Ch 111: My Multiverse Supermarket

The Su family’s arrival was nothing short of grand.

Three representatives came to Newborn Island:

One was Colonel Su Wujun, commander of the Su family’s special fleet, the Su Leopard.
One was Su Qingyi, president of the Su Oil Group, who managed the family’s petroleum business.
And one was Miss Su Baichun, the family’s heiress—officially visiting for “peace,” but in truth only to make an appearance.

The three of them represented three generations of the Su family.

With Su Wujun leading the delegation, it was clear their real purpose lay behind the pretense: they were here because of the three Li family escort ships that had been sunk.

All this talk about trade negotiations or mediating between Newborn Island and the Li family was merely a cover.

On Newborn Island’s side, the ones meeting them were Qi Jiayu, An Fengxuan, and the newly joined Du Xiaogan.

Du Xiaogan didn’t quite understand why the acting island masters had called her along.

Qi Jiayu told her, “You’re one of us now.”

“But I’m just an ordinary person,” Du Xiaogan said.

“You’re not ordinary,” An Fengxuan replied. “From today on, you’re the head of Newborn Island’s logistics team.”

“…The logistics team doesn’t only consist of me, does it?”

“You can recruit your own members.”

Du Xiaogan felt no thrill of promotion—only uncertainty about the future.

While waiting for the guests to arrive, she asked casually, “Is the island short on medical personnel? I can recommend someone as leader of a medical team.”

“Someone more skilled than the Little Boss?”

“Well, not exactly,” Du Xiaogan admitted. “But before the apocalypse, she was an emergency physician at the Sidar branch of Hilrus Hospital. She’s got broad experience and can handle most conditions.”

“Hilrus Hospital!?” Qi Jiayu blurted in surprise.

Du Xiaogan thought she was shocked by the doctor’s credentials—after all, Hilrus was one of the top hospitals in the world.

She didn’t realize Qi Jiayu was astonished because of the coincidence—Hilrus again. Even Newborn Island itself was tied, somehow, to that name.

An Fengxuan said to Qi Jiayu, “The shelter has a hospital, right? The expensive medical equipment’s gone, but there are still first-aid supplies. Having a doctor on the island would be good.”

Once she and the Little Boss left, who would treat the sick or injured? Having a doctor meant security.

Qi Jiayu nodded. “Ask her if she’d like to live here on Newborn Island.”

Du Xiaogan agreed—Dr. Chu was already on the island, so she’d find her once things settled.

Before long, the guests arrived.

First came Xu Jiayi, acting as mediator for the meeting.

Not long after, several luxury yachts docked offshore.

The Su family’s warships remained several nautical miles away—they followed international protocol and didn’t enter Lonewind’s waters.

When Su Wujun saw only three people representing Newborn Island, he frowned inwardly, feeling insulted.

Still, his face was unreadable. “I’m Su Wujun,” he said.

Qi Jiayu knew who he was and couldn’t help feeling tense.

Du Xiaogan, who seldom followed political news, only thought the name sounded vaguely familiar.

An Fengxuan didn’t know him at all—but she instantly disliked his aloof, superior manner.

Still, Zhou Li had warned them: she wasn’t from this world, and once she left, this island would be in their hands. They had to learn to govern it themselves.

“Colon—” Qi Jiayu began reflexively, about to call him “Colonel.” But she caught herself—she was no longer a soldier. She was acting island master now, representing not herself, but Newborn Island.

Her expression hardened. “Colonel Su, hello. I’m Qi Jiayu, acting island master of Newborn Island. I’ll be overseeing today’s negotiations regarding heavy oil trade.”

Su Wujun’s face revealed neither approval nor displeasure.

At that moment, Su Qingyi stepped forward with a composed smile. “Greetings. I’m Su Qingyi, president of the Su Oil Group.”

“So,” Qi Jiayu said evenly, “President Su is actually the one in charge of this discussion?”

Her meaning was clear: if this meeting was meant to appear as a commercial negotiation, then Su Wujun shouldn’t be the one taking the lead.

In Anhai, no one had ever dared treat Su Wujun with such indifference. His displeasure showed faintly in his eyes.

Qi Jiayu ignored it completely.

Su Qingyi, aware of the tension, didn’t press the matter. Instead, she looked around, admiring the scenery. “Your island seems to have been built to resort standards?” she said meaningfully.

Qi Jiayu countered, “President Su—does this look like a resort island to you?”

After all, any true resort island would have hotels and villas.

Here, apart from a supermarket, the beaches and forests were bare—no resorts, no guesthouses.

In truth, the original design plans had included villas, but the apocalypse struck before construction could begin.

Still, it was a convenient excuse to deflect unwanted curiosity.

Through this exchange, Du Xiaogan realized that Su Qingyi wasn’t genuinely asking about the island’s construction—she was probing its origins.

Few powers could afford to build artificial islands at all. Even billionaires could only manage a few thousand square meters.

Newborn Island, nearly ten thousand square meters and equipped with a shelter, could only have been built by a super consortium.

And such a wealthy creator would surely have prioritized comfort—villas, resorts, maybe even water parks.

Naturally, Qi Jiayu couldn’t reveal the truth.

