Chapter 90: The Elderly Man
“You don’t know?” The old man scratched his head, looking completely bewildered. “Then why did you come here?”
Song Yuqing laughed awkwardly. “We were just wandering around aimlessly and somehow ended up here.”
Liu Xiaona let out a nervous chuckle. “Where exactly is Base Zero?”
The old man studied them thoughtfully for a moment before finally saying, “Follow me.” With that, he stepped right past Song Yuqing and Liu Xiaona to take the lead.
Song Yuqing exchanged a glance with Liu Xiaona: Should we go?
Liu Xiaona looked at Gaha: Let’s go!
Gaha looked at Little Meat Bun: We’re going?
Little Meat Bun settled the silent debate by tugging on Song Yuqing’s sleeve, pulling her along to catch up with the old man.
“Um, sir,” Song Yuqing started, “my name is Song Yuqing. This is Liu Xiaona, Gaha, and Little Meat Bun. We’re…”
Before she could finish her introduction, the old man cut her off.
“I know you’re from God’s Supermarket,” he said, calmly stroking his white beard.
“How did you know?!” Song Yuqing and Liu Xiaona blurted out in unison. They exchanged a look—God’s Supermarket really was famous!
“Could it be that God’s Supermarket has a teleportation portal now?” Song Yuqing joked, bursting into laughter. “How would that even be possible!”
“Oh. So it’s your spatial ability,” the old man stated in a completely flat tone.
“What’s that supposed to mean…” Liu Xiaona started to retort, but catching Song Yuqing’s frantic wink, she quickly slapped a hand over her own mouth. She was right—they couldn’t just casually confirm their special abilities to a total stranger. Whether this old man was a friend or foe was still unknown. It paid to be careful!
Little Meat Bun frowned, gripping the hem of Song Yuqing’s jacket protectively.
“Hmph. You don’t trust me, yet I’m always supporting your business. I shop online all the time!” The old man crossed his arms over his chest and puffed out his cheeks like a slighted child.
“Sir, it’s not that we don’t trust you,” Liu Xiaona pouted, “but we know absolutely nothing about you, while you seem to know everything about us. It’s completely unfair.”
“Hmph.” The old man picked up his pace. “Believe me or don’t! See if I care! So annoying!”
Liu Xiaona shot Song Yuqing a questioning look: Should we still follow him? What if it’s a trap?
Song Yuqing stared at the old man’s retreating back and made a quick decision. We trust him. She glanced at Little Meat Bun and Gaha flanking her. With these two heavy-hitters acting as bodyguards, they would be perfectly safe.
Song Yuqing gave a firm nod and hurried after the old man. Despite his elderly appearance, he set a brisk pace, easily outwalking both the young women.
They walked for what felt like an eternity. By the time the pitch-black sky finally began to turn a pale, hazy gray, they were exhausted.
Song Yuqing rested her left hand on Little Meat Bun’s shoulder and her right hand on Gaha’s. Utterly drained, she let the panda and the zombie bear the brunt of her weight as they trudged forward.
“Thank goodness I have you two,” she murmured. One zombie, one giant panda. If it weren’t for her non-human companions, Song Yuqing would have collapsed before they even made it halfway.
Liu Xiaona wasn’t faring any better. She was sweating profusely, her legs feeling like absolute jelly. She hadn’t walked a distance this grueling since she took the clerk job at God’s Supermarket.
The old man, on the other hand, was incredibly nimble. He looked like he could effortlessly sprint up eighty-eight flights of stairs without breaking a single sweat.
“Are we really not going to take a break?” Liu Xiaona pleaded weakly.
“Take a break…?” The old man glanced back at her. In the next second, his eyes widened dramatically, and he bellowed, “Why would we take a break?!”
The sudden, fierce outburst startled Liu Xiaona so badly her knees nearly buckled, almost sending her tumbling into the sand.
“Because we’re already here!” the old man snickered, covering his mouth like a mischievous child who had just pulled a prank.
Song Yuqing was speechless.
Liu Xiaona looked ready to cry.
Following the direction the old man was pointing, Song Yuqing spotted a massive stone city gate looming in the distance. Its architecture had a distinct, retro feel. As they drew closer, Song Yuqing recognized it instantly—it was the exact same Base Zero she had seen on the cinema screen. There was no mistaking it!
