Huo Yishen now had a nail gun in his hand—an upgraded, modified one at that.

The inflatable assault boat deflated at a visible speed. The tattooed men screamed in panic, several of them losing their footing and falling into the water.

The current was fast—two of them were swept away almost instantly.

Some tried swimming toward Jiang Ning and the others, but she grabbed a wooden stick and smashed it over their heads.

“Ah! You crazy woman, are you trying to die?!”

“Help! I can’t swim…”

Huo Yishen didn’t just shoot at the boat—he fired at the tattooed men without hesitation. Their cries of pain rang out as the deflating assault boat took on water, dumping everyone into the flood.

Jiang Ning struck their heads without mercy like she was playing Whack-a-Mole, cracking skulls open with each blow.

These scum were everywhere—looting, burning, and killing with no regard for humanity. Killing them now might mean giving someone else a chance to live.

In the chaos, one of the bald thugs grabbed her stick and swam toward her with murderous rage.

Jiang Ning pulled him in with a burst of strength and slashed with a sharp knife without hesitation.

With a scream and a spray of blood, the man lost his grip from the pain and was immediately swept away by the floodwaters.

Lu Yu was completely stunned, frozen like a statue.

He knew Jiang Ning could fight—he and Zhang Chao had lost to her together—but he hadn’t expected her to be so ruthless, chopping heads like she was slicing melons.

The tattooed gang was completely swallowed by the raging current. The world around them was awash with rain—everything was scrubbed clean.

After a short rest, Huo Yishen dove back into the water.

One person lifted, two others helped carry—despite the storm and flood, they worked together in full coordination.

They were lucky. In total, they found twelve liquefied gas canisters—enough to last a long time if divided evenly.

The real surprise was that Unit 1801 had also recovered three double-burner gas stoves from the gas station.

They had been soaked for a while, and it was unclear whether they still worked—but they took them back anyway.

The gas canisters were bulky, and although the assault boat could barely fit them, the round shape made them prone to rolling into the water with any jolt.

Jiang Ning took out a rubber dinghy from her large backpack, inflated it, and tied it securely to the assault boat. She moved half the gas canisters onto it and used rope to fix them in place.

Exhausted, she pulled out six chocolate bars and shared them with the other two to restore energy.

Once they had recovered a bit, they started heading back.

Huo Yishen and Lu Yu were at the front in the assault boat, while Jiang Ning rode the rubber dinghy.

Finding the canisters was hard enough, but getting them home safely was even harder—anyone would be tempted by that much fuel.

And of course, what they feared most happened—they ran into others out scavenging for supplies. When those people saw how many gas canisters they had, their eyes practically glowed green with envy.

Fortunately, those people only had regular inflatable boats and couldn’t catch up no matter how hard they tried.

In the urban area, they almost ran into a dragon boat full of twenty men, but Jiang Ning had anticipated trouble and used binoculars to scout ahead. She had Unit 1801 change course just in time.

They finally made it back to Jinrong Community. Not only did 1801 not slow down—they even sped up and drifted smoothly right to the building’s entrance.

Lu Yu got thrown out and landed in the water. “…Wife, save me!”

At the window, Zheng Weili was already waiting.

The four of them quickly carried the gas canisters inside. Some neighbors opened their doors at the noise, but knowing everyone on the 18th floor was practically a devil, they didn’t dare act on their envy.

As they were carrying the canisters upstairs, they ran into an elderly woman.

“Young lady, where did you get those gas canisters?”

“Fished them up from underwater,” Jiang Ning replied honestly. “If you’re capable, you can try too.”

Hopefully more people would go hunt for supplies instead of always eyeing the limited resources on the 18th floor.

After four trips, they finally moved everything inside.

Zheng Weili pulled Jiang Ning aside. “Lu Yu told me Huo Yishen was the one who salvaged all this, and he also provided the assault boat and fuel. How should we divide it?”

Jiang Ning thought for a moment. “I suggest we split it evenly.”

“But wouldn’t that shortchange him?”

