SWNOVELXO Chapter 2: 002 Lotus Shengxing Supermarket
Hua Mi rubbed her temple with a headache as she looked at her small supermarket, beginning to check her phone for storage facilities. To be safe, she must find a secure warehouse to store the supplies from the supermarket within a month.
While browsing rental websites, Hua Mi suddenly felt the earth tremble and shake violently beneath her, a look of surprise flashing across her eyes.
An earthquake?
But there was no earthquake in her previous life, what was going on?
Before Hua Mi could figure it out, miscellaneous objects fell from the ceiling, and she darted into a corner to take cover. In the weightlessness, she found herself trapped under the rubble of the supermarket.
Amidst the terrifying tremors, Hua Mi, in the chaos, discovered a screen materializing before her,
"Initiating Apocalypse Supermarket..."
"Naming your supermarket: Lotus Shengxing"
"Activating storage function..."
"Lotus Shengxing Supermarket Storage Level 1 (Space 1)"
"Initiating stockpiling scan..."
"!!! A-Level Hazard Detected, insufficient supermarket stockpiling, cannot unlock Storage Level 2 (Space 2X1)."
"Starting safety scan..."
"!!! S-Level Hazard Detected, supermarket defense inadequate, cannot activate Black Land Level 1 (1 sqm) behind the supermarket."
"What is this?"
Hua Mi was confused, wasn't there an earthquake?
When did this screen appear?
In the cramped ruins, Hua Mi reached out and her delicate, slender hand passed through the screen in front of her, prompting her to quickly retract it.
Having lived through the apocalypse for several years, Hua Mi had seen many superpower users harboring various odd superpowers, so she was not overly panicked by this bizarre phenomenon.
She pondered repeatedly.
So she had awakened her superpower early? And the superpower she awakened was different from her past life?
No, no, no, her superpower from her last life that could induce plant growth was excellent, she was still waiting to activate her superpower and grow various crops.
Why had she awakened the "Apocalypse Supermarket" superpower now?
As the earthquake subsided, Hua Mi, leaning on some debris next to her, stood up in the chaotic small supermarket.
It appeared a mess because the earthquake had knocked all the goods off the supermarket shelves onto the floor.
But fortunately, the small supermarket she had just taken over hadn't collapsed.
Outside, there were screams and howls, from people who were trapped and in pain under the rubble during the earthquake.
Hua Mi struggled to move through the cluttered supermarket and managed to reach the direction of the rolling shutter door.
She tried to open the door, but the outside was blocked by debris, making it impossible to open.
So she had to turn back and grope around her own supermarket, discovering that there was a new back door inside.
She pushed open the door in front of her to find a neat square white room.
The room was empty and bare.
"Is this the so-called Storage Level 1?"
Hua Mi recalled the notification panel that had popped up before her; this Level 1 storage was even larger than her Lotus Shengxing Supermarket.
Hua Mi immediately became excited.
She turned back to the supermarket and began to move all the disorderly merchandise into her Level 1 storage.
Rice, flour, grains, and oils were piled together, snacks in another pile, hardware in one, household goods in another, and even those thousand pieces of cold-weather clothing she had moved inside, set aside in their own pile. Seeds of all sorts could not be forgotten.
She was like a hamster, salvaging her little supermarket's items bit by bit into the level 1 storage amidst the earthquake's rubble.
By the time she picked up the last bag of crisps that had fallen to the ground, the Lotus Shengxing Supermarket had been mostly tidied up, with only a few crisps and bottles of water remaining on the shelves.
The other shelves were now empty, yet Hua Mi's level 1 storage wasn't full.
As Hua Mi, sweating profusely, tore open a bag of crisps, munching loudly, the sound of rocks being moved came from outside the roll-up door.
The rescue team had arrived.
She estimated the time; in her previous life around now, the world had still been normal, social functions operating as usual, and rescue teams would be very timely.
The rocks outside the roll-up door were cleared away, the door opened, and a lifeguard, shining a flashlight into the supermarket, said in surprise,
"It's all neat and tidy in here, as if nothing happened."
"And there's still lighting," another added.
Compared to other collapsed buildings, this small supermarket remaining intact was nothing short of a miracle.
A few members of the rescue team pushed the roll-up door further up and bent down to walk inside. They were about to call out for any survivors when Hua Mi came around from behind the shelves,
"It's probably because the supermarket was built with earthquake resistance in mind."
She explained why her supermarket hadn't collapsed amidst the earthquake disaster.
"Hey, you gave me a scare."
One of the lifeguards jumped to the side, looking at Hua Mi by the shelf, the scene appearing rather eerie.
They had been rescuing people in these ruins for over ten hours, and everyone they had pulled out was in a wretched state. They had yet to come across a survivor as calm and composed as Hua Mi.
Probably, it really did have something to do with her being unharmed and the supermarket's good earthquake-proofing.
Hua Mi walked behind the counter, took out a few bottles of mineral water, and placed them on the counter, smiling at the lifeguards,
"You've worked hard, how about some water?"
At this time, the rescue team was still full of compassion, unlike after the apocalypse, when all the rescue teams were worn out by natural disasters early on.
The rescue teams that formed later were almost akin to mercenaries in nature.
That is to say, without payment, don't even think about them helping rescue.
Therefore, Hua Mi still had a good opinion of the current rescue teams.
Several lifeguards, their complexions darkened by the sun, drenched in sweat and fully equipped, earnestly moistened their cracked lips. Since the person in the supermarket was fine, they were in a hurry to go save others.
But they were indeed thirsty.
One of the lifeguards began to take out money, which Hua Mi stopped. She pushed the mineral water into the lifeguards' hands,
"No need to pay, this is for you to drink."
The men felt quite embarrassed, afraid of being refused, they forcefully left the money, grabbed the mineral water, and hurried out of the supermarket.
Hua Mi picked up the money on the counter and was about to chase after the lifeguards to return the money when that semi-transparent panel suddenly appeared before her again.
[Activated! Cashier System...]
[Sold: 3 bottles of mineral water, Received: 10 yuan, Profit: 7 yuan.]
So it's that convenient? What could the money she received be used for?
Hua Mi found it curious; after all, in the aftermath of the apocalypse, such paper currency and electronic banknotes were useless.
The "Apocalypse Supermarket" coming up with a Cashier System, was it expecting her to open the doors wide for business or what?
Just as she thought this, the semi-transparent panel before Hua Mi swiftly pulled up a mall interface with many greyed-out buildings that required money to activate.