Doomsday Grocery Store – CH218

Chapter 218

“I don’t doubt you… I just…”

Hearing Tang Yu’an sound so aggrieved, Zhou Qi hurriedly tried to explain. But as he spoke, he suddenly stopped.

He tilted his head slightly, gazing at the boy sitting on the bed.

Unconsciously, his eyes fell on Tang Yu’an’s slightly pouting lips. He froze for a few seconds before quickly looking away.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Tang Yu’an… he just didn’t trust himself.

Zhou Qi didn’t want a repeat of what had happened that morning—losing control. He couldn’t accept the idea that his relationship with Tang Yu’an might change because of his lack of restraint.

Even the slightest possibility was unacceptable to him.

“Do we really have to sleep separately?” Tang Yu’an looked at him pitifully.

Because their home was small, he had always slept in the attic with his parents. Even after his younger sister was born, they still squeezed together.

Of course, when he started middle school, his parents had talked to him about sleeping separately since he was growing up. But before that plan could take effect, he and Brother Qi had already traveled to this world.

Ever since crossing over, he had always slept with Zhou Qi. During the two months when Zhou Qi was affected by petrification and couldn’t sleep indoors, Tang Yu’an had to rely on Black Pearl and the others to fall asleep.

He knew he was growing up and should become independent, but…

It wasn’t like he was still clinging to his parents like a child. He just wanted to sleep with Brother Qi—was that not allowed?

Back then, when his parents discussed sleeping arrangements with him, one of the options was that he could go sleep with Brother Qi at night!

Thinking of this, Tang Yu’an puffed up his chest and said confidently, “You promised my parents before.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qi suddenly remembered that conversation.

Uncle Tang had indeed spoken with him about this… but the situation back then was completely different from now!

Seeing that Zhou Qi remained silent, Tang Yu’an pouted, then flopped onto the bed and angrily pulled the blanket over his head.

Fine! If he had to sleep alone, so be it! He didn’t care!

…Though, deep down, he actually wished Zhou Qi would coax him like before. After all, whenever he acted spoiled or got upset, Zhou Qi would always give in quickly.

But this time, to his surprise, Zhou Qi really turned off the lights, said goodnight, and went to sleep just like that!

Tang Yu’an peeked out from under the blanket. Moonlight streamed in through the slanted skylight. After his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he could vaguely make out the room’s interior.

He glanced down at the floor and saw a dark lump—Zhou Qi’s sleeping form.

Tang Yu’an pursed his lips, turned over, and closed his eyes.

Time passed.

At some point, he opened his eyes again, still unable to fall asleep.

He glanced at Zhou Qi. Seeing that he hadn’t moved at all, he figured he must be asleep.

Carefully, Tang Yu’an sat up, wrapped himself in the blanket, climbed out of bed, and quietly lay down beside Zhou Qi.

Tomorrow, he would wake up early and sneak back into bed before Brother Qi woke up. That way, he wouldn’t get caught!

He inched closer, breathing in Zhou Qi’s familiar and comforting scent. The restlessness in his heart instantly calmed.

Being next to Brother Qi always gave him an overwhelming sense of security.

Soon, his breathing evened out, and he drifted into sleep.

What Tang Yu’an didn’t know was that the moment he sat up, Zhou Qi had also opened his eyes.

He watched as the boy secretly curled up beside him, watched as he rested his head closer. Even through the layers of blankets, he could feel the faint pressure against his chest.

Zhou Qi felt his heart grow soft. He could no longer bring himself to push Tang Yu’an away.

Slowly, carefully, he adjusted his position—until the peacefully sleeping boy was tucked securely in his embrace.

There were two layers of blankets between them, but this distance felt just right. They remained close, yet it prevented him from losing control too easily.

Yes… this was just right.

*

The next morning, when Tang Yu’an woke up, Zhou Qi was already gone.

He still hadn’t managed to wake up early enough.

