Chapter 119: She Seems Responsible
Using her pocket dimension as a transit station, Song Yuqing successfully evacuated the remaining population of Base Zero to God’s Supermarket. They would establish a new settlement amidst the sprawling ruins flanking the storefront.
For Zhang Yimiao, the logistics of the entire ordeal felt completely surreal. She had only just returned to Base Zero after a long, grueling journey from God’s Supermarket, and now, in the blink of an eye, she was right back where she started.
“I feel like these past two months have been a complete joke,” Zhang Yimiao teased, trying to break the tension.
For the displaced citizens stepping across the threshold for the very first time, God’s Supermarket was a sacred sanctuary, perfectly embodying its name. They were introduced to a cinema capable of projecting the future, a café serving stat-boosting supernatural coffee, and a remarkably stocked convenience store. Every single refugee understood the gravity of what had transpired under the cover of darkness. They had permanently abandoned the underground Noah’s Ark they had spent months fortifying, only to board a new, infinitely safer ark engineered explicitly to withstand the end of the world.
The new arrivals were buzzing with profound excitement, their thrill completely eclipsing the bittersweet sorrow of losing their homes and the underlying anxiety of navigating the unknown. Song Yuqing, however, was a ball of raw nerves, frantically pacing back and forth across the lobby to manage the intake.
Liu Xiaona pulled her aside, whispering covertly, “Manager, what’s going on with you? Why are you so wound up?”
Song Yuqing let out a heavy sigh. What else could she do? She and her own parents had been forced into two opposing factions locked in a shadow game, and she had absolutely no idea how the confrontation would unravel.
“Gaha, gaha…” Gaha ambled over, her expression laced with worry. The gargoyle was deeply anxious about Nanjiao. He and the Xie brothers had vanished from the census, and her instincts screamed that she needed to deploy back to the ruins of Base Zero to hunt for them.
Although Song Yuqing couldn’t decipher her guttural dialect, she completely shared her sentiment. However, before she could authorize a tracking detail to return to the desert, she had to manage an immense, daunting operational puzzle. With such a massive influx of survivors now anchored to God’s Supermarket, their current survival matrix required a radical overhaul. As the crowd outside grew, temporary canvas tents were continuously popping up around the perimeter. She felt a profound, personal responsibility to ensure every single one of these refugees could live and work in absolute peace and contentment.
Right on cue, Master Fu’s signature broadcasted through the speakers at the perfect moment.
“Ding-ding-dang-dang! Your magnificent director Master Fu has intercepted some stellar news for you characters!”
“Spill it! Hurry up and tell us!” The four employees stiffened, a surge of nerves hitting them. Past experience dictated that whatever Master Fu classified as “stellar news” rarely turned out to be pleasant for the staff.
“Hmph! Effective immediately, the foundational transaction protocol of God’s Supermarket has received a massive firmware upgrade! We are officially authorized to process trades completely independent of zombie crystal cores!”
“Wait, if we aren’t using crystal cores as currency, what are we supposed to collect? Paper money?” Liu Xiaona asked, bewildered. But this was the post-apocalyptic era—traditional fiat currency was nothing more than kindling, a useless relic of a dead past.
Song Yuqing rolled her eyes at her assistant. “Our system didn’t require crystal cores for standard transactions anyway, Xiaona!”
Are you trying to scam us again, Master Fu?!
“Ahem, a slight misstatement! What I meant to say was: from this moment forward, God’s Supermarket can process transactions without requiring physical zombie corpses!” Master Fu bellowed dramatically. “We are opening the matrix to accept anything possessing baseline material or energetic value! Fiat currency? Yes! Precious jewelry? Yes! Mutant crystal cores? Yes! Zombie corpses? Yes! Meteorite fragments? Yes! Raw supernatural energy? Absolutely yes!” Master Fu let out a rich, booming chuckle. “All of these assets can be systematically recycled and converted straight through the storefront security gates!”
Gaha and Little Meat Bun were the first to erupt into ecstatic cheers, with Liu Xiaona instantly joining the fray. The three non-human staff members spontaneously locked arms around Song Yuqing, jumping in a frantic circle to celebrate. The sudden spectacle immediately piqued the intense curiosity of the nearby Base Zero refugees.
“What’s got them so thrilled?” “Yeah, I’ve been watching you guys whisper in a huddle over here. What are the updates? I’m dying to know.”
Shen She, who was quietly measuring canvas to stitch a raincoat beneath the tallow tree, spoke up in a faint, knowing tone. “Whatever is making the store staff this happy is bound to bring a massive wave of fortune to the rest of us.”
Song Yuqing was undeniably thrilled by Master Fu’s announcement, but a deep seed of suspicion kept her on guard. Could such a perfect, flawless miracle genuinely manifest in this brutal wasteland without a catch? The timing of this systemic update felt entirely too neat, almost as if it had been custom-tailored to accommodate the supermarket’s new neighbors.
Had Master Fu executed this upgrade out of pure, unadulterated altruism?
