Ch 110: My Multiverse Supermarket

After the first Lonewind Islander triggered the supermarket’s security system and was blacklisted, Xu Jiayi immediately broadcast a public warning to anyone planning to visit Newborn Island: follow the island’s rules.

Newborn Island didn’t have many rules—so long as one didn’t try to take advantage of the place or harm its interests, they wouldn’t be punished.

But some people, long accustomed to exploiting Lonewind Island’s generosity, paid no heed to the warning.

Over the next two days, several more individuals triggered the defense system and were blacklisted as well.

Once blacklisted, their behavior revealed the darker sides of human nature.

The most common reaction was self-justification—excuses like “I didn’t mean to” or “I was desperate.” When playing the victim failed to earn Zhou Li’s forgiveness, they turned to anger, slandering her and spreading rumors among the Lonewind populace.

Rumors like: “All the supplies on Newborn Island are expired,” or “They keep women and children there as slaves,” or even “There’s a zombie-virus lab on the island—the Savi Island outbreak was their doing!”

The claims were ridiculous. Anyone who actually set foot on Newborn Island could see the truth for themselves.

But not everyone on Lonewind Island had that chance.

Many survivors had lived through the worst days of the apocalypse—they had seen too much death and danger. As long as they could survive without starving, they wouldn’t risk venturing out again.

Their only sources of information were official broadcasts and the gossip of those around them.

So when they heard those rumors about Newborn Island, most believed them.

When Du Xiaogan returned to Lonewind Island to move her remaining belongings, her neighbor—a nosy old auntie—stopped her.

“Xiaogan, you’ve been to Newborn Island, haven’t you? Is it really like they say?”

Du Xiaogan could only stare at her, speechless.

The woman continued, “And why have you been carrying so many things every day lately?”

“I’m moving,” Du Xiaogan said simply.

“Moving?!” The woman was shocked. “Moving where?”

“Newborn Island,” Du Xiaogan replied with a faint, teasing smile.

The neighbor took half a step back, then gasped. “So it’s true—they do keep women there?”

“Do I look like someone being held captive?” Du Xiaogan asked coolly.

The woman looked her up and down, then glanced around nervously.

“No one’s watching us,” Du Xiaogan said dryly.

“Then why would you move there? Did your grandmother and sister go too?”

“We’re a family,” Du Xiaogan said. “Of course we stay together.”

The woman hesitated, clearly wanting to say more, but Du Xiaogan wasn’t interested. She hoisted the last of her belongings and left.

At the pier, she saw Dr. Chu crouched on the sand, digging around.

“Lonewind’s shores have already been combed clean,” Du Xiaogan remarked.

Dr. Chu caught the joke and laughed, brushing sand from her hands.

“So the rumors about ambergris are true?”

“Seems like it,” Du Xiaogan said, though not entirely sure.

She’d first heard the story after returning from Newborn Island—from her grandmother, who’d overheard some soldiers talking while transporting supplies.

The rumor hadn’t yet reached Lonewind, but Xu Jiayi had already dispatched her troops to collect every stone along the coast.

Now, the beaches were cleaner than any pre-apocalypse resort.

A boat arrived.

When Du Xiaogan boarded, she noticed Dr. Chu coming aboard as well.

“The doctor’s heading to Newborn Island too?”

“Of course,” Dr. Chu said. “If I don’t see it with my own eyes, I’ll feel like I’m missing something important.” Her tone was meaningful.

Du Xiaogan understood what she meant.

When she’d first returned from Newborn Island, she’d gone to Dr. Chu, intending to give her one of the pills Zhou Li had sold her—to test whether it truly worked for ALS.

But then she thought: what if that one pill made the difference between life and death for her sister? If she gave it away, her sister’s condition might worsen.

So in the end, she gave nothing—only told Dr. Chu that she had indeed bought medicine there.

Dr. Chu had been speechless.

If she’d owned anything valuable enough to exchange for supermarket credits, she would have gone straight there herself.

After two days of waiting, she finally bought some from another person and now set out for the island.

…

The trip across seven nautical miles took half an hour by fishing boat.

When they arrived, they were surprised to see several vessels already anchored nearby.

They soon learned those boats carried refugees from Savi Island.