Tang Yu’an scratched his head, carried his blanket back to the bed, and tidied it up before stepping outside.

Zhou Qi didn’t mention anything about last night. When he saw Tang Yu’an come out, he simply called him over to wash up and have breakfast. Tang Yu’an, understanding the unspoken agreement, didn’t bring it up either.

After breakfast, they focused on figuring out how to hatch the red bird egg. This egg was unlike any they had encountered before.

“It seems to have a much stronger life force,” Zhou Qi observed carefully. “Maybe a slight temperature variation won’t affect it too much?”

Tang Yu’an nodded and began setting up the incubation chamber.

Since they would be staying in the alternate dimension for a while, they could monitor the egg’s response in real-time and adjust the temperature accordingly—unlike when they had incubated chicken eggs at a fixed temperature.

They started at 38°C, making gradual adjustments.

After absorbing and digesting the power of a second spiritual insect, Zhou Qi’s perception had significantly improved.

Moreover, the first spiritual insect he had absorbed was fire-attributed, just like this bird egg. Because of this affinity, he could sense even the egg’s faintest reactions.

By the time the temperature reached around 50°C, Tang Yu’an could barely stand staying inside the incubation chamber. That was when the egg finally emitted a noticeable fluctuation.

It was subtle, but Zhou Qi felt it.

He immediately stopped increasing the temperature and observed for a while. Seeing that everything seemed stable, he assigned a housekeeping robot to watch over the egg and left the incubation chamber.

Outside, in the courtyard, Tang Yu’an had already started studying.

For the past two months, he hadn’t been able to focus much on his studies while taking care of Zhou Qi. His progress had stalled, and he needed to catch up.

Compared to middle school, high school coursework was exponentially more difficult.

But to his surprise, he found that after consuming the Physique Egg, studying seemed much easier. Perhaps it was because he had more energy now.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qi continued gathering materials to craft a special egg that could enhance mental strength.

After setting up the incubation room properly, he left for the Giant Wood Forest. Although autumn had arrived, the wood-element spiritual energy in the forest remained as dense as ever.

Furthermore, after his explosive growth in understanding earth-element abilities, the earth-element energy contained in the land also became an asset to him.

Having absorbed and assimilated the power of the earth-element spirit worm, he needed to summarize and integrate this newfound understanding into his existing power system.

As for Tang Yu’an, besides studying his compulsory education courses, he often discussed light and wind-element abilities with Zhou Qi.

Any problems he encountered were mostly resolved during these discussions. Even if they didn’t reach a conclusion immediately, he still gained valuable insights.

That’s why he especially loved chatting with Zhou Qi.

Talking with Brother Qi was always super enjoyable!

And so, another three months passed in the alternate dimension. Except for occasionally returning to draw lottery prizes and conduct bottle-trading transactions, they spent most of their time in the alternate world.

Until Zhou Qi had fully mastered the earth-element abilities, no longer suffered from the spirit worm’s erosion, and successfully integrated his newly acquired powers…

Their pets became increasingly reluctant to stay around Zhou Qi, especially Black Pearl.

Tang Yu’an couldn’t understand why. To him, his Brother Qi was the gentlest person in the world—how could animals not like him?

But Zhou Qi understood.

“It’s probably because the spirit worm inside me has a devouring nature,” he explained. “And my strongest ability is fire-element.”

Black Pearl had a metal-element ability, and fire countered metal, so naturally, it disliked being near Zhou Qi.

Hearing him mention the spirit worm, Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but worry. “Brother Qi, can that spirit worm still control you?”

The scene of Zhou Qi suddenly losing control and devouring the earth spirit worm had been terrifying.

Zhou Qi thought for a moment and said, “Maybe… just one more time.”

“One more time?” Tang Yu’an was puzzled. “You mean letting it devour another spirit worm?”

“Yes.”

Zhou Qi nodded. Their previous strategy against the parasite was to deny it whatever it desired most.

