Just after entering the unit building, someone quickly noticed the dog, immediately salivating as if ready to tear into meat.

Kele’s fur bristled, baring its teeth and switching into attack mode, its dog eyes full of murderous intent.

Jiang Ning drew her knife. “Whoever wants to eat my dog, step forward.”

Everyone was shocked. When did the 18th floor start keeping a dog?

Beasts—they don’t even have enough food themselves, and the 18th floor actually dares to keep a dog?

Feeding their own food to a dog, but not giving any to them?

Anger quickly surged in their hearts.

“Nonsense, that’s a stray dog from outside,” someone sharp-eyed recognized Kele, “It often lies across the street from the community. I’ve seen it several times.”

“That’s right, I’ve seen it a few times too. Once it almost bit my kid.”

“Beat it up, and we’ll split the meat.”

Jiang Ning raised her knife and smashed the trash can beside the hallway into pieces. “If you want to eat meat, you have to ask my knife if it agrees.”

Thinking about how she chops people’s heads like slicing watermelon, everyone took a few steps back in fright.

Still, some were unwilling to give up. “Young lady, the dog isn’t even yours, you can’t be so overbearing.”

“It’s with me, so it’s mine.”

“Everyone has it tough. How about this: we kill it and give you half, and the rest we split among ourselves.”

Others nodded in agreement. “Good idea. Let her take the big share, and we just drink some soup.”

“I don’t like eating dog meat.” Jiang Ning sneered and swung her knife toward the man who made the proposal. “Your meat should be pretty good!”

“Ah…”

The man was so frightened he stumbled back and fell, an unknown liquid seeping through his pants.

Damn, she really dared to kill someone.

Luckily, she didn’t hit any vital organs, but his arm was cut and bleeding heavily.

Now, no matter how reluctant they were, no one dared ask for dog meat. They could only watch as she took the dog upstairs.

Just as she had pushed back those wanting to eat the dog, Yang Weicong went headfirst into trouble.

“Jiang Ning, you’re really cold-blooded!” He stormed out from his room, shouting angrily at her, “Are you satisfied now? A-Jian is dead!”

The others stood at the doorway, watching her sinisterly, clearly with no intention of stopping Yang Weicong.

Before Jiang Ning could speak, Kele suddenly leapt and bit Yang Weicong’s leg.

Yang Weicong was utterly unprepared, screaming painfully as he swung a stick toward the dog’s head.

Kele skillfully dodged, its dog eyes full of murderous intent.

This beast—calling it filthy and smelly was an understatement; it was full of lice. The person who scoops its poop even threw it into a dog meat restaurant.

It was because of this beast that Jiang Ning cut off its dog food and stopped paying attention to it afterward.

The dog held a grudge and lunged at him again.

Yang Weicong was terrified, wildly swinging the stick.

Jiang Ning slashed with her knife, forcing him back several steps.

“A-Ning, you hit me over a dog?” Yang Weicong was very angry, his disheveled face twisted and ferocious. “Are you crazy? It’s just a dog.”

“It’s a dog. You’re not even human.”

“You killed A-Jian and still have the nerve to say that?”

People like him have truly baffling logic. Jiang Ning couldn’t help but laugh, “Did I cut A-Jian?”

Yang Weicong was speechless.

“Did I refuse to send him to the hospital and just watch him die?”

Yang Weicong’s face turned ugly. “If you hadn’t been cold-blooded and refused to help, refused to lend us money…”

“Have some shame, okay?” Jiang Ning looked at them coldly. “If I were you, and if you still had any guts left, you’d take your knives and go after the person who hurt A-Jian. Kill one for revenge, kill two and profit.

But you’re all cowards. You don’t dare come for revenge, yet you blame his death on me. You pick on women like me. Is freeloading so delicious?”

“Who—who the hell’s freeloading?”

“How much freeloading do you think you do, huh?”

Jiang Ning mocked them. “And who gave you the guts to jump around in front of me like this?”

After speaking, she stabbed Yang Weicong’s thigh with her knife.

Yang Weicong screamed and fell to the ground. The others hurried to help him up.

“Jiang Ning, let’s talk nicely. You’ve gone too far.”

Jiang Ning walked upstairs. “This time it’s the leg. Next time, it’ll be the heart. Cherish your chance to live.”

No one dared rush up; their faces were full of hatred.

Su Mengyao, who had just had her hair shaved, stood behind the door, so angry her nose was crooked. A bunch of useless trash!

When Jiang Ning got to the 17th floor, she was shocked by what she saw.

The door at the stairwell was covered with hedgehogs.

More precisely, countless iron nails were welded to the door, with their pointed ends facing outward.

Not just one door — all three doors were like this.

No one, not even rats, could get in.

Three men and one woman were busy welding, sparks flying and flashing brightly.

Seeing her arrive, Zhang Chao lifted his protective mask. “A-Ning, check out our fortress.”

When they found materials, they discovered welding acetylene in the building and brought back rebar and nails, turning the 18th floor into an impregnable fortress so they could sleep peacefully at night instead of constantly fearing intruders.

Regarding Zhang Chao and Lu Yu’s creativity, Jiang Ning could only give a thumbs up.

Rumors were that the 18th floor had supplies; without Yang Weicong and Su Mengyao’s help, that wouldn’t be possible.

Better to have a strong protective shell than live in constant fear.

Three cobblers with their wits combined might equal a Zhuge Liang—perhaps that was the power of their team.

Jiang Ning was quite pleased. At least she hadn’t thought of this idea herself.

“Wow, you brought a dog back?” Zhang Chao’s eyes lit up, excited. “Lu Yu, tonight we have dog meat stew.”

Kele decisively turned around, tired, no longer wanting affection, and walked away.

Jiang Ning squatted down and comforted her, then shouted at Zhang Chao, “This is my dog. If you dare touch a single hair, I’ll stew you first.”

“When did you start keeping a dog?” Zhang Chao was surprised. “It looks like a stray dog.”

“Isn’t it the stray dog at the community gate?” Lu Yu thought it looked familiar. “A-Ning often fed it before.”

“It saved my life before,” Jiang Ning said seriously, putting it bluntly. “I brought it back not for you to eat. If any of you dare mess with it, I won’t be polite.”

They had searched the office building for yak jerky, sausages, and ham sausages. Zhang Chao and the others rationed their meat but weren’t especially greedy. In this harsh environment, many people had slaughtered their pets to eat—who would waste precious food on a dog?

Food is life-saving; so many people starve to death every day.

Not just Zhang Chao and Lu Yu, even Zheng Weili couldn’t understand.

However, Huo Yishen made a surprising remark: “This Belgian Malinois is in good shape. If trained well, it could handle two or three adults at once.”

“You do have an eye for things,” Jiang Ning looked at him with respect. “It was surrounded by seven or eight people outside just now but didn’t let them get a single advantage. It even overturned a rubber raft.”

Weakling Lu Yu: “…”

Weakling Zhang Chao: “…”