Based on Uncle You's introduction, Zhang Yi got a better understanding of these people.
The group of workers worked under a construction company called Tianhe Group.
They weren't formal employees but were hired by a contractor who took on the job, so they worked for the contractor.
However, they claimed to be employees of Tianhe Group, as it sounded more prestigious.
Therefore, they called themselves the "Tianhe Gang," with the leader being the skinny, short man, Huang Tianfang.
"Zhang Yi, what are your plans for them? If you need any help, just let me know," Uncle You said.
Zhang Yi smiled lightly.
It was impossible for him to attack this so-called Tianhe Gang.
His biggest asset was the steel fortress, his home.
Once he left the safety of his apartment and faced those twenty or so people, it would be very dangerous, even with a gun in hand.
"Uncle You, for safety's sake, let's hold off for now. I don't have any plans for revenge just yet."
"The thing is, even if it's just me, or even with you, we can't be certain of victory."
"Unless..." His eyes flashed with a sharp light, "we can mobilize the neighbors in the building."
Uncle You immediately understood Zhang Yi's idea.
"So, you mean we should unite like Huang Tianfang and his gang and form an alliance?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."
Uncle You replied, "Alright, I'll bring it up in the group. Let's see how many are willing to join."
Zhang Yi laughed. "Uncle You, no need to rush. If you push them to join the group, they might suspect your intentions, even start thinking you're being too bold."
Uncle You asked, "Then what should we do?"
Zhang Yi laughed heartily, "We're not in a hurry, are we? We have enough supplies at home, so we can wait!"
"The Tianhe Gang came once, and they'll definitely come again. And don't forget, I've already killed a lot of their people. They will come back for revenge."
"When that happens, the neighbors in this building will come to us for help."
Uncle You couldn't help but admire, "Zhang Yi, you're really brilliant!"
The two reached an agreement and decided to temporarily ignore the Tianhe Gang.
In the meantime, the neighbors in the owners' group kept pressuring Zhang Yi and Uncle You to take the lead in dealing with the Tianhe Gang.
They were good at moral blackmail.
On one hand, they praised Zhang Yi and Uncle You, calling them good people (but Zhang Yi found it insulting; "You're the good person, your whole family is good people!"), while on the other hand, they made excuses, saying they had no food or strength to fight.
Some even used being elderly or women as an excuse not to step forward.
Zhang Yi, knowing exactly how shameless these neighbors were, chose to ignore them.
Once the knife was at their throats, they would understand the pain.
In the next two days, Zhang Yi started gathering information from the outside.
He certainly wouldn't go ask personally because too many people were eyeing the supplies at his place, and the information they gave him was likely to be false.
He asked Zhou Ke'er and Uncle You to help.
One was a doctor, and the other was a security guard, so they both had a wide network.
Zhang Yi wanted to know which people in the Yue Lu Community's 30 buildings posed a threat to him.
This information was easy to gather; who killed more people and who had the strongest influence was obvious.
Zhou Ke'er quickly took out a pen and paper and created a chart for Zhang Yi.
When Zhang Yi looked at it, the chart summarized the forces, numbers, and weaponry of the various groups.
After reviewing it, Zhang Yi felt more at ease.
Since Yue Lu Community was a mid-to-high-end development, there weren't many extremely dangerous individuals around.
According to the information from Zhou Ke'er and Uncle You, the two most troublesome forces were the Tianhe Gang from Building 26 and another group.
The Tianhe Gang, which was based around a small construction team under Tianhe Group, had strong combat capabilities. Their weapons were mostly shovels and steel rods, and they didn't have guns.
The bomb they used last time to attack Zhang Yi was made by one of their workers who knew about explosives, but its power was limited.
That worker had been burned to death by Zhang Yi, so they wouldn't be able to make any more homemade bombs.
"However, no one knows if they still have any stockpiled weapons. We need to be cautious! We should find an opportunity to send some cannon fodder to deplete their reserves."
Zhang Yi muttered to himself.
Apart from the Tianhe Gang, another force caught his attention.
In Building 21, there was a group of young people who called themselves the "Wolf Pack."
The name sounded extremely juvenile, but their combat power was no joke.
According to the information Zhou Ke'er gathered, this group consisted of students and some idlers. Most were around 20 years old, and there were a dozen or so members.
The two leaders, Wang Qiang and Xiao Lu, were both from Yue Lu Community.
These two were well-known local troublemakers.
After graduating from a third-rate university, they stayed at home and lived off their parents. They weren't exactly rich second-generation kids, but they were part of the middle class.
Because they refused to work, they stayed home and eventually got involved with some shady people.
In the past, they wouldn't have been a threat to Zhang Yi, but since they didn't have someone like Zhang Yi in their building, they had grown bolder.
To Zhang Yi, these two groups were the only real threats.
In the other buildings, some had fewer than 20 residents left.
Many people couldn't handle the terror of the apocalypse and chose to commit suicide, while others killed each other out of extreme shortages of supplies.
Zhang Yi felt more confident now.
He turned to Zhou Ke'er and said, "Keep gathering information, make sure we understand everything, and minimize the risks! Especially whether they have firearms, that's the key."
Zhou Ke'er nodded obediently and continued gathering information.
In the following days, Zhang Yi and Uncle You both agreed to stay at home and not go outside.
The Tianhe Gang was furious after their defeat and hated Zhang Yi to the core!
They had lost eight of their brothers, and the remaining members were badly burned by the fire. Two of them died from their injuries.
Such losses were unheard of for the Tianhe Gang!
They vowed to avenge their fallen brothers by slaughtering the residents of Building 25 and killing Zhang Yi.
However, there was a twist.
Although they hated Zhang Yi more than anyone, they were also afraid of him.
Having witnessed his methods and knowing how difficult it was to break into his home, they dared not attack him directly.
So, what did they do?
They decided to target Zhang Yi's neighbors instead!
Huang Tianfang's thinking was: Zhang Yi, if I can't kill you, can't I kill your neighbors?
When you see them dead, won't you feel guilty?
How will you face their accusations?
Killing your neighbors will be the greatest revenge!
Huang Tianfang had a bit of an "A-Q spirit," knowing that it was easier to target softer targets.
So, in the following days, he returned with a group of men and launched surprise attacks on several households.
After killing the people inside, they used their blood to write on the walls of the hallway:
"Zhang Yi, if you don't come out, I'll kill all your neighbors!"