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Chapter 32: The Residents Unite

“Let me see.”

Shen Yi took Jiang Nanyan’s phone and scrolled through the group chat.

Then he opened the video.

The clip showed several naked men torturing a young woman.

Curses, screams, and pleas rang out, each more unbearable than the last.

In the same footage, a young man with a face swollen from beatings and chunks of flesh sliced from his body was tied to a chair and forced to watch his wife being violated.

Even worse, the thugs propped the newlyweds’ photo in front of the woman so she had to watch their marriage picture being defiled.

After watching, the residents in the chat fumed with righteous anger, some cursing the thugs as inhuman.

The thugs did not care; instead, they threatened everyone in the building.

They ordered the rest of the residents to come downstairs at once, warning that once they kicked the doors in every woman would meet the same fate.

Arrogant and vicious!

Lawless!

Yet this was the apocalypse.

Silence fell over the chat.

Every resident feared those thugs.

They were ordinary people, maybe a little wealthier than most, but none had ever witnessed such savage brutality.

Only after the thugs’ account was kicked from the group did messages start appearing again.

Resident 0501: “Those lunatics! Completely insane! They have no bottom line at all!”

Resident 0501: “Where are the police? Where did they all go? Why is no one answering 110? Can any of you get through?”

Resident 0201: “I can’t get through; I haven’t been able to for days.”

Resident 0901: “What do we do? Think of something fast! If those thugs rush upstairs we’re finished!”

Resident 1001: “Where’s property management? Get out here! And the security guards, where did they go? Come protect us! You take 4,000 to 5,000 a month and this is how you work?”

Resident 0901: “If my eyes didn’t deceive me, two of those thugs are security guards, still wearing their uniforms.”

Resident 1001: “Those sons of bitches take my money yet try to kill me! Damn it, when the police arrive I’m filing a complaint!”

Resident 1001: “And those bandits are all broke trash! Figures, the poorest people are always the least civilized… steal or rob, that’s all they know. Disgusting!”

Resident 1402: “Property management vanished long ago; after they dropped off supplies three days back we haven’t been able to reach them.”

Resident 0902: “What? How can we not reach them? My food and water are already gone. What now? Where do we get more?”

Resident 0801: “Upstairs, how did you eat so fast? The property office handed out three days of provisions to every household just the day before yesterday.”

Resident 0902: “I have a big family, and didn’t management promise deliveries every three days? Who knew they’d break their word? We’re out of food… what do we do?”

Resident 0801: “What else can you do but starve? It’s the end of the world; if you don’t ration food and still rely on others, that’s on you.”

Resident 0902: “0801, are you crazy? Did I offend you? I ate my own food, so what? Mind your own business!”

Resident 0501: “Can we stop arguing? Let’s figure out how to block the thugs downstairs first!”

Resident 1402: “I have a suggestion: each household sends one person, we unite and fight the thugs together. With numbers on our side they won’t dare face us head-on. Thoughts?”

Unit 1501: “Ah? But I’m the only one in my place, and I’m a woman…”

Resident 1502: “So what if you’re a woman? Equality of the sexes! Every household must send at least one person; otherwise, when the thugs break in, we won’t protect your place or any other freeloaders!”

Resident 1502: “If you want protection, unite! No excuses, no hitchhiking!”

Resident 1001: “Seconded!”

Resident 0801: “Then my place will send a man.”

Resident 1402: “Since everyone’s willing, let’s gather on the 18th floor. Bring weapons… baseball bats, golf clubs, anything that can serve as a weapon!”

Resident 1402: “An entire building of us can’t get bullied by six or seven people. We need to put them in their place!”

Resident 0501: “Great! I’m fired up! Let’s smash them and show them our power!”

The residents of Building 6 began organizing their counterattack.

To protect their families and themselves, even the most timid had to step forward.

The thugs were insane, and their gory video had frightened everyone.

The thugs had posted the video to intimidate the residents and force them to surrender.

But they forgot that even the most cowardly will fight desperately when their family and their own lives are on the line.

Thus the gruesome video backfired.

“No wonder this complex hasn’t collapsed; property management actually distributed supplies to every unit three days ago… pretty decent service,” Xu Wanting murmured.

She remembered that the school had run out of food on the second day, which had spawned the riots there.

Here, people still clung to a moral bottom line and even helped one another.

However, that was before.

Now the management had vanished, the three-day ration was about to run out, and with the thugs attacking, the final line might soon collapse.

Forget the rest of the residents.

Even Xu Wanting and Jiang Nanyan, who had Shen Yi’s protection, were shaken by the thugs’ cruelty.

That woman was so pitiful!

Thankfully they had made the right choice and followed Shen Yi.

Seeing the other woman’s misery, the two of them looked at Shen Yi with noticeably more reliance.

Although Shen Yi had threatened them with supplies, he had not treated them badly or abused them.

He gave them food and water every day and kept them safe.

He had even promised to help them gain superpowers!

Thinking it over, Shen Yi wasn’t merely decent to them; he was downright good to them.

With that thought, the two women subconsciously moved to Shen Yi’s side and began massaging his legs and feet of their own accord.

Serving Shen Yi properly was what they should be doing, not scheming against each other every day.

Jiang Nanyan and Xu Wanting exchanged a look and felt a faint sense of relief.

Xu Wanting no longer wanted to resent Jiang Nanyan.

After all, they were now practically family.

If Shen Yi ever left home they would still need to help each other.

Compared with the savage thugs outside, the hatred between them was nothing.

Jiang Nanyan also felt there was no need to hate Xu Wanting; although she had been tricked into coming, it now seemed a blessing.

Otherwise she would have starved already.

Or she would have been bullied by those boys in the classroom building.

At that thought, her resentment toward Xu Wanting slowly melted away.

“Which of you can cook steak?” Shen Yi asked suddenly while enjoying the two soft pairs of hands massaging him.

The two women froze, looked at each other, and began to stammer.

Obviously, neither of them could.

After all, before the apocalypse they had been pampered young ladies who had never lifted a finger in the kitchen.

“I… I can do it.”

A soft voice drifted over from the bedroom.

It was Bai Xinyi, cheeks flushed and walking a little gingerly.

By now she had also joined this little family.

“Good, then fry a few for dinner,” Shen Yi said, taking seven or eight steaks from the System Space.

Each one weighed about half a jin.

“Um, can we still pan-fry with the power out?” Xu Wanting asked uncertainly.

“Yes, we can. I just checked… there’s still gas,” Bai Xinyi replied.

She did not feel much hostility toward Xu Wanting.

After all, she had stolen Xu Wanting’s man…

Bai Xinyi actually felt somewhat embarrassed.

“O-okay.”

Xu Wanting felt awkward.

She knew nothing about kitchens.

She felt she had embarrassed herself in front of Shen Yi.

Would this lower Shen Yi’s opinion of her?

No, she couldn’t let that happen!

Seeing Bai Xinyi head into the kitchen, Xu Wanting hurried after her; she was going to learn to cook.

Jiang Nanyan knelt on the sofa and massaged Shen Yi’s thighs.

With the household in harmony, Shen Yi felt very satisfied.

There was enough pressure outside; at home he wanted to relax completely.

Especially since he had just killed someone today…

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