Mateo brought Celine to an underground market.
"I know this place well," Mateo said as they walked. "Follow me."
He led Celine through several narrow paths to a specialty store.
Inside, the shop displayed generators, alcohol blocks, and other supplies, as if preparing for the end of the world.
"These items are good quality," Mateo said, pointing to a generator. "This one can last a long time."
The shop owner, seeing Mateo's knowledge, didn't say much but quietly helped pack the goods.
Since Mateo wanted to buy a lot, the owner offered a discount without being asked.
Celine was happy with this, even though she didn't plan to bargain because they were in a hurry.
With the help of the staff, a large amount of supplies was quickly loaded onto a small truck.
Then they rushed to a nearby convenience store to buy food and water.
This action felt like a silent battle; every step was tight and efficient.
When everything was ready, Celine quietly stored the supplies in her space, hidden under the truck bed.
At the same time, inside the space, Red looked at the cold weather gear and felt deeply moved.
He knew this help was more than money; it was a heavy debt of gratitude, saving him again and again from desperate situations.
Before leaving, he quietly decided: once the blizzard passed, he would lead his team to loot all the gold, silver, and jewels in the city and give them to Celine.
Of course, he also planned to kill more zombies and collect more crystal cores to thank her for every help.
Red left the space; the biting cold wind almost froze him into an ice statue.
Inside the department store, the scene was even more miserable than before.
The cold was almost solid, the light dim, and several figures had collapsed on the ground.
The weak white breath from their mouths showed they were unconscious from severe hypothermia.
Those who could still hold on were trembling, their faces blue and purple.
They huddled tightly, surrounding the unconscious ones, trying to warm them with their own remaining body heat.
Despair and silence covered everyone.
Zhennan was the first to spot Red: "Red! You finally came back!"
If he had been later, he feared everyone there would freeze to death.
"Stop talking, help quickly!"
Red was anxious, not caring to say more.
He quickly took out thick military sleeping bags from the space and put the unconscious people inside one by one, pulling the zippers.
Then he called to those still able to move: "Don't just stand there, set up tents! Make fire!"
The team, as if grabbing a life-saving straw, seemed to regain strength in their numb bodies.
They quickly took thick cold-proof tents from the supplies Red "produced" and set them up in a relatively sheltered corner.
Then Red took out smokeless charcoal bowls and large bags of manufactured charcoal and lit them.
Soon, the orange-red flames danced inside the tents.
This fire drove away the cold and also lit the almost extinguished hope in everyone's eyes.
After finishing all this, Red did not stop.
He took out a brand-new solar generator and connected it to an electric stove.
Then he took out a stainless steel pot, poured in bottled water, grabbed a big handful of brown sugar and many slices of ginger.
"Making ginger soup, everyone come and drink some to warm up!"
This was bought specially by Celine for him, along with some emergency cold and fever medicine.
Red sighed again at how thoughtful Celine was.
The spicy yet sweet smell quickly spread inside the tent.
After everyone drank a bowl of hot brown sugar ginger soup, their cold limbs finally warmed up little by little, and their lips, which had turned purple from the cold, regained some color. The atmosphere in the tent became lively again.
At this time, those who had earlier fainted from hypothermia slowly woke up one after another.
Among the waking was Leader Rui.
He blinked dazedly, first feeling a wave of warmth wrap his body, then smelling the scent of ginger soup that drove away the cold.
He struggled to sit up, saw the burning charcoal fire around and Red handing out instant noodles, his eyes filled with relief from surviving and an indescribable gratitude.
Leader Rui was leading over a hundred survivors who had escaped from Mr. Cheng's base.
When they escaped, they had almost nothing except the thin clothes on their backs.
If they hadn't met Red's team halfway and been taken in, they would have long frozen or starved to death on the way.
This time, when Red went out to gather supplies, Leader Rui volunteered to follow.
First, he was sincerely grateful for Red's rescue and wanted to do his part;
Second, he wanted to quickly prove his value in the new team by doing something useful, not just be a burden.
But no one expected the sudden snowstorm to be so terrifying!
He even thought he was going to die right there.
It was Red!
If not for Red's amazing, almost legendary space ability,
creating so many life-saving cold-proof supplies and food out of nowhere, every single one of them would have died!
This debt of life and rescue in the worst situation weighed heavily on Leader Rui's heart.
He looked at Red's tired but calm figure,
watched him organize everything steadily, stabilizing the nearly collapsing situation, and his eyes unknowingly showed almost worship.
At this moment, Leader Rui quietly made a decision in his heart.
For the rest of his life, he would follow Red!
He faintly felt that someone like Red, capable, responsible, and with incredible powers, was not an ordinary person.
In the future, Red would definitely achieve great things in this damn apocalypse.
Become a… true leader!