Making an example

Zhong Yong loudly egged on the others on this floor.

About a dozen people had opened their doors and come out to look.

There were men and women, young and old.

Every one of them was a little uneasy.

But as their numbers grew, they discovered plenty of survivors nearby, and with the Madmen gone, their courage seemed to return.

Now that they had heard Zhong Yong's words, they noticed the bundles in the hallway and saw the food inside.

Most of them had heard the noises and doors opening earlier, but back then, each household had been on its own. They had hidden in their rooms, terrified and afraid to make a sound.

Now that someone had taken the lead and they had gathered together, they felt much bolder.

Even if they still had some food stocked away, at a time like this, of course they wanted more!

Besides, after these past few days, some people were already running out!

"They picked the locks on other rooms? Isn't that stealing?"

A slightly plump young woman looked wary.

"They know how to pick locks? Could they open our rooms too?"

"Someone knocked a few times earlier. That was them, wasn't it?"

"They tried picking my lock at first! I had locked it from the inside, and they only stopped when they realized someone was in there!"

Everyone began chiming in.

Then a woman in her fifties stepped forward and said,

"Everyone, quiet down for a moment and let me say something fair. With the world like this, we really do need to use the supplies in empty rooms. That way, everyone will have more, so there's nothing wrong with picking the locks."

"That makes some sense."

"But as Yong said, these are our shared assets, and we should divide them up. At a time like this, we ought to uphold the tradition of respecting the elderly and caring for the young. Don't you all agree?"

The older woman put the question to them.

"Right, and ladies first too. Women, the elderly, and children-men need to shoulder their responsibilities at a time like this."

The plump young woman immediately added her piece.

Even Zhong Yong, who had started all this, frowned deeply at those words. What the hell? They're still pulling this crap now?

But first, he needed to draw these people out, secure a share of the supplies, and establish their common target. There would be other opportunities later. Men had an absolute physical advantage, so he wasn't worried about them causing trouble. For now, he swallowed his objections.

"That's true enough. I'm just worried someone won't agree."

"Who wouldn't agree?"

The older woman played along, then looked toward Lin Hao's group, focusing mainly on Zhou Feng, the most strongly built of them.

"You wouldn't refuse, would you?"

An honest man, Zhou Feng flushed red under their pressure. He felt that what they were saying was completely wrong, but he couldn't think of a rebuttal. All he could do was stiffen his neck and say,

"All of this is thanks to young Lin. He killed all the Madmen here earlier. Would you have dared come out otherwise? So he should decide how to distribute these things!"

"Exactly! What the hell is wrong with you people? Have you no shame? We didn't see you when there were Madmen around, or when we were hauling supplies. Now you suddenly pop up? If you're so capable, go pick locks somewhere else and find your own supplies. Kill your own Madmen, you lunatics."

Yi Feng couldn't hold back his curses either.

Even Zhao Xiaowen rolled her eyes in disgust.

"What are you babbling about? Throwing your age around and trying to guilt-trip people at a time like this? Have you gone senile?"

Nie Yi gave a cold snort too.

"Shameless."

But she was short and completely hidden behind the others, so they could hear her without seeing her.

Looking at Zhao Xiaowen's pretty face, the plump young woman's eyes flashed with jealousy. She screeched in a voice squeezed by the fat around her vocal cords,

"You've got some nerve! He's the reason this hallway stinks, isn't he? It's disgusting! He couldn't even clean it up!"

Zhong Yong also seemed resentful and jealous.

Fuck. It's the apocalypse for everyone, but he gets to eat and drink well, with a beauty beside him who'd be rare even in filtered short videos. Comparing yourself to others really does piss you off.

He immediately addressed Zhou Feng.

"Zhou, I remember you live over here. Earlier, when you were looking for medicine for your kid, I didn't come out because I didn't have any. But they took your apartment in exchange for medicine. That's taking advantage of someone in trouble. Come over here. Join us."

As he spoke, he beckoned to Zhou Feng, the strongest of the group.

Facing three adult men armed with sharp weapons, including a manual laborer like Zhou Feng, turning one against the others would obviously be ideal. It would make pressuring them much easier.

"Bullshit!"

Zhou Feng wasn't good with words. Unable to think of a rebuttal, he could only resort to insults, trembling slightly with anger.

But Lin Hao raised a hand to stop him from saying more, then patted Yi Feng's shoulder to have him move aside. Holding his ruler, he took two steps forward and looked around at the crowd.

"So you're saying you want to take our things?"

"What do you mean, your things? They belong to everyone!"

Seeing Lin Hao step out, Zhong Yong felt bolder and took a step forward.

Lin Hao with a ruler looked less intimidating than Yi Feng.

"Everyone, we have to stick together in a world like this. We've seen people over in the residential complex regularly forming groups of a dozen or so. We have just the right number here too. Everyone can contribute their skills and take clear roles to survive. We can even form a group to go to that Teleportation Point."

Zhong Yong kept insisting, full of righteous conviction.

