned a heavy-duty tent from her inventory, pitched it right there on the roadside clearing, and crawled inside. Seeing this, Liu Xiaona and Little Meat Bun wasted no time scrambling in after her. This left Gaha sitting vigil at the entrance, keeping watch over her rapidly sleeping companions.
“What about me?” the old man muttered, looking left and right. Finding no other invitations, he ultimately decided to sit cross-legged right next to Gaha, closing his eyes to rest.
Occasionally, a few early-morning pedestrians would cast curious, gossiping glances toward the tent, but for the most part, the local residents didn’t care in the slightest why a random shelter had cropped up on the curb.
Along the avenues of Base Zero, many individuals walked about entirely shrouded in black. These were mutated water-type espers who actively refused to revert to their original forms. Even though Nanjiao had recently made it possible for them to purchase the specific soap that neutralized mutations through the online platform, they still chose to embrace their altered states. After all, compared to being a completely harmless, regular water esper, a mutant capable of actively suppressing enemy powers was a far more terrifying force in the wasteland.
As the sun climbed higher into the sky, the small desert outpost grew intensely hot. Pedestrians kept a wary eye on the blazing sun, quickening their pace as they ducked into the semicircular buildings lining the streets. Before long, the avenues were completely deserted; even the curbside vendors had packed up their wares and retreated indoors.
Gaha rested her chin in her hands, watching in fascination as the crowds vanished into the curved structures, never to re-emerge. She found it incredibly bizarre. Those semicircular houses didn’t look particularly large, and they clearly lacked upper stories, so how could they possibly accommodate such a massive population?
Noticing the gargoyle’s profound confusion, the old man stroked his beard and offered a warm smile. “Those semicircular structures aren’t residences—they’re the entry portals leading down into the subterranean city.”
First came the meteorite showers, followed by scorching global temperatures, and then the endless polar night. This underground haven had shielded the survivors of Base Zero through it all, serving as the cornerstone of their survival.
“Gah-hahaha…”
The old man stared at Gaha for a long, silent moment before sighing, “Never mind. I still have absolutely no clue what you’re trying to say.”
Meanwhile, out in the barren wastes where Song Yuqing had originally stepped through her dimensional door the night before, the shifting sands began to ripple.
Two zombies crawled out from deep beneath the desert floor. Shaking the coarse grains from their bodies, they lazily stretched their stiff limbs.
“Hiss… hiss… I’ve had more than enough sleep…”
“Wake the children up too… hiss…”
“Hi-haha!!!”
The two leaders let out sharp screeches, and in response, tens of thousands of zombies erupted from the sand, roaring in a chaotic, competitive frenzy to see who could make the most noise.
“Hiss! Hiss! Pipe down!” The very first zombie to emerge turned around, glaring and stomping his foot at the rising horde.
Pass the word down—stop making such a racket! We’re still a fledgling faction out here. Don’t let those elite zombie hunters inside Base Zero catch wind of us.
The two vanguard zombies wiped the grime from their heavily wrinkled faces. One possessed the soft, gentle features of a middle-aged woman; the other carried the stern, severe countenance of a middle-aged man. If it weren’t for the eerie, golden glow burning within their pupils, their physical appearances would have been entirely indistinguishable from normal humans.
The stern, middle-aged zombie slowly tilted his head back, closing his eyes as he basked in the intense heat of the desert sun.
Inside the tent, Song Yuqing was jolted awake by the oppressive heat, her skin uncomfortably sticky with sweat. She rolled over to find Liu Xiaona and Little Meat Bun already awake. Liu Xiaona’s face was dripping, and the panda’s thick fur had begun to mat into clumped spikes from the dampness. Though they had successfully survived the era of global extreme heat, their bodies still sweated naturally, and the raw physical discomfort remained identical. The desert heat was a different beast altogether—it was a heavy, stifling suffocation.
“Since everyone’s awake, we should get moving. It’s only going to get hotter,” the old man announced, peeling back a corner of the tent flap to poke his head inside.
“Alright,” Song Yuqing muttered, quickly pushing herself up. She accessed her inventory and pulled out five premium bento lunchboxes, handing one to each member of the group. “Let’s eat real quick, and then we’ll head straight to the service station.”
The old man accepted his bento, peeling back the lid to take a deep, appreciative breath. “Ah… I’ve seriously missed this exact aroma.”
Song Yuqing raised an eyebrow. Missed it?
“Your online platform has so many gourmet options listed now, I haven’t ordered a standard bento in ages,” the old man clarified, smacking his lips. He quickly picked up his chopsticks and began inhaling the food with immense relish.
Once the meal was finished, the old man officially guided the quartet back onto the street. To combat the rising heat along the trek, he turned to Liu Xiaona. “Hey, do that trick where you spray water to cool us down.” He gestured toward his own head. “You know, like a fountain.”
Liu Xiaona readily agreed. With a bright smile, a gentle plume of crystal-clear spring water erupted from the crown of her head, cascading down to create a localized pocket of refreshing coolness.
Song Yuqing paused in her tracks, her brow furrowing slightly.
Wait a minute. How does this old man know Liu Xiaona can sprout water from her head?
Not every water-type esper possessed the specific utility to manifest a fountain from their own scalp. Furthermore, the only time Liu Xiaona had ever demonstrated that specific trick was right after her power upgrade, when she had playfully walked out of the store’s coffee shop.
“Sir, you seem to know an awful lot about us,” Song Yuqing said, deciding to skip the pleasantries and confront him directly. “But we don’t know the first thing about you. We don’t know your name, where you come from, or what your ultimate goal is.”
The old man’s bright, sharp eyes locked onto hers, giving Song Yuqing the distinct impression that he was reading her mind like an open book.
“You’ll figure it out eventually,” the old man chuckled, offering a deeply meaningful smile. “For now, all you need to know is that I will always, unfailingly support God’s Supermarket.”
Hearing him say those words, a sudden wave of warmth touched Song Yuqing’s chest. It was a bizarrely moving sentiment—a total stranger claiming he would always back the store. And backing the supermarket meant backing her.
“But why?” she pressed.
“No reason.” The old man waved his hands dismissively, quickening his stride to pull ahead.
Song Yuqing, Liu Xiaona, Gaha, and Little Meat Bun hurried to keep pace.
Eventually, the old man guided them into one of the semicircular structures along the avenue. Inside the curved concrete lobby sat a stark, functional elevator shaft.
“An elevator?” Liu Xiaona blinked in surprise. This massive structure was just an elevator housing? She had expected something far more high-tech or grand.
The old man simply smiled, offering no verbal explanation as he reached out to press the call button. The heavy metallic doors slid open with a low hum, revealing a polished, mirror-lined cabin equipped with controls indicating only three subterranean levels.
