A gruff male voice inquired, "Old Li, did these folks bring that truckload of materials outside?"

Upon hearing the voice, Zhou You turned and saw an extraordinarily tall man standing at the shop entrance. His massive frame took up half the doorway, with his head almost hitting the frame. With a shield in his left hand and a massive hammer in his right, he clearly was a formidable fighter.

The man's gaze swept over Zhou You's party, pausing briefly with a frown upon seeing Zhou before dismissively moving on. Finally, he approached Long Gan and declared, "I recognize you. You're the captain of the Dragon Squad from the Jiangnan Base."

Long Gan nodded in acknowledgment, "Captain Sang, it's been a while. I'm surprised you remember me. I've since left the exploration team." Long had met Sang Liwu while delivering supplies for the military. Sang, with Russian ancestry, had been a manager at a security firm before the apocalypse. Many of his current subordinates had been his employees back then.

Long introduced Sang to the others, "This is Captain Sang Liwu of the Extreme Exploration Team."

Sang Liwu expected a more detailed introduction. Frustrated, he shot back at Long Gan, "You're not being fair. After all, we've faced death together."

"My apologies. Perhaps another day, I'll pay you a visit. I have matters to attend to with my friends today."

Sang Liwu couldn't fathom why Long, a former team leader, would accompany this group to Yang City. However, judging from Long's attitude, Sang inferred that these individuals were even more formidable than himself.

"Very well, let's meet another time. Bring your friends along." He stepped aside, watching them pass. As one particularly delicate-looking young man walked by, reaching only Sang's chest, he couldn't help but smirk, wondering who this pretty boy was affiliated with.

Zhou You shot him a chilling glance. In that instant, Sang instinctively raised his shield in defense. As the young man nonchalantly continued walking, the others cast confused glances at Sang.

Sang was bewildered. With his years of combat experience, he had developed an acute sense of danger. That's why he'd reacted defensively. But what had triggered it other than that young man's brief gaze?

"Old Li, get me the surveillance footage now!"

Walking beside Zhou You, Shao Qi whispered, "You shouldn't intimidate people like that. Look how scared he was."

"I didn't do anything. His laugh was simply unsightly. It's bad enough that he's not handsome, but laughing only makes it worse. Isn't he just embarrassing himself?" Zhou You led the way into a supermarket. "Let's buy some daily necessities and kitchen supplies."

As the rest prepared to follow, Miao Miao halted them, "Why go to a supermarket? Let's check out the weapons store. We've used up most of our ammunition in the ancient ruins. Let's restock and see if they have any useful weaponry."

The mere mention of weapons brightened everyone's eyes. Without hesitation, they left Zhou You and followed Miao Miao, who smugly thought of how clever he was and how he'd later boast about this to his superiors.

Zhou You had been to big supermarkets at Jiangnan Base but only a few times. Shao Qi usually arranged for supplies to be delivered. It was their first time leisurely shopping at one.

The supermarket was stocked with a dazzling array of products. With the abundant species available post-apocalypse, there was a wide variety of food. It seemed like if a product wasn't labeled "new", it wouldn't make it onto the shelves.

Shao Qi pushed a shopping cart behind Zhou You. Before long, the cart was full. He handed it to a robot for checkout and fetched another empty one.

Zhou You coughed lightly, sheepishly saying, "It's a good thing we have many mouths to feed. Shared among everyone, this won't last long."

Shao Qi, eager to agree, added, "Absolutely. They all eat so much; this will be gone in a couple of days. Let's get more."

"In that case, I won't hold back." Zhou You took almost every item he fancied off the shelves. Finally, in the fresh produce area, he encountered a warehouse full of freezers. Each freezer was filled with mutant beast meat. There must've been hundreds of freezers in that warehouse.

"How should I choose?" Zhou You looked baffled. He couldn't possibly buy a bit of every meat. But going around to pick seems too troublesome.

Shao Qi beckoned over a self-service robot and accessed the fresh produce list. "Choose here. Just select the type and quantity, and the robot will fetch it for us. We just wait."

Zhou You scrolled through the list and realized he had tasted very few of the options, so he let Shao Qi choose for him.

Shao Qi quickly ticked a few boxes and then browsed the seafood category, adding a selection of tasty fish, shrimp, and crab to the cart.

By the time they left the supermarket, there were five big boxes waiting for them. Shao Qi opted for delivery. After paying, he received a call from Manager Li confirming their order's completion.

The load of goods sold for a high price. Even though the transaction was confidential, with so many witnesses at the scene, anyone with a bit of understanding could make an estimate. Many were silently amazed, thinking how wealthy this group must be, earning in a single deal what many could never accumulate in a lifetime.

When Miao Miu and the others heard the news, they also returned, laden with goods. Surprisingly, there was a young boy tailing them.

"Hey, brat, even if you follow us for ten more days, we won't give you that bottle of water!" Miao Miu, hands on hips, confronted a boy around ten years old.

Zhou You felt a sense of familiarity when he saw the boy, but couldn't quite place it. Seeing the two bodyguards following him, he deduced that the child was from a wealthy family and wondered what dispute had arisen with Miao Miu's group.

"What happened?" Shao Qi asked coldly.

Zhuo Hao explained, "We had our eyes on a bottle of spiritual water extracted from a nurturing tree at Lan Ji's place. Just as we were about to purchase it, this boy rushed in, wanting to take it from us.

I held him back while Miao Miu paid. Since then, he's been tailing us."