Chapter 26: Better to Be Feared Than Bullied

After a battle, how could they not collect the spoils?

Once the bodies were dealt with, they left Ye Xiaojie behind to watch the place, while everyone else headed downstairs to bring up the intruders’ supplies.

To their surprise, several groups had entered the building since last night, but only the 11th floor was guarded.

When they stormed the 11th floor, Xia Xiaoman and the others finally understood what had happened.

This group had arrived in the neighborhood around 8 or 9 in the morning. They fought their way up, subduing everyone who had entered the building earlier, and stopped at the 11th floor.

The original residents of the 11th floor had fought a brutal battle against the people on the 10th floor the day before. Though they wiped out the 10th-floor group, they were severely injured themselves. So when the new intruders arrived, they didn’t have time to resist and were quickly tied up.

Seeing all the supplies on the 11th floor, the invaders decided to make it their base and kept the captives there.

When Xia Xiaoman and her group burst in, the guards on the 11th floor had just taken turns abusing a young woman.

Seeing the girl lying there like a broken doll, Xia Xiaoman flew into a rage and immediately swung her axe into the man’s face.

Sun Qing, also furious, ignored her injured hand and smashed her fist into the man’s nose, sending blood everywhere.

Wen Jianfeng, a father himself, couldn’t bear the sight. He kicked the man down, grabbed him by the hair, and slammed his head against the floor until he was a bloody mess.

Su Ran, knowing her combat skills weren’t great, stayed off to the side knocking enemies out from behind.

Amid the chaos, Xiao Zheyu took off his shirt and covered the abused girl, then picked up a stick and started pounding a man Sun Qing had kicked down.

There weren’t many guards on the 11th floor, and within ten minutes, they were all either unconscious or dead.

“Can you move?” Xia Xiaoman asked the bruised captives with a cold expression. “Sort out which of these supplies are yours and put them aside. If you don’t, I’ll take everything.”

Even the most injured among them could move when their own supplies were at stake.

The hostages timidly began picking out one or two items, and when they realized Xia Xiaoman’s group wasn’t stopping them, they got bolder—eventually even fighting among themselves over the items.

Xia Xiaoman stood guard at the stairwell door, spinning her axe in her hand. The others didn’t know what she was up to, but still stood behind her in support.

When the captives had finished sorting their items, Xia Xiaoman walked over to a young couple.

“You two can take one-third of these supplies,” she said.

The man looked indignant and was about to speak, but the woman stopped him. “Why only a third?” she asked calmly.

Xia Xiaoman explained patiently: “If it weren’t for us, you and your boyfriend would be dead. Two lives. Split the supplies into three portions—I take two. That’s fair, right?”

The woman nodded and tugged on her boyfriend’s shirt, quietly picking up their share and leaving.

Next was a family of four. Xia Xiaoman tossed them a five-pack of instant noodles. “Take this and scram.”

The older woman was upset. “Hey, how can you do this? That’s all you’re giving us when we had so many supplies?”

Xia Xiaoman’s face turned cold. “Do I look blind to you? You only picked the good stuff—rice, canned food, no toiletries. What, you eat with your hands?”

She raised her axe. “One more word and I’ll make you crawl.”

The old woman wouldn’t back down. “The toiletries were downstairs! These are the only things they stole from us. Believe it or not!”

Xia Xiaoman didn’t argue. She snatched back the noodles and smashed her axe into the woman’s elbow. The woman let out a pig-like scream.

Her husband and kids rushed at Xia Xiaoman but were swiftly kicked away by Sun Qing and Wen Jianfeng.

After being beaten down, the family of four slinked off. Of the two remaining families, one quietly accepted the quarter-share Xia Xiaoman gave them. The other didn’t take anything.

“Our supplies weren’t much to begin with,” said the mother of the girl who had been abused. “You saved my daughter. These supplies should go to you.”

Xia Xiaoman didn’t take them. A few packs of noodles—they needed them more.

The mother thanked her quietly, helped her daughter get dressed, and left.

“Wait.” Xiao Zheyu picked up a bloody knife and handed it to the mother. “For protection.”

The woman thanked him again and disappeared with her daughter into the stairwell.

Xiao Zheyu stared blankly after them.

“What are you looking at?” Sun Qing smacked his arm. “Still thinking about that girl?”

Startled, Xiao Zheyu’s face flushed red. “What nonsense! I was just thinking about my mom when I saw that auntie.”

Sun Qing smirked. “Then go see her. In a few days I’ll take you to find the rescue team—they can get you home.”

“No need.” Xiao Zheyu dropped the subject and quietly sorted supplies.

Once everything was packed up, they left a portion of goods for the original 11th-floor neighbors—not out of kindness, but laziness.

The hotels in Floating City were already packed with survivors assigned by the government.

Some people whose homes were uninhabitable had moved into tall buildings like this one.

Given how visible and vacant the Morning Sun Complex was, others would surely come. If they killed or drove out the remaining 11th-floor residents, more strangers would just take their place. Better to leave the injured behind—those people had seen what they were capable of and wouldn’t dare cause trouble. A fresh batch of newcomers would just be more headaches.

…

The security door was wrecked and couldn’t be repaired without tools.

After a brief discussion, they moved up to the 15th floor to put some distance between themselves and the others.

Xiao Zheyu and Su Ran shamelessly followed.

Xiao Zheyu buttered up Zhou Qiuyang nonstop—calling him “brother” over and over—until Zhou agreed to let him move into 1501 and brought Su Ran along too.

That night passed peacefully, though two more families entered the building.

Perhaps they’d heard of Xia Xiaoman’s deeds—when they saw her group downstairs, they hid in their homes, too scared to come out.

Better to be feared than bullied.

Xia Xiaoman and the others were very satisfied with this response. This was exactly the effect they wanted—otherwise, they wouldn’t even be able to go out to scavenge.

With two new free laborers in the group, Xia Xiaoman and Wen Jianfeng took Xiao Zheyu and Su Ran out early in the morning to collect more supplies.

This time, the target location was close—just at the far end of the street opposite their complex.