Human Nature

On the fourth day of arriving in the apocalypse world, An Yang held dozens of crystals and cultivated through the night, feeling refreshed and clear-headed. With this much essence energy, his cultivation speed had increased by who knows how much.

Opening his eyes and finishing breakfast, he still took Chen Yafei to clear out zombies, seeming to put all his focus on the mission, completely forgetting about the Second System over seven hundred kilometers away.

The tenth floor had already been occupied by Liu Chengjun's survivor squad. An Yang didn't bother contending with them and went straight to the ninth floor. After half a day, he didn't get many zombie crystals, but he did find three survivors one after another—including a young couple and a young, pretty woman who, according to Chen Yafei, was a somewhat famous celebrity.

The two of them directly pointed the young couple toward Liu Chengjun's survivor group, telling them they'd be accepted there and given food and water.

As for the second one, the minor celebrity, no matter how reluctant or tactfully Chen Yafei tried to persuade him, An Yang still pointed her toward Liu Chengjun's survivor squad. After telling her there were police there, she hurried over in a rush.

By noon, their Presidential Suite was piled with plenty of food, enough for the two of them to last at least half a month. When An Yang was about to wash his hands, he was surprised to find the water had been cut off!

No natural gas, no electricity, and now even the water was gone!

Chen Yafei said, "Today's the seventh day since the Great Calamity. The hotel probably didn't have much stored water to begin with. This morning I heard the neighbors were hoarding a ton of water—they must've taken it all!"

An Yang was taken aback. "Then why didn't you say something earlier? We should've stocked up too."

Chen Yafei had already figured out that under normal circumstances, An Yang was actually easy to talk to and quite gentle. Right now, he was biting into a chicken leg, his words muffled.

"Who knew those bastards would be so ruthless? Couldn't we all just share? It's not like there are many people left in this building anyway, and the two of us wouldn't use that much. I meant to mention it this morning, but I got scared by a zombie and forgot."

"Scared by a zombie and forgot? More like you were distracted by that little celebrity, weren't you?"

"No way, Brother An, I'm her fan..."

"Oh... a fan. Sing one of her songs for me."

Chen Yafei froze. "...I forgot the lyrics."

An Yang waved a hand. "No problem, just hum it."

Chen Yafei scratched his head. "Forgot the tune too."

An Yang chuckled lightly, lying back on the sofa and looking down through the floor-to-ceiling window. The streets below were almost empty of zombies, but that didn't mean they were gone—just hidden in the more dangerous buildings.

Under these circumstances, he could consider leaving the hotel.

After this rare moment of ease in the apocalypse, Chen Yafei asked again, "Brother An, now that water's scarce, what do we do?"

An Yang was silent for a moment, then said, "Since they're being so ruthless, we can't just let ourselves be bullied. This afternoon, we'll clear out the floors below and bring up all the drinking water from the empty rooms."

Chen Yafei's eyes lit up. "Good idea! Should we take the food too? I heard their group has too many people and not enough food—they've been going hungry for days. If we take the food, they'll have nothing left to eat but dirt."

An Yang thought it over and shook his head. "Forget it. We don't need that much food. Let people off when you can."

Chen Yafei grinned. "Got it."

After lunch, the two of them should have rested in the suite, but neither could sleep. No matter how much they joked around, this was still the zombie apocalypse. An Yang couldn't rest easy, let alone Chen Yafei.

In the afternoon, just before setting out, Chen Yafei took a stroll over to Liu Chengjun's place. He was always quick to adapt and socialize, and especially good at finding ways to entertain himself. When no one was around, he'd even amuse himself.

"Tsk tsk tsk, the girls next door are really something—especially Yang Zi, and that college girl."

"Why don't you just go over there? You'd have pretty girls every day."

Chen Yafei shook his head like a rattle-drum. "No way. Following them has no future. Brother An's the most reliable—at least I get to eat well."

An Yang picked up his combat blade and walked out the door, saying, "In chaos, women can only ever be decoration. As for the apocalypse, I don't know if they'll end up as playthings."

He also knew that when Liu Chengjun broke through the zombie horde, he'd run into a few female college students, including one who was campus-queen level. There were also a few young women in the group who were good-looking.

But in a world where zombies ran rampant and even having enough to eat was a luxury, their beauty was worthless—and might even bring them huge trouble, because they were too weak.

Over the course of the afternoon, the two of them gathered nearly three cases of purified water, along with all kinds of drinks. As for food, they only took vacuum-packed meat products, leaving the rest for Liu Chengjun's group.

