Ch 106: My Multiverse Supermarket

“Xiao Gan, why are you out so early?”

In North Central Street of Lonewind Island, a woman dressed in black stepped out of a narrow, damp, and decaying alleyway.

At the mouth of the lane, she quickly sidestepped a splash of filthy black water thrown out from a bucket nearby.

The old woman who’d thrown it looked slightly embarrassed, but couldn’t bring herself to apologize. She settled for a casual greeting instead.

Du Xiaogan gave a slight nod.

The old woman added, “You really shouldn’t be going out these days. What if they mistake you for one of those riot troublemakers and haul you off? Ah, and who knows if Ah Cai and the others will ever come back alive. You can’t even blame them—who would cause trouble if life weren’t already unbearable?”

Du Xiaogan clearly had no time for her chatter. Without replying, she left coldly, walking several streets away until she entered a shabby private clinic with a broken lightbox sign.

Seeing the silhouette behind the frosted window, she rasped, “Dr. Chu, any news about the medicine?”

Dr. Chu looked up. Instead of answering, he asked, “Did you hear the explosions last night?”

Du Xiaogan froze for a moment, then nodded.

“That was the sound of the Li family’s escort ships going down,” Dr. Chu said. “Three of them. Each one cost the Lis billions before the apocalypse. All gone overnight. The situation’s gotten tense—within a hundred nautical miles around Lonewind, no ship dares to sail now.”

“Even fishing boats?”

“Even fishing boats,” Dr. Chu confirmed. “So, when your medicine will arrive—I really don’t know.”

The words hit Du Xiaogan like ice water. After a long silence, she said softly, “If you hear anything, please let me know immediately.”

“I will,” said Dr. Chu.

Du Xiaogan hesitated a moment, then finally turned and left.

A patient in the clinic asked, “What medicine is she looking for? Why not just go to the hospital?”

“Something special,” Dr. Chu replied. “The hospitals don’t have it.”

The patient understood right away.

The official smuggling channels were tightly watched by the Li family. Any attempt to move contraband always drew attention, so the larger, government-run hospitals were ironically the ones with the fewest supplies.

Small private clinics like Dr. Chu’s, which relied on covert trade with passing fishing boats, actually had more access to black-market medicines.

That was why such little clinics still existed, even when the hospitals offered free treatment.

Everyone in the apocalypse had their own struggles, and no one paid much mind to Du Xiaogan’s situation. The patients soon changed the subject, whispering about whether last night’s explosions were connected to the riots in North Street two days prior.

The riots had been suppressed, but the air over the island remained heavy.

The calm was only surface-deep—underneath, dark currents were already stirring.

The Li family’s planted agents were secretly conspiring to spark another riot.

Suppress it once, twice—by the third time, backlash would be inevitable.

As noon approached, the island’s broadcast system crackled to life. Loudspeakers at every street corner played the voice of the island’s secretary.

“Good afternoon, everyone. This is Xu Ouge, secretary to the island master. On behalf of the island master, I have several announcements to share…”

Xu Jiayi’s orders had been brief, but as secretary, Xu Ouge couldn’t just repeat them word for word.

The island master’s intent was clear to her—but ordinary citizens might not understand unless it was spelled out.

So, she prepared a full “policy explanation” announcement.

In just an hour, she finished the statement.

First, she provided a detailed account of how the North Street riots had been handled and assured the people the unrest wouldn’t spread further, calming public fear.

Next, she shifted the blame toward the Li family—making it clear who was truly behind Lonewind Island’s suffering.

Then, she tied in the Li family’s conflict from the night before and introduced Newborn Island—telling everyone that Newborn Island was now offering trade channels for much-needed goods, and that Commander Xu Jiayi was personally negotiating to secure more supplies.

Finally, once public sentiment had been guided to optimism and hope, she announced the new Coral Harvest Decree—encouraging the citizens to collect coral in exchange for money to buy the incoming goods.

By the time the announcement ended, there was no anger left in the streets—only excitement.

“You can trade coral for money?”
“How much is coral worth?”

Every alley and street corner buzzed with discussion.

Xu Ouge, having received more detailed guidance from Xu Jiayi, told everyone that the better the coral’s condition and shape, the higher its value.

The island’s main office would purchase coral directly from the people, and once supplies arrived, those who sold coral would have priority access to buy food and necessities.

…

In a small house on North Central Street, Du Xiaogan returned home carrying a dead bird. She shut the door and turned—just in time to see her grandmother pushing out a wheelchair.

Seated in it was her younger sister—so thin she looked like a skeleton with a head, like a broken porcelain doll from some horror story. Her limp body slumped sideways against the cushion, head tilted, motionless. The only sign she was alive was the faint, restless flicker of her eyes.

Grandmother asked, “Did you get the medicine?”

After a pause, Du Xiaogan said quietly, “No.”

Grandmother’s eyes dimmed with disappointment, while the lashes of the girl in the wheelchair trembled slightly. Her gaze was filled with pain and hopelessness.

If she could speak, she would have begged them to give up—to stop clinging to that endless, futile treatment.

Du Xiaogan bent down to meet her sister’s eyes. “Don’t give up. You’ll get better. I’ll find a way.”

Grandmother hesitated, lips parting but no words coming out.

