The New Owners of the Supermarket

The trio was first chased into the alley by a few flies, then emerged as a group of four.

Tom secretly warned Liu Lian not to mention their ability to manipulate situations, not even to Zhao Yingying, whom he liked. Liu Lian nodded in understanding.

Since Liu Lian was keen on pursuing the girl and didn't care about her background, Tom was happy to delegate the task of taking care of Zhao Yingying to him, and Li Qiang didn't have any objections.

They returned to the main road, and this time Tom chose to cross to the other side of the street, advancing while using the cars as a barrier to avoid attracting the flies.

This undoubtedly took some extra time, but for the sake of safety, it was worth it.

Passing by some houses halfway, their scent alerted the sensitive dogs inside, and one of them started barking, causing nearby dogs to join in. The quiet neighborhood was filled with incessant barking, which scared Li Qiang quite a bit, fearing that the dogs might climb over the high walls and attack them.

Fortunately, as Tom had predicted, the dogs weren't hungry enough to break free from their restraints, so they could proceed safely.

Due to their shrinking size, what used to be a 1-minute journey now took at least 24 minutes. Normally, it would take Tom about 6 minutes to walk to the supermarket, but now it would take at least two and a half hours. By the time they reached the small supermarket safely, the sun had already set.

The three-story small supermarket consisted of a ground floor for business, with the owner living on the second and third floors. Tom occasionally visited this supermarket, so he knew a little about the owner, at least that the building belonged to him. He had a son in his forties, who was considered a latecomer.

Supermarkets were usually managed by the owner and his wife, with a few workers hired. Although not as large as those big supermarkets, they were well-stocked with supplies that met the needs of many residents and businesses in the area.

So why wasn't the owner there? Tom had a bad feeling about it.

Because the shrinking incident happened at night, the supermarket's main door was tightly locked. Zhao Yingying led them to the back door, where there was a small window next to it that could be pushed open.

When they went out for help earlier, the spa manager had assigned a boy from the spa to guard the small window. Once they returned, she could lower the rope for them to climb up.

After calling out a few times without response, Tom tried picking up a small stone and throwing it up, successfully hitting the glass and catching the attention of the boy guarding the window. The rope was soon lowered.

Tom asked Zhao Yingying to climb up first, then pulled Li Qiang and Liu Lian aside for instructions.

Earlier, he had asked the talkative Liu Lian to find out about the situation in the supermarket, how many people were there, who was in charge, as well as the situation of the spa's security guards, manager, technicians, and out-of-town guests.

Liu Lian took the opportunity to befriend Zhao Yingying and smoothly extracted the information Tom needed, which gave Tom a rough idea of the situation.

After the incident with Luo Jun, Tom was deeply affected and his mentality grew. Regardless of whether everyone in the city had shrunk, at least for the time being, they were all in a state of suspicion and caution, facing the threat of other creatures at any time. From this, competition for survival space and food emerged.

This was the apocalypse. At this time, both law and morality were put to the test of survival. Surviving was the primary goal of all those who had shrunk. Whether it was exploitation, oppression, or mutual assistance and cooperation, it was just a way to survive.

To the people inside the house, they were outsiders, so they had to unite and move forward together. Only in this way could they gain their own voice. If the behavior of the people inside endangered others, they had to make a choice quickly: eliminate the threat or leave immediately.

The incident with Zhang Meng was also a blow to Liu Lian and Li Qiang. The teammate they thought they could trust suddenly revealed his ferocity, putting the whole team in danger and then fleeing himself.

So they both agreed with Tom's proposal, but Liu Lian made a request: if they were to leave, he hoped to take Zhao Yingying with them if conditions allowed.

Tom stared at him for two seconds, weighing the pros and cons, and then made a condition: Liu Lian had to win her over.

Bringing someone who didn't belong to them into the team posed a potential threat, as Zhang Meng had demonstrated.

Zhao Yingying leaned out of the window and asked why they hadn't climbed up yet, prompting Tom to climb up first.

After the incident with Zhang Meng, Tom learned his lesson. For critical matters, if he could do it himself, he would, and if not, he would choose teammates he could absolutely trust.

After he climbed onto the windowsill, he saw a sixteen-year-old boy, holding a thin needle and looking at him bewilderedly.

Tom casually asked, "Little brother, have you seen any rats or cockroaches around here?"

The boy was quite naive, and in response to his question, he just recalled and replied, "No...no."

Li Qiang was pleased to hear that. "No is the best, haha."

Tom, while climbing in through the window with Li Qiang, whispered, "He's lying, can't you tell?"

"Oh! Are there really cockroaches in his house?"

At this point, Liu Lian was walking ahead with Zhao Yingying and didn't hear them.

Tom whispered, "It's definitely not in the supermarket; otherwise, they would have been attacked long ago. Maybe he saw something outside, but the manager told him not to reveal anything casually."

"What should we do then? These people... are not honest. Shouldn't we just not go in?"

"No need," Tom said. "Just be cautious, I'll try to get the full set of equipment as soon as possible. If things don't look right, we'll leave."

"Got it!"

Zhao Yingying led them through the back room to the front room, which was filled with shelves.

Originally a small supermarket of just over 80 square meters, it now resembled a residential community of 2,000 square meters, with rows of towering shelves resembling high-rise buildings, giving Li Qiang the illusion that he hadn't shrunk.