When they came back at night, faint singing drifted from the room across the way. An Yang stood and listened. The voice was beautiful and melodious—it should be that singer named Yang Zi. Her vocal skill was pretty good even by professional standards.

In this apocalypse, having this kind of pastime to ease the oppressive mood wasn't bad.

But he had no idea that Yang Zi had been forced to sing that song by a few men. The way those men looked at her was already starting to change—filled with desire, greed, and madness.

After a week of suppression and fear, people's hearts were finally beginning to twist, throwing all restraint to the wind!

One night passed without incident!

Early the next morning, An Yang had just opened his eyes when he heard a commotion from next door. He thought someone had been infected by a zombie. Frowning, he pulled open the door and listened for a while, only to find out that a thug looking to vent had gone after Yang Zi, nearly raping her.

Though the rape hadn't been completed, the room next door was still in an uproar. He could hear Yang Zi's helpless sobs. A few young people and women were demanding severe punishment for the culprit, while the thug's friends were vehemently defending him, sparking a loud argument.

"It didn't actually happen, did it? We're all survivors here, and there are zombies outside. We need every hand we can get. Why don't we just let the big thing become small, and the small thing become nothing? Let Old Third apologize to Yang Zi, and we'll call it even. It's not like she really suffered any harm."

"What do you mean, no harm? Her clothes were torn to shreds. Look at the handprint on Yang Zi's face. I can't believe there's scum like this in our group, trying to rape a woman in broad daylight!"

"Scum? That's harsh. It already happened, and he apologized. What more do you want?"

"In chaotic times, harsh punishments are needed. Haven't you heard that?"

"Well said! We can't let someone like this off easy. Otherwise, how can us girls feel safe staying here? We'd be at your mercy sooner or later."

"Hah, a college student, huh? You just haven't seen this cruel world for what it is. Let me spell it out for you: there's no law anymore. Who knows if the country even still exists? So many people have died out there—no one would know if you died either. Law is made by people. As for you women, you're definitely going to get it—either eaten by zombies or devoured by strong men."

"You're all insane!"

"Haha, think about it. If we leave, can a bunch of bookworm college students and some office drones who can't even fight for scraps survive against zombies?"

"You women, listen up. Don't think you're safe with these fools. They'll lose control sooner or later too. You don't dare fight zombies. What else do you have to offer men except your bodies? Why would they risk their lives to keep you fed?"

Hearing his words, the women around them froze, a chill rising from the depths of their hearts.

Chen Yafei took a gulp of mineral water and said, "Those bastards—if I ever run into them, I'll kill them for sure!"

An Yang let out a scornful laugh. "Only those thugs can fight zombies. If they die, what happens to this group? Rely on Liu Chengjun and Chang Hui alone?"

Chen Yafei froze, then said in disbelief, "No way, Brother An, you mean they almost raped a woman and they'll get off scot-free? Liu Chengjun is the police station chief!"

An Yang shook his head. "Hard to say. He's the station chief, but he also needs to survive and hold onto his power. If he doesn't punish them harshly, people's hearts will twist. If he does punish them harshly, they won't survive."

Chen Yafei quickly grasped the twisted logic and spat, "What a bunch of scheming bastards. Lucky I ran into you, Brother An!"

An Yang stepped toward the stairs. The door to the adjacent suite was open, and as he passed, he glanced inside. He saw Yang Zi in a light purple dress, her clothes already torn, several bloody scratches on her pale skin, her hair disheveled, her eyes red-rimmed, standing helplessly in place.

Several people were in the room, including a tattooed, dyed-haired thug. Chang Hui stood holding a sharpened steel pipe, his fierce expression cowing a few of the punks. The two groups argued in clear opposition.

Liu Chengjun stood in the room in silence, wearing a crisp police uniform.

"So this little team has its own cliques too."

Yang Zi caught a shadow in her peripheral vision and quickly turned her head, but only saw a figure carrying a long blade disappearing into the dim corridor.

An Yang glanced at the cleaver tucked into Chen Yafei's belt, pretended to reach behind his back, and pulled out a Cold Steel 26SXP folding knife, handing it over. "Use this from now on."

Chen Yafei's eyes lit up. He took the folding knife, flicked open the blade, and swung it through the air a few times. "Great blade! Brother An, this was your old weapon, right?"

An Yang's eye twitched. "Yeah. I've killed countless people with it. Today, it's yours."

Chen Yafei was overjoyed. "Don't worry, Brother An, I won't let you down. I'll use it to kill plenty of zombies."

"...No need. Just use it to split open zombie heads and take the crystals."

"Ah... Alright..."