Then Du Xiaogan said, “Grandma, did you hear the broadcast? There’s a new artificial island near Lonewind’s waters. Anyone who can build something like that must be powerful—and you must have heard, they have plenty of supplies. I think… they must have medicine too.”

Grandmother asked quietly, “You’re going to harvest coral?”

“Yeah.”

Du Xiaogan didn’t tell the whole truth.

Her sister hadn’t taken her medication for five days now. The illness that had once been held at bay by the drugs was worsening, harder to control each hour.

She knew her sister was suffering—trapped in a motionless body, unable even to cry out from the pain.

If this continued, her condition would only deteriorate.

Du Xiaogan wasn’t sure whether Newborn Island even had the medicine her sister needed. Even if they did, she would have to collect coral, sell it to the authorities, then wait for them to import supplies from Newborn Island—at least three to five days.

Her sister didn’t have that long.

So she decided to harvest coral and sneak onto Newborn Island herself.

She didn’t want her family to worry.

“The sea’s dangerous, isn’t it? What about the drowned corpses?” Grandmother fretted.

“They’re easier to deal with than zombies,” Du Xiaogan said.

Knowing her granddaughter often went out fishing, Grandmother believed her experience would keep her safe.

After plucking and cleaning the dead bird she’d brought home, Du Xiaogan used it to make soup.

Her sister could only swallow liquids. Grandmother would handle the feeding. Once the soup was done, Du Xiaogan set out again.

*

Newborn Island.

Xu Jiayi and her subordinates were having lunch.

The supermarket offered fresh produce and frozen meat.

Xu Jiayi had bought vegetables and meat, thawed them in the shop’s microwave, and cooked a hearty meal using her field cookware.

“I almost forgot what real tomatoes taste like.”

“And these eggs—they don’t smell at all!”

“Of course not. They’re clean eggs, no contamination.”

“Clean eggs… huh. On the island, one of these would cost at least a silver coin.”

“How much is that compared to two membership points for a tea egg? Damn, it’s hard to convert.”

Just then, a scout slipped quietly up to Xu Jiayi’s side.

“Commander, we found the Li family’s fifty soldiers on the west coast.”

Xu Jiayi glanced toward the distant supermarket. “Dead or alive?”

“Alive—but they’re not right.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’ve lost all motor function.”

Before Xu Jiayi could respond, Qi Jiayu came walking toward her.

“Deputy Qi,” Xu Jiayi greeted. “Had lunch yet?”

“Already, thank you,” Qi Jiayu said with a smile. “I actually came to ask whether you’re interested in those fifty uninvited guests.”

Xu Jiayi raised a brow. “They’re from the Dusa Archipelago’s forces—not ours.”

Qi Jiayu waved a hand. “Don’t get me wrong. We know who they are, and we know their attack on Newborn Island has nothing to do with you. But since they came uninvited, we can’t exactly feed and house them. Throwing them into the sea seems too heartless, though, so I thought I’d ask if you’d like to take them.”

Xu Jiayi: …

You killed over five hundred people when you sank three escort ships, and that didn’t seem too heartless to you?

Qi Jiayu seemed to sense her thoughts. “Oh, I forgot to mention—those three escort ships weren’t sunk by us. They destroyed themselves. We only defended ourselves.”

Xu Jiayi froze.

That truth was even more terrifying than if Newborn Island had sunk them.

The Lis weren’t stupid enough to turn their own guns on themselves—meaning their systems must have been hacked.

If Newborn Island could infiltrate the Li family’s ships, could they also hack Lonewind’s systems?

Qi Jiayu said gently, “No need to worry, Major Xu. Newborn Island values peace. We never provoke others.”

Xu Jiayi steadied herself. “Understood. If you don’t want to keep the captives, we’ll take them back and handle it.”

Relieved to unload the burden, Qi Jiayu nodded.

Xu Jiayi had spent half a day on the island already. She still had duties waiting on Lonewind, so she prepared to depart.

Before leaving, she gave Zhou Li her contact information and arranged to bring coral tomorrow for the first trade. She also promised to help connect her with the Su family—owners of oil fields and the easiest path to acquiring heavy fuel.

Zhou Li, in turn, offered her a 10% discount once the deal went through.

Xu Jiayi left two soldiers behind as liaison officers.

Zhou Li didn’t mind them staying.

She uploaded Xu Jiayi’s purchase list to the auction house. As soon as sellers saw it, they began preparing shipments for bidding.

Night fell.

An Fengxuan came to Zhou Li with news: Xu Jiayi’s two liaison soldiers had caught a stowaway sneaking onto the island and had reported it to her, asking what to do.

Zhou Li: …

She immediately told them to release the person.

“There’s no such thing as illegal entry on Newborn Island. As long as someone’s a customer, they’re welcome here.”

The two liaison officers were mortified.

They’d only acted out of habit… had they just ruined their commander’s plans?

“We’re so sorry!” they blurted out.

Zhou Li waved a hand. “It’s fine, I know you meant well—but you should apologize to her.”

By her, she meant the stowaway.

The two soldiers turned and apologized.

The woman ignored them completely.

Her gaze had locked onto the supermarket sign from the moment she saw it—and up close, her eyes were shining with awe.

But she hadn’t forgotten her reason for coming.

“Excuse me,” she asked, voice hoarse from exhaustion, “do you sell medicine here?”

☢️☢️☢️