Ch 93: My Multiverse Supermarket

The conflict between the Richter family and Wolff Pharmaceuticals had reached a fever pitch, and as always, it was the ordinary citizens who suffered most. The pressure on City Hall was mounting by the day.

Mayor Edna was even facing impeachment from the city council, accused of incompetence and failure to balance the two corporate giants.

Some claimed that if she hadn’t insisted on cooperating with the Richter family, Wolf Pharmaceuticals wouldn’t have retaliated so viciously.

Before Edna could even respond, her supporters had already gone to find Zhou Li.

After all, the root of the conflict lay in the small supermarket.

*

Good Life Supermarket.

Zhou Li looked at Paul Bowman with a troubled expression.

“I’m just a shopkeeper,” she said. “There’s really nothing I can do.”

Paul Bowman looked pale and defeated. “The council meeting is next week. If two-thirds of the members vote for impeachment, the mayor will be forced to step down.”

Everyone could see how hard Mayor Edna had worked to maintain order on Mia Star. Unfortunately, not all council members were reasonable people.

Many were parasites long accustomed to taking bribes from powerful families. To protect their own interests, they would muddle the issue and make Edna take the blame.

Trying to pressure Zhou Li, Paul revealed that certain council members had once wanted to use force to take control of the supermarket—those same members now opposing the mayor.

Zhou Li didn’t know much about Mia’s political system, but she understood how Western-style governments worked on Earth: council members held significant power, and most had cozy relationships with the oligarchs.

If Mayor Edna couldn’t bring them profit, she really could be impeached.

“Right now,” Paul said, “it’s the mayor who’s keeping the voices against you under control. Of course, I’m not threatening you—you can walk away anytime and nothing will happen to you. But I believe, if the mayor wins, that would benefit you greatly.”

He then laid out all the supposed advantages of keeping Edna in office.

Zhou Li asked calmly, “And what exactly do you want me to do?”

Paul hoped she would publicly support Mayor Edna and help win over public opinion.

With the Richter family providing energy and the Good Life Supermarket ensuring access to food and essentials, these two forces together could secure the mayor a strong political advantage.

Zhou Li quickly saw through his plan.

“Standing with the mayor” wasn’t as simple as a public endorsement—it would mean increasing material supply to City Hall. And as Edna’s supporter, Zhou Li would likely be expected to donate, sponsor, or at least allow the government to delay payment during its budget crisis.

In other words, she would have to prepare herself to give away an entire batch of supplies for free.

Zhou Li took a sip of water, suppressing a sigh.

At that moment, a tall figure entered the room.

“Well, well,” the newcomer said lazily, “so City Hall has sunk to the point of begging door to door?”

Paul Bowman’s face flushed red. “Sophia Richter—what did you just say?!”

Sophia calmly removed her gloves and tossed them on the coffee table, then unhurriedly sat down on the sofa, unwrapping the scarf around her neck.

Zhou Li instinctively poured her a cup of hot tea—this was, after all, the “antique” lady who had lived since the previous century.

Sophia lifted the disposable cup with elegant poise.

She managed to make a five-yuan bag of Pu’er taste like top-grade tea worth tens of thousands per pound—though the paper cup did lower the overall aesthetic.

After a delicate sip, Sophia said slowly, “Does Edna Ponty know you’re here? Somehow I doubt this was her idea.”

Caught off guard, Paul froze. The anger rose in his chest but found no outlet.

After a long pause, he muttered, “I’m only anxious on her behalf.”

“If she’s not anxious, why are you?” Sophia replied.

Red-faced and humiliated, Paul shuffled out of the store.

Zhou Li took another sip of tea, annoyed.

Sophia asked, “Feeling a bit unhappy about being dragged into something you didn’t ask for?”

Zhou Li nodded. “A little.”

“How do you know the mayor isn’t worried?” Zhou Li asked.

Sophia smiled. “Edna’s closest aide is her secretary general. If the situation were truly desperate, she’d have sent that person to you. Paul Bowman is just one of those foxes’ pawns—sent here to test you and see what they can squeeze out.”

Zhou Li suddenly understood. Of course—Edna hadn’t risen to mayor over hundreds of thousands of people by being helpless. She definitely had her own cards to play.

There was still much Zhou Li had to learn.

Sophia continued, “That said, Edna really is buried in problems right now.”

“With the Richter family and Wolf Pharmaceuticals fighting like this, the unrest on Mia will only get worse, won’t it?” Zhou Li asked.

Sophia wasn’t very interested in politics. “Anyway,” she said, “let me introduce you to a big client.”

*

Sophia’s “big client” arrived at the supermarket shortly afterward.

The woman had silver hair, rode a motorcycle like a teenager, and exuded effortless cool. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Zhou Li couldn’t help the spark of admiration in her eyes.

“Wow,” An Fengxuan said, almost whistling like a street punk.

“This is Julia Bates,” Sophia said.

“Bates?” Zhou Li repeated. “That sounds familiar.”

“Julia is a major shareholder of Bates Industries,” Sophia explained. “The ‘Moonshadow X’ vehicle you were looking to buy—it’s made by her company.”

Zhou Li’s heart skipped a beat. So this was the big client—was Bates Industries planning to sell cars to her?

