The post-apocalyptic world has a space full of supplies.

Chapter 99 The Convenience Store's Superpowers

The person speaking in the convenience store was an elderly man, who looked to be in his sixties or seventies. He was probably the owner of the convenience store. He was sitting at the very back of the store, with a door behind him that looked like the store's warehouse. In front of him was a small box with some change, which looked like a way to exchange money for supplies. But what's the point of taking the money these days?

"I...we have no food left." Lu Yuan felt his voice trembling, not from fear, but simply from the cold and social anxiety.

After Lu Yuan started talking to the old man, the twenty-odd people in front of him stopped watching him and Qin Yuan warily. They started filling their backpacks with food from the shelves, while a few others, who were probably responsible for carrying timber, had their backpacks used by others to carry things, and they themselves used ropes to tie up firewood.

"What did you say?" the old man asked again. Lu Yuan's voice was more than just trembling; it was practically a mosquito's buzz. Apart from himself and Qin Yuan, whose senses had been enhanced behind him, no one else could hear what he was saying.

"We're out of food!" Lu Yuan took a deep breath and finally shouted it out loud, a huge step forward for a socially anxious person like himself.

"You have no food?" A young voice in front of the old man looked at Lu Yuan with a puzzled expression, but Lu Yuan could only see the mask and sunglasses on his face.

"Yes, yes." Lu Yuan forced himself to calm down. Things were already much better now. There weren't many people he needed to deal with. He needed to adapt quickly.

"Impossible, right? Boss said you definitely have a space." Another female voice rang out in the convenience store. Lu Yuan looked around and confirmed the source of the voice. It was a woman who was packing rice and cooking oil. Logically speaking, a girl shouldn't be carrying such heavy supplies, but her backpack was full of these.

"My space is full of daily necessities, not much food." Lu Yuan had prepared his explanation before he came. He told them that they had come all the way from G Province, and when his space appeared, the supermarkets they passed by had almost no food left to take away, but he had looted a lot of electrical appliances.

Qin Yuan also chimed in at the opportune moment, saying that they could buy supplies with money like everyone else, or they could exchange these appliances for supplies with the convenience store owner.

The transaction went more smoothly than Lu Yuan had imagined. He traded over a dozen generators and batteries for some fresh meat, vegetables, and fruits from the convenience store owner. They didn't want anything else; after all, even though his spatial ability appeared late, they were sure they could have obtained rice, flour, and cooking oil along the way.

The people here probably knew Lu Yuan's true purpose, but no one exposed it. In the end, the old man at the convenience store kept the generator and batteries for himself, and sold the rest to others for cash.

Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan, carrying the vegetables, fruits and meat they had exchanged, left the convenience store with the group. When they left, the store's shelves were almost empty. Lu Yuan couldn't understand why the convenience store owner needed cash at this time, even after he returned to their marital home with Qin Yuan. Wasn't it just as worthless as waste paper at a time like this?

Back inside, Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan put their things into the brand-new refrigerator. Standing in front of the refrigerator, Lu Yuan silently apologized to the newlyweds in his heart and connected the refrigerator to the battery.

The heavy snow continued, and Gu Nanfeng remained unconscious. They were unable to leave the neighborhood for the time being. The group then decided to modify the water system and connect it to the large water tank that Lu Yuan had taken out of his space to improve their water usage. They hadn't had a hot shower for several days.

While they were rummaging around in the house, they also kept an eye on the situation in the building across the street. After Lu Yuan and the others went there, the people in the building across the street went to the convenience store six or seven more times, and each time they left with large bags and small packages.

“That old man probably also has a space.” As Lu Yuan spoke, he put a large water tank filled with domestic water from his space into the bathtub in the bathroom. He had been searching for a long time before finding this water tank that fit perfectly into the bathtub, and finally the water problem was solved.

"Yes, his space is different from yours." Du Wenqing couldn't comment on this, so only Qin Yuan was discussing it with him.

“Yeah, I think so too.” Lu Yuan followed Qin Yuan back to the living room. They had been watching over Gu Nanfeng all morning and then went out again, so they were starving. Of the three of them, Du Wenqing’s cooking skills were barely passable. He was in the kitchen preparing dinner, while Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan went back to the living room to continue discussing the old man at the convenience store.

"His store actually had very few items." Qin Yuan recalled what he saw in the convenience store. "The store's items didn't look like those of a convenience store; they were more like those of a grain and oil store that the military would go to."

"A grain and oil store?" Lu Yuan listened to Qin Yuan's explanation and continued, "Indeed, there's a lot of rice, flour, and cooking oil inside, as well as fresh meat, vegetables, and fruits. It looks like he owns a small farm."

"A spiritual spring space?" Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan exclaimed in unison. This type of space is often seen in post-apocalyptic novels. Generally, such spaces contain fertile soil, a small river, or a spiritual spring. The owner can grow crops and raise animals in the space, and the crops can be harvested quickly. This explains why the shelves were almost empty when they left, but the second group was still able to fill their backpacks.

