For one second, there was silence. Then chaos exploded.
"Vegetables!" soone scread. "Real vegetables!"
The crowd moved forward like a big wave. People pushed and bumped into each other, their eyes bright with need and fear.
"Tomatoes! I see tomatoes!"
"Onions! Grab the onions!"
"Leafy greens! They are real!"
Hands moved quickly, baskets fell to the ground, and people fought over cucumbers and potatoes.
Janet gasped. "Mark! Vegetables! Hurry!"
Mark grabbed her wrist tightly. "Don’t fall! Stay close to !"
They rushed into the crowd, snatching what they could.
Janet managed to grab a small bag of carrots, while Mark pulled two bundles of spinach into his basket.
The shouting grew louder and louder.
"Don’t push !"
"Give that tomato, I saw it first!"
"Shut up! It’s mine!"
For ten long minutes, the vegetable shelves were stripped bare.
But then, sothing amazing happened.
With a soft ding, the shelves glowed and restocked again. Fresh vegetables appeared, piled neatly.
The crowd froze.
"Wait... more vegetables?" soone whispered.
"Yes... it’s restocked!" another cried.
Laughter of relief burst out. "Then there’s no need to fight! We can all get so!"
The panic cooled down, and people began taking vegetables more calmly.
Janet sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought we would never get any."
Mark nodded. "This owner... really knows how to calm people."
But the peace did not last long.
After about two hundred people had taken their share, the shelves suddenly stopped glowing.
The vegetable section was empty. And this ti... no restock appeared.
The atmosphere beca tense. People looked at the bare shelves, breathing fast and hard.
"W...what happened? Why isn’t it restocking?"
"Are the vegetables... finished?"
"No... no way! It can’t be over already!"
Whispers of fear spread like fire.
"If vegetables can run out... then what about canned food? Will it disappear too?"
"Maybe everything will vanish one day!"
"Then what will we eat?"
Faces went white, eyes opened wide with fear. Panic began to grow again.
"No!" Janet clutched Mark’s sleeve tightly. "Brother... what if they stop selling everything? What if this store disappears?"
Mark gritted his teeth. "Don’t panic. Look at the canned food section. It’s still glowing."
They turned their heads.
The canned food shelves were indeed being restocked, over and over.
Even after hundreds of people took items, the shelves kept filling again.
A man laughed with relief. "Look! Canned food isn’t running out!"
"Yes! As long as it empties completely, it gets filled again!"
"It ans canned food will always stay!"
The crowd cald down again, though fear still lingered.
Janet hugged her vegetables close.
"Even if canned food stays... fresh vegetables are the best. If they disappear... we may never see them again."
Mark looked at the empty vegetable shelves, his brows furrowed.
"The owner is testing us. He wants us to see how much we value fresh food. And maybe... he wants us to rember sothing."
Janet blinked. "Rember what?"
Mark’s voice lowered. "That nothing in this apocalypse is permanent. Not even kindness."
He pulled her hand. "Co on. Let’s take what we have and go ho before the crowd panics again."
...............................
Unaware that her own intentions were being misinterpreted by the outside world, Su Jiyai was sitting quietly in her small room, busy with the antidote.
Soon, she would have to use her superpowers again to open another portal.
This ti, she planned to find the herbs needed for the seventh scroll of Antidote.
She frowned softly and whispered to herself,
"But... will I really find it in the next world? I don’t even know..."
The thought made her chest feel heavy.
It had taken her months of trial and error just to gather the right herbs for the first six scrolls.
She had opened portal after portal, searching strange worlds.
So were deserts, so were icy mountains, and so were filled with forests.
Out of the twelve worlds she had visited, only six had the herbs she needed. That ant her chances were fifty percent.
And every ti, she had boosted her luck stat using Rui Wang, making it stronger than the last attempt.
"Even with high luck, it still took twelve tries just to get half of them," she murmured. Her hand clenched the plant stem tightly.
"Now... even if I boost luck again... Can I finally get the last herbs? Or will I have to open two more portals?"
She closed her eyes, trying to calm her pounding heart.
Suddenly, a system prompt appeared in front of her eyes.
[Warning hots, a zombie is repetitively banging on the north wall.]
