The neighbors looked at Zhang Yi like they had found a savior.
Even some of the ones who had already lost all hope, wrapped in blankets at home waiting to die, suddenly had light in their eyes.
"Zhang Yi, can you really go out and find supplies?"
"If that's the case, we can survive!"
"Although the blizzard has sealed off the city, all the supplies our society produced over the past few decades are actually enough for us to survive!"
"Zhang Yi, I'm really... so moved!"
"We treated you like that in the past, and now you still..."
Some people started to choke up.
Originally, most of their families had been killed by Zhang Yi.
But now, their hatred for him seemed to disappear in an instant, and all they felt was gratitude.
Zhang Yi said solemnly, "Since I've become the building leader, I must take responsibility for each and every one of you!"
"Besides, my own supplies are running low. Going out to search for supplies is the only way for us to survive."
Hearing this, everyone felt more at ease.
In the apocalypse, if you say you're doing good deeds, others will always think you're being hypocritical.
But if you also have your own needs and benefits, people accept that as normal.
After all, the apocalypse had been going on for almost a month.
Many of the neighbors had family members who had starved to death at home.
So they believed that even if Zhang Yi had stored a lot of supplies, there would eventually be a day when they ran out.
Moreover, now that there were only two people in their family, the consumption of supplies was even faster.
The neighbors were full of gratitude towards Zhang Yi, praising him as if he were a god.
Even Zhou Ke'er laughed and said, "If you started a cult at this moment, you'd be the god of the church!"
In times of disaster, religions grow the fastest.
Because people always need something to believe in.
Zhang Yi smiled faintly, "There's no need to make things so complicated with a bunch of cannon fodder."
"As long as I give them a moldy bun, they'll treat me like their own father."
Zhou Ke'er curiously asked, "But are you really going out?"
There was a hint of worry and guilt in her eyes.
Zhang Yi understood that she really thought his supplies were running low and that she was burdening him.
He pinched her soft little cheek and smiled with squinted eyes, "Don't worry, I have enough supplies at home to take care of you."
"I'm just looking for an opportunity to go out and check the situation."
If it were normal times, Zhang Yi wouldn't dare to go out, fearing that the crazed neighbors would ambush him.
But now, he had become the hope for everyone to survive, so no one would attack him.
Zhou Ke'er nodded, "Then I'll go with you!"
She knew that Zhang Yi didn't fully trust her, so she actively offered to go with him.
Zhang Yi gazed at her deeply, slowly but firmly shaking his head.
"Now that we're in this kind of relationship, do you think I'd still doubt you?"
"Women should stay at home and wait for their men to come back!"
Zhang Yi slowly stood up.
Zhou Ke'er's eyes welled up with emotion.
But this feeling didn't last long.
Because Zhang Yi soon stored all the remaining food and coal from the house into his space.
"I trust you 100%!"
Zhang Yi said with a smile.
Zhou Ke'er: "..."
She looked at him with an expression of speechlessness. Just now, she had been touched by Zhang Yi, but she didn't expect him to quickly return to his usual cheeky self.
Zhang Yi ignored her resentful expression and went to his room to change clothes.
This was the first time since the apocalypse that he chose to leave the building.
The blizzard had sealed off the city, and there were no living beings visible outside, so the danger level wasn't that high.
However, out of caution, Zhang Yi still put on a leather jacket.
Even if someone stabbed him with a knife, it wouldn't penetrate without enough force.
After some careful consideration, he found two flat-bottomed pans in his space and strapped one to the front and the other to the back of his body.
This way, even if he encountered someone with a gun, a regular handgun wouldn't be able to hurt his vital organs.
Finally, he put on a winter coat.
At this point, his body appeared quite bulky, but he felt completely safe.
Zhang Yi took out a crowbar, testing it in his hand.
In actual combat, this heavy crowbar was actually more useful than a machete.
A knife wound might not immediately incapacitate someone, but a hit from this crowbar would cause the opponent to collapse instantly.
Zhang Yi grabbed the crowbar, fully loaded his handgun magazine, and slipped it into his pocket.
After getting fully equipped, he left the house.
The temperature outside was very cold. Even wearing the professional-grade sportswear used by the national mountaineering team, Zhang Yi could still feel a slight chill.
But this cold didn't affect him. After some physical activity, his body would warm up.
He gripped the crowbar with both hands and walked down the stairs at a steady pace.
Before each step, he would carefully observe his surroundings.
Caution prevents big problems.
There were no issues on his way down, as only a few people were foolish enough to act recklessly.
Zhang Yi arrived at the fourth floor.
Due to the actions of the Tianhe Gang and others, most of the residents had moved to higher floors, leaving the floors below the tenth floor vacant.
He pushed open the door. The room inside was in disarray, the windows were smashed, and even the weak security bars had been torn open, leaving a large hole.
The wind howled through the hole, whistling into the building.
Zhang Yi carefully climbed out through the hole.
When his feet hit the ground, the snow was knee-deep.
But because the snow had accumulated for a while, the snow below was compacted, so he didn't sink in completely.
However, walking in this snow was still difficult.
Zhang Yi looked up and scanned the area.
The vast Yue Lu Community was silent, with only the wind in the air.
He didn't see anyone peering at him.
Zhang Yi took out the snowmobile from his space.
Before leaving, he had made sure it was fully fueled.
Riding the snowmobile wasn't difficult. After a brief look at the instructions, Zhang Yi quickly understood how to operate it.
He mounted the snowmobile, turned the key, and the engine roared to life.
Zhang Yi rode the snowmobile out of the community.
As he was leaving, he felt as though someone was watching him through the windows.
This wasn't surprising.
After all, there were no signs of human life outside, and the sound of the snowmobile engine was very loud.
"It seems that people will soon start coveting my snowmobile!" Zhang Yi sneered.
He wasn't afraid of exposing the existence of the snowmobile.
Too many people wanted to take advantage of him.
Besides, in these times, people would kill for a single biscuit.
As Zhang Yi would put it, he had too many debts to worry about them.
The heavy snow had buried many low houses, and the streets were completely obscured.
But having lived in the area for over 20 years, Zhang Yi could roughly figure out the direction based on the landmark buildings from the higher floors.
So, getting lost was not an issue for him.