The supervisor was behaving uncharacteristically generous. He had showered the store with another massive operational buff, yet she hadn’t even finalized the doomsday objectives he had dropped on her plate last month. Strangely, Master Fu didn’t seem to care about the missing quotas at all, completely omitting any mention of the incomplete assignments.
“What is the hidden catch, Master Fu?” Song Yuqing pressed internally. “What’s the baseline price for this upgrade?”
“Please! There is absolutely no catch,” Master Fu chuckled, his voice dripping with smooth amusement.
“You’re completely serious? This isn’t some twisted corporate joke?” she confirmed again.
“Naturally, it is not a joke.” Master Fu fell into a brief, uncharacteristically solemn silence for a few seconds. “From the very first night our paths crossed, I explicitly stated that the foundational purpose behind the manifestation of God’s Supermarket is to preserve the beauty of this world.”
Song Yuqing’s mind whirled with skepticism. Really? Since when does this greedy, annoying entity spout such grand, heroic philosophies?
Master Fu let out two sharp, immensely proud snorts before his tone flipped back to a brisk business register. “Now then, moving forward, there are three non-negotiable operational directives you must immediately execute.”
There it is. Song Yuqing sighed internally. His magnificent gifts always arrived with a heavy side of mandatory labor.
“Do not misinterpret the telemetry, Manager Song—these are not store missions, but critical systemic reminders. Or rather, leveraging my supreme calculations, advanced knowledge, and global intelligence network, I am handing you the exact blueprints for your next logistical moves.”
Song Yuqing remained thoroughly unconvinced.
“Directive number one: since your travel restrictions across the multiversal corridors have been completely dismantled, you are ordered to deploy to the advanced dimensions and purchase structural shelter units to house your population. I refuse to let the perimeter of my glorious supermarket degenerate into a squalid refugee camp. The layout must project a baseline tier of respectability! Regarding the transactional points required for the real estate, the store will advance you a credit line. However, be advised that the interest rates are criminally high—classic predatory usury. You can systematically pay down the debt at your own leisure. There is zero rush.”
“Directive number two: I am granting you authorization to enlist temporary subcontractors to streamline your workforce. Any survivor who signs a temporary store clerk contract will be granted systemic clearance to pass through the security gates, allowing them to deploy into the separate parallel timelines to hunt down the missing victims Lin Han vanished into the void. For the time being, I will refrain from hardcoding a time limit onto this objective, but you must finalize your roster as fast as possible. The subcontractor count is strictly capped at twenty personnel.”
“Directive number three: I require you to immediately march up to the second floor and walk directly past the café layout. Seriously, how can a squad of elite survivors be so profoundly unobservant? Your entire team holds a standing invitation to enjoy a magnificent beach holiday, yet your eyes are completely blind to the coordinates! Are you characters legally blind? Can none of you perceive that the café window is actually anchored to a pristine ocean coordinate? Does no one in this wasteland want to go surfing?!”
!!!
The three operational reminders Master Fu dropped were increasingly explosive, each piece of data more staggering than the last.
Song Yuqing stood entirely frozen in place. Master Fu… you are truly a mastermind!
“Ahhhhhhhh!!!” Liu Xiaona was the first to let out a piercing screech of pure, unbridled joy. She began jumping frantically across the floorboards before sprinting full-tilt toward the stairwell, with Little Meat Bun, Gaha, and Song Yuqing hot on her heels.
What their souls desperately craved after months of enduring the gray, ash-choked post-apocalyptic wasteland was a single glimpse of pure, unpolluted nature.
“If you walk straight past the second-floor café, you hit an actual beach! A completely untouched, pristine ocean!” Liu Xiaona bellowed at the absolute top of her lungs as her boots hammered the stairs.
Sharing a wave of profound happiness with the community was infinitely better than hoarding the joy in isolation!
Swept up in the slipstream of Liu Xiaona, Little Meat Bun, Gaha, and Song Yuqing’s frantic ascent, the curious Base Zero refugees immediately surged toward the stairwell, packing themselves tightly into the second-floor café layout.
Sprinting through the dining area yielded no immediate environmental shift. Even the primary glass window appeared exactly as it always had, showcasing zero visible anomalies to the naked eye.
Liu Xiaona marched straight up to the pane, cautiously extending her hand toward the glass. Her jaw slacked slightly as she focused her breathing, her pupils completely locked onto her fingers.
Right before her eyes, her hand smoothly passed clean through the window frame, intersecting the space as if the glass were nothing but a mirage.
The sensation was dizzying. A wave of rich, spectacular warmth from an unblemished sun instantly washed over her exposed skin, accompanied by the crisp, refreshing buffet of a clean sea breeze. There was absolutely no structural barrier hindering her movement.
A brilliant, radiant smile broke across Liu Xiaona’s face, her composure completely shattering under the weight of the miracle.
Before she could process the magic, Little Meat Bun aggressively nudged her out of the way. Without a single shred of hesitation, the giant panda leaped headfirst through the open coordinates of the window, plummeting straight into the unknown below.
A dull, heavy thud echoed back through the frame a second later, sounding exactly like a massive, furry sack of potatoes hitting the ground with significant force.
“Little Meat Bun!” Song Yuqing gasped, throwing herself toward the ledge.
