Chapter 43 She Panics

After Chen Zhenghao killed the resident of Room 301, the atmosphere throughout the entire apartment building became intensely suffocating.

In the previous main chat group, no one dared to speak a single word anymore.

Chen Zhenghao seemed to realize that everyone had secretly bypassed him to create a new homeowners' group.

However, such actions were fundamentally impossible to stop.

He could only resort to various threats and false promises within the group chat.

"The situation is so difficult right now, and everyone is just trying to survive. None of us wants to kill people."

"If that punk in 301 hadn't tried to attack my men first, I wouldn't have accidentally killed him. After all, I am no monster!"

"I hope we can all live together in harmony from now on, and lend us some food when we are in need."

"As long as you obediently cooperate, I guarantee that everyone will be safe and sound."

The moment these words were spoken, quite a few people actually let down their guard.

Some even began to think that perhaps, just as Chen Zhenghao claimed, the resident of Room 301 had brought death upon himself by throwing the first punch.

Stockholm syndrome was precisely the term to describe such people.

Amidst the despair of death, as long as the perpetrator showed them the slightest hint of kindness, they would be filled with boundless gratitude.

Zhang Yi remained aloof like a detached spectator, watching coldly without offering any comments or participation.

Yet deep inside, his wariness toward Chen Zhenghao increased by a notch.

Although his home was fortified to the absolute maximum, and Chen Zhenghao along with his pathetic crew and their battered firearm stood no chance of breaking in,

in this apocalyptic era, a little extra caution could never go wrong.

"If he ever truly provokes me, I'll just find a chance and wipe him out!"

Zhang Yi muttered indifferently.

...

This brief semblance of peace was shattered the very next day.

Although every household was terrified of Chen Zhenghao and dared not step outside, they would surely starve to death if they did not head downstairs to chisel ice for water.

Thus, some individuals still quietly unlocked their doors, intending to sneak down and dig for snow when no one was paying attention.

As a result, they were caught red-handed by the scouts stationed by Chen Zhenghao.

The supplies looted on the first day had already been completely devoured by the starving thugs.

With bloodshot eyes, they now regarded every single resident in the entire building as their prey.

Anyone they caught would receive no mercy whatsoever; everything they owned would be looted clean!

In the new chat group, urgent cries for help suddenly rang out.

Zhang Yi opened the group chat and immediately found it amusing.

The person crying for help was none other than Liu Tiantian, who lived on the seventh floor.

Chen Zhenghao lived on the sixth floor, right below her.

Consequently, early this morning, thinking she could take advantage of the dim light to secretly sneak down and dig for snow and water, she was caught in the act.

Living alone, her living quarters required virtually no effort to ransack.

Besides, she had already been targeted by Chen Zhenghao and his crew.

Having been locked down for nearly half a month, Chen Zhenghao and his bunch of low-level thugs were suffocating with frustration and eager to find a woman to vent their desires on.

Liu Tiantian was not particularly pretty, but she was relatively young and had a decent figure.

Given their limited options, they were no longer in a position to be picky.

Hence, that gang of thugs grabbed wrenches and iron pipes, rushing upstairs with wide grins.

Panic-stricken, Liu Tiantian slammed her apartment door shut, and in her utter despair, she thought of calling out to her neighbors for help.

"Wuwuwu, please, someone come and save me! They are smashing my door down! I beg you all, they're going to kill me!"

"Uncle You! @Uncle You, please save me! Aren't you a retired soldier? They definitely can't beat you!"

"You simply cannot trust these people, they are too vicious! Everyone needs to unite!"

"If anything happens to me, you lot will be next in line!"

Liu Tiantian sent a flurry of panicked voice messages into the group chat, her voice choked with sobs.

She certainly didn't sound like this yesterday when she was acting so domineering in the chat, viciously chewing out all the male homeowners.

Uncle You replied, "Liss, this situation came too suddenly. Even I alone cannot handle so many of them!"

Kind-hearted as Uncle You was, he wasn't about to throw his life away for nothing.

Chen Zhenghao had five or six men under his command, not to mention a gun; even a former soldier stood no chance against such odds.

Had everyone reached a consensus yesterday to form a security patrol team, there might have been a glimmer of hope to scare them off.

Reading Uncle You's response, Liu Tiantian felt her heart turn completely ice-cold.

Weeping bitterly, she wrote, "How can you people be like this?! Can't you even protect a weak woman like me? What kind of men are you?!"

"Wuwuwu! If I die, I will turn into a vengeful ghost and never let any of you go!"

While some people initially felt a shred of sympathy for her, discovering her shameless attempt at moral blackmail instantly ignited their fury.

Combined with the fact that Liu Tiantian had berated all the males in the building just yesterday, everyone was now ready to settle old scores and new grievances together.

"Oh, absolutely, absolutely. We're all useless trash. Since you're such a badass princess, surely you don't need our help, right?"

"Haha, go on and use your feminist martial arts on them, beat those guys up!"

"Didn't you have a lot to say yesterday? I thought you were so tough, but look at you now, still begging us to rescue you."

"You might as well just drop dead. With one of you dead, countless families will live in happiness!"

The chat group was filled with cheerful laughter.

Not only did nobody feel any sympathy for the desperate plight Liu Tiantian was facing, but they also took a sort of malicious pleasure in it.

After all, as long as Liu Tiantian's home was raided, it meant they would at least remain safe for the time being.

Seeing these chilling taunts and mockeries, Liu Tiantian plunged into total despair.

She turned to plead with the female homeowners for rescue.

However, the replies from the female residents were remarkably uniform.

"We're all sisters here, but there's really nothing we can do facing a situation like this."

"Stay strong, sister! You can make it! I'm supporting you in spirit."

"You better hold out, otherwise if they break your door down, who knows what they might do to you!"

"Exactly, with so many of them, they're going to completely ruin you."

While some offered perfunctory comfort, others derived a perverse pleasure from terrifying Liu Tiantian.

After all, human joys and sorrows were not mutually shared; prolonged isolation and the constant threat of death had already begun to warp the minds of many.

More and more people joined the group chat, but the nature of the conversation had completely degraded.

"Little sister, even if you die, you should drag someone down with you. At least consider it doing a service for the public!"

"That's right, your place is getting looted anyway, and you probably won't survive. You might as well pull someone down to hell with you before you go."

Trembling with rage, Liu Tiantian was about to type something else when her apartment door was kicked open with a loud *bang!*

Inside his secure fortress, Zhang Yi watched the surveillance monitor as Liu Tiantian let out a piercing scream before being grabbed by her legs and dragged out by several thugs.

"The weather outside is freezing cold, yet they still refuse to skip their workouts. Your guys' energy levels are truly through the roof!"

Zhang Yi muttered with a trace of sarcasm.

Yet, it made a certain kind of sense. Under the current circumstances, no living soul knew when their time would come.

And when confronted with impending mortality, living organisms instinctively sought first and foremost to pass on their genetic material.

Zhang Yi took a bite of a chocolate bar and remarked to the surveillance screen, "At this temperature, leaving even an inch of skin exposed is a life-threatening hazard, you know!"