"Ding! You have killed 1 Mutated human. Obtained 5 Points."
Lin Dong paused mid-step on the stairs, his gaze involuntarily flicking back toward the corridor.
"Li Zhiqiang counts as a Mutated human? Did he eat Mutated Fish?"
Lin Dong was baffled. He had never fully understood what exactly distinguished Mutated humans from ordinary people.
Li Zhiqiang had been such a coward—how had he even mutated?
Five Points. Lin Dong glanced at the Lottery wheel.
After a brief hesitation, he decided not to spin it immediately.
The 1-Point Lottery mostly offered common daily supplies, with very little food. He didn't want to waste his Points.
"Better wait. Once I save up to 10 Points, I'll go for a bigger draw."
As he reached the upper floor, a voice suddenly spoke up.
"Decisive."
Lin Dong looked up toward the doorway of Li Zhiqiang's apartment.
A shadowy figure leaned against the doorframe in the darkness. But from the silhouette's curves, Lin Dong recognized Ding Yan.
He ascended the rest of the stairs and said, "You saw?"
"Yeah. I thought you'd just teach him a lesson. Didn't expect you to… well. Hah."
Lin Dong remained expressionless as he studied her. "Why did you follow me out?"
Ding Yan shrugged. "Couldn't stand it. Li Zhiqiang was obviously going to retaliate against you guys. I was surprised you didn't kill him. Since you wouldn't, I figured I'd handle it."
"But turns out, I was overthinking it. Hah."
She grinned, her eyes gleaming as she stared at Lin Dong.
Lin Dong frowned. There was something off about this woman.
He didn't comment further, knocking on the door instead. "Keep quiet about this."
"Relax. If Li Zhiqiang goes missing, none of us know anything. Maybe some desperate guy stabbed him to death? Hah."
Cai Zhi peeked through the peephole, then opened the door upon seeing Lin Dong and Ding Yan.
The two stepped inside. Lin Dong asked, "Have the rooms been assigned?"
Cai Zhi nodded. "My family will take the master bedroom. My wife's already tidying up. Lao Ma and the others will stay in the south-facing secondary bedroom."
"Xiao Ding wants the north-facing study."
Ding Yan said flatly, "I'm alone. Don't need much space."
Lin Dong glanced at her. He had been in that north-facing room before—not only was it small, but it also lacked a balcony, having only a window.
From a security standpoint, that smaller room was actually safer.
Ding Yan met his gaze briefly before they both looked away, an unspoken understanding passing between them.
Lin Dong surveyed the apartment. "This is a four-bedroom unit. What's the plan for the last room?"
Cai Zhi's expression turned serious. "I know someone else—a man with a blood feud against Liu Erlong. If I reach out, he'll definitely join us."
"You want him to move in? Is he reliable?"
Cai Zhi nodded. "Reliable."
"Fine. You handle that. I won't interfere. Let's focus on how to deal with Liu Erlong."
Ding Yan, Cai Zhi, and Ma Guocai immediately grew more solemn, each taking a seat.
Lin Dong laid out the plan. "Now that our two apartments face each other, we can support each other at any time."
"If Liu Erlong's men show up in the hallway again and attack either side, we counterattack together."
"With us pinning them from both ends, they won't stand a chance on the 32nd floor."
Cai Zhi nodded. "That's how it should be. An alliance means watching each other's backs."
Ma Guocai also said, "The hallway is narrow, and there's only so much space to stand. They can't send many people up at once. If we work together from both sides, we can definitely hold our ground." Ding Yan raised her hand and asked, "What about weapons? We only have daggers and kitchen knives—these require close combat. They're all tall, strong men. It'd be best if we had some long-range attack methods."
Cai Zhi immediately suggested, "I saw a mop at home. Maybe we can make a spear out of it."
Ma Guocai added, "The beer bottles at home can also be used as throwing weapons."
Ding Yan stayed silent. As a woman, she wasn't skilled in these matters and couldn't think of any good attack methods at the moment.
While they were discussing, Cai Zhi's wife, Wu Qian, called out, "Lao Cai, I've packed everything up. See if there's anything useful."
Hearing this, everyone immediately stood up and walked over.
The living room floor was neatly arranged with various items.
Leaving aside the pile of clothes, what caught everyone's attention the most were two packs of instant noodles and half a bag of sausages.
Wu Qian explained, "These were found hidden deep inside the belly of that humanoid figurine in the master bedroom."
Cai Zhi chuckled, "Looks like this must've been Li Zhiqiang's last stash."
Ma Guocai couldn't help but swallow hard and cursed, "That bastard! He still had food but wanted to sell his wife!"
Ding Yan sneered, "Of course he wouldn't want to share his food with another person."
Cai Zhi said, "Let's cook some instant noodles later."
This suggestion was met with cheers from everyone, especially the young girl Cai Yao, who was already drooling over the noodles.
Wu Qian couldn't help but say, "There are only two packs left, Lao Cai. We should save them."
Cai Zhi nodded. "I'll try to figure something out later—maybe we can get some fish from downstairs."
"I'll go with you," Lao Ma said.
Lin Dong suddenly had an idea and asked, "You have a way to get fish?"
Cai Zhi nodded. "Liu Erlong's underlings aren't exactly honest either. They guard the tenth floor and usually catch fish themselves. After catching them, they don't hand them all over to Liu Erlong—they keep some for themselves."
"They trade these fish with others."
Lin Dong asked curiously, "Trade? What do they trade for?"
Lao Ma answered, "Young, pretty women—for one fish, they'll sleep with them once. But they also need salt, seasonings, drinks, cigarettes, and stuff like that."
At this point, Ma Guocai said, "I still have two packs of cigarettes. Xiao Cai, let's open one later and trade it for fish."
Lin Dong's eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked, "Are they live fish?"
Cai Zhi replied, "Yes, live fish. Dead fish are hard to preserve, and we don't have the means to dry them or anything. Lin Dong, if you want some, we'll trade for an extra one. You can take it back to try. But tonight, you and Yang Mei should come over and eat with us."
Lin Dong thought for a moment. "Alright."
He suppressed his thoughts and turned his attention to the other items.
The clothes were automatically ignored by everyone—they were basically only useful as fuel and had little practical value.
But when Lin Dong's gaze swept over the stockings and underwear, he suddenly spoke up, "I'll take Sister Mei's clothes later."
Cai Zhi and the others naturally had no objections—after all, this was originally her house.
Just then, Ding Yan walked over, bent down, and picked up an elastic band from a pile of miscellaneous items.
Everyone was taken aback for a moment.
The resistance band was a tool used by fitness enthusiasts to exercise and increase resistance.
"Xiao Ding, you want this resistance band?" Cai Zhi asked.
Ding Yan nodded: "This thing is useful."
Ma Guocai inquired: "Are you planning to exercise? Xiao Ding, with no food to eat right now, exercising would only consume more energy and make you hungrier."
Ding Yan shook her head: "Not for exercise. I want to use this resistance band to make a ranged weapon."
(End of chapter)