Ch 130: My Multiverse Supermarket

Ariel successfully bought all the elemental gems—but it cost her every last bit of funding she had brought.

Her group still carried many magical artifacts, but those were for survival. If she used them all to exchange for supermarket credits, she might not even make it out of the Emerald Wasteland alive.

Worried that someone might try to steal the gems, she didn’t dare return to the Vitus outpost to use its teleportation circle. Instead, she immediately found a quiet corner and began setting up a ritual circle to contact the Elders’ Council.

She reported everything that had happened, including the existence of over twenty thousand elemental gems.

The news shocked the Elders. They unanimously ordered her to transfer all the gems to the Senate at once.

Helpless, Ariel used runestones and several rare magic scrolls to build a temporary teleportation point connected to the Senate’s main teleport hub.

It was only temporary because she lacked the materials for a fixed array. A circle made solely from scrolls and runestones was unstable—by the time the twenty thousand gems arrived, there might only be two thousand left.

Each gem lost was like a knife to Ariel’s accountant’s heart.

And since the temporary circle’s “bandwidth” was limited—meaning it could only handle a small number of items at once—Ariel decided to keep some behind for safekeeping.

Zhou Li and An Fengxuan, curious about how this teleportation array differed from Natisha’s summoning circle, watched closely.

Sure enough, they were very different.

When Natisha transported supplies using shadow creatures, the items sank into the earth—or rather, into the creatures’ shadow realm.

The teleportation array, however, made the object vanish entirely.

Recalling Lamanda’s earlier explanation, Zhou Li guessed that the items weren’t really disappearing, but breaking down into particles too small for the eye to perceive—so quickly it looked like vanishing into thin air.

They also noticed that each time Ariel teleported a cluster of gems, the light on the surrounding runestones dimmed slightly.

When the glow reached a certain faintness, Ariel would promptly replace the runestone.

Luna explained, “That’s because a temporary array’s use depends on the energy stored in its runestones. Teleportation consumes magical energy—if there’s too little, the transfer becomes unstable.”

Zhou Li nodded. “I get it. Like running out of data mid-transfer. The runestones are data packs—if you run out halfway through sending a file, the upload fails.”

Luna: ?

Leaving Ariel to her work, Zhou Li pulled out a stack of books and handed them to Luna. “Here are the instruction manuals for the telephone communication system.”

Luna stared up at the pile—taller than she was. “…This many?”

“Yup. This one’s for the telephone unit. This one’s for the switchboard. This set covers repeater stations and supporting infrastructure, and then these…”

Luna’s head spun just looking at them.

An Fengxuan whispered, “Can they even read what’s written on those?”

Zhou Li said, “Isn’t there a Goddess of Wisdom? Worst case, they can ask the Church of Knowledge for help.”

An Fengxuan: …Does the Goddess of Wisdom know you’re putting this much faith in Her?

Zhou Li laughed, thinking that if needed, she could just pay a bit of energy for the system to translate.

Luckily, that wasn’t necessary. Luna squinted at the pages and said, “This is written in Atmosian. A few typos here and there, and the grammar’s a bit strange—but it’s readable.”

Zhou Li froze.

So it was confirmed—Atmos was basically Great Britain!

“Anyway,” Zhou Li said, “make sure you read carefully. When setting up the network, pay close attention to safety. One wrong move and you’ll be electrocuted.”

Luna grew serious. “We’ll study it thoroughly.”

As for warranties—there were none.

But Zhou Li knew that with how cunning capitalists were, these devices would spread across the entire Atmos Kingdom within a year.

Sure enough, Engineer Kemeigao was already eyeing them greedily.

“So,” Zhou Li asked, “do you want to pick up the equipment now or later?”

“Later,” Luna said. “I need to return and discuss it with the Chairwoman.”

Installing a phone network wasn’t something that could be done overnight. How to route it, who to assign, what preparations to make, how to handle the Radiant Consortium’s cooperation offer—all would require careful planning.

Luna took the manuals and left for camp.

Kemeigao, however, lingered in the supermarket.

After scraping together enough gold coins, he exchanged them for tens of thousands of membership points and asked if the vending machines or refrigerators were for sale.

Zhou Li said, “The vending machines aren’t for sale, and the store units stay here. But if you want new refrigerators, I can arrange that.”

She paused, remembering the power incompatibility issue, and added a warning.

Kemeigao waved it off. “It’s fine. I’ll develop an adapter for the power source.”

He clearly planned to dismantle them for research, not immediate use.

In the end, he ordered one of every refrigerator model available.

Night fell.

In the Senate’s camp, Ariel tidied her bedding and prepared to rest—when the mirror inside her tent suddenly glowed.

