Watching the crowd outside still chattering and discussing countermeasures.
This time, Zhang Yi didn't bother aiming.
They were just neighbors with average relationships. Killing them was no big deal; even if they didn't die immediately, they'd be dead in a few days from infection anyway.
Since it was indiscriminate killing, Zhang Yi's speed increased.
With one hand, he swiftly reloaded his crossbow, then drew the bowstring!
"Whoosh!"
A sharp sound sliced through the air, followed by a scream.
A man clutched his neck, his eyes filled with terror as he slowly collapsed to the ground.
The others looked over and saw a rusty crossbow bolt lodged in his neck!
"He has a weapon! Watch out!"
The crowd screamed in fear and scrambled to disperse.
But there wasn't much space in the corridor, and with over a hundred people packed together, it was impossible to move quickly.
In their panic, the crowd tripped over each other, creating a chaotic pile of bodies.
Zhang Yi didn't care about that; he focused on doing two things: reloading and shooting!
The power of a professional crossbow, combined with tetanus-tipped arrows, meant that once hit, survival was almost impossible.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
The sharp sound of arrows cutting through the air, like a deadly chant, filled each neighbor with dread.
Screams echoed continuously, and those struck by the arrows bled profusely, collapsing on the spot.
This only increased the terror, and people desperately pushed towards the stairwell.
Some who had fallen were trampled before they could even get up.
Screams filled the air.
Chen Zhenghao, holding a gun, blocked the stairwell and pointed it at the fleeing crowd.
"What are you afraid of? He's just one person! Get him!"
Chen Zhenghao's cold eyes and the black barrel of his gun made the crowd hesitate.
His plan was to use them as cannon fodder to exhaust Zhang Yi's defenses, so he wasn't going to let them escape.
Meanwhile, Sun Zhichao and the others, determined to survive, had already kept their distance and avoided being shot.
Zhang Yi fired dozens of crossbow bolts, and in such a densely packed crowd, almost none missed their target.
This meant that at least dozens of people wouldn't survive much longer.
But even in desperate situations, human potential is strong.
Someone quickly discovered the position of the shooting hole and said, "There's a hole above the door! He's shooting from there. Just block it!"
Immediately, someone raised a mop and a broom, blocking the hole above the door.
Others tried throwing things into Zhang Yi's room.
Zhang Yi calmly closed the iron door behind the shooting hole, locking it securely.
This door could only be opened from the inside; it was impenetrable from the outside.
With that, Zhang Yi had effectively neutralized dozens of attackers.
Once the neighbors realized Zhang Yi couldn't shoot anymore, they snapped out of their terror.
The corridor was in disarray, with many people lying on the ground, arrows stuck in their bodies, their injuries varying in severity.
Three people had been shot in the neck or head and had already died.
But when the neighbors saw the rusty tetanus-laced arrows, their hearts sank.
They knew that anyone hit by those arrows had little chance of survival.
Some who had lost loved ones cried out in grief, cursing Zhang Yi loudly.
"Zhang Yi, you filthy dog! You're despicable!"
"Come out! If you've got guts, come out and face me one-on-one!"
"You murderer! I'm going to kill you!"
"Zhang Yi! I swear I'll kill you!"
...
But the only response to their angry shouts was the blasting music from inside Zhang Yi's room.
"Only after love is lost do we understand how deep it runs."
"Only after it's gone do we know what's truly precious."
...
Outside, curses echoed continuously, while inside, the upbeat music kept playing. It felt like Zhang Yi was mocking everyone.
And in truth, he was.
After firing dozens of crossbow bolts, Zhang Yi's arms were a bit sore. He went to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of cola from the fridge, and gulped it down.
"Ah! Refreshing!"
Zhang Yi returned to his monitors, keeping an eye on the crowd's movements outside.
At this point, seeing that Zhang Yi's door was impregnable, the neighbors grew anxious and desperate.
"What do we do now?"
Just then, Sun Zhichao shouted, "Don't panic! I have an idea!"
The crowd turned toward him as he limped over, clutching his wounded leg.
He pointed at Zhang Yi's wall and said with a grin, "Their door's made of alloy, so we can't break it down. But isn't that wall just brick and cement? I bet we can break through that!"
Hearing this, the crowd's eyes lit up with understanding.
"Yeah, why didn't I think of that?"
"If we can't get through the door, we can just break down the wall!"
"There are so many of us. It won't take long to smash through the wall."
"Haha, Zhang Yi, you filthy dog! Bet you didn't expect us to figure this out!"
Inside, Zhang Yi noticed the sudden cheers from the neighbors and raised an eyebrow.
The music was too loud for him to hear what they were saying.
But Zhang Yi wasn't worried; he decided to watch and see what would happen.
No matter what tactics they used, he wasn't afraid—he had more than they did.
It had taken him a month of hard work and effort to build this impenetrable fortress.
If they could break through it easily, then Zhang Yi figured he deserved to die.
The neighbors were all equipped with tools.
So, soon enough, they lined up in front of Zhang Yi's outer wall, swinging hammers and axes, pounding away!