"Holy crap, this is a mobile granary!" Qin Yuan couldn't help but exclaim. This kind of space was different from the one Lu Yuan had, which was simply a storage space where he had to collect supplies himself. This space was renewable. Of course, if Qin Yuan knew that Lu Yuan's space was already filled with countless supplies without him having to collect them, he would definitely slap himself hard.

"There's something else strange. If the shop owner has a space, why doesn't he live in the building across the street?" Lu Yuan glanced down from the floor-to-ceiling window. The people in the building across the street were coming back from the convenience store again. This time, they locked the security door on the first floor before going upstairs. It seemed they weren't planning to go out again today.

“You’re right. That old man should only be left alone. Wouldn’t it be better for him to live in the building across the street with them?” Qin Yuan also stood in front of the French windows, and the two of them fell into deep thought as they looked at the building across the street.

The two men stood by the window pondering for a long time, still not understanding why Du Wenqing had invited them to dinner. However, Du Wenqing seemed to have a clearer perspective than they did, saying, "Since you can't figure it out, let's go again tomorrow."

Although dinner was simple, the three of them ate comfortably because it contained fresh vegetables, especially since they had been eating fast food for several days on the ship before arriving here.

The three of them took a hot shower that night. After showering, Lu Yuan sat in front of the French windows and looked out. The snow kept falling on and off, and the snow on the ground was visibly much deeper. He didn't know if the people in the building across the street would still be able to come out tomorrow.

Before going to bed, they checked on Gu Nanfeng in the medical machine again, but he still didn't seem to be waking up. To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, they didn't remove Gu Nanfeng from the medical machine. Du Wenqing said that if Gu Nanfeng suddenly developed a high fever or other symptoms, the medical machine should be able to treat him in time, which would be much better than the three of them scrambling to handle it later.

DAY105

Early the next morning, Lu Yuan wrapped himself in hand warmers and put on a thick military overcoat. He and Qin Yuan prepared to head to the convenience store. The people in the building across the street also set off early, but instead of going downstairs, they climbed out of the windows of a second-floor apartment and used homemade sleds to cross the snow.

When Lu Yuan went downstairs, he saw their method through the window of the emergency stairwell. When he got to the second floor, he and Qingyuan also climbed out of the window. He took out two sets of skis from his space. Actually, there were also snowmobiles in the space, but after he and Qin Yuan considered it, they chose skis instead.

Skiing was alright for Qin Yuan, as he had learned a little bit, but Lu Yuan really couldn't ski at all, and the two of them moved as slowly as turtles. By the time they finally reached the convenience store, the supply delivery team from the building across the street had already finished exchanging supplies and were preparing to go back.

The shop owner used the generator he got from Lu Yuan yesterday to connect two high-powered heaters and placed them at the entrance, so the snow in front of the convenience store has almost melted. But if the heavy snow continues for a few more days, the door of this convenience store will probably never be able to be opened again.

When Lu Yuan and his group entered, besides the convenience store owner, there was another young man in the store. They were talking about something, but Feng Xue's voice was a bit loud, and Lu Yuan could only vaguely hear the two people talking. Judging from the voices, the young man seemed to be someone who had spoken to them yesterday. He should be one of the leaders of the building across the street.

"Hello." Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan entered the convenience store and closed the security door, shutting out the sound of the wind and snow. Thanks to the generator Lu Yuan provided, the convenience store was much warmer than yesterday.

The arrival of the two interrupted the conversation between the convenience store owner and the young man. Qin Yuan had good hearing, and before closing the door, he vaguely heard the young man trying to persuade the old man to go into the building with them to avoid the wind and snow, but the old man seemed to be hesitating.

"Here to exchange vegetables again?" The old man glanced at Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan, who were bundled up like bears, then pointed to the young man in front of him and said, "They've bought everything for today."

"Huh?" The convenience store shelves were empty; they must have been emptied just now. When they came over, they saw that the people had just left. Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan thought they could find out something about the convenience store. After all, the time difference between those people leaving and them arriving was different from the time difference between their previous visits to the building across the street. They thought they would likely have a chance to find out how the old man at the convenience store restocked the shelves.

Unfortunately, when the two entered, they found the shelves were still empty, with only a small amount of firewood remaining in the corner.

"What a pity." Not being able to exchange for anything didn't really affect Lu Yuan and his group much. What was more regrettable was that the other party seemed unwilling to reveal their secrets, and this statement sounded more like an attempt to "get rid of them."

“No, sir…” Qin Yuan tried to strike up a conversation, but the shop owner ignored him and didn’t seem interested in listening. He then looked at the young man next to him, trying to make conversation, “We have a patient over there who really needs some fresh vegetables…”

Before Qin Yuan could finish speaking, the young man raised his right hand and made a "stop" gesture. Qin Yuan thought that he didn't want to communicate with them either, and was a little annoyed, so he decided to leave. This was the first time that he, a socialite, had been so disliked.

