Wow, I've met a hero!

While they were discussing it.

Creak.

The sound of a door opening.

"You old geezer, are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Xiao Bin saw Wang Zhongguo open the iron gate while they weren't paying attention. He flew into a rage. If Wang Zhongguo got bitten by a zombie, they'd all be done for.

He raised his foot, ready to kick Wang Zhongguo to the ground.

"What are you doing? How can you hit someone?" Lin Fan's first sight was a young man about to attack an old man, and he immediately shouted angrily.

As a successor of the new era,

how could he fail to respect the elderly and care for the young?

Xiao Bin and the others stepped back, warily sizing up Lin Fan to see if he had any injuries. If a zombie had bitten him, they'd kill him immediately.

Lin Fan was pleased. It seemed his reprimand had worked, successfully preventing an old man from being beaten.

The four elderly people had opened the door for a simple reason.

They wanted to give the young people a chance to live, while they returned home and waited for death with dignity.

"Everyone, don't be nervous. I mean no harm. May I ask which of you is Mr. Chen?" Lin Fan looked at the group. They all seemed exhausted and in poor spirits. It looked like they'd been living under a lot of stress in this apocalypse.

But he couldn't help it. He was just an ordinary person who occasionally helped others with little things.

"That's me." Chen Gang sized Lin Fan up. There was something a little odd about the young man. The sword on his back looked like a legendary weapon from a game, if he remembered right.

"Hello, Mr. Chen. I'm here to rent a place."

"All right, you can rent it. Now you can leave."

"Thank you."

Lin Fan hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. He took a bundle of cash from his coat. It was the pay he'd withdrawn a while ago instead of putting it in the bank. He hadn't expected he'd have to spend it so soon. Money really did come and go in a flash.

"Mr. Chen, there's five thousand yuan here. It's not quite enough, but it's all I have for now. I'll transfer the rest to you later."

Everyone around them stared at the scene, a little dumbfounded. Was he really this proper?

Was this guy an idiot?

"That's enough. You can stay as long as you like. Hurry up and go." Chen Gang urged him.

He suspected something was wrong with the man's head.

This was the apocalypse. Money was useless now. Even a whole room full of it would be nothing but wastepaper.

"Thank you." Lin Fan was very polite. He could tell that the easygoing landlord didn't want him hanging around, so he wouldn't bother them any longer.

With that, he turned to leave.

He even politely closed the iron gate behind him.

Then,

Lin Fan looked at the four elderly people and politely asked, "Hello. Aren't you going back to the rooftop? It's dangerous outside now that the apocalypse has begun. You're all quite old, and if you run into zombies, you might not be able to get away."

Suddenly,

Lin Fan looked at Zhou Aijun as if he were trying to place him. Then he exclaimed, "Are you Grandpa Zhou Aijun?"

Zhou Aijun, who had been ready to go home and wait for death, calmly regarded the strange young man in front of him.

"That's right, young man. Do you know me?"

They weren't afraid of the apocalypse itself. What frightened them was the loss of humanity. Once people lost all their humanity, it would be a disaster—a cataclysm unlike anything the world had ever seen.

"I do. I saw you on the military channel when I was watching TV. You're an incredible military engineer. When foreign countries once blocked us from accessing weapons technology, you led your team through one technical challenge after another, giving our country weapons we could be proud of."

"I really admire you. I even went to the forums to see what people said about you. They said your work helped our country's military reach the level of those powerful nations in just twenty years."

Lin Fan hadn't expected to see this living legend. It felt like coming out to help someone rent a place had really paid off.

Wang Zhongguo laughed. "Brother Zhou, I never thought you'd meet a fan in the apocalypse."

"Brother Wang, don't tease me." Zhou Aijun was gratified. He didn't say it aloud, but he was happy. He hadn't worked hard all his life so that people would remember him, but knowing a young man still did made him feel content. "Young man, what's your name?"

"My name is Lin Fan. I'm from Huang City, and I live in Sunshine Residential Complex. I'm here to help someone rent out a place." Lin Fan answered hurriedly. To him, this old man was a hero. He wasn't much for following celebrities; he preferred watching stories about heroes who had served their country.

Then Lin Fan looked at Wang Zhongguo. "And you, Grandpa. You have such a strong presence. I can tell you must have been a soldier."

"Haha..." Zhou Aijun lightly patted Lin Fan on the shoulder. "You've got a sharp eye, young man. You spotted it at once. Old Man Wang was a soldier. He was ferocious in his younger days. He'd storm enemy positions with nothing but a gun, taking on dozens of men and sending them scattering. He was a first-class hero. Don't let his age fool you, either. A few years ago, he saw some human traffickers on the street and went straight after those big, burly men. They all ended up in the hospital."

Wang Zhongguo laughed heartily at Zhou Aijun's praise, almost forgetting the apocalypse around them.

Naturally, hearing people bring up his past made him happy. In his old age, those were his fondest memories.