The small supermarket had very few fresh food items and mostly sold daily necessities, children's toys, dry goods, and packaged foods suitable for long-term storage.

Tom walked past a shelf tower and saw a variety of biscuits and chocolates on top, which tugged at his heart. He remembered the gecko that loved biscuits. If it were here, it would be ecstatic.

The emerald gem connected his thoughts to the gecko, and a strong bond formed between them. In Tom's years of lonely struggle for survival, the gecko could be said to be the creature closest to him. It was a pity it was pushed down the stairs by that damned Zhang Meng, and Tom didn't know its fate now.

Last night, he had searched around the house but found no traces. For him, this was both good and bad. At least there was a possibility that the gecko biscuits were still alive.

Lost in thought, Tom was lightly pushed from behind by Li Qiang. "Ange, what's wrong?"

Tom snapped back to reality. "Nothing, let's go."

Zhao Yingying's return alarmed the people at the cash register, and they quickly approached. They met at the end of the counter. They weren't wrapped in cloth like the trio but wore clothes that resembled doll clothes, mismatched and even some men wore women's styles. However, in the current situation, it was considered luxurious, and they didn't fuss much about it.

Tom noticed that the counter was stocked with chewing gum, lollipops, and condoms.

A slim figure stepped forward from the crowd and scanned Liu Lian before focusing on Tom and finally locking onto Li Qiang. "Miss Yingying, how is it? Did the police come? Who are they?"

At this moment, a tall, slender man followed up. "Ah Ying, where are the others?"

Not asking was fine, but as soon as they did, Zhao Yingying burst into tears again, which made the slim man anxious. He walked up and slapped her, "Why the hell are you crying..." He wanted to hit her again but was stopped by Liu Lian, who grabbed his hand and immediately scolded, "You... let go! Fatso!"

Tom walked over and patted Liu Lian's shoulder. When Liu Lian let go, the slim man saw Li Qiang's bulky figure approaching and became somewhat afraid, involuntarily shrinking back.

"How dare you hit someone?" Liu Lian was indignant. Zhao Yingying was the object of his secret affection. As soon as they met, the other party started hitting people, and he wanted nothing more than to grab a big knife and give him a few slashes.

"Who the hell are you?" The slim man retreated to the side of the tall man, feeling a bit safer, and immediately cursed, "What are you doing here? Get the hell out!"

The tall man recognized Li Qiang and introduced him to the slim man, "So it's Brother Qiang, General Li. This is Brother Qiang, a well-known figure around Uncle Seven's area."

Learning that he was from Uncle Seven's area, the slim man became somewhat uneasy. After all, now that people had shrunk, the saying goes, "The strong dragon does not suppress the local snake." He often came to this city to play and had also heard of the local gang leader, Uncle Seven's reputation. He immediately kept quiet, not daring to say anything more.

"You're also here, Wah?" Regaining his identity, Li Qiang swept away his previous timid demeanor and resumed his former gangster swagger. "I feel uncomfortable being shrunk, so I had to come to the nearest supermarket for something to eat."

Earlier on the street, Li Qiang had explained to Tom that the spa manager's name was Cheng Fuhua, also known as Wah, and he was quite a shrewd guy. Tom now sized up the man, and from his demeanor, he seemed to fit Li Qiang's description.

"I wonder where Brother Qiang came from and if he went to... the cops for information?" Seeing Li Qiang with Zhao Yingying's group, Cheng Fuhua skipped Zhao Yingying and went straight to Li Qiang to inquire about the situation.

Seeing the resentful expression on Liu Lian's face, Li Qiang knew what was going on. "Wah, I know Ah Ying is from your spa, but we're all human beings. Ah Ying went out to seek help at the risk of her life, almost eaten by rats. Even if you're anxious, you shouldn't resort to violence."

Cheng Fuhua felt embarrassed. "Brother Qiang, General Li is a big shot. Now that the dragon is trapped in a shallow pond, he's just anxious. We urgently want to know what's going on outside."

Hearing Cheng Fuhua's evaluation, Li Qiang regained his confidence, and he gave a cold snort.

Seeing that the other party showed no sign of remorse, Liu Lian couldn't bear it anymore. "Apologize to Miss Yingying!"

"Humph, who do you think you are?" Li Qiang glared, "Wah, get them out of here for me."

Being ordered like this by Li Qiang, Cheng Fuhua was in a difficult position. Having mixed around here, he knew Li Qiang was not to be trifled with. But this Li was promised two million afterwards by the big boss, as long as he ensured his safety out.

Seeing Li's arrogance, Li Qiang was annoyed. "Damn it, you don't even ask around. What face do I have on this street? You're just a nobody from out of town, and you dare to kick me out?"

At this point, a big man next to Cheng Fuhua exploded, "Damn it, Li Qiang, you're just a dog under Uncle Seven's hand, and you dare to act tough here? Want to cut off brother's source of income? Come on! Let's see how many of us will break your legs and throw you out!"

Tom had heard Zhao Yingying mention that this big man was the head security guard at the spa, named Zheng Shiyi, and he used to be a thug.

Immediately, three security guards stepped forward, each holding a nail in their hands, looking ready to start a fight.