Ch 128: My Multiverse Supermarket

Zhou Li fell silent.

Were all capitalists this blunt and heavy-handed?

See something profitable, and instead of cooperation, they just want to take the whole plate.

The difference was in packaging. The Arka Company didn’t bother hiding its greed or ruthlessness—it took what it wanted, and if it couldn’t have it, it destroyed it.

The Thorn Independent Consortium, on the other hand, dressed its ambitions in a civilized disguise—“acquisition.”

Still, Zhou Li wasn’t angry.

Acquisition was, after all, a common and legitimate business tactic.

Take her family’s old plan for example—when they had considered expanding into large-scale supermarkets, creating a new brand from scratch would’ve been the least cost-effective route. Buying out existing, well-known supermarkets was the smarter, faster move.

In other words, if she hadn’t bound herself to the system and opened cross-plane trade, her own family might have ended up buying out someone else’s stores too.

But still… shouldn’t they at least investigate before trying to buy?

For the Consortium to walk up and immediately ask if she’d sell her store—it was either arrogance or foolish abundance of cash.

“You want to buy this supermarket?” Zhou Li confirmed with Luna. “Not just purchase the items I sell?”

“More precisely,” Luna said smoothly, “we’d like to buy your establishment and the entire production chain behind it.”

Zhou Li whistled softly. “Ambitious, aren’t you?”

“It seems,” Luna said with a faint sigh, “that you have no such intentions.”

“Indeed, I don’t,” Zhou Li replied plainly.

Luna nodded and didn’t press further.

She knew the Emerald Wasteland wasn’t a place for weaklings. The fact that Zhou Li didn’t even ask for a price meant she truly had no intention to sell—implying she herself was powerful, or backed by powerful nobles.

Against that kind of strength, even the Thorn Consortium seemed small.

Then someone shouted, “Miss Luna! The blood hawk is back!”

The camp stirred for a moment before Luna raised a hand, calming her people.

She looked up at the great bird circling overhead and asked Zhou Li, “So this blood hawk is yours, then?”

Zhou Li suddenly understood how they’d found her. “No,” she said, shaking her head, but offered no further explanation.

Luna didn’t say whether she believed it or not, but since the hawk hadn’t attacked, she decided not to either.

A short while later, Lamanda and An Fengxuan rode back on horseback.

Seeing the Thorn banner, Lamanda visibly relaxed.

She dismounted and came straight to Zhou Li. “The blood hawk told me a group had appeared here. I was worried and came to see if you needed help.”

She doubted Zhou Li needed any, but concern was one thing—showing it was another.

Sure enough, Zhou Li’s smile warmed. “Thank you.”

Then Luna stepped forward. “Excuse me—are you Alchemist Master Lamanda?”

Lamanda didn’t hide it. “I am.”

“Truly? It’s an honor! I’m Luna, of the Thorn Independent Consortium.”

Lamanda had never dealt with Luna directly, but she knew of her—Luna was a well-known figure within the Consortium.

“Oh, it’s you,” Lamanda said with a laugh. “If you’re leading the convoy yourself, you must have your eyes on quite the prize.”

Then, as if realizing something, she chuckled. “Don’t tell me it’s the supermarket? Then you’d best change your plan.”

Luna admitted openly, “Yes. The shopkeeper already turned down my offer.”

After greeting Luna, Lamanda turned to Zhou Li. “My lady boss, I know the Arka Company once angered you, and the Thorn Consortium’s arrival may bring back unpleasant memories—but I can vouch for them. Their business dealings are far more honorable than Arka’s.”

Zhou Li thought Lamanda had good social sense—knowing to speak up for Luna in front of her.

She asked, “You’re close with the Consortium?”

“Not close,” Lamanda said. “Just business. I need a great deal of alchemical herbs and materials, and they have a collection division that provides them. The Consortium, traveling through the dangerous Wasteland, also needs alchemical potions to survive.”

She added, “I imagine the Senate and the Radiant Consortium have also heard the news—they’ll be coming before long.”

“What are those?” Zhou Li asked.

Lamanda explained, “Trade-Alliance conglomerates. The Arka Company and Radiant Consortium are both based in Atmos, while the Senate is a commercial organization secretly controlled by the nobles and landlords of Mayelia.”

Zhou Li inferred, “Then the Thorn Consortium must be neutral?”

Luna smiled. “Exactly. We’re the Thorn Independent Consortium, not the Thorn Syndicate.”