"And though I'm no great talent, I used to work as a labor placement agent. I know a thing or two about assigning work and making arrangements. You all came out because you heard my voice, so I'll take the liberty of saying-"

Before he could finish his blathering, Lin Hao cut him off.

"I'll give you one last chance to choose. I'm going to count to three. Go back to your rooms, and I can treat this as a momentary lapse in judgment. Stay, and I'll take it as an attempt to rob me of my supplies."

Lin Hao's tone was calm. He didn't even seem angry. He simply gave them a choice.

"One..."

No sooner had Lin Hao said one than Zhong Yong interrupted him in turn.

"Three. There, finished counting. What are you going to do?"

Whoosh!

The edge of the ruler slashed straight across Zhong Yong's throat.

With an extra ten kilograms of mass and the whistling speed of its swing, the thin ruler struck like a cleaver!

Crunch!

His throat split open in a ragged gash, blood spraying everywhere. Zhong Yong didn't even have the strength to clutch his neck. The tremendous force slammed him into the wall, and he slid down, spurting blood, collapsing onto the

floor and convulsing uncontrollably.

"Two..."

Bang, bang, bang!

Doors slammed in rapid succession. The people who had been so indignant moments ago fled into their rooms as though escaping the plague.

The plump young woman and the older woman both screamed, but their feet didn't slow down at all.

"See? You can all be reasonable. Why did you have to be so aggressive earlier?"

Lin Hao sighed. With a trace of blood on his face, he tilted his head toward Yi Feng and the others.

"I didn't go too far, did I?"

Yi Feng looked at the blood on Lin Hao's face, then at the corpse on the floor, which had stopped twitching.

After a moment's stunned silence, he immediately gave a thumbs-up.

"You're fucking awesome, Lin! That's exactly how to handle them! So satisfying!"

The world had changed long ago! These people still didn't dare leave their homes, so what right did they have to run their mouths at Lin, who roamed freely through the building?

Zhou Feng was stunned too. For an honest man like him, killing someone was still a considerable shock. But after a short silence, he recovered and nodded.

"Ah, the world really is different now. What they did was wrong."

In this apocalypse, he only wanted to protect his wife and child. After he had spent the whole afternoon hauling supplies, these people had jumped out and demanded a share. He thought that was completely unreasonable too!

If they were capable, they could find their own! They had working arms and legs!

Failing that, they could go to the Teleportation Point. Surely a living person could find a way!

Instead, they wanted something for nothing...

Sticking with young Lin and the others was the right path.

Zhao Xiaowen and Nie Yi both looked calm as well. Women had it even harder in a world like this. Their best option was to cling to someone strong!

With the hallway cleared, Lin Hao paced back and forth and said,

"Listen up. If you have gold, silver, or any other Wish Power equipment, you can trade it with us for food. You're welcome to go out and find things yourselves too. We'll still trade with you. But if I discover anyone doing anything against me, don't blame me for killing you without another warning."

After the example he had just made, Lin Hao's words carried plenty of menace. More importantly, he had also left these people a glimmer of hope.

They wanted food? Fine. They just had to bring something to trade!

With Yi Feng around, their current food reserves were far more than they needed.

This option also kept them from lashing out in desperation. Giving them a way forward reduced the chance of more Madmen appearing.

In a world like this, he couldn't kill everyone he encountered, nor could he push people to their limits. Things had now settled into a delicate balance...

"Let's go check his place. You two keep the door shut."

After laying down the rules for the survivors on this floor, Lin Hao tilted his head toward Zhao Xiaowen and spoke, then took Yi Feng and Zhou Feng to Zhong Yong's apartment.

It wasn't that Lin Hao was cruel. If Zhong Yong had family, in an environment like this, he would not leave anyone alive who held a blood feud against him.

Human minds were far harder to deal with than Madmen. Who knew what methods they might use?

His current strength still wasn't enough to handle every possible problem!

Enemies driven by conflicting interests weren't frightening, because their goals followed those interests. Their actions could be traced, and deals could be made.

But an enemy blinded by hatred was impossible to predict...

Fortunately, the only occupant of Zhong Yong's apartment was a female Madman locked inside one room, probably his wife. Lin Hao killed her without any fuss.

He also deliberately showed Yi Feng and Zhou Feng the power of his "ruler" again.

It would be exposed sooner or later, and it was difficult to conceal anyway. He needed to demonstrate his strength to them, while also hinting that it came from his equipment.

If either of them ever harbored ill intentions, that could leave them working with incomplete information.

Lin Hao didn't want to view everyone with suspicion, but neither did he want to be stabbed in the back out of nowhere. While they still barely knew one another, he needed to test them and keep some things to himself.

That was also why Lin Hao had always felt more at ease with Zhao Xiaowen and Nie Yi. Women could have ambitions too, but those ambitions usually weren't centered on physical force.

Even now that he had accepted Yi Feng, he would definitely put him in a separate room at night...