Realizing it was a communication signal, she immediately sat up.

The moment the connection stabilized, the face of the Third Elder appeared.

“Ariel,” he said.

“Good evening, Elder Kirog. What are your orders?”

Kirog paused for a long time, then spoke gravely. “I need you to do something.”

“I’ve already warded the tent—no one can overhear,” Ariel assured him.

“Good,” said Kirog. “You must bring that shopkeeper under control.”

Ariel froze.

He continued, “We believe she controls at least one elemental mine. Only by controlling her can we secure a steady source of gems.”

Ariel understood that all too well—but she wasn’t blinded by greed.

“Elder, allow me to remind you of prior intelligence. The Arka Company once sent dozens of thieves under Ebus’s command to attack her. They failed. Over ten died—instantly, the moment they struck. That suggests her power rivals that of an Archmage.”

She thought bitterly that these pampered nobles had grown too complacent. Whenever they wanted something, they bought it; whenever they caused trouble, mages, paladins, and priests fixed it for them. They’d forgotten how terrifying true high-level magic could be.

Though she often clashed with Kemeigao, she still retained judgment—she knew if the Senate’s Elders came in person, they’d likely use threats to prevent Kemeigao from getting what he wanted.

But as for Zhou Li—provoking her would be stupidity beyond measure.

Kirog said, “I’ve already persuaded Archmage Jackalin to visit personally.”

Ariel’s breath caught. Even the Archmage was being sent? Clearly, these gems had touched the nobles’ deepest interests.

Meanwhile, in the Thorn Consortium camp, Luna was reporting to the Chairwoman.

The Consortium, originally the Adventurer’s Guild, had retained its old title—its leader was still called “Chairwoman.” Her official position now was Chief President of the Thorn Management Council.

Luna relayed everything that happened that day—the deals, the tensions, the other factions.

The Chairwoman frowned. “So the Senate bought all the gems?”

“Yes,” Luna admitted.

“Why didn’t you purchase any? We may avoid direct conflict with the Senate, but that doesn’t mean we should fear them.”

The Thorn Consortium accepted both industrial and magical technology. They had not abandoned the old gods, nor rejected new machines—they drew strength from both sides.

“For example,” Luna explained, “to protect the repeater stations for our phone lines, we’ll need to fortify them magically. For that, we’ll require elemental gems and magical constructs.”

“Then why didn’t you buy them?”

Luna said, “Because in today’s tense atmosphere, avoiding offense is the wiser path. If we had fought the Senate for those gems, Ariel would have done everything to sabotage us. And besides…” she smiled slightly, “I believe the store still has more. Our telephone network hasn’t even begun construction—we can always buy more next time.”

The Chairwoman asked, “And your reasoning?”

“The shopkeeper’s attitude. She was far too relaxed. She didn’t even bother categorizing the gems—just dumped them on the shelves as-is. That means she has plenty more. When someone has an endless supply, they don’t treat it like treasure.”

The Chairwoman nodded slowly. “A good analysis. But remember—if you can see that, so can the Senate and the Radiant Consortium.”

“You think they’ll try to take the shop by force?”

“Greed drives all hearts, Luna. Never underestimate it.”

“But I have faith in the shopkeeper. Lamanda spoke highly of her—I believe she has her own protections.”

After a thoughtful pause, the Chairwoman said, “If necessary, make peace. If she can withstand them, befriending her would benefit us greatly.”

“That’s a wise call, Chairwoman.”

At the supermarket, third floor.

Before bed, Zhou Li glanced at the surveillance feed and sighed. “These Radiant Consortium folks really know how to exploit loopholes.”

The Thorn Consortium and the Senate had set up camps some distance away—but Kemeigao and his crew? They’d set up right outside her door.

They’d noticed that the area around the supermarket was free from shadow creatures.

The Atmos people despised magic and refused to use magical devices to repel them, but bullets were costly—and shadow creatures ate ammo fast.

To save ammunition, they just clustered in front of the store to rest.

The only problem: their vehicles couldn’t enter that safe zone.

By morning, one of Kemeigao’s officers reported a missing trike.

At first, they suspected Zhou Li.

But Kemeigao said, “Someone who can build such advanced technology wouldn’t need to steal. Don’t forget—we’re in the Emerald Wasteland. Thieves and shadow mages roam everywhere.”

To spirit away a whole trike silently—it had to be a shadow mage’s work.

The officer cursed and ranted about how shadow mages were sneaky cowards who’d never dare face them in a real fight.

By the next day, Zhou Li was preparing to depart for another world. She told Luna and Kemeigao—who had preordered goods—that she’d be gone for about twenty days.