After the zombie outbreak there, Li Zairen had gone on a killing spree. To escape both him and infection, many fled by sea.

But the islands under the Li family’s control were all unsafe, so they aimed for the nearest—Lonewind Island.

However, Lonewind’s inspections were strict and denied most entry. So they changed course again—to the artificial island: Newborn Island.

And indeed, when they landed, no one stopped them.

If Xu Ouge hadn’t been on-site managing transactions and ordered guards to keep order—suspecting these newcomers might cause trouble—Newborn Island would have descended into chaos.

Yet despite the influx of people, no one besides An Fengxuan, Qi Jiayu, and a few others appeared to enforce order.

Naturally, onlookers began to wonder—how powerful was Newborn Island, really?

Security officer An Fengxuan smiled mysteriously. “Want to know? Try starting a fight here and you’ll find out.”

Grandma Du, newly moved in, was quick to “spread the word.”

“Oh, you folks didn’t see it! A thief stole from the supermarket, and as soon as he ran out, bam! he dropped like a rock! Then another guy tried to rob someone—‘whoosh!’—flat on the sand in a blink!”

The refugees from Savi Island fell silent.

Try it and die? No thanks.

All they wanted now was a safe place to live.

And Newborn Island—few people, plenty of resources, stable security—was perfect.

Many began asking how to apply for residency.

Zhou Li turned to Qi Jiayu and the others. “As we agreed before, island affairs are your responsibility. So whether to accept them, and how, is up to you.”

Lin Xiaole spoke first. “They’re from Savi Island—there must be Li family spies among them. My opinion: reject them.”

Five years of apocalypse had made her distrustful. She always assumed the worst of strangers.

Fang Qin and Qi Jiayu felt the same.

But Qi Jiayu added, “Still, Newborn Island needs its own armed force.”

She knew the only reason they’d been able to destroy those escort ships was because the Little Boss was here.

If Zhou Li left, they’d need their own defense to survive.

But trust was hard to earn. How could they tell who was reliable?

An Fengxuan, watching their debate, chuckled. “I’ve got a way to tell—but it might backfire.”

Fang Qin asked, “What way?”

An Fengxuan took out a pen. “Ask the spirit of the pen. Write everyone’s names on a sheet, ask specific questions, and the pen will circle the ones who match. Just don’t ask subjective things like ‘Is this person loyal?’—that’s too personal, and you’ll only get distorted answers.”

The three women stared at her, half amused, half doubtful.

“By backfire… you mean the pen spirit might really haunt us?” Lin Xiaole asked.

An Fengxuan laughed. “Depends on whether this world has pen spirits.”

In the Infinite Worlds, they certainly existed—but maybe not here. That wasn’t the real danger.

“The risk,” she explained, “isn’t the spirit. People change. Greed, ideals—anything can shift loyalty. Relying too much on what the pen says without your own judgment could bring betrayal later.”

The others exhaled in relief.

“Fair point,” they agreed.

After An Fengxuan explained how to use it, she handed them the pen. “Borrow it if you like, but return it before we leave.”

With their new “divination tool,” Qi Jiayu and her companions began drafting criteria for selection.

At first, they focused on recruiting combatants. But soon they realized an island couldn’t be filled with only soldiers.

Beyond defense, they also needed revenue.

—Without revenue, how would they buy heavy oil?
—Without revenue, how would they sustain their armed force?

They weren’t running a charity, after all.

Once they understood that, they decided to open part of the shelter’s rooms and shop rentals to newcomers.

According to post-apocalyptic prices and the supermarket’s credit exchange rate:

• Dorm-style rooms (no private bath) cost 200 credits per day, fitting four people—50 credits each.
• Private rooms with bathrooms cost 300 credits per day, fitting two to three people.
• Utilities followed a tiered billing system.

They also added necessary restrictions:

• Anyone renting a shelter room must first register for a supermarket membership card, which stored identity data—preventing others from seizing rooms.
• No one was allowed to damage the island’s environment or facilities under any pretext.

…

While Qi Jiayu and her team were setting up Newborn Island’s regulations, Zhou Li finally received her second major business client—none other than the Su family from the Anxi Archipelago.

☢️☢️☢️