“He did contribute the boat and gas, yes—but without Lu Yu and me, he wouldn’t have been able to retrieve anything on his own. And don’t forget to count yourself—if you hadn’t stayed behind to watch the house and take care of his sister, someone might have broken in the moment we left.”

Zheng Weili realized she had a point. “You always think things through. But will he agree?”

“We’ll ask. If he thinks he deserves a larger share, we can discuss what’s reasonable.”

Jiang Ning wasn’t being greedy—she didn’t lack gas canisters in her space. But teamwork could never be perfectly fair.

Huo Yishen had indeed done more this time. If he asked for two or three more canisters, it’d be fine. But what if he asked for seven or eight?

If they said no, he’d be upset. If they said yes, they’d be uncomfortable.

And next time, when she and Unit 1803 contributed more—how would they calculate then?

Everyone’s idea of fairness was different. If things weren’t settled early on, conflict was inevitable.

Jiang Ning didn’t want to sour relations with her neighbors—better to see where Huo Yishen stood.

If they were aligned, they’d stick together. If not, they’d part ways.

Zheng Weili nodded. “If he’s reasonable, we’ll keep working together. If he makes outrageous demands, we’ll just look for supplies on our own and stay on polite terms.”

Once they’d reached a decision, they walked out into the hallway.

Jiang Ning looked at Huo Yishen. “How do you think we should divide these?”

Huo Yishen glanced at her. “Even split among the three households—what do you think?”

Zheng Weili and Lu Yu had no objections, so each household got four gas canisters—enough to last a whole year if used wisely.

Doudou woke up from the noise and ran barefoot from Unit 1803, leaping joyfully into Huo Yishen’s arms. “Brother!”

Her clothes were still wet. Huo Yishen stepped back and patted her head. “Have you been good?”

“Yes!” Doudou looked up at him with sparkling eyes. “I listened to Sister Weili!”

Then she threw herself at Jiang Ning. “Sister, I want to see the bunny!”

Jiang Ning smiled and opened her door to let her in.

After changing into dry clothes, drinking red date ginger tea, and warming up, Doudou lay on the couch to rest.

Toward evening, He Zhian knocked on the stairwell door, smiling as he returned the rubber dinghy. “Thanks for the tip, Miss Jiang. We found a few dinghies just in time.”

Jiang Ning didn’t reply and continued inspecting the boat.

Seeing she didn’t respond, He Zhian laughed awkwardly. “I heard you fished up a lot of gas canisters. Where did you get them?”

“From the water.”

“Which area?”

“The gas station.”

He Zhian chuckled. “Any more left?”

Jiang Ning glanced at him. “Why don’t you just ask me to give you one?”

“Come on, Miss Jiang, I was just asking.” He adjusted his glasses. “Anyway, thanks again. If you ever need anything, feel free to come find us.”

“As long as you don’t cause trouble, everything will be fine.”

Tired of the chaos downstairs and worried about Zheng Weili’s safety, Jiang Ning knocked on 1801’s door. “I have a spare stainless steel door. Want to install it?”

Huo Yishen had no objection. A few people helped out and quickly set it up.

With the curtains drawn and the solar light on, Jiang Ning brought out salt-and-pepper shrimp, skewers, stir-fried rice noodles, and beer—time to reward herself.

She left one gas canister in the kitchen for show, but planned to cook using the mobile power unit. The rest she’d save for when conditions worsened.

She had tested it: all power units could be recharged quickly in her space—truly a godsend.

She continued sorting the supplies she’d looted from the supermarket, working late into the night before finally going to bed.

Today had been exhausting—but fulfilling.

Her space had plenty of supplies, but she still needed to grow stronger and gain survival experience if she wanted to make it through harsher disasters ahead.

The next day, the outside world grew livelier.

There were clearly more assault boats and dinghies on the street than the day before.

Whether people were chasing profit or just trying to survive, many had started venturing out in masks, looking for trouble. With no internet and no surveillance, their darkest instincts had been fully unleashed.

The noise was endless—chaotic shouting, ghostly wails… and gunshots?

Gunshots?

Jiang Ning perked up her ears—she hadn’t misheard.

Returning residents whispered among themselves, “Someone was killed. The soldiers shot someone.”