Chapter 41 Neighbors Good for Nothing but Slogans

As soon as the new chat group was established, the apartment owners and tenants began chatting in a panic.

"Chen Zhenghao is practically a demon! He has already broken into three households."

"Unit 301 on the third floor was occupied by two young people with fiery tempers. They tried to resist, and he just shot them dead on the spot."

"The other two were 302 and 401. Terrified by the bloodshed, they obediently handed over all their food and drink."

"Alas, in times like these, if you have nothing left to eat or drink, isn't that just waiting to die?"

Someone said with righteous indignation, "We must unite to fight against this bully Chen Zhenghao!"

Responses poured in immediately.

"That's right! There are so many of us households, are we really going to be afraid of just five or six of them?"

"As long as we stand together as one, he is nothing to be afraid of!"

Someone else pointed out, "But he has a gun in his hand!"

"Hmph, so what if he has a gun? How many bullets can a single gun hold?"

"Exactly! If we all rush him together, he won't be able to stop us!"

"I'll start with a left snap kick, followed by a right whip kick—that will definitely put him down for the count!"

"He has a crippled leg now, he's totally negligible. If he didn't have a gun, heh, I could take him down all by myself!"

Everyone was brimming with passion at the mention of dealing with Chen Zhenghao together, as if they couldn't wait to storm into his apartment right now and execute him!

However, someone chimed in at that moment.

"So, when are we actually going to make a move?"

This question was followed by a brief silence.

Talking big is easy enough, but when it comes to genuinely risking your life, people aren't so eager anymore.

Everyone understands the logic, but nobody wants to be the one charging in front to catch the bullets.

All those pretty words were just meant to trick someone else into going first as human shields.

"Well, that's not really a problem, we can definitely take him down!"

"After all, he's a desperate criminal with a bunch of punks under his command. We need to plan this carefully."

"Right, acting recklessly is for brutes; we need to win with wisdom!"

Zhang Yi curled his lips in disdain.

Just a moment ago, they were shouting that Chen Zhenghao was nothing to be afraid of, and someone even wanted to use left snap kicks and right whip kicks on him.

Now that it was actually time to act, they were suddenly talking about winning with wisdom?

He could only chuckle in amusement.

At that moment, Uncle You, the neighborhood security guard, suddenly sent a message.

"We cannot let Chen Zhenghao and his thugs continue like this. If this keeps up, everyone in the building is going to be killed by him."

"Even if you aren't shot to death, once all your food and water are looted, isn't that still a death sentence?"

"I can take the lead. Everyone follow me, and let's teach these bastard dogs a lesson!"

Uncle You usually didn't talk much.

As a retired veteran, he possessed an upright character and a fiery passion.

He was quite respected throughout the apartment complex.

Facing a shameless, murderous scoundrel like Chen Zhenghao, his heart was filled with fury.

"Whoa, Uncle You is mighty! True to his background as a soldier of the people, awesome!"

"I support you, Uncle You! Do you need a weapon? You can borrow the kitchen knife from our place."

"I have a Longquan sword I bought on a trip last year that can cut through iron like mud! Let me lend it to you."

"Chen Zhenghao is just a cripple, Uncle You. You should find a chance to ambush him from behind and not give him any openings."

...

Everyone showered Uncle You with flattery, offering all sorts of suggestions from every direction.

Yet, not a single person volunteered to go with Uncle You to confront Chen Zhenghao.

Uncle You was left somewhat speechless.

"Chen Zhenghao and his men number five or six, and they have guns. I definitely can't go alone."

"At the very least, we need a dozen young men to come with me to ensure any chance of success."

"I served in the military and still have some combat skills, so I can take the lead."

The households with adult males suddenly fell silent.

Meanwhile, female residents like Fang Yuqing, whose households lacked adult men, instantly reacted as if injected with adrenaline.

"That's right, we women are frail and weak, we can't handle scumbags like this. The men of Building 25, this is the time to show your masculinity!"

"The men in our building are all amazing fellows. You must succeed!"

"The time to demonstrate your gentlemanly demeanor has arrived. We hope you return in triumph to protect us frail women."

Naturally, the adult male residents were displeased.

Some of them were unmarried and living alone, while others were sharing apartments with friends.

It wasn't that they were completely incapable of risking their lives to fight criminals.

However, seeing the attitude of the female owners, who were clearly acting like entitled internet feminists and trying to frame risking their lives as a baseline duty for men, made them deeply resentful.

"Oh, absolutely not! In the past, you demanded women and children first for everything, but now that danger arrives, you expect us to go first. On what grounds?!"

"Now we're giving you the equality you always wanted—if we go, everyone goes."

"You talk a big game online, why don't you have the guts to go fight Chen Zhenghao yourselves?"

"It's not that I'm unwilling to risk my life, but I'll only do it to protect my own wife and children."

...

Seeing that the men refused to go deal with Chen Zhenghao, those female owners quickly changed their tune and began hurling insults.

"Are you even men? Isn't this precisely the occasion for you men to step up?"

"Expecting women to take risks, how can you even say that with a straight face?"

"You guys are so pathetic! Absolutely disgusting. I swear I'll never marry anyone like you in the future!"

...

The newly formed owner chat group, originally created to discuss how to deal with the risks posed by Chen Zhenghao, had somehow devolved into a bitter gender war over who should bear the burden of fighting him.

Zhang Yi watched the entire spectacle with utter speechlessness.

This plot played out exactly as it had in his past life.

And this was precisely why, even after Chen Zhenghao murdered half the people in the entire building in his previous life, he was still able to use a single gun to keep everyone completely submissive.

Until the moment they died, they only knew how to close their eyes in despair, not even daring to put up a tiny struggle.

Seeing this, Uncle You anxiously made an appeal in the group chat.

"Everyone, please stop arguing. Dealing with Chen Zhenghao is the most crucial issue right now."

There was a female owner living on the 7th floor of the unit named Liu Tiantian.

She had been the main driving force behind the gender war, a twenty-two-year-old newly graduated princess.

By now, both sides of the gender divide in the chat were blazing with anger, and Liu Tiantian would spray venom at any male who dared to speak.

Even when kind Uncle You spoke up, her fingers flew across her phone screen to type out a response.

"Uncle You, what kind of good guy are you pretending to be?! You were a soldier and you're so capable in a fight, you should be the absolute first one to charge in!"

"There are so many men in our building—if you just trade lives one-on-one with them, the rest of us will be safe!"

"In modern society, it's clearly us women who are more important. The only purpose of you men is to provide services to us women!"

"I hope all the pathetic loser men in this group remember that, and don't make me repeat myself!"