But after two and a half years of growth and spiritual cultivation, Zhou Qi had gained a different understanding of the parasite within him.

“It makes me lose control, but it doesn’t seem to have its own intelligence or wisdom.”

Zhou Qi continued, “It only has a desire to become stronger. When that desire isn’t met, it becomes violent and restless.”

And devouring was its way of becoming stronger.

Tang Yu’an pondered his words. “So, if you—the host—become strong enough, it will eventually settle down?”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

Cases like Xie Chaori’s were likely due to severe injuries and extreme physical weakness, which caused dissatisfaction in the spirit worm, leading to backlash.

“So, is it the same for Sister Hong Li?” Tang Yu’an asked curiously.

Zhou Qi nodded. “It’s possible that her strength no longer matched the spirit worm’s growth, which led to the backlash.”

Of course, this was just Zhou Qi’s own interpretation. His spirit worm was clearly different from others—while others had only a single elemental affinity, his had multiple.

“I see,” Tang Yu’an nodded. “Then we’ll just take it slowly.”

After all, finding another spirit worm wouldn’t be easy.

Zhou Qi agreed, nodding. “Yes, we’ll take it step by step.”

After three months of careful attention, the bird egg in the incubation room was now showing visible changes under the light.

“It should be hatching in the next few days,” Zhou Qi said. “You should check on it frequently.”

If it saw An’an first after hatching, it would bond more closely with him.

“Oh, okay!”

With protective clothing made from temperature-resistant fabric, Tang Yu’an could still enter the incubation room. He visited it almost daily and had already grown attached to the yet-to-be-born little bird.

“I hope it hatches smoothly!”

At that moment, a new message suddenly appeared on the message board.

[Message Board (Store Channel)]
[Greenish Blue]: I’ve finally arrived!

Although they were in the alternate dimension, they could still receive messages from their home world—albeit with significant delays.

“Huh? Did Brother Chi Hao reach Qing Mu Fortress?” Tang Yu’an’s eyes lit up as he quickly returned with Zhou Qi to the main world and opened the map.

He scrolled the map upward and saw the end of a winding path Chihao had cleared of fog. In a very small area, numerous green dots had appeared.

“Brother Chi Hao really made it to Qing Mu Fortress!”

Zhou Qi also retrieved his notebook from his storage and sent Chihao a greeting.

However, after briefly appearing on the message board, Chihao said nothing further. He was likely still busy settling into the fortress and had no time to reply.

Tang Yu’an suddenly let out a surprised sound.

“What is it?” Zhou Qi asked.

“It looks like there are some unfamiliar people at Jufeng Mountain.” Tang Yu’an moved the mini-map to the location of Jufeng Town.

At the mountain gate of Jufeng Mountain, seven or eight green dots had appeared. While the mountain still had occasional visitors, these green dots were usually scattered.

A group of seven or eight dots clustered together was rare.

Amidst the golden glow of the area, these tightly grouped green dots stood out, making them immediately noticeable.

“Could they be residents returning after being displaced by the flood?” Zhou Qi speculated.

Tang Yu’an nodded.

As they spoke, the group of green dots had already entered Jufeng Town and quickly split into three teams.

One group walked straight down the main street, while the other two groups wandered around town.

Tang Yu’an didn’t think much of it—he assumed they had just coincidentally gathered at the town entrance and then dispersed after entering.

Still, he marked them just in case before returning to the alternate world.

After all, the little bird could hatch at any time, and since the time flow between the two planes was vastly different, they couldn’t afford to stay too long in the main plane.

However, if Tang Yu’an continued observing the map, he would soon notice—

One of the groups wandering around the town quickly headed toward the West Market and then met up with the faction he had marked as a “stubborn force”!

Meanwhile, the group that ventured deep into the town went directly to… the garrison.

*

MR168845 Plane.

Tang Sheng walked alone on the street, glancing around as he passed by. Every time he saw a vehicle, he would stop and take a closer look.

Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, he still couldn’t find a suitable one.

The small spherical AI assistant in his pocket suddenly floated out. Tang Sheng found a hidden spot, crouched down, and pressed a button. A line of text instantly appeared:

[Brother Sheng, how’s it going? Did you find a car?]

Tang Sheng pulled up a virtual keyboard and typed a reply: [No.]

It had been 18 days since he last received a message from his son.

For now, since they had enough supplies, they had chosen to stay in this small city. But they soon realized that the disaster here was also severe.

Word had it that the military had set up a defensive structure in the northern part of the city, establishing a shelter. Most of the residents had fled there.

Meanwhile, the southern part of the city had far fewer survivors. Those who remained were mostly aberrant mutants, large in number and roaming the streets.

Even worse, only one bridge remained connecting the south and north—the rest had been destroyed.

If they wanted to reach the northern shelter, they had to cross that bridge. Swimming across the river was out of the question—there were even more aberrants in the water, making it far more dangerous than the streets.

After hearing about this from other survivors, Tang Sheng originally planned to take his wife and daughter across. But when they finally arrived at the bridge, they found it completely blocked—hundreds, if not thousands, of aberrants crowded the bridge and its entrance, making one’s scalp tingle at the sight.

No wonder the survivors in the south chose to hide in various corners of the city instead of heading north for shelter.

With no other choice, Tang Sheng decided to take his wife and daughter and leave.

Initially, they intended to leave the city and try their luck elsewhere, but their car ran out of fuel not long after.

They had to abandon it and continue on foot.

Unfamiliar with the area, without GPS navigation, and constantly having to evade mutants, they had spent several days wandering in circles without finding a way out.

Today, Tang Sheng left his wife and daughter in a safe place to rest while he went out alone to search for a working vehicle.

Unfortunately, with the widespread adoption of new energy vehicles, traditional fuel-powered cars had become rare on the streets, making it difficult to find one still in usable condition.

As for electric cars… after three months, even if they still had some charge left, they wouldn’t run far.

It was already the twelfth lunar month, and even in the south, the cold weather made batteries drain even faster.

Tang Xueyun: [If you can’t find one, just come back. It’s time to eat.]

Seeing the reply, Tang Sheng smiled faintly.

Though life was still full of dangers, and the future was uncertain, at least An’an and Zhou Qi were still alive—and they had sent a lot of supplies.

For now, they didn’t have to worry about food and water. Even without fighting over resources with other survivors, they could still eat their fill every day, which was already a great stroke of luck.

But when he thought about how the prosperity and order of the pre-apocalypse had vanished in just three short months, Tang Sheng’s smile faded.

He replied with a quick “Got it” to Tang Xueyun and was just about to leave when—

A figure covered in murky, corrosive slime emerged from around the corner, locking eyes with him.

Tang Sheng didn’t mistake it—this mutant’s mucus was highly corrosive. If it touched him, he was doomed!

He swallowed hard but didn’t move right away.

Just as the aberrant mutant lunged at him in excitement, he spoke hurriedly:

“There’s your favorite food a hundred meters behind you!”

The moment he finished speaking, the mutant actually stopped, hesitated, then turned around to look behind itself.

Seizing the opportunity, Tang Sheng bolted in the opposite direction at full speed.

Since the apocalypse began, his wife had awakened an ability—while he…

Tang Sheng had tentatively named his own ability “Deception.”

Within a certain range, any intelligent creature would believe whatever he said—as long as it was a lie.

Only falsehoods could take effect.

After testing the specifics of his ability, Tang Sheng had mixed feelings.

He had always been an honest and upright businessman, treating customers fairly and never deceiving anyone. So why had he awakened such a strange ability?

Every time he had to make up a lie on the spot, it was exhausting!

Tang Sheng sprinted as fast as he could, using his deception ability to fool several more mutants along the way.

