Apocalyptic Rebirth

42.grain reserves

Liu Tiantian's remarks were met with immediate mockery from a group of male property owners.

"In the midst of the apocalypse, who's still pampering you little fairies?"

"Heh, do you really think you're so special?"

"You expect us to risk our lives to protect you? Dream on!"

Uncle You, who had been criticized harshly, was left speechless. He couldn't fathom why his good intentions had been met with such hostility.

He was a man of few words, and he couldn't compete with others in verbal battles, so he chose to remain silent.

Zhang Yi observed the lively exchange in the group chat with amusement. After all, entertainment options were quite limited in the current circumstances.

In summary, he concluded one thing: the majority of the people in this property owners' group were hopeless.

The heated argument in the chat group continued to escalate, perhaps because everyone had been holding back their frustrations for too long, and this was finally an outlet for them to vent. The chat was filled with vile and dirty words that were unbearable to read. It seemed that they had all forgotten the group's initial purpose.

Zhang Yi put his phone aside and walked into the kitchen. Although his otherworldly space contained plenty of ready-made food, he occasionally enjoyed cooking his own meals to savor life.

He took out fresh ingredients from the otherworldly space—potatoes, scallions, ginger, garlic—that appeared as if they had just been harvested from the earth. The beef was tender and vibrant red, making it extremely appetizing. It was clear that Walmart, as the world's leading supermarket brand, offered top-quality products.

Zhang Yi prepared a pot of beef stew with potatoes and followed the recipe for hotpot chicken, placing some pancakes at the edge of the pot. After stewing, the pancakes absorbed the broth, becoming especially delicious.

As he picked up his phone, he noticed that Fang Yuqing and Lin Caining had sent him messages again. This time, their voices were filled with desperation.

Fang Yuqing and Lin Caining were crying uncontrollably, clearly frightened by the news of Chen Zhenghao's murders. These two innocent-looking girls lacked any skills to defend themselves against a criminal.

They believed that Zhang Yi's heavily fortified apartment was the safest place to seek refuge.

"Zhang Yi, no matter how much we had conflicts in the past, you did love me, right?"

"You can't just watch me die, can you?"

"I know you appear tough on the surface, but deep down, you have a kind heart. Please, save me!"

Lin Caining was even more shameless in her pleas.

"Zhang Yi, I don't want to die. If you let me stay in your house, I'll do anything for you! You can use me however you want, just don't let me fall into the hands of those people."

Zhang Yi could sense their inner fear. To be honest, if his house wasn't fortified and he was living in the same freezing and food-deprived conditions as they were, his despair wouldn't be much different from theirs.

However, would he pity these two women?

Haha, definitely not!

After all, this was the scene he had been looking forward to the most. The more desperate they became, the more excited he felt.

He didn't respond to their messages. Instead, he chose to leave a glimmer of hope, making them aware that hope was faint but that they still had to come and beg him.

The boring day passed by like this.

Chen Zhenghao and his group had managed to secure some supplies, so they weren't in a hurry to act further. They understood that if they pushed too hard, it would unite all the property owners against them.

Collect, appease, then kill—this was the most rational approach.

However, one night, Zhang Yi noticed some unusual activity from Chen Zhenghao's group through the surveillance cameras.

At night, the entire Tianhai City had no electricity. Only Zhang Yi's apartment remained lit, but the neighbors in the same building hadn't noticed.

Zhang Yi saw several of Chen Zhenghao's henchmen carrying two bodies out of their apartment.

Zhang Yi examined them closely and realized that he recognized these two from the building. They weren't from their unit.

After some thought, Zhang Yi figured out what had happened. When Chen Zhenghao and his men attempted to invade Zhang Yi's apartment earlier, they had been forcefully repelled by Zhang Yi using a high-pressure water hose. In this extremely cold weather, that was potentially lethal.

These two must have been the unfortunate souls who died from exposure and illness since they didn't have a comfortable environment or access to medication. It wasn't surprising; under such freezing temperatures, illnesses like colds and fever could be fatal without proper care.

Zhang Yi's mind raced as he considered a terrifying possibility—did Chen Zhenghao leave these bodies as a backup source of food?

This idea sent shivers down Zhang Yi's spine, but it was the most logical explanation. In this frigid environment, where the freezing temperatures acted as a natural refrigerator, concerns about food spoilage were nonexistent.

In the world of post-apocalyptic fiction, cannibalism wasn't an uncommon theme, and human history had recorded instances of people resorting to cannibalism during times of great calamity.

However, these acts were typically forgotten during times of peace, which might explain why some people were now shocked by this brutal reality.

Zhang Yi took a deep breath, and his rapidly beating heart soon calmed down. Compared to most people, he adapted to this new reality much faster. After all, he had experienced one apocalypse and had been consumed as food by others.

He knew that when people were pushed to the brink, starvation could drive them to commit the most cruel and inhumane acts, such as consuming anything edible to survive.

"Chen Zhenghao, you're truly ruthless!" Zhang Yi muttered to himself. He might not like the gang leader, but he couldn't help but feel a tinge of admiration for Chen Zhenghao's unyielding determination.

The logic behind it was understood by many, but to leave your brothers' corpses as emergency rations before food ran out... it was a descent into pure brutality.