She forced herself to sound calm as she greeted her. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Bates.”

“Just call me Julia,” the biker grandma replied coolly.

Zhou Li had planned to invite her upstairs, but Julia was too curious about the supermarket on her first visit and wandered around instead.

After touring the aisles, she turned to Sophia and said, “No wonder you’re stationed here as the resident doctor. This place feels like something straight out of Blue Star’s early centuries.”

Zhou Li thought privately, Wait, is this one also another centenarian relic from two centuries ago?

Sophia quickly dispelled that assumption.

Julia Bates was in her seventies—born and raised on Mia.

Her friendship with Sophia came from lineage: Julia was a descendant of Sophia’s best friend.

Old photographs passed down through the Bates family even showed Sophia and that friend together.

And the secret that Mayor Edna had only recently discovered—Julia had known for years, thanks to those photos.

…

Before Zhou Li could lose interest in the effortlessly stylish biker matriarch, Julia Bates finally explained the reason for her visit.

Julia wanted to invite Zhou Li to take part in a short-term immigration project that would determine the life or death of hundreds of thousands of people on Mia.

Secretly led by Mayor Edna and backed by Bates Industries, the group’s long-standing goal was to repair the abandoned space station and relocate a large portion of Mia’s population there—allowing them to survive the planet’s impending extinction-level disaster.

But restoring a decommissioned station and making it operational again was no easy task.

First, they had to uncover the reason it had been shut down in the first place.

That root cause was possibly tied to Blue Star’s communication blackout, wormhole collapses, unstable interstellar routes, and the natural cataclysms plaguing Mia.

Despite sending wave after wave of scientists and astronauts, all they’d accomplished so far was loss of life—with no useful findings to show for it.

Then, the Good Life Supermarket appeared, giving them new hope.

—Not because they believed the supermarket was connected to Blue Star, but because they hoped Zhou Li’s store could provide stable material support for the pioneering exploration teams, ensuring they wouldn’t run short on supplies during space missions.

The Richter family’s newly opened open-pit mines would supply the necessary energy for the project.

“Publicly, we’ll announce that the operation is sponsored by your supermarket,” Julia said. “That way, we can divert public attention and soften the resentment people still harbor toward the store.”

Zhou Li suddenly understood. “So Mia never stopped trying to save itself.”

Julia smiled faintly. “The human spirit is indomitable. Even standing at the brink of extinction, we never give up the fight.”

Those short-sighted opportunists who only cared about power struggles, she added, could never represent the will of the majority.

Zhou Li felt a faint stir in her chest. “I can help,” she said, “but the orphanage and city hall have already pre-ordered a large number of supplies. I can only allocate goods to you in batches—I can’t provide everything all at once.”

Julia had clearly anticipated this and agreed readily.

To pay for her supermarket membership points, she offered up her motorcycle as collateral.

…

After closing up shop for the day, Zhou Li looked at the enormous new order and felt a hint of anxiety.

Just then, the system chimed with a bright ding!

“Good news! With the help of Sales Rep 0311, this system has become the top sales champion in the Interplanetary Trade Division!”

Zhou Li said dryly, “That’s a bit poorly timed… but congratulations.”

The system’s tone rose several notches, brimming with pride. “As sales champion, I’ve received an exclusive reward! The representative suggests using it to purchase a permanent interplanetary voice conversion service—or to redeem it for a premium feature. What do you choose?”

Zhou Li had nearly forgotten that being a sales champion came with perks.

She asked, “What kind of premium features?”

“Optional upgrades to improve the experience for both the operator and clients,” the system explained, “including but not limited to: franchise supermarket licensing, auction-house bidding privileges, and the spatial-folding warehouse management technology you’ve been eyeing.”

Zhou Li’s first instinct was to choose the spatial-folding warehouse tech.

Still, she asked about the first two options out of caution.

“The franchise license,” said the system, “would allow you to open another supermarket with identical functionality to the main branch.”

Zhou Li’s eyes lit up. If she could open a full-sized supermarket—several thousand square meters—and make that jump between worlds…

She’d never again have to worry about limited stock or constant round trips for resupply.

“As for the auction-house bidding function,” the system continued, “haven’t you noticed that you can only sell items there, not bid on anything yourself?”

Zhou Li’s mind raced. “Bidding… meaning I’d be able to buy items there, too?”

“Yes.”

“And the spatial-folding warehouse management tech—well, I don’t need to explain that one, do I?”

After processing all the options, Zhou Li took a deep breath. “System, what would you choose?”

“The system has no preference,” it replied. “The decision rests with the sales representative.”

“Can any of these—like the franchise or the bidding system—be unlocked with energy instead?” she asked.

“No. This reward is exclusive to sales champions.”

Zhou Li smiled. “Then I’ll take the auction-house bidding feature.”

She wasn’t ready to open a franchise yet, so she ruled that out.

As for the folding warehouse, she could always save up more energy to purchase it later.

But the auction house—she still didn’t know what realm it connected to, who its buyers were, or what worlds its goods came from.

If she could bid in it herself, maybe she’d gain access to all kinds of items—even ones she could buy without having to travel across dimensions.

☢️☢️☢️