Zhou Li said, “Atmos and Mayelia are at each other’s throats—neutral parties must find themselves unwelcome on both sides. Your operational range must be quite limited.”

Luna: …

True, but—ouch.

She sighed. “That’s precisely why we wanted to buy your store.”

Zhou Li noticed the subtle change in Luna’s tone, guessing Luna had misread Lamanda’s friendly attitude as something deeper.

Lamanda chuckled. “The Thorn Consortium began as the Adventurer’s Guild. When the Waning Era came and adventurers grew scarce, the guild restructured into the Thorn Company.

“As the conflict between Atmos and Mayelia intensified, the now-prosperous Thorn Company rebranded itself as the Thorn Independent Consortium to assert neutrality.

“The Consortium still keeps a touch of its adventurer spirit—venturing deep into the Emerald Wasteland to gather alchemical ingredients, mining resources for Atmos’s industries, and traveling to remote, impoverished villages to bring affordable goods to those forgotten by the upper class.”

Lamanda’s words were half test, half flattery.

If Zhou Li were truly backed by aristocrats or magnates, that last line would’ve offended her.

Luckily, Zhou Li showed no reaction.

In fact, she said, “Then you’re welcome to source goods from me.”

Luna laughed lightly, like silver bells. “Your merchandise truly is excellent and affordable.”

Even if they couldn’t buy her store, purchasing industrial products here for resale elsewhere was a solid business plan.

As night fell, Luna decided not to push negotiations further and ordered her convoy to make camp.

Lamanda, needing to guard her construction materials from shadow creatures, rode back on her horse.

An Fengxuan, however, stayed behind.

Meeting Zhou Li’s gaze, she said, “Lamanda told me only priests can use spiritual-soothing spells, so she can’t teach me. But I traded my [Elementary School Backpack] with her for some [Mind-Healing Potions].”

“No wonder you’re not carrying your backpack,” Zhou Li said.

“Storage items aren’t hard to come by.”

An Fengxuan pulled out a slim satchel. “This is the [Intern’s Briefcase]. It holds a ton too.”

Zhou Li blinked. “…Do they make handbags?”

She recalled that online joke about men boasting they could deadlift hundreds of pounds but struggling to lift their girlfriend’s handbag.

Given The Game’s sense of humor—with items like [Straight Man’s Pocket], [Elementary School Backpack], and [Intern’s Briefcase]—it only made sense there’d be a [Handbag].

An Fengxuan hesitated, then muttered, “…There is.”

*

That night, in the distant Thorn camp, Luna was meeting with her convoy manager.

“It’s a shame to abandon the acquisition plan,” the manager said.

“Lamanda already warned us,” Luna replied. “Opposing that woman’s shop would end badly.”

Even the Arka Company hadn’t gained anything here. Showing goodwill was their best approach.

“I understand,” the manager said, “I’m just… disappointed.”

“Even if we can’t buy the store,” Luna said, “we can still establish a base nearby—expand a few trade routes.”

She paused, then added, “The chairwoman’s proposal to build a railway through the Emerald Wasteland might not be impossible after all.”

Ever since Atmos had expanded its railway network, Thorn’s executives had seen firsthand how efficient trains were. If they could build one through the Wasteland, their growth would skyrocket.

But the obstacles were enormous—construction was dangerous, maintenance constant, and costs astronomical.

They could lay a track one day, only for shadow beasts to tear it up that same night.

If the Emerald Wasteland were truly safe, it wouldn’t be a lawless zone.

Luna said, “With enough elemental stones, we could reinforce the rails using spell arrays—keep beasts from damaging them. Then install a telephone network along the route, with stations for alerts.”

The hardest part of opening new trade routes wasn’t distance—it was maintaining them.

If a route went down and the caravans couldn’t be warned quickly, the losses could be catastrophic.

That’s why most caravans stuck to old, well-worn roads, even if it meant detours.

But with telephones, they could achieve instant communication without magic.

If Station A was attacked, Station B would know immediately—dispatching adventurers to help while warning caravans to reroute.

Hearing Luna’s plan, the manager’s eyes lit up. “Then we must secure those telephones!”

At that same moment, a small airship carrying the Senate’s secretary general was docking at Vitus Outpost.

And in the distant town of Nightingale, the thunder of steam engines announced the arrival of the Radiant Consortium’s engineers.

☢️☢️☢️