At this moment, the neighbors in Building 25 held the food Zhang Yi provided, huddled at home, eating dinner. It had been almost a month since they last bathed, and the itchiness on their bodies was unbearable. Some even developed scabies. However, there was no way for them to get enough hot water, and even if they could use a kettle to heat water, they had to save it for drinking—daring not to use it for bathing. Bathing would only lead to illness, and right now, that meant waiting for death.
Jiang Lei and Li Chengbin were roommates, good buddies since college. After graduation, they worked in the same company, their relationship as solid as it could be. This evening, the two were in high spirits because Zhang Yi had given each of them a box of braised pork rice. These two boxes were taken from the supermarket shelf, already frozen stiff. However, this didn't faze them. They tucked the braised pork rice under their down jackets, heated them for several tens of minutes, and the rice became chewable.
In the pitch-dark room, the two were wrapped in thick blankets and quilts, only exposing their heads. Jiang Lei, using a spoon, laboriously scooped out a piece of braised pork, stuffed it into his mouth, chewing for a long time before finally tasting the flavor. His face wore a blissful expression, as eating this was equivalent to having a top-notch feast.
"Fortunately, we followed Zhang Yi back then! Now we can even eat braised pork!"
Jiang Lei joyfully exclaimed. However, Li Chengbin, who was next to him, remained silent, head down, nibbling on his rice. Yes, nibbling—not eating. After all, the rice and meat had frozen together, and he found using a spoon too bothersome, so he just pressed his face against it, biting to eat.
Seeing Li Chengbin not speaking, Jiang Lei thought he hadn't heard and nudged him with his elbow.
"Hey, do you think I'm right? We should stick with Zhang Yi."
"Did you not see Zhou Keren? That girl is still looking fresh and wears branded clothes, even a Canada Goose!"
"What's terrifying is that she seems to still be able to bathe!"
Jiang Lei's eyes were full of envy, and his current method of cleanliness was rubbing his body with his hands, forming streaks of dirt. But later, he stopped doing even that, as leaving the dirt on provided warmth.
Li Chengbin glanced at him, muttering, "You envy what she has, but we don't have the conditions for that."
Sighing, Jiang Lei said, "You're right. We don't have those parts! Otherwise, I'd try my luck."
He looked at his brother with a smirk. "But before that, I'll let you enjoy yourself."
Li Chengbin grumbled, "Get lost. With your appearance, I wouldn't take it even if you gave it to me for free."
Jiang Lei argued, "Don't mind the dirt; I can use my mouth."
"Shut up, shut up. The more you talk, the more disgusting it gets!"
The atmosphere between the two became somewhat awkward.
After a moment of silence, Li Chengbin spoke in a deep voice, "Jiang Lei, have you ever thought that when Zhang Yi gives us things to eat, he's actually using us as cannon fodder? He never intended for us to survive."
Jiang Lei widened his eyes, "What do you mean?"
Li Chengbin repeated the neighbors' words from the day, and Jiang Lei fell into silence.
"Saying those useless things won't change anything."
"We thought about killing him back then and taking his house and food. But we couldn't beat him, and we almost got killed by him."
"Now in this world, whoever has the stronger fist is the boss. If he can give us a meal, we have to obediently follow."
Li Chengbin fell silent.
At that moment, their phones rang.
Li Chengbin took out his phone from his pocket, glanced at the message, and his gaze suddenly became serious. In this seriousness, there was a hint of indescribable tension and excitement.
...
The next day, as usual, Zhang Yi left the community on his motorcycle. Due to the surprise attack the previous day, this time, he took a longer route and changed direction to leave.
Today, he didn't bring Uncle You along because he was headed to the military camp to excavate the buried weapons and equipment.
He also planned to find some trees and cut them down for future use.
The previous night, Li Jian, Chen Lingyu, and others contacted him again.
It was just inquiries about Zhang Yi's considerations.
Zhang Yi merely brushed them off, saying he needed more time to think.
However, he could clearly sense that some people were becoming impatient.
Zhang Yi didn't care about their attitudes; he was only watching for when they would take action. After all, the people in Building 29 needed time for internal discussions before forming a unified front.
This time would be enough for Zhang Yi to make thorough preparations.
After spending two and a half hours, Zhang Yi, following his memory, arrived at the place he had come to the day before. Underfoot was a vast expanse of snowy ground, with only a few reference points in the distance; otherwise, it was an open and empty space.
Zhang Yi took out the excavator from the spatial dimension and, just like last time, began digging downwards.
With experience, Zhang Yi's proficiency in operating the excavator had increased significantly.
After a busy period, he finally dug down to the structure below. Although Zhang Yi didn't know if it was an armory, digging into a building was much more convenient than digging through snow.
So, he jumped down and carefully searched. However, he realized this wasn't an armory but rather the barracks for soldiers.
Even though he had made a mistake, seeing the building meant that the armory wasn't too far away.
However, when entering the dormitory, Zhang Yi sensed something strange.
According to reason, with the heavy snowfall, almost all land transportation was paralyzed. Therefore, the soldiers left here wouldn't be able to leave once the snowfall intensified. There should be many corpses inside.
But when he entered the dormitory, he found the quilts neatly stacked, and the bed sheets were neatly pulled. He didn't find a single frozen soldier.
"Strange, how can there be no one?"
Zhang Yi couldn't figure it out; where did the soldiers go?
He went to check several other dormitories, and the scene was the same.
"Could it be that they all left here?"
A thought arose in Zhang Yi's mind, and he felt it was the most likely explanation.
After the snow disaster arrived, those high-level officials must have received accurate information, knowing that the advent of the apocalypse was unavoidable. So, they needed to go to shelters, and these soldiers were taken away to protect them and transport supplies.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yi's mind cleared up.
Combining what he had seen in the empty warehouse area before, the truth was that a small number of high-level officials had probably completed their evacuation on the night of the snow disaster. It's just that ordinary people hadn't received any information at all. They were probably hiding somewhere, waiting for the disaster to pass so they could continue to rule the world.
A hint of vigilance rose in Zhang Yi's heart.
Because he knew that the disaster wouldn't pass quickly, and after a long period of baptism, everyone's hearts would change. By then, armed forces might appear, becoming a significant threat.
However, that time wouldn't come too quickly because they still maintained some order for now.