Zhang Yi spread his hands. "Well, this is how it is today."
After saying that, he waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave.
However, Luan Qiang, who had been in the crowd, suddenly spoke up.
"Zhang Yi, it's not good for you to go out alone. Why don't you bring a few more people along?"
"I see your motorcycle can easily fit three people. If everyone helps, it should be faster to search, right?"
The others turned their heads, looking at Zhang Yi with strange expressions.
They were also quite tempted by the idea of going out to search for supplies.
Especially after seeing Uncle You help Xie Limei and her daughter find clothes last time.
As long as they could go out, wouldn't everything outside be up for grabs?
"Zhang Yi, if you need help, everyone is more than willing to assist!" a woman boldly said.
Zhang Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.
He smiled.
"How, you all have your eyes on my electric motorcycle too? If that's the case, then maybe it's better for us to part ways right here. From now on, I won't help you anymore!"
Luan Qiang hurriedly tried to explain, but Zhang Yi didn't continue talking.
Instead, he pulled out his handgun.
Click!
He swiftly disengaged the safety.
Everyone's face turned pale, and they hurriedly backed away.
"Zhang Yi, don't do anything rash! We were just suggesting something, we didn't mean any harm."
"Yes, yes! If you disagree, we'll forget about it. Is that okay?"
"We're really grateful for your help in finding food. We were just worried about you getting tired, that's all. Please don't misunderstand!"
Zhang Yi scoffed disdainfully.
"Don't say things like that again if it's not in the spirit of cooperation."
"Or maybe I've been feeding you too much lately."
After saying this, Zhang Yi raised his gun and, with a bang!, shot Luan Qiang dead.
No one expected that Zhang Yi would shoot without hesitation.
They had thought Zhang Yi would try to reason with them, and that with their numbers and verbal advantage, they could pressure him into agreeing.
But they had forgotten that they were never on equal footing with Zhang Yi.
A conversation requires enough capital to take place!
The sound of screams filled the air as the neighbors quickly fled in panic.
However, the hallway was too narrow, and people stumbled over each other, causing a pile-up.
"If I don't kill a few of you, you won't understand your position."
Zhang Yi's eyes were cold as he quickly fired several more shots, and four more people fell dead.
Then he stopped and watched as the others fled like dogs.
Only Uncle You and Xie Limei remained, not running.
Uncle You stood by Zhang Yi's side.
Xie Limei, as usual, hid behind him, playing the role of an ostrich.
Uncle You said to Zhang Yi, "They've eaten enough to get cocky and forgotten who they are!"
Zhang Yi thought to himself, If it weren't for needing them as cannon fodder, I would've killed them all already!
But on the surface, he shrugged nonchalantly. "It's fine. I'm a kind person. I've forgiven them."
Now that he had plenty of firepower, Zhang Yi was much more reckless in his actions.
Xie Limei grabbed Uncle You's arm, looking at Zhang Yi with some fear in her heart.
Kind? You better be…
"Let's go back."
Zhang Yi, holding his gun, walked away with an air of indifference.
He was almost fully prepared now, and these cannon fodder would soon be useless.
Even if they survived the upcoming conflicts, Zhang Yi would clean most of them out, if not all.
So, he didn't care whether they lived or died.
And he knew that even if he killed a few of them, they would still have to beg him for food afterward.
...
As Zhang Yi had predicted, the residents of 25# were so scared that they hurriedly fled back to their homes and locked their doors tightly.
At this moment, they recalled the fear they had when controlled by Chen Zhenghao.
Back then, they were hiding in their homes every day, unsure when death would come.
The residents secretly created a new group, but Zhang Yi, Zhou Ke'er, Uncle You, and Xie Limei weren't added.
Since the Ice Age apocalypse arrived, at least dozens of groups had been formed within the building.
The distrust and pretenses among people were vividly reflected.
"What should we do? Now Zhang Yi is angry, and he wants to kill us! We don't have guns, how can we fight him?"
Someone nervously asked.
After a while, the neighbors, who had calmed down from their fear, began to discuss.
"Zhang Yi... he's totally unreasonable! We were just trying to negotiate with him, and he shoots without warning."
"The scariest part is that he's already killed so many people in the past few days. How many bullets does he have? Why would an ordinary person have so many bullets, even a sniper rifle?"
"I said it long ago, Zhang Yi must be an urban warrior or a retired special forces soldier. But you didn't believe me!"
A heavy online novel fan shared his opinion.
"Forget who he is, we should have never had any illusions about him!"
"He's such a selfish person. Everything he does for us comes at a price."
"All that talk about helping us is a lie! He's not that kind-hearted."
"Yeah, he just wants to make us cannon fodder, send us to fight for supplies and territory!"
...
The group was full of curses aimed at Zhang Yi, and even Zhou Ke'er, Uncle You, and Xie Limei were also bashed.
They couldn't fight Zhang Yi and were as humble as ants in front of him.
But online, they could reclaim their self-esteem and act like warriors attacking Zhang Yi.
After venting their frustration for a while, they felt somewhat better.
But a new problem arose.
"Although Zhang Yi is selfish and his food offerings come with conditions, if he doesn't give us food, what will we eat in the future?"
Once this was said, the chat group fell into a long silence.
The residents hiding in their rooms were stunned, and panic began to set in.
They thought back to how things were before Zhang Yi started providing food.
They had eaten everything they could, even leather belts and jackets, which they shredded and boiled.
The most desperate among them, when starving, even considered the possibility of surviving by eating dog waste.
The worst thing for humans is to go from hope to despair.
If they had never seen the light, they wouldn't fear the darkness.
But now, with Zhang Yi providing food, they couldn't bear to go back to the way things were.
Finally, someone spoke up, "Actually, when you think about it, Zhang Yi isn't that bad. The people he killed deserved it."