Abyss Summoner-Chapter 122 - 120: Supermarket

Commercial Street.

Some footsteps came from afar, a group of sixteen people, cautiously walking on the street, carrying some packages on their backs, which vaguely showed they were all necessities of life.

The leader of this group, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, had slightly thinning hair at the temples, thick and neat eyebrows, eyes sparkling with spirit, thick fingers, and palms full of calluses, evidently suggesting he worked in some heavy labor job during peacetime.

Zhang Hongliang.

Recently, the camp recruited three professionals; besides the Elemental Master and Far-sighted, he was the last one.

During combat, black spikes could grow on his body like spears for both defense and attack, making him a power-type professional.

Before the apocalypse, he was an ordinary construction worker, honest and sincere by nature. After the apocalypse, he awakened his power and instead of bullying ordinary people like some professionals, he actively protected his coworkers from harm.

Three weeks ago, he was recruited into the camp. Since he awakened as a professional and had a good reputation, Chen Feng directly promoted him to be the leader of the search team.

Search Team.

As the name implies, their job is to search for supplies.

These people wander through the wasteland, searching for any usable items, food, toiletries, hardware, and even controlled knives, all of which need to be taken back.

The search team has high-risk factors, but the benefits are good. Chen Feng promised that each time they bring back food, search team members can get a 5% return.

Meat.

For ordinary people, it’s already hard to come by, but if you join the search team, you can earn 5% of the food you bring back each time, which means you can get some jerky and sausages every so often.

Although it’s risky, it has become one of the most popular departments.

.........

"Found it, Luck Supermarket, this is the place marked in the notebook!" An observant team member spotted their target.

Zhang Hongliang’s face was serious, his hands clenched tightly, walking at the front, his tiger-like eyes scanning around.

With Liang Jingyao’s notebook, the team members of the search group didn’t need to search blindly but went directly to their destination without any delay.

"Don’t go in yet, let me go in first!" Zhang Hongliang strode towards the direction pointed out by the member.

Zhang Hongliang was careful and cautious. Although they had encountered some dangers in the past few weeks, they managed to avoid them safely, a feat in which he played a significant role.

"Captain, it’s a well-preserved supermarket!" The man who spotted the target pointed inside.

Zhang Hongliang looked and indeed saw the inside of the supermarket was neatly arranged, seemingly untouched by anyone.

"What’s going on? It’s been so long since the apocalypse, how can the supermarket be so clean?" Zhang Hongliang frowned, voicing his doubts.

Reason told him that this place must be strange.

"Hey, maybe everyone nearby has already died long ago?"

"Captain, the supplies inside are abundant. If we bring this back, even with the 5% reward, everyone will benefit!"

"Yeah, Captain, we’ve been out for most of the day and only collected a little. We can’t report back like this. If we can clear out this place now, the mission will definitely be completed!"

Everyone started talking, clearly lured by the supermarket, eager to go in and loot to get their rewards!

Zhang Hongliang frowned, slightly tempted. It was now noon, and the visibility inside the supermarket was high. He clearly saw dozens of unopened packages of cigarettes on the counter.

Zhang Hongliang did not gamble or indulge in food, but he had a particular fondness for tobacco. If he took these cigarettes back, it would last him for some time.

Thinking of this, Zhang Hongliang pursed his lips and shouted, "Zhang Lei, Liang Chen, you two stay outside, the rest follow me in, and do not act alone. Move in groups of three, and be quick!"

"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.

Zhang Hongliang led people into the supermarket. It was a large place with over thirty shelves lined with various foods and wines.

Once inside, the group was like wolves in a sheepfold, each pushing a cart and placing supplies on them.

Zhang Hongliang, somewhat selfishly, led some people to the counter to take the cigarettes and place them all in a cart.

"Wow!"

These cigarettes were not cheap, with the most expensive priced at 2400 a pack. For Zhang Hongliang, this would have been unattainable in the past.

Seeing this, Zhang Hongliang’s fingers itched, wanting to light one up immediately, but there was a clear rule in the search team that any hoarding or stealing during missions would be severely punished.

Thinking of this, Zhang Hongliang’s craving for tobacco diminished considerably, deciding to wait to smoke until they returned.

"Captain, the cigarettes are gone. What should we take next?" Several team members, after packing everything up, asked Zhang Hongliang.

"Take..."

Zhang Hongliang was about to speak when he suddenly frowned.

"Why is there no sound?"

More than ten people came in, all shouting and calling. Even without speaking, there should have been the sound of carts, right?

But now, the entire supermarket was eerily silent, as if, besides them, there was no one else there!

"Yue Chao, Jian Yun, Xiaofang..." Zhang Hongliang called out a few names, but there was no response.

"Let’s get out first!" A bad feeling suddenly surged in Zhang Hongliang’s heart, and he tried to get out quickly before looking for the others.

Others also sensed something was wrong, their faces pale as they followed behind, preparing to leave.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, the entire supermarket plunged into darkness, like night had fallen, rendering everything invisible!

What a joke!

It was noon outside; how could it become so dark?

At the same time, it was unnervingly quiet outside. The two people Zhang Hongliang left to keep watch were nowhere to be found.

Outside and inside were now like two different worlds, with the sun shining brightly outside, but inside, pitch dark, cutting off sight and sound, leaving them unaware of what was happening inside.

"Bang!"

After an unknown amount of time, the supermarket door suddenly burst open, and a figure covered in blood fell to the ground.

It was Zhang Hongliang!

His body was full of black spikes, his ability allowing long spikes to appear during battle; however, now, these spikes had all been twisted off by some great force and inserted into his body, leaving bloody holes on his abdomen, chest, and even shoulders.

Zhang Hongliang’s eyes were wide open, devoid of any color; he was already dead. Moments ago, he used his last breath to rush out, attempting to escape, but his injuries were too severe, leading to his death at the supermarket entrance.

"Thud!"

At this moment, a hook suddenly snagged Zhang Hongliang’s body, dragging him slowly back into the darkness like a dead dog...

It had come to this.

Besides a pool of blood on the ground, there was no movement, as if those people had never appeared at all...