Her eyes shot open. "What? A zombie?"
She jumped to her feet. "Who is it?" she asked quickly.
The system’s cold voice replied: [The familiar zombie with whom you conducted your DNA.]
Her heart skipped a beat. Her lips trembled. "K... Kane?"
Without another thought, she shouted, "System, show !"
A cara view blinked open in front of her.
And there he was...Kane. He kept banging his head against the wall, scratching with his hands, even though his skin was turning charred black due to the electricity.
He was anxious.
Su Jiyai gasped. "It really is him..."
But this ti, he didn’t look the sa as before.
His behavior seed... more human. His steps weren’t random.
His movents weren’t mindless. It was almost as if he was trying to search for sothing.
Her chest tightened. "Could he... could he be regaining his mind?"
Without waiting, she ordered, "System, open the door."
The wall parted slowly. The gate creaked open.
But Kane did not rush in like a wild beast. He stayed outside, pacing back and forth, looking around as if searching.
Her breath caught. "He... he’s holding himself back."
Then Kane froze. Slowly, his head turned, and his eyes locked on the cara.
He walked toward it.
And then... he lifted his hand and started making motions. His lips opened.
Broken words ca out. "At... tack... coming... Base... big... attack."
Su Jiyai’s heart jumped. "What?"
Kane’s rough voice tried again as if he could hear her. "Attack... base... large... scale."
She felt her body turn cold. "A large-scale attack?" she whispered.
Her whole body stiffened. The word "large-scale" was enough to chill her blood.
If there is a wave of attacks now, the zombies outside will be slaughtered... the humans turned into zombies will all die... Then, even after making the antidote successfully... everything will be useless.
Her lips pressed tight. "I can’t let this happen. Not like this..."
She looked at Kane again.
"Maybe... maybe I can use him. Maybe Kane can be the bridge between and the Zombie King."
Without hesitation, she teleported. In a blink, she stood right in front of Kane.
Kane froze instantly. It was like soone pressed the pause button on him. His eyes widened at the sight of her.
Su Jiyai’s blue hair cascaded down her shoulders, glowing faintly under the sunlight.
Kane’s lips trembled. He raised his hand, pointing at her.
His voice ca out rough, broken, but filled with sothing like certainty. "Light."
Su Jiyai blinked. Her heart skipped.
"What?" she whispered.
Kane pointed again, his voice louder this ti. "You... Light."
Her breath caught in her throat. "Light?"
"Light," he repeated firmly.
Her mind spun. She stared at him. "Who is Light? Are you saying... ?"
Kane shook his head slowly. "Like Light. Very... very like."
Her body trembled. Her hand went to her chest. "Wait... do you an... my mother?"
She took a step forward. "Have you ever seen a woman who looks just like ?"
Kane froze. His eyes flickered with mory. He tilted his head, then nodded slowly. "Light... sa... blue hair... sa."
Her breath hitched. Her fist clenched. "It’s her! It’s really her! My mother!"
Excitent rushed through her veins. She thought about how Kane had once said she looked like a wolf cub he had seen. Now it all made sense.
She pressed him. "Do you... do you rember where she is?"
At that question, Kane suddenly clutched his head. His body shook violently. He groaned loudly, as if in pain.
"No... no... Light... can’t die... Light... alive... just... sleeping!"
He shouted the words again and again. "Light alive! Light sleeping!"
Su Jiyai’s eyes grew wet. She reached her hand toward him but stopped halfway. "Kane..."
She whispered helplessly, "You really don’t rember, do you?"
She sighed and finally asked, "Then... do you at least know who she married? Do you know anything else about her?"
Kane paused. His lips trembled. Then he slowly looked at her.
His voice was soft but broken. "You... Light’s... daughter?"
Su Jiyai’s breath caught. She nodded quickly. "Yes! Yes, I am! I am Light’s daughter. I am her child."
Kane stared at her for a long ti. Slowly, sothing strange passed across his pale face. His eyes softened.
He raised his finger at her and said, "Call... uncle."
Su Jiyai blinked in shock. "What?"
Kane stepped closer, pointing again. "Little girl... blue hair... call... uncle. I... uncle."
Reviews
All reviews (0)