Thanks to the tracking function of their AI assistants, he wasn’t worried about getting lost.

After navigating his way through the city, he finally made it back.

Tang Xueyun and their daughter were hiding in a gym.

The windows of the gym had been shattered, and there were traces of mutants that had wandered inside, but since there was plenty of equipment available as makeshift weapons, it was still a relatively safe hideout.

Tang Xueyun looked completely different now compared to before.

After learning that Tang Yu’an was still alive, she seemed to have come back to life as well.

With the supplies sent by their son, they could now eat properly. Though it was still difficult to get a full night’s sleep, she was no longer as gaunt and haggard as before.

During this time, they had also encountered many other survivors.

China had a dense population, and due to its education system, governance, and cultural traditions, self-organized survivor groups had quickly emerged after the disaster.

In the south, where the mutant density was high, survivors had to band together to stand a chance.

Of course, wherever there were people, there was conflict.

Many who had awakened abilities used them to oppress and exploit ordinary survivors.

Because of this, Tang Xueyun had no plans to join any of the survivor groups for now.

While there was strength in numbers, it also meant losing personal freedom and making it harder to access supplies freely.

The problem was, they still had no solid plan for where to go next.

The southern part of the city had been without power for a long time now. The communication network was also down, leaving them completely in the dark about the outside world.

Had the entire country fallen, or was it just the areas affected by the meteorite impacts?

Tang Xueyun recalled seeing the news back then—there were over a dozen impact sites. If all those places had experienced outbreaks of aberrations, the chaos nationwide would be unimaginable…

Did the government still have control? Could those trapped in heavily affected zones like them still hope for rescue?

“Mom, is Dad back yet?” Her daughter’s voice pulled Tang Xueyun from her thoughts.

She quickly checked the AI assistant and said, “Soon, he’s nearby.”

The AI assistant wasn’t just useful for short-range communication—it could also display the distance and direction between two devices. In a world where the internet was down, it was an incredibly useful tool.

The only problem was that it needed to be charged, and finding a power source was becoming increasingly difficult…

Before long, Tang Sheng’s voice came from outside the gym.

“Your favorite food is out on the street! Go find it!” His deep voice sounded straightforward and honest—so much so that it was hard not to believe him.

If she weren’t so far away, Tang Xueyun felt like she might have been influenced herself.

A series of heavy footsteps thudded away outside. It seemed the aberrant mutants lingering near the door had been successfully fooled by Tang Sheng.

After waiting a moment, she heard a knock at the door. Only then did she open it, quickly ushering Tang Sheng inside before shutting and securing the gym’s entrance.

She then dragged a barbell over to reinforce the door—it was the same barricade that had kept a mutant from getting in earlier.

“We can’t keep going on like this.”

As the three of them huddled in the corner for lunch, Tang Sheng spoke while eating. “Some of those aberrants are incredibly strong. This place isn’t completely safe.”

Even if they didn’t use the door, the mutants could still get in through the windows. And the longer they stayed in one place, the more their scent would attract these monsters.

“In this world, is there even such a thing as a ‘safe place’ anymore?” Tang Xueyun muttered.

Tang Sheng fell silent.

It wasn’t just humans that had mutated—animals and even plants had as well. Hiding in the wilderness might not be any safer.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “We have to find a way to get information about the outside world.”

If there were government-run shelters elsewhere, they could head there instead of wandering aimlessly.

Tang Xueyun nodded in agreement.

Tang Sheng glanced at her and said, “You should get some sleep.”

She was about to shake her head and refuse, but after a brief hesitation, she changed her mind and agreed.

Even if she wasn’t tired, she had to sleep—because in her dreams, she could receive An’an’s messages.

She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

Tang Sheng unfolded a blanket and was just about to drape it over her when, suddenly, Tang Xueyun’s eyes snapped open again.

Her face was filled with excitement, and she reached out as if grasping something invisible.

“A bottle—I found another bottle in my dream!”