"BANG!!"
A burly man used all his strength to smash a hammer against the wall.
Cracks immediately appeared, and white plaster crumbled to the floor.
Seeing this, the crowd's eyes filled with excitement, thinking they'd found a weak spot in Zhang Yi's defenses.
They attacked with renewed vigor.
But when the burly man swung his hammer for the second time, a metallic clang suddenly rang out.
"CLANG!"
At the same time, the man let out a scream, and his hammer clattered to the ground.
He stumbled back a few steps before collapsing. When the others looked, they saw long gashes on his hands, with blood flowing out and quickly freezing in the cold, making the scene even more gruesome.
"What's going on?"
The crowd was baffled. What kind of wall could withstand the force of a sledgehammer?
Someone walked over, swept away the remaining plaster, and nearly dropped his jaw in shock at what he saw.
"This... this wall is made of steel too!"
Everyone was shocked and came over to take a look.
Sure enough, after peeling away the outer layer of white plaster, they uncovered a thick layer of black metal behind it.
The material was exactly the same as the door.
One person couldn't help but shout to the sky, "Why is it like this! Who builds their house with steel walls!"
"I don't believe the whole house is made of iron!"
Unable to bear the despair any longer, someone picked up a hammer and started banging on other parts of the wall.
Several people joined in, hoping to find a weakness in the walls.
But no matter where they tried, they found the same solid, thick steel walls!
Inside the living room, Zhang Yi sneered in disdain.
"You think I wouldn't have thought of the same things you're thinking now?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but even the walls of my house are made from 20 cm of solid steel."
"Not even a bomb could break through, so why would I be afraid of your puny hammers and axes?"
Zhang Yi's greatest asset was his fear of death, so he had thought through and resolved every possible problem.
When he had inspected the house, he had personally checked every inch, tapping it with a hammer before he was satisfied.
After all, the trauma of being overrun and devoured in his past life was too great, and there was no way he wanted to experience that again.
The banging outside continued, but Zhang Yi found it too noisy, so he activated the room's noise-cancelling function.
This was designed to prevent people outside from using sound to attack him.
After about twenty minutes, the banging finally stopped.
The residents of the building stared blankly at the metal wall in front of them, their hearts colder than the snow outside.
It was like a merciless fortress, cutting off any hope they had of obtaining supplies.
"How could this happen? Why would anyone build a house like this?"
Someone held their face, crying out in despair.
Zhang Yi's neighbors, a young couple, said sadly, "We knew they were renovating, but we never imagined it would be like this."
There probably weren't many normal people in the world who would build a house like this!
Sun Zhichao, Zhou Peng, and Ge Jialiang's eyes were bloodshot.
If the entire apartment couldn't break into Zhang Yi's home today, they would all be left to die!
Sun Zhichao bit his lip so hard that it bled, but he didn't notice.
"Zhang Yi, he knew about the snowstorm long ago! Everything he did was to defend against us!"
Sun Zhichao pointed at Zhang Yi's house, shouting in rage.
The neighbors glanced at him, crying and cursing Zhang Yi in their misery.
"Zhang Yi, you despicable scoundrel! Only caring about your own survival without considering any of us!"
"If we all die, what's the point of you living alone? If you're the last person in the world, won't you feel lonely?"
"One day, you'll be consumed by regret and guilt for not warning us and not helping us!"
"How can you sleep at night? Don't you feel guilty?"
Some people, seeing they had no way to deal with Zhang Yi, began to comfort themselves with the mindset of A-Q.
Hmph, one day karma will get you, Zhang Yi!
If we die because of you, you'll definitely live with a guilty conscience and suffer endlessly!
Little did they know how happy Zhang Yi was living inside his house.
And why would he care about these neighbors, who were little more than familiar strangers?
Chen Zhenghao had been standing in the back, supervising with his gun.
Now, seeing the all-metal wall, he too realized the gravity of the situation.
At this point, he had lost interest in the others and only wanted to take Zhang Yi's house!
"What's the rush? This is just the beginning!"
"Even if all the walls are made of iron, what about the ceiling? Or the floor?"
"I refuse to believe he's turned his house into a metal box!"
Chen Zhenghao coldly said to everyone.
Zhang Yi, hearing this through his surveillance system, nodded approvingly.
"This guy's got a sharp mind."
Then he sighed and shook his head, "But too bad, I'm not an idiot."
The neighbors, hearing Chen Zhenghao's words, rushed to the floors above and below Zhang Yi's house.
They used hammers to smash, axes to hack, chisels to dig, and sticks to hit!
In short, they used every possible method they could think of.
They were only 20 centimeters away from their last hope of survival.
Their goal was to break through those 20 centimeters!
But soon, they fell into even deeper despair.
They discovered that Zhang Yi's home was indeed a metal box!
Up, down, left, right—there wasn't a single angle that wasn't sealed with thick steel plates!
In this powerless environment, without electric saws or drills, they'd have to chisel away for a year without eating or drinking just to break through these walls!