On the street across from the supermarket entrance, a burly man was sneaking around, and when he saw what had just happened, his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
“Scared the hell out of me…” Xiong Mingming clutched his chest, let out a heavy breath, and decided to head back for now.
He’d known all along there was no way anyone would seriously open a supermarket in the apocalypse, who would have supplies and just open a shop with them instead of keeping it all for themselves? It had to be some kind of scam.
He’d just seen someone get sent flying straight out of the supermarket, he figured the owner was using some ability to run a con under the guise of a “supermarket.”
Good thing he was smart enough not to risk going in directly, better to head back and ask Sister Yang Liu for more details first.
Hunching his shoulders, Xiong Mingming ran off down a street without looking back.
“Could Sister Yang Liu have been lying? That doesn’t seem right…” Xiong Mingming scratched his head as he walked, smacking his lips.
“Crack.”
The surrounding temperature suddenly plummeted, a chill bearing down directly on Xiong Mingming, and the ground beneath his feet gradually froze solid, trapping him.
“Stop right there. Don’t move.”
Cheng Xu stepped out from behind him, his expression stern, his tone cold.
Xiong Mingming trembled with fear. Even though the chill felt pleasant in this scorching heat, he had no desire to be frozen into a popsicle.
“An ice-type ability user? Big… big brother, we’ve got no quarrel, I’ve got nothing on me, but I do have a little food back home, please let me go first…”
Despite his hulking six-foot-three frame, Xiong Mingming was actually a total pushover, timid as a mouse.
Before the apocalypse, he’d worked as a professional gamer for hire, a proper otaku shut-in who kept his home stocked with food and drink, the type who wouldn’t go outside for a month straight.
He’d counted himself lucky, before the apocalypse, his parents’ canned goods business had failed, and they’d left an entire warehouse of leftover canned inventory at his place before disappearing.
Living off that warehouse full of cans, Xiong Mingming had made it this far, though his weight had dropped from over 200 pounds to less than 140.
“Cut the nonsense. Do you know Yang Liu?” Cheng Xu cut him off.
Xiong Mingming froze for a second, then nodded quickly. “I know her, I know her! Sister Yang Liu ran into some zombies before, and I opened my door to let her and her son in!”
Cheng Xu calmly retracted his ice blade, not sure if this was true or not. “Take me to her.”
Xiong Mingming didn’t dare disobey, his face drooping as he grumbled endlessly to himself. “Sorry, Sister Yang Liu, no idea if this guy’s your enemy or not, nothing I can do, I’m being forced into this… should’ve never gone to check out that supermarket, what rotten luck…”
A few days earlier, he’d spotted Yang Liu through his window fighting off zombies, so he’d opened the door to let mother and son take shelter inside, successfully holding off the zombies chasing her.
As thanks, Yang Liu had given him a pack of chocolate cookies and some water, and told him the exact location of the Lucky Supermarket.
He hadn’t originally planned to risk going out, but that pack of cookies had been so delicious, and besides, he only had one can of food left at home…
After walking for over half an hour, the two of them finally arrived at an old residential complex.
Most of the buildings in the complex had been badly damaged or collapsed, the building Xiong Mingming lived in still had its first and second floors intact, and his own home was on the ground floor.
Standing at his own door now, Xiong Mingming pulled out his key, head down, fumbling to unlock it.
“Xiao Hang, come drink some water.”
“Mama, Brother Mingming’s back~”
The familiar voice from inside jolted Cheng Xu out of a daze.
His squad had been nearly wiped out this time, and he himself had barely escaped with his life. Hearing his wife and son’s voices again, his eyes grew damp at the corners.
“Brother Mingming… huh? Da… Daddy?! Mama, it’s Daddy! It’s Daddy!” Xiao Hang came to the door, saw Xiong Mingming standing there with Cheng Xu, and nearly thought he was dreaming.
He rubbed his eyes, it really was his father. He jumped up and down excitedly on the spot, calling out nonstop to Yang Liu inside.
Yang Liu poked her head out, water bottle in hand. “Old Cheng! It’s really you!”
