Zhang Yi told Zhou Ke'er what had just happened.
"It was done by those workers from Building 26!"
"There's a newly developed neighborhood nearby, so quite a few workers rented rooms around here."
Zhou Ke'er was curious, "Our complex is considered mid-to-high-end. Can they really afford to live here?"
Zhang Yi replied, "There are ten people living in a single room. How expensive do you think that is?"
Zhou Ke'er made an "Oh" sound and nodded.
Then she showed a serious expression.
"That means they're actually more dangerous than Chen Zhenghao!"
Zhang Yi nodded in agreement.
"Chen Zhenghao is just a thug. In the past, during peaceful times, ordinary people were afraid to cause trouble, so they feared him."
"But now, with everyone's lives hanging by a thread, if he didn't have a gun, he would've been beaten to death already."
"But those workers are different. They do manual labor every day, so their physical strength far surpasses ordinary people, and they're much fiercer in a fight."
"Plus, they all know each other, and there are many of them. Whatever they want to do, it's easy."
Zhang Yi took a deep breath and sighed, "Luckily, I killed that fat guy who played with explosives yesterday. Otherwise, I wouldn't sleep well at night."
Zhou Ke'er asked, "So what do we do next? Should we take revenge on them?"
Zhang Yi's brows furrowed sharply, "Of course we'll take revenge!"
"But I'm not going over there. It's too unwise to go to their territory. Look at them, didn't I already kill more than half of them?"
Zhou Ke'er said speechlessly, "But you have a gun!"
"Even with a gun, it's not worth it!" Zhang Yi said confidently, "Even if I kill them all, if I get hit by a shovel once, I'd feel it's a huge loss."
Zhou Ke'er rolled her eyes, "You're too… cautious! But if you don't go out to find them, how will you get revenge? They don't seem like the kind of people who fear death. They act like desperados!"
After all, what normal person would play with explosives inside an apartment building?
One wrong move, and they could bury themselves alive.
Zhang Yi rubbed his chin, and an idea came to mind.
"It seems that if I want to live in peace from now on, I'll need to find some people to act as cannon fodder."
Zhang Yi thought for a moment, then picked up his phone and opened the residents' group chat for Building 25.
At this moment, due to the recent explosion, all the neighbors had been scared awake, and the chat was in chaos.
"What was that noise just now? An earthquake? Or was there a bomb attack?"
"The sound came from upstairs. Could it have been a meteorite?"
"Very likely. If it wasn't a meteorite falling from the sky, how else could the weather be so abnormal? Maybe humans will go extinct like the dinosaurs."
The chat was full of all kinds of wild guesses.
Zhang Yi said, "The workers from Building 26 broke into our apartment just now, trying to kill and rob us. I discovered them in time and drove them away."
"Zhang Meng, who lived on the 16th floor, has already been killed."
"As for the sound, it was from the explosives they used."
Hearing Zhang Yi's explanation, the neighbors immediately became nervous.
"What? We just got rid of Chen Zhenghao, and now those laborers from next door are causing trouble!"
"They're ruthless. I've heard that there are frequent fights at their construction site."
"How did the people from Building 26 get in?"
Zhang Yi said, "They dug a tunnel through the snow from the bottom and climbed up from the first floor."
Someone quickly responded in alarm, "Collapse that tunnel right away, and lock the door!"
Zhang Yi replied, "It's useless. That kind of door breaks easily with a few hits. Even if you block it, they can climb in through the windows on the fourth floor."
The neighbors were all panicking.
That night, if Zhang Yi hadn't driven those people away, they might have broken into their homes and killed them.
"What do we do now? How can we possibly fight those laborers!"
"Half the people in our building are dead, and most of the remaining ones are elderly, women, and children."
That was true. Most of the able-bodied people had died near Zhang Yi's home.
At this point, someone said, "Luckily, we have Zhang Yi!"
"Zhang Yi, you're amazing! You managed to drive off so many of them by yourself."
"With you here, we can feel safe. Zhang Yi, you're our hero!"
After a few reminders, the others in the chat suddenly realized it too.
Zhang Yi was now the strongest combatant in their building, and he even had a gun.
Having him deal with the workers from the neighboring building seemed like the best solution!
Zhang Yi found the whole situation amusing.
Previously, they had been cursing him every day in the group chat, calling him selfish and shameless.
Many of them had lost family members to Zhang Yi, and they hated him to the core.
But now, because they needed something from him, they were calling him a hero.
Did they really think Zhang Yi was that foolish?
With a sneer, Zhang Yi said, "I used up a lot of weapons to deal with them. Now I can barely protect myself. You'll have to fend for yourselves."
What a joke. Why should I protect you? What does your life or death have to do with me?
After saying that, Zhang Yi went silent.
The chat became frantic, with everyone begging Zhang Yi for help.
"Zhang Yi, you can't just watch us die!"
"If we all die, you two will be the only ones left alive. Won't you feel lonely?"
"If we're all dead, eventually you'll become the target of everyone's envy. You don't know how many people are eyeing you!"
Seeing these messages, Zhang Yi's eyes turned cold.
That last statement was true—there were many people watching him now.
After all, the video Zhang Yi posted in the group chat had undoubtedly been shared by his neighbors.
People outside would probably just feel envious.
But the people in the surrounding buildings had a real chance of coming to Building 25 to take everything from him!
Even so, Zhang Yi remained silent.
Instead, it was Uncle You who sent Zhang Yi a private message, asking if he needed help.
"I know those bastards from Building 26. I've even had drinks with them before!"
"Damn it, I can't believe they're trying to mess with you. I won't let them get away with it."
"Zhang Yi, if you have any ideas, let me know. I'll help you deal with them."
Zhang Yi smiled.
"Uncle You, there are quite a few of them, right?"
Uncle You replied, "Yeah, there were more than thirty of them originally. But recently, ten or so have died, so there should be around twenty left now."
"I know their leader, Huang Tianfang. We were talking not long ago. But those bastards caused the deaths of many people in Building 26."
"Bah! I'm not teaming up with those scumbags!"
Uncle You and the workers were both from rural backgrounds.
But while the workers had been living in society, Uncle You had spent many years in the military.
Their mindsets were completely different.