Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - Chapter 284

Chapter 284

Bai Yuzhen sat on the ground, gasping for breath. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead. She looked at Gu Huaiwei, then thought of Fang Zhao’s face, and with her last shred of hope, asked, “Shopkeeper Gu, do you have any way to save the Class Monitor from the world within the Contamination? If you can bring him back, I’m willing to give up all my profit shares from the later stages.”

But not every hope gets a good answer.

Meeting Bai Yuzhen’s hopeful eyes, Gu Huaiwei shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

She did not belong to this Dimension and would not be eroded by Contamination. Correspondingly, she could not see the world after Contamination had taken hold, nor could she save someone deeply trapped within it.

Bai Yuzhen’s voice gradually rose.

“But aren’t you very powerful? Why can’t you do it?

You can open such a huge Sanatorium in Gray Mist Town. You can move freely through Instances. You don’t have to follow the Rules, and you’re not afraid of Anomalies.

You’re obviously that powerful. You have so many trump cards. Why? Why is it that of all things, you don’t have the ability to save people?”

Looking at Bai Yuzhen’s stubborn expression, Gu Huaiwei spoke slowly. “Because I am not a god. I am not omnipotent.”

She was only a merchant hired to run a shop.

Bai Yuzhen covered her face and broke into helpless sobs.

“The Class Monitor wants to die, but he hasn’t died yet. If those researchers bring him back, he’ll be trapped forever in a glass container, left in that painful world, never to find release for all eternity.”

More painful than death was being stranded on the boundary between life and death.

Fang Zhao still existed. He was still alive. It was just that Bai Yuzhen, while conscious, could neither see nor touch him.

Perhaps they were still in the same space.

But even if they reached out, they still couldn’t touch each other.

Seeing how devastated she was, Gu Huaiwei took out a pack of tissues from the Jade Bracelet and pulled one free to wipe her tears. “Stop crying. Wouldn’t it be fine if you cleared the Instance’s Contamination?”

“Then he’ll disappear along with the Contamination.” Bai Yuzhen took the tissue from Gu Huaiwei’s hand, sorrow filling her eyes. “Have you ever felt what it’s like for someone you’ve always relied on to suddenly disappear? You know he still exists, but you can’t find him, and you can’t save him.”

Gu Huaiwei knew that feeling.

How could she not?

Wasn’t that the very reason she had come all this way to find her missing sister?

Looking into Bai Yuzhen’s tear-filled eyes, Gu Huaiwei said, “You can try.”

Bai Yuzhen froze for a moment. She knew that what she had said just now had been willful. She had only needed an outlet. Rationally, she had thought Gu Huaiwei would tell her not to waste her effort.

Yet Gu Huaiwei had actually encouraged her to try.

That was completely beyond Bai Yuzhen’s expectations.

Gu Huaiwei only needed to bring the Formula for the Mist Lung Disease Cure back to Oasis Sanatorium, mass-produce the cure for Mist Lung Disease, and manufacture and sell it there to complete the final stage of the mission.

And Bai Yuzhen also needed this Formula to clear the Contamination in the Instance afterward.

As for what happened inside the Instance, they would handle it themselves. Gu Huaiwei would no longer interfere.

Whether Bai Yuzhen chose to clear the Instance’s Contamination or remain in the Instance to save Fang Zhao, Gu Huaiwei would not interfere with her choice.

“You said you’d keep me alive.”

“I gave you a way to live. Whether you take it or not is your own business.”

“If something happens to me in the Instance…”

“Our contract becomes void upon your death.” Gu Huaiwei stood up and calmly put the Formula for the Mist Lung Disease Cure into the Jade Bracelet.
She left the Little White Dog, all the clues she had gathered from the Instance, and the reconstructed story with Bai Yuzhen, then departed the Gray Crystal University Instance alone.

Oasis Sanatorium.

After being away for many days, Bai Miemie threw herself into Gu Huaiwei’s arms the moment she returned and started whining tearfully about how hard it was to deal with the Sanatorium’s Anomaly guests.

She said the Anomalies had far too many demands, and worst of all, some of them were hideous and liked popping up in every corner at night, making it incredibly exhausting for her to look after them.

“While Sister Gu was gone, Miemie did an amazing job and worked super hard. Sister Gu should praise me.”

After all that, all the child really wanted was a piece of candy.

Gu Huaiwei stroked her white curls. “Miemie is the best behaved.”

Bai Miemie clung to Gu Huaiwei for quite a while.

He Xueyi strolled out at an unhurried pace. Lin She brushed past him on his way to do other work.

As for Mu Lanwo, her reactions were even slower than everyone else’s; she was nowhere to be seen in the lobby at all.

Oasis Sanatorium was now Four-Star.

To upgrade it to Five-Star, Gu Huaiwei not only needed to obtain the Formula for the Mist Lung Disease Cure and begin mass-producing it inside the Sanatorium, she also needed to make New Year gifts.

As for the rice, cooking oil, fruit, mixed nuts gift boxes, and other things that could be bought, Mu Lingxi had already purchased everything for Gu Huaiwei.

With the year-end approaching, red lanterns were hung at the entrance to Oasis Sanatorium, and fresh Spring Festival couplets were pasted up, adding a touch of festivity to this little world shrouded in dense fog.

In the kitchen, Gu Huaiwei made some dumplings, planning to bring them back to the Real World for Mu Lingxi.

Mu Lingxi had been busy with her internship lately and had already started work again before the New Year holiday was even over.

Gu Huaiwei still hadn’t had time to upgrade the Sanatorium to Five-Star. Considering that Mu Lingxi’s graduation ceremony was coming up, she temporarily handed the Sanatorium’s work over to several Assistants, then returned to the Real World to support her.

She watched Mu Lingxi, dressed in her graduation gown, standing at the ceremony with a microphone in hand, delivering a bright, confident speech, and she felt genuinely happy for her.

Jiang Xingyi was there too. He still hadn’t given up on Mu Lingxi and had been pestering her relentlessly this whole time. Mu Lingxi had already made herself perfectly clear to him long ago, yet he still kept running up to her with that eager look in his eyes, acting cheap.

Compared to before, he had dyed his hair back to blond and stopped wearing those gaudy clothes. He looked more like his older brother now.

He was holding a custom bouquet in his hands, while Gu Huaiwei pretended not to see him.

The Jiang Family had been on the decline for quite some time.

At first, they had kept their eyes fixed on Gu Huaiwei’s movements. But as Gu Huaiwei returned less and less often, they could no longer keep track of her and tried shifting their focus onto Mu Lingxi instead.

But Mu Lingxi wasn’t someone easy to provoke either.

Gu Huaiwei had transferred a very large sum of money to her, and Mu Lingxi had been running a company in Gu Huaiwei’s name. She had expanded that original capital again and again, and by now the company’s scale was already enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jiang Family.

When people met in the business world, no one talked about love and romance. What mattered was real ability.

Mu Lingxi had snatched several major contracts from under the Jiang Family’s name, so they finally stopped targeting Gu Huaiwei altogether and turned their full attention to dealing with Mu Lingxi instead.

After the graduation ceremony, Mu Lingxi would officially begin work at Xiyuan Group.

At that moment, in the crowd at the graduation ceremony, Gu Huaiwei caught sight of a familiar figure.

The hacker senior who had dated Mu Lingxi before was wearing a baseball cap and blending in with the crowd.

A faint sense of unease rose in Gu Huaiwei, so she followed after him.