Operating the excavator was relatively simple—there were mainly two control handles for movement and a lever to control the bucket.
Zhang Yi quickly found the fuel tank, and with a bucket of diesel from his spatial storage, he poured it in.
Then he climbed into the control cabin and turned the key.
"Rumble, rumble!"
Fortunately, the low temperatures hadn't affected the new machinery much, and the excavator was still functioning normally.
Zhang Yi maneuvered the excavator and began pushing the snow to the sides. At first, his speed was slow, but it gradually picked up pace.
Half an hour later, he had dug a three-meter deep pit, and even the tracks were able to move slowly.
Fortunately, the excavator had tracks instead of wheels. Zhang Yi even thought that, in a pinch, this machine could be used as a transport vehicle.
Though slow, the tracks made it clear that the excavator was capable of moving in the snow!
This was a piece of equipment that could even cross muddy or swampy ground—truly reliable!
With his still-inexperienced skills, Zhang Yi worked diligently for about two hours and finally hit solid building material.
He was thrilled and quickly started to push the snow to the side, following the layout of the building.
Eventually, he began to see the massive roof platform of the gas station.
Once he found the building's structure, it was easy to follow along and clear the snow.
Due to his inexperience, Zhang Yi spent a good four to five hours before finally exposing the convenience store window of the gas station.
Thankfully, it was the excavator doing the work, not him—otherwise, he would've been exhausted.
Zhang Yi jumped out of the excavator and returned it to his spatial storage.
Then, he broke the window and jumped inside.
Once inside the convenience store, Zhang Yi was taken aback.
The snow had actually broken through the door, and most of the space was filled with snow.
But he could still make out the back door.
Walking carefully through the snow, Zhang Yi moved forward, trying to find the fuel storage area.
Gas stations usually had underground fuel storage rooms to avoid the risk of being buried by snow.
It didn't take long for Zhang Yi to find the entrance to the fuel storage room.
Despite the large exterior of the gas station, the back space was small, and finding an entrance wasn't particularly difficult.
He pried open the iron door with a crowbar and used a miner's lamp for illumination.
The sight before him made him gasp. Four huge oil storage tanks were in the room, holding almost 200 cubic meters of fuel.
At first glance, it was an impressive sight.
After a brief moment of thought, Zhang Yi quietly stepped outside to remove any static electricity from his body before daring to enter.
Inside, the gas station had stopped operating, and it was pitch dark. Zhang Yi turned on the miner's lamp and proceeded to seal the fuel pipelines.
He wrapped the pipe openings with several layers of plastic sheets and cling film to prevent leaks.
Finally, he stored the four massive tanks in his spatial storage.
With three tanks of gasoline and one of diesel, Zhang Yi would no longer have to worry about running out of fuel for his vehicles.
"Wait a minute!"
Suddenly, Zhang Yi had a flash of inspiration and realized something important.
"If I can use the excavator to dig snow, doesn't that mean I can also dig up other buried places?"
"If that's the case, then the entire world could become one massive treasure trove!"
"Even better—one that belongs only to me!"
His mind raced with excitement. He realized that under the snow, there were likely many hidden treasures.
"Everything, it's all good stuff!"
With this newfound understanding, Zhang Yi felt a surge of confidence. He would never have to worry about shortages again.
The entire world could be his to explore!
Zhang Yi climbed out of the snow path created by the excavator and got on his snowmobile.
It was getting late, so he decided to end the day's search here.
He made another trip to the Wanda Mall supermarket and grabbed a couple of bags of junk food to bring back.
As soon as he appeared outside the neighborhood, many people were watching him from their windows.
Zhang Yi drove the snowmobile behind the building, pretending to park it in the garage, before grabbing the two bags of food and heading back to unit 25#.
Without him needing to say a word, the neighbors had already gathered.
However, Fang Yuling was not there this time. She seemed to have figured out that Zhang Yi would no longer provide her with any food.
Lin Cainin, on the other hand, hadn't given up and was still planning to try her luck.
Zhang Yi didn't even glance at her.
"Yesterday, we all worked hard to deal with those invaders! Today's food is a reward for your efforts."
"As per the agreement, the food will be distributed according to our contributions."
He divided the food based on their contributions.
With limited food, whoever worked more would get more, and those who didn't contribute much would get less.
In short, those who did less work wouldn't be able to eat much.
The others were now more afraid of Zhang Yi because of the sniper rifle incident and didn't dare to speak up.
Moreover, they knew that Zhang Yi had killed the most enemies.
Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei hadn't been on duty the night before, so they only received one portion of food each.
Zhang Yi's "one portion" was enough to say they wouldn't be full.
The two looked disappointed.
Li Chengbin said to Zhang Yi, "Brother Zhang, we're just waiting for them to come over, but we don't know when that will be."
"You've already taken down over ten of them, so they must be too afraid to come. How can we get rewards like this?"
Young guys were always so eager.
Zhang Yi chuckled and said, "Opportunities come to those who are prepared. I only said that killing an enemy would reward five portions of food. I never said you can only wait for them to attack."
Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei's eyes lit up.
"Are you saying we can take the initiative and attack?"
"Can we kill people from other buildings and exchange them for rewards?"
They were extremely excited.
They desperately needed food, and they also had a desire to prove themselves in the group.
They hoped to prove their worth and become Zhang Yi's trusted subordinates.
Zhang Yi thought for a moment.
So far, no one had attacked unit 25# except the Tianhe gang from unit 26#.
But no one could predict what would happen next.
Especially since Zhang Yi had exposed his snowmobile, more people in the neighborhood might try to target him.
Jiang Lei and Li Chengbin's suggestion tempted Zhang Yi.
These people were meant to be cannon fodder for him.
If they wanted to die, then so be it.
After all, these junk foods weren't valuable to Zhang Yi.
A smile of approval appeared on his face, and he nodded. "Of course! Everyone outside is the enemy, and eliminating them will ensure the safety of our group!"
"Now, anyone from other buildings, except ours, is fair game. Kill them and exchange their supplies for rewards!"
Of course, with the freezing temperatures and heavy snow, they could only target nearby buildings.
The first on the list was naturally the Tianhe gang in unit 26#.
Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei cheered with excitement.
The others' expressions were mixed, but some seemed intrigued.
After all, who wouldn't want more food?