Ch 101: My Multiverse Supermarket

Before An Fengxuan’s overwhelming strength, the zombies—who only knew how to attack in the most primitive way—had no chance to resist. Their heads burst open one by one until they truly became corpses.

Once the island was cleared, An Fengxuan’s group carefully reviewed every corner of the shelter through the surveillance system. Only after confirming that no zombies were hiding anywhere did they declare the first stage of the “Restart the Artificial Island” plan complete.

From the loudspeaker at the supermarket’s entrance came Zhou Li’s voice: “Dinner time!”

The group returned to the store.

Though Zhou Li hadn’t helped with zombie fighting, she had still contributed—by cooking.

The supermarket’s stock of food was abundant. For Qi Jiayu and her companions, who had lived years eating cold rations and scavenged scraps, even a simple bowl of white rice was a luxury.

Instant noodles alone would have satisfied them.

But Zhou Li wasn’t the type to eat blandly when she had ingredients and a working kitchen.

Seeing her fresh vegetables and frozen meats, Qi Jiayu and the others came up with an idea.

They proposed paying Zhou Li to cook for them. How many meals she’d make would depend on how long it took to clear the shelter.

Zhou Li, never one to refuse a business opportunity, agreed.

She prepared the meal and portioned it neatly into disposable containers—four servings total, each with two meat dishes, two vegetables, and a bowl of soup.

Refills for rice and soup were allowed. Each meal cost fifty yuan.

An Fengxuan, being an official employee, had her meals covered.

“This is so good,” Lin Xiaole said tearfully as she ate.

Qi Jiayu and Fang Qin said nothing, too busy devouring their food.

Zhou Li’s heart swelled with pride. “Really that good?”

Maybe her cooking skills were improving after all.

An Fengxuan glanced at the smug little boss and decided not to burst her bubble.

After years of starvation and hardship, even plain rice water would taste divine.

Lin Xiaole asked curiously, “Boss, where’d you get meat that hasn’t mutated?”

“From the market,” Zhou Li said. “Why? Don’t you have normal animals here?”

Lin Xiaole didn’t bother asking which market that was. “Very few,” she replied. “Animals can carry and spread the zombie virus too. But in some places, healthy ones are kept isolated for breeding. As long as they’re completely sealed off, they won’t mutate.”

If not for that, the death toll would have been even higher.

At first, humans hadn’t guarded against animals—until a man scratched by a stray cat turned into a zombie. After that, everyone became cautious.

Zhou Li pointed to the seabirds on the rocks. “What about those birds? Safe?”

Fang Qin explained, “Animal zombies differ from human ones. Humans attack any living thing they sense. Animal zombies still follow instinct. For example, zombified seabirds will attack fish or crabs, not people—unless someone provokes them.”

They couldn’t understand how Zhou Li knew so little about basic survival facts, but since she’d given them water to wash, they decided to share some essential knowledge as thanks.

…

By the end of the meal, Zhou Li had learned plenty about how the zombie virus spread.

She was relieved to hear that transmission required living carriers.

In other words—water, soil, and air couldn’t spread the virus.

The problem was pollution.

Dumping zombies into the ocean was like a factory dumping toxic waste into a river.

Burying them was like sealing heavy metals underground.

Burning them filled the air with nauseating fumes, much like incinerating chemical garbage.

Living in such an environment led to respiratory problems at best, lung cancer at worst.

Since 95% of this planet was ocean, widespread contamination had dire consequences.

But with the virus still active, no one cared much about pollution—no vaccine had been developed yet.

As an outsider, Zhou Li certainly didn’t plan to lose sleep over the fate of this world’s inhabitants.

*

That night, Qi Jiayu’s team dumped the mangled zombie corpses into the sea, then activated the photovoltaic power system to restore electricity to the shelter.

They also turned on the automatic cleaning mode—scrubbing the entire shelter from top to bottom, inside and out.

Once the air circulation restarted, the sharp smell of disinfectant gradually faded.

Zhou Li couldn’t resist curiosity and went down to take a look herself.

The underground shelter had three floors (plus an engine bay below), each about 3,000 square meters.

The first basement floor was a massive activity complex that combined a cafeteria, recreation hall, arcade, infirmary, planting area, and warehouse.

The second and third basement levels were residential—over two hundred rooms, each around twenty to thirty square meters.

In the middle was a sports hall equipped for swimming, fitness, basketball, billiards, ping pong, badminton, tennis, and even bowling. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. Qi Jiayu had also found a garage and an armory on the lowest level.

The armory had been emptied, but several luxury cars still sat in the garage.

Zhou Li sighed. “This isn’t a shelter—it’s a luxury estate.”

Fang Qin muttered enviously, “The Hirthus family really must’ve poured billions into this place.”

“Now it’s ours,” Lin Xiaole said, thrilled.

Qi Jiayu frowned. “If we can hold it.”

The other two froze mid-smile. “Can you let us be happy for a few minutes before killing the mood?”

“Fine,” Qi Jiayu shrugged.

Rather than immediately claiming rooms, they went back to the control center to study the facilities.

An Fengxuan had already figured out some of the systems. “The island’s top speed is one knot—about one nautical mile per hour. But fuel reserves are low. Without refueling, it can only travel thirty nautical miles.”

Lin Xiaole said, “Our raft was faster than that.”

