Ch 123: My Multiverse Supermarket

Li Guangren’s single cannon shot made Newborn Island’s name echo across all of Anhai.

In the following days, applications requesting permission to visit the island poured in.

Qi Jiayu, though secretly pleased, kept Newborn Island’s stance clear in her mind. She rejected meaningless social visits and publicly stated, “Newborn Island does not belong to any faction. We will not invade any territory; we will only retaliate if attacked. Please rest assured.”

Once the position was clarified, she immediately began advertising.

Still troubled by shortages of supplies? Come to Newborn Island.
Too many people, poor environment, nowhere to settle? Come to Newborn Island.
Still struggling to survive on a barren island with incomplete infrastructure? Come to Newborn Island.

…

After hearing these slogans, people finally understood—Newborn Island wasn’t a resort or a refugee shelter. It was, essentially, a mobile marketplace.

In the apocalypse, that kind of attitude was refreshingly out of place—but strangely reassuring.

As long as Newborn Island wasn’t competing for territory, it was no threat.

So, trade requests with Newborn Island began to multiply.

Qi Jiayu didn’t accept them all at once. She said that, when possible, the island would travel to those regions instead—no need for others to make long and dangerous trips.

Of course, she didn’t reject every visitor either.

When Su Qingyi arrived with the Su Oil Group’s fuel transport ship, Newborn Island rolled out the welcome mat.

Alongside Su Qingyi came Councilor Su and her daughter, Su Bochun. After Su Qingyi completed the oil delivery, the two women came to Newborn Island separately.

Councilor Su, about fifty years old, dressed formally but had a gentle demeanor with no trace of political arrogance.

Su Bochun, in contrast, was dressed for a vacation—light, colorful, and carefree, as if she were here for sightseeing.

Mother and daughter even argued about their clothing on the way.

Su Bochun believed dressing too formally created distance and made them seem unfriendly.

Councilor Su insisted they were here for serious business; showing up in resort wear would be disrespectful.

Neither would budge, so in the end, each dressed according to her own preference.

The people of Newborn Island were mostly practical and casual themselves, caring little about fashion. Still, because of age and authority, their attention naturally centered on Councilor Su.

Su Bochun only pouted, not truly angry.

The mother and daughter’s purpose was clear—to formalize a partnership.

And to Bochun’s relief, Newborn Island’s true owner—the little boss of the supermarket—had approved the collaboration.

Zhou Li asked, “May I ask what exactly Councilor Su and Miss Su would like Newborn Island to do for you?”

Councilor Su replied, “We’d like to restart the Virus Research Center…”

Through her explanation, Zhou Li and the others learned that even after the zombie virus outbreak, the Island Federation’s Virus Research Center had never stopped working on a vaccine.

But the virus evolved too quickly, and power-hungry opportunists repeatedly sabotaged the research.

In one attack, the center was devastated—most researchers died or turned into zombies; only a few experts escaped.

Soon after, the head of the governing council was assassinated, the council dissolved, and the islands all declared independence.

In the years since, only a few far-sighted island leaders continued to support vaccine research. Most others were too busy seizing power and wealth.

Although Councilor Su had her own political ambitions, she didn’t want ordinary people to become casualties of the upper class’s greed for control.

Li Zairen, for example—he had once staged a deliberate viral outbreak to conceal his failures, turning thousands of citizens on Savi Island into pawns. It was cruel, vile, and monstrous.

If not for the zombie virus, his lies would never have held up.

Thus, developing a vaccine would stop the virus from being used as a weapon by the ambitious—protecting ordinary people who just wanted to live.

Councilor Su’s intentions were good, but the Su family had never given her strong backing.

It wasn’t that they wanted the world to remain in chaos—peace benefited their business empire the most.

But they hesitated for two reasons: limited scientific expertise and the enormous resource cost.

No one knew how many years—or how much money—it would take.

If it took ten years to see results, how much of the Su family’s fortune would still remain to divide?

The cake was only so big—if one person ate half, what would be left for the rest?

So, her proposal never gained traction within the family.

The emergence of Newborn Island, however, gave the councilor and her daughter a shortcut.

If the island could truly obtain all kinds of supplies besides weapons, then securing advanced lab equipment for the research center would no longer be a problem.

“Lab instruments, hm?” Zhou Li said. “I can try. But I’ll need a detailed list, and it’d help if you note their intended uses. Even if I can’t find the exact models, maybe I can source suitable equivalents.”

She wasn’t sure whether the Auction Hub could provide them, but she was already thinking about visiting Planet Mia—where biotechnology and research instruments would certainly be more advanced.