The woman’s hands trembled as she set down the mineral water and rushed straight into Cheng Xu’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Xiao Hang wrapped his arms around both his parents, crying right along with them.
Watching this long-overdue family reunion, Xiong Mingming stood dumbfounded off to the side. “Phew, so it’s family after all, here I thought he was your enemy, Sister… false alarm.”
“Sorry for the trouble earlier, young man. Thank you.” Cheng Xu wiped his wife’s tears, then turned and bowed to Xiong Mingming.
“It’s… it’s nothing.” Xiong Mingming waved his hands, his face flushing slightly.
The group went inside and caught each other up on everything that had happened recently.
“The Lucky Supermarket… I went there too, haha!” When Cheng Xu heard his wife bring up that miraculous supermarket, the two of them exchanged a smile.
Truly a shop that lived up to its name, everyone who encountered it was extraordinarily lucky.
Yang Liu was deeply grateful to the Lucky Supermarket, if she hadn’t been able to buy supplies there, she and her son would have had no choice but to starve or die of thirst.
“Brother Cheng, sister-in-law, are you sure that supermarket actually sells supplies?” Xiong Mingming asked quietly.
“Positive.” The two of them answered in unison.
Curled up in Yang Liu’s arms, Xiao Hang sniffled. “Doesn’t Brother Mingming believe us? The water and cookies Mama gave you were bought from the Lucky Supermarket. The big sister at the supermarket is so pretty, the prettiest person I’ve ever seen.”
“But I just saw…” Xiong Mingming recounted the whole scene of the little shop owner violently sending several burly men flying.
After hearing this, Cheng Xu chuckled softly. “The supermarket has rules. Those men you saw were probably trying to rob the place, it’s only natural the little owner dealt with them accordingly…”
He then gave a brief rundown of the supermarket’s point system and rules.
Only then did Xiong Mingming understand, it made sense, really. In the apocalypse, there were more and more vicious, desperate people around, and coming across a supermarket stocked with supplies was bound to tempt someone into ill intentions.
“This place is honestly too filthy and cramped. I’ve got an idea, while I was out these past few days looking for you and Xiao Hang, I found a spot, a small apartment building. The first through fifth floors are still livable, and best of all, it’s really close to the Lucky Supermarket! Let’s all move there together.” Cheng Xu’s eyes gleamed.
He’d already planned it out, camp right around the Lucky Supermarket!
Forget about going to Tomorrow Base or Hope Base.
Just to enter those bases cost three tier-one crystal cores, and a small piece of expired compressed biscuit could go for as much as five tier-one crystal cores, water resources were priced so high it was suffocating.
On top of that, every month you had to hand over lodging fees, management fees…
The Lucky Supermarket was truly his family’s only hope, good quality, low prices, even fresh hot meals. As long as they worked hard killing zombies and saving up crystal cores, their future would be secure!
Xiao Hang was nearly seven now, but looked as frail as a four- or five-year-old, exactly the age when he needed proper nutrition, and the supermarket’s goods were excellent.
Yang Liu of course agreed with her husband’s plan, and she didn’t mind bringing Xiong Mingming along either.
People who’d help you out in the apocalypse were rare, and besides, Xiao Hang really liked Xiong Mingming.
Xiong Mingming stared blankly at his own little nest, thinking to himself that he had no particular skills of his own, and no food left at home either, might as well follow this big brother in front of him.
Brother Cheng was an ability user, by tagging along with him, he could learn how to fight zombies too, and once he had crystal cores, he could go buy supplies at the supermarket. That way, his basic living needs would be covered.
Right! That was the way to go.
The idea clicked for all of them at once, and they immediately had Xiong Mingming pack up his things, setting off for the small apartment building near the supermarket.
Aside from his clothes, Xiong Mingming had nothing else worth bringing along. He carefully took down the “wives” hanging on his wall, each one an adorable anime character poster.
A little while later, Xiong Mingming, clutching his favorite anime character body pillow, shouldered his backpack and left with Cheng Xu’s family.
Meanwhile, Song Ze was in his own small apartment, gnawing on instant noodles with a bottle of mineral water.
He had no idea that soon, a few new neighbors would be moving in downstairs.