Qi Jiayu was unfazed. “Makes sense. This island’s huge—faster movement would guzzle ridiculous amounts of fuel.”

Fang Qin agreed. “And it can’t move too fast anyway. Go too fast, and it might flip.”

Zhou Li turned to An Fengxuan. “You understand all this equipment?”

An Fengxuan said, “Maybe to make it easier for non-professionals to operate, this island’s system is highly intelligent—and very similar to a ship’s control system. My family used to own a yacht, and I got licensed to pilot it. So I can read nautical charts, understand engine operations, ship mechanics, and electrical systems. That’s why I can more or less figure out how this island works.”

Zhou Li blinked. “…Then you all go ahead and study it. I’m heading back.”

“Wait, Little Boss!” called Qi Jiayu. “Why don’t you name the island?”

Fang Qin and the others looked at her with hopeful eyes.

“Me?” Zhou Li was surprised. “But doesn’t it already have a name?”

She’d just seen in the files that the island had been named after its creator, Higin Hirthus—“Higin Island.”

Qi Jiayu said, “Higin Island is the past. This place can have a new beginning. We hope you’ll be the new island master.”

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Li said, “Then… let’s call it ‘Newborn Island.’ May it be a fresh start for all of you.”

Suddenly, she heard the familiar chime of her system.

System: “Island-owner identity confirmed. Congratulations—9,381.35 square meters of land ownership acquired. Would you like to include this area within the system’s protection range?”

Zhou Li froze.

“You mean… this island belongs to me now?”

“As long as all island residents consent, ownership of an unclaimed island becomes legally yours.”

Zhou Li’s heart leapt, but she tried to stay calm. “Then when I first arrived in this world, why couldn’t I claim ownership?”

“Because you hadn’t yet received consent from all island residents.”

Her expression twisted. “Don’t tell me that includes zombies?”

“It does. Zombies aren’t dead corpses, so they’re still counted as residents.”

Zhou Li: …

She didn’t bother arguing. Her grin returned soon enough.

Adding Newborn Island to the system’s protection range meant the entire island was now shielded—no zombies could enter, and no one could commit violence here.

She told Qi Jiayu’s group about the new rule.

They were thrilled. “So we won’t have to worry about anyone taking this island again?”

Zhou Li hesitated. “Uh… the protection deactivates when I leave.”

Lin Xiaole asked, “Little Boss, can’t you stay?”

An Fengxuan, already aware that Zhou Li and her supermarket traveled across worlds, explained, “The Boss’s business spans different realms—she’s constantly on the move.”

The others didn’t really understand what “the supermarket leaving” would look like, so they weren’t too alarmed.

Zhou Li tried to reassure them. “Before I go, I’ll have Newborn Island anchored far from other islands, just in case.”

…

Their excitement over restarting Newborn Island didn’t last long before they faced a new problem—fuel shortage.

They scoured the entire shelter but found no extra fuel.

Apparently, when the Hirthus family fled, they’d emptied the fuel stores and warehouses.

Zhou Li couldn’t help either.

She could buy fuel from the auction house, but the island didn’t run on oil—it ran on money.

According to An Fengxuan, the artificial island’s propulsion system wasn’t nuclear, but it wasn’t a simple diesel engine either.

It used a gas turbine powered by heavy oil.

Heavy oil was cheaper than diesel, but the island’s consumption was enormous.

After a quick system estimate, Zhou Li found that running the island for a single day—traveling 24 nautical miles—would consume 50 tons of heavy oil.

At 3,500 yuan per ton, that was 175,000 yuan per day.

Zhou Li: …

There went her dream of a traveling supermarket.

But Qi Jiayu’s team didn’t give up.

Their radar detected another island about 37 nautical miles northwest—based on the coordinates, it was none other than Lonewind Island!

They didn’t have enough fuel to reach it directly, but if they could get close, patrol ships might spot them and establish contact.

Although Zhou Li was now technically the island master, she still listened to her “citizens.”

“Then our first stop will be Lonewind Island!” she declared.

*

South Sea, Dusa Archipelago — Lonewind Island.

A sedan sped along a rough, pitted road and stopped in front of a villa.

A man jumped out, face tight with urgency, and asked the soldier on guard, “Where’s the Commander?”

“In the garden.”

He ran to the back garden, where a woman in a dark-blue military uniform stood, silver medal gleaming on her chest.

It was Major Xu Jiayi, island master of Lonewind Island.

“Commander!”

Xu Jiayi turned at the call, her expression composed but stern. “Report.”

“Urgent news, ma’am. The Sulawesi freighter was intercepted by Li Zairen’s maritime patrol at Baga Port. He accused them of smuggling contraband, seized the vessel, and threatened to block all routes near Lonewind Island unless the ship detours.”

Li Zairen was General Li De’an’s third son.

A year ago, Xu Jiayi had seized Lonewind Island through a bloody coup, after which General De’an had blockaded her.

To survive, she’d been smuggling supplies from outside.

Even so, shortages kept worsening—and not only De’an’s family, but many other factions had their eyes on her.

Now the discovery of her smuggling partnership with the Su family’s freighter Sulawesi had become a crisis.

If word spread, morale would crumble.

Just then, a soldier ran from the villa. “Commander! Someone’s spreading rumors that the Sulawesi was seized. There’s a riot on North Street!”

[Author’s note]
Boss Zhou: Anyone want to chip in for fuel? [dog emoji]

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