Lin Fan's mouth fell open in admiration. He hadn't expected the old man before him to be a hero, someone who had risked life and limb for his country—a hero everyone should respect.

"Grandpas, Grandmas, aren't you going back to the rooftop? It's dangerous out here."

He wanted to understand.

"We're not going back. There aren't many supplies, so we'll leave the chance to live to the young people. We're old and no use to anyone anymore. We shouldn't waste resources."

Hearing this, Lin Fan fell silent.

He wasn't stupid. He could already imagine what had happened. The people on the rooftop probably didn't want to share supplies with these worthy elders. They might even have been trying to get them killed.

He'd noticed that many people had become irritable, twisted, and cruel since the apocalypse began.

These two old men were both worthy of admiration. They'd made enormous contributions to their country. Anyone who saw what they were going through would lend them a hand. The life people enjoyed now had been won for them by others at the cost of their lives.

They shouldn't have to spend their later years like this.

If he knew the supplies those people had came from these four elderly people, he'd grab a knife and go up there to give them a thorough scolding. How could they be so heartless?

Lin Fan felt he couldn't just stand by.

"Come with me to Sunshine Residential Complex. It's pretty safe there, and I believe I can protect you," Lin Fan said.

He was the one who had offered to take them back with him to Sunshine Residential Complex.

"You can stay at my place for now. I'll rent a place for you."

The four elderly people looked at the earnest young man before them.

For a moment, they sank into thought.

Wang Zhongguo:...

Zhou Aijun:...

Xu Guifen:...

Liang Yan:...

Wang Zhongguo said, "Young man, thank you for your kindness, but we'll pass. We'd only hold you back. We're no use to anyone anymore. We're touched that you'd even think of it. Just make sure you stay safe. The future depends on young people like you."

"Oh, don't say that. I'm very capable. Come with me." Lin Fan thought the four old people were being ridiculous. He knew they meant well. After all, the elderly couldn't keep up with the young and became a burden in every way. But he, Lin Fan, had received an excellent education. How could he stand by and watch these admirable heroes suffer?

You protected us once. Now it's the young people's turn to protect you.

That kind of guardianship shouldn't end.

It should be carried on.

"Great."

Lin Fan was thrilled. The rental was settled, and he'd met a hero who was willing to leave with him.

Though people online said that money was useless once the apocalypse arrived, he didn't agree.

Everything people had was something they'd worked hard to create. Just because someone disappeared or died, did that mean their belongings became ownerless?

No... They definitely didn't become ownerless. Whether the owner was there or not, they still belonged to someone.

He couldn't just take them for free or steal them.

He'd received nine years of compulsory education and was a future successor of the country. With that identity, he simply couldn't do something like that.

The rooftop.

"Is he out yet?" Chen Gang asked.

"Not yet. He should be on his way down. He'll be out soon." Xiao Bin leaned over the railing and watched below, but Lin Fan hadn't appeared yet.

Various objects had already been piled nearby.

They were going to throw them downstairs in a moment.

"He's out."

Xiao Bin shouted, then his face darkened. "Throw them! Throw everything down hard and draw out the zombies nearby."

The survivors didn't hesitate. They threw all kinds of objects downstairs.

In a situation like this, they only wanted to survive.

They didn't care who died.

Xiao Bin picked up a flowerpot, chose his angle, and threw it forward. He didn't want it to hit the person; he wanted the noise to draw the nearby zombies out.

"Once the noise attracts the zombies, they'll head out of the residential complex. Then it'll be safe here for a while, and we can look for supplies," Xiao Bin sneered.

He didn't know how many zombies were still in the complex, but with these people around, he could use them as bait and carve out a way for them to survive.

Bang!

A loud crash rang out.

Lin Fan turned around. A shattered flowerpot had landed on the ground five or six meters away from them.

"Where did that flowerpot come from?"

As he wondered, another object fell from above and hit the ground with a loud clatter.

He looked up and saw the people on the rooftop throwing objects down.

Xiao Bin looked around in confusion. Where were the zombies? How could there be none? He was about to keep throwing things, but there was nothing left.

No, he absolutely couldn't let this happen.

Suddenly, Xiao Bin spotted a plump survivor crouching there. A vicious thought took root in his mind, and he became crazed and brutal.

With a low growl, he rushed over, grabbed the survivor by the legs, and flung him off the rooftop.

"Ah..."

A scream rang out.

The survivors around them were stunned by Xiao Bin's actions.

They hadn't expected Xiao Bin to throw someone off the rooftop.

"What are you looking at? Throwing objects won't attract zombies. This is the only way to draw the zombies in the complex over here," Xiao Bin growled.

The apocalypse wasn't what was terrifying. What was terrifying was the darkness in people's hearts, finally unleashed when there were no restraints left to hold it back.

And he felt this was what life was really about.

No one could punish him now. He could do anything he wanted.

His cruel actions left the survivors around him trembling with fear.

They were terrified.

Even Chen Gang stared wide-eyed. What a ruthless bastard.