What if a surviving member of the Hilrus family came forward and demanded the island back?

She had already decided—this place would be her home. No one would take it away.

Sensing her guardedness, Su Qingyi said, “Don’t misunderstand me, Island Master Qi. I only mean that if this island was built to luxury standards, your demand for heavy fuel might not be large. That’s all—after all, that’s what this negotiation is about, isn’t it?”

Qi Jiayu glanced briefly at Xu Jiayi and the Su family entourage, then gestured toward a nearby tent.

“Let’s move inside,” she said calmly. “We can discuss business in detail there.”

Using her inexperience in petroleum trade as an excuse, Su Baichun slipped away from the Su family’s delegation, taking only a single bodyguard with her for a walk around the island.

“Do you see anything unusual?” she asked.

The bodyguard shook his head. “I can’t read them—or this island.”

Su Baichun nodded thoughtfully. “Right. No guards patrolling, no security checks, no one even cared that we brought weapons ashore. They don’t mind us wandering around either. I can’t tell if that’s confidence… or lack of manpower.”

The whole place gave off an odd, dissonant feeling.

Everywhere she looked, she saw flaws—gaps in surveillance, weak points anyone could exploit.

And yet this very island had sunk three of the Li family’s escort ships.

Su Baichun suddenly chuckled. “Still, I quite like that acting island master. Did you see my grand-uncle’s face? It was priceless.”

Su Wujun had strutted in expecting deference, only for Qi Jiayu to give him none. He’d ended up forced to sit at the side of the table like a mere guest.

“Miss, be careful what you say,” the bodyguard murmured, glancing around before relaxing when no one was nearby.

“Forget that old man,” Su Baichun said airily.

Then her gaze fell on a small building by the beach—with a supermarket sign hanging over its door.

“Come on. Let’s take a look.”

They walked to the little supermarket and found three queues outside.

Two led to machines, while one stretched toward the entrance.

Su Baichun joined the line leading inside and asked the person in front, “Hey, it’s not that crowded inside—why’s everyone waiting out here?”

“They’re queuing for cards.”

“What kind of cards?”

“Supermarket membership cards. You can’t buy anything without one.” The man eyed her clothes and added helpfully, “You brought something valuable to trade, right? Don’t come all this way for nothing.”

Su Baichun pulled out a gold bar. “This valuable enough?”

Her bodyguard stiffened, half-expecting someone to grab it.

But the man only glanced at it and said, “Pure 24k gold trades at seven hundred seventy-one points per gram. If it’s less than 24k, it’s discounted—9k, 10k, 14k, 18k tiers and so on. Figure out your own exchange rate.”

Su Baichun blinked in surprise—they could test gold purity here?

Still, since her family minted the bar themselves, she knew it was about sixty-eight percent pure—around 14k. That meant it would exchange at 58.3 percent value, about 449.5 points per gram.

At 100 grams, the bar was worth 44,950 points.

“Seems kind of cheap,” she muttered.

In Anhai, that much gold could buy plenty.

The man said, “You’re underestimating it. That gold’ll get you tens of thousands of membership points—enough supplies for a family of three for a whole year.”

Only then did Su Baichun realize: while gold didn’t exchange for much, the supermarket’s prices must be far lower than Anhai’s.

At last it was the man’s turn.

Su Baichun watched as he pulled a palm-sized stone from his pack—and exchanged it for over two million points.

She stared. “???”

What—why was a rock worth more than her gold!?

Her bodyguard was equally shocked but had sharp hearing. He whispered, “Miss, someone said that’s whale stone—ambergris. Worth over twenty thousand points per gram.”

“???” Su Baichun gaped.

Whale stones were that valuable?

And Xu Jiayi had never mentioned it!

—Well, of course she hadn’t. Xu Jiayi would have to be insane to tell the Su family.

“Once we’re back,” Su Baichun instructed quietly, “send people to collect ambergris—but keep it secret. No one else can know.”

The bodyguard nodded. After a pause, he asked, “Miss, the Anxi Archipelago has its own factories producing goods. Do we really need to hoard so much ambergris?”

Ambergris only had value here. Anywhere else, it was just a useless lump.

“Yes,” Su Baichun said softly. “The Su family has so many islands, so many industries… but how much of it truly belongs to me? I have to plan for myself.”

Besides, even with their production capacity, Su industry was limited. It only seemed sufficient because their population was small.

In truth, everything the Su factories made was tainted—polluted from the source. The problem couldn’t be fixed completely.

A hidden danger, waiting to erupt into sickness one day.

For years, survival had forced people to ignore such risks and lower their standards.

But Newborn Island’s arrival shattered that illusion.

When people discovered better, cleaner goods, they’d abandon Anxi’s products—and the Su family’s hold over the archipelago would crumble.

She knew what she should do: warn her family.

But she also knew what their response would be. To preserve their power, they’d side with the Li family and crush Newborn Island.

Its destruction might benefit the great houses—but for the struggling masses still clawing for survival, it would be a tragedy.

Her bodyguard’s thoughts were broken by her sudden, cryptic comment:

“Xu Jiayi is an idealist—she’s given up personal gain for higher ideals. But I must admit, fortune always seems to favor her.”

☢️☢️☢️