"Wait a minute." The young man's voice rang out from behind them as the two turned around. He took off his gloves and said, "I didn't mean to kick you out."

Qin Yuan turned to look at the young man. He was still completely covered up, just like yesterday, with several layers of masks and large sunglasses for wind protection. He took off his glasses and said politely, "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Wei Cheng, and I am a native of this community."

"Hello, Qin Yuan," Qin Yuan introduced himself, and the two shook hands amicably. Then Qin Yuan pointed to Lu Yuan beside him and introduced him as well, "My teammate, Lu Yuan."

Wei Cheng also pointed to the old man sitting behind the counter, "This is Grandpa Wang, also a local. He has been running this convenience store here for ten years."

"Was your patient friend suffering from a high fever and unconsciousness?" Qin Yuan originally wanted to ask the question he and Lu Yuan had asked yesterday, but Wei Cheng spoke first.

"Yes." It's not unusual for someone to fall into a coma due to a high fever. It's so cold and snowy now, it's normal for people with weaker constitutions to catch a cold and have a fever. So Lu Yuan didn't think of any other reasons and admitted it directly.

“We also have two patients with the same symptoms in our building,” Wei Cheng continued. “One of our doctors examined them and determined that it wasn’t just a simple cold or fever. So we all agree that this is a necessary stage in human evolution… or rather, the awakening of superpowers.”

Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan didn't have time to speak because they noticed that while Wei Cheng was speaking, goods began to appear on the convenience store shelves: rice, flour, cooking oil, vegetables, fruits, and even the pile of firewood in the corner slowly piled up on its own.

“This is Grandpa Wang’s special ability.” Wei Cheng pointed to the changes in the convenience store and then looked at the old man behind the counter. “Or rather, it’s the convenience store’s special ability.”

"A convenience store's superpower?" Lu Yuanzhen had thought of everything, but he never imagined that this was actually a convenience store's ability.

“You guys also have superpowers. You have spatial abilities.” Wei Cheng pointed at Lu Yuan, then at Qin Yuan. “You have fire abilities. I saw it yesterday.”

He was probably referring to the time yesterday when Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan came out, and Qin Yuan used his fire-based ability to melt the snow they rushed into the elevator after opening the safety door.

"I have wood-type abilities," Wei Cheng said, raising his right hand. A faint green light emanated from his palm, and then his five fingers transformed into vines, gradually extending.

"Did you also suddenly evolve superpowers?" Qin Yuan asked, looking at Wei Cheng's hand, which had turned into vines.

Wei Cheng nodded, retracted his vines, and gradually the green light disappeared, the vines turned back into five slender, white fingers.

“I guess you’re like us.” Wei Cheng looked at Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan, then at himself and the convenience store owner. “None of us have ever had a high fever, but we have superpowers.”

Qin Yuan nodded, then suddenly remembered what Wei Cheng had just said: the convenience store owner's superpower was the convenience store's superpower. He asked in confusion, "Why do you say that Old Wang's superpower is also the convenience store's superpower?"

“If Grandpa Wang leaves the convenience store, the store can’t replenish its supplies, and he can’t use his powers anywhere else.” Wei Cheng shrugged helplessly and continued, “Before the snow, we came to pick up Grandpa Wang and take him to the building for shelter. But when we got there, we found that Grandpa Wang couldn’t generate supplies there, so we sent him back to the convenience store and renovated the gate. This time, we plan to take more supplies back with us and then bring Grandpa Wang back, so that he can at least get through this winter.”

"I see." Qin Yuan and Lu Yuan had guessed yesterday that the convenience store owner possessed the ability of a spiritual spring space, but they never expected that it was an ability that could only be used based on a convenience store. This was indeed an unimaginable result.

"Have your friends' fevers subsided? Why do you think that high fever and coma are a necessary stage for awakening superpowers?" While Qin Yuan was chatting with Wei Cheng, Lu Yuan kept pondering Wei Cheng's words.

"Haha, of course we young people get our experience from reading novels." Wei Cheng didn't pretend to be profound and directly stated this reason, which left Lu Yuan a little at a loss for words.

"It's the end of the world, so you can't be sure about these things. Anyway, people aren't dead yet. Sometimes they have a high fever, and sometimes their body temperature is normal. I think this is a process of cell recombination."

"It's kind of cringey, but it seems to make a lot of sense." After saying that, Lu Yuan covered his mouth, realizing he had blurted out his inner thoughts.

Wei Cheng didn't mind. He was just a college student in his early twenties, and he was indeed quite eccentric. He smiled and showed off his bright white teeth. Then he said, "There are no survivors in your building anymore. We don't know when this snow will stop. I suggest you move to our building instead."

Gu Nanfeng was lying in a medical machine, and they didn't want to move him, so Lu Yuan and Qin Yuan declined Wei Cheng's invitation. However, they decided to go to the building across the street later to deliver some supplies to them. So the three of them chatted in the old man's convenience store, watching people in the building across the street carrying supplies that were constantly being generated in Grandpa Wang's convenience store.