“The gate is shut tight, and there are no guards posted. How are we supposed to get in?” Liu Xiaona asked.
She summoned a stream of clear spring water from her palm, splashing her own face to cool off before offering handfuls to Gaha, Little Meat Bun, and Song Yuqing to drink.
The old man stared intently at the conjured spring. “Your water ability has improved quite a bit,” he noted.
Liu Xiaona had been just about to offer the old man a drink, but upon hearing his strangely perceptive comment, she immediately closed her hand, cutting off the water supply.
“Hmph!” Looking thoroughly displeased, the old man turned his head away. He swaggered right up to the heavy stone doors and rapped his knuckles against the surface—knock, knock, knock.
A strange, mechanical camera smoothly extended from a concealed crack in the stonework above. It swiveled to scan the group, and a moment later, the massive gates ground open.
Just as depicted in the cinematic vision, Base Zero was built along a single, long, narrow axis. The straight street was bustling with lively crowds. Small stalls lined the curbsides, selling a wide variety of goods and services—everything from salvaged electronics and daily supplies to clothing repairs. Song Yuqing quickly noticed that many of the packaged goods being hawked at the stalls originally came from God’s Supermarket.
“Welcome to Base Zero,” the old man announced. “Even though there’s only one main street up here, there’s actually an entire town sprawling underneath it!”
The surface level had been hastily constructed post-apocalypse, while the underground sector was a repurposed pre-apocalypse installation.
“Life here is actually pretty good!”
“Gaha!” Gaha stared down the bustling avenue, a sudden wave of familiarity washing over her. She felt like she had definitely been here before.
Noticing the sudden dip in Gaha’s mood, Song Yuqing wrapped a comforting arm around her scaly shoulders. “It’s okay. You can come visit here as often as you’d like in the future.”
But Gaha shook her head vehemently. “Gaha, gaha, gaha…” No.
She had turned into a zombie. She couldn’t remember her past, nor could she recognize any of her old friends. Gaha wrapped her arms tightly around Song Yuqing’s waist. “Gagaha! Gaha!” I only have you now!
“Nanjiao and his team haven’t returned yet,” the old man remarked, casting a brief glance at Gaha.
Song Yuqing and the others blinked, looking at the old man in surprise.
“How do you know that we know Nanjiao?” Liu Xiaona asked, craning her neck suspiciously.
The old man shot her a look of pure disdain. “Everyone in Base Zero knows. Didn’t Nanjiao leave specifically to help God’s Supermarket build their online shopping network?”
“Oh.” Liu Xiaona felt a bit silly. She had thought the old man possessed some mystical omniscience, but it turned out Nanjiao’s mission was just public knowledge.
Just then, a squad of zombie hunters approached from the opposite end of the street. The man leading the group froze the second he laid eyes on Gaha.
“You… why are you here?” he breathed.
Gaha pursed her lips and lowered her head, refusing to meet his gaze or answer.
The old man smoothly stepped forward, throwing an arm around the hunter’s shoulder and physically blocking his line of sight to Gaha.
“They aren’t real zombies. Don’t disturb them,” the old man murmured quietly into the man’s ear.
The hunter stared at Gaha in a daze. When Gaha timidly flicked her gaze up to meet his, he quickly jerked his head away. Pretending he didn’t care, he abruptly pushed past them and marched toward the city gates. As he brushed by, Song Yuqing clearly saw that the man was fighting hard to hold back his tears.
“It’s okay, Gaha. Don’t be afraid,” Song Yuqing whispered, gently patting her back. “I’m guessing that man used to be a good friend of yours.”
“Come along now. I’ll take you all to God’s Supermarket’s local Base Zero Service Station,” the old man said, winking at Song Yuqing and Gaha before turning to lead the way.
It was only as Song Yuqing stepped closer to the old man that she heard him openly muttering to himself.
“I still don’t know why they’re really here. Are they going to tell me? Should I tell them? …Nah, forget it.”
Song Yuqing stared at the back of his head in utter bewilderment. What is going on? Is he seriously airing his internal monologue out loud? What exactly was this old man hiding?
“You know what, I won’t say a thing. Let’s just leave it at that,” the old man concluded, loudly finalizing a decision with himself.