“Before the research center is rebuilt,” Councilor Su continued, “we’d also like to send a few technical personnel to your island for exchange and learning about artificial island construction.”

Fang Qin rolled her eyes inwardly. Exchange and learning? More like spying on their systems. Typical politician’s maneuvering.

Zhou Li smiled. “Of course, that’s fine.”

Fang Qin almost choked. Was the little boss really that naïve?

Councilor Su herself hadn’t expected agreement to come so easily.

The two stayed most of the day. Before leaving, Su Bochun had her attendants bring in piles of “stones” to exchange for membership points.

Those “stones” were, of course, ambergris.

Since news of its value hadn’t spread to the Anxi Archipelago, her people had been able to collect hundreds of pounds of it for just a handful of gold coins.

Zhou Li calculated: “There’s three hundred and thirteen jin of ambergris. At 20,000 yuan per gram, minus a 5% transaction fee, that’s… 2.9735 billion points.”

Nearly three billion, just like that. Yet Su Bochun remained perfectly calm—as if she’d just made thirty bucks, not billions.

In fact, she looked dissatisfied.

She whispered to her mother, “We only gathered three hundred jin in time… thirty billion points won’t buy much—maybe a few sets of equipment. But I’ll keep collecting.”

“No rush,” Councilor Su said, patting her shoulder. Then she turned to Zhou Li. “I almost forgot—I’ve brought a gift for you. It should arrive soon; someone will deliver it to the dock.”

Zhou Li, thinking about hosting the incoming technicians, didn’t refuse. “Thank you very much.”

After the Su women departed, Fang Qin grumbled, “Boss, that so-called exchange is clearly a cover for espionage.”

Zhou Li asked calmly, “And what exactly do we have that’s worth stealing? The shelter? The control systems of the island?”

“Uh…”

“Newborn Island wasn’t built by us. We understand less than three percent of its structure—we just know how to operate it. Tell me: if the internal equipment breaks down, can any of you fix it?”

Everyone fell silent.

Lin Xiaole suddenly realized, “Ah—I get it. Boss agreed to the exchange so their engineers could help us learn about Newborn Island’s systems.”

An Fengxuan added, “And even if they did learn the island’s basic setup, they still couldn’t access its true core technology. That’s something no outsider can touch.”

Even as an authorized employee, she couldn’t break through the supermarket’s security systems—how could anyone else?

Qi Jiayu nodded in agreement. “Exactly. The real secrets are with the boss herself. If she’s letting them in, she’s not worried about leaks.”

Zhou Li said, “More than that—I want all of you to learn as much as possible from those technicians. And, if you can, make them want to stay permanently.”

That was how exchanges worked even back on Earth:
Country A sent people to learn from Country B’s technology, while Country B opened its doors to lure those talents into staying.

“Boss, you’re brilliant!” Fang Qin said with genuine admiration.

Zhou Li thought wryly: Brilliant? I just copied history.

Then Du Xiaogan’s voice came through the intercom: “Boss, Councilor Su’s gift has arrived. Could everyone come give me a hand?”

Zhou Li sent An Fengxuan to help.

But Du Xiaogan added, “Captain Feng alone won’t be enough.”

Zhou Li asked, “What did she send?”

After a pause, Du Xiaogan replied, “A shipload of sea fluorite.”

“A shipload meaning…?”

“Several tons, by the look of it.”

When Zhou Li arrived at the dock, workers were hauling cart after cart of glowing blue-green stones onto shore.

Even though she’d braced herself, seeing the mountain of sea fluorite—no, elemental stones—with her own eyes still left her a little stunned.

The shipment was overseen by Councilor Su’s secretary, who explained, “We heard the boss likes these pretty sea fluorites. The Su family often uncovers them during oil extraction, so the councilor specially asked President Su to send a full shipload as a gift. We hope you like it.”

Sea fluorite was beautiful but had little real value—it was brittle, mildly radioactive, and unsuitable as gemstone material.

Outside of sculpture enthusiasts, it was mostly used in industry.

Councilor Su hadn’t been sure whether Zhou Li would truly like it; her daughter had merely noticed that while other items used for point exchange—ambergris, coral, pearls, gold—vanished instantly after trade, sea fluorite was the one thing the boss seemed to keep aside.

That must mean it held some special significance.

Not knowing what, the Su women had decided to send a whole ship to test her reaction.

If sea fluorite truly had hidden importance, they could start gathering it en masse.

Zhou Li smiled brightly. “Please thank Councilor Su and Miss Su for me. I love this gift. When their technicians arrive, I’ll make sure they’re well taken care of.”

【Author’s note】
Next chapter: back to the Steam and Magic world! [dog emoji]

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