The Nickname "Hamster" Was Well Deserved

Jiang Nian spoke casually, but Cheng Jing stopped eating, his eyes lighting up.

"That's a good idea. I'll mention it to the person in charge of the official organization later. It could be put into practice elsewhere. If the sealed homes are marked, there'll be no need to check them again when distributing supplies."

He then asked:

"Nian Nian, you can also tell me about other ways to survive and help people in the apocalypse. I can pass them on to the authorities so they can avoid taking detours."

The apocalypse had struck without warning, throwing the whole world into chaos. Countries and cities alike were now left to fend for themselves.

The national military was working around the clock to build rescue bases, but that all took time. The more people who lived long enough to be rescued, the better it would be for humanity's future. Once people died, everything was gone.

"Okay."

Jiang Nian had been planning to do the same. Now that Cheng Jing was leading a rescue squad himself, Jiang Nian could bring up things he had originally planned to mention later. With that thought, he took out a sheet of paper and began drawing on it.

"In my last life, people only learned a few lessons after many had died. Before rescue bases were built everywhere, many cities were divided into zones for management. A medium-sized city like Qingyun City, for example, could be divided into four zones: east, west, south, and north."

"The municipal building serving as the command center is almost exactly in the middle of the four zones. There'd be no need to move it, which would make things much more convenient. Gather everyone suited to joining a rescue team, then divide them into four groups, one for each zone. The exact number of people and amount of supplies allocated would depend on the number of survivors in each zone..."

"Mm."

Cheng Jing rubbed his chin, thinking seriously.

"That way, rescue teams wouldn't have to run all over the city, reducing casualties and losses... It would also make things easier to manage once the extreme cold arrives."

Jiang Nian nodded and continued:

"True, but this method won't work in every city. It won't work if the public doesn't cooperate, either. After dividing the city into zones, the next step is to establish shelters in each one and gather the survivors together as much as possible to manage them. That would leave everyone's personal supplies completely exposed. Those without supplies would approve, but those with supplies might not..."

Cheng Jing picked up the thought:

"The supplies the government distributes will decrease over time, but everyone will still get an equal share. By then, people without supplies will think those who have them shouldn't be entitled to a share... But people with supplies won't give up their usual rights."

That was human nature.

"Right. No method is perfect, but if some degree of order can be maintained amid the chaos, the overall chance of survival will be much higher. Although carrying it out would be unfair to a small number of people, at a time like this, we can only sacrifice the few for the many."

Jiang Nian couldn't help sighing when he finished. It was hard to make anything meant for the public perfect.

"Then would you agree to it? We have so many supplies."

Cheng Jing asked with a smile. Anyone who saw what they had in their home would envy them.

Jiang Nian answered without hesitation:

"If you make this proposal to the authorities and they put it into practice, I'll go along with the arrangements. But..."

Halfway through, he gave a sly smile.

"You could make a little use of your advantage and have our Taihe Famous City and the surrounding residential complexes designated as a shelter. We'd stay where we are, and people from elsewhere would be moved here. After all, there aren't many people here, so it isn't one of the worst-hit areas. It's also close to the main road, making it more convenient to wait for rescue."

Most importantly, given the nature of Cheng Jing's original security job, he wouldn't think too much of their safe house. Jiang Nian only had to keep people from coming inside, and it would be okay.

"Smart."

Cheng Jing gave him a thumbs-up. He would give it a try. Whether the proposal was implemented was up to the authorities; he only needed to make the suggestion. The shelter's "original residents" would stay put, and those moved in would behave themselves and follow the rules. Things would proceed as they should.

The night passed peacefully. After eating the next morning, Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian first went to the eighth floor. Sure enough, the couple who had knocked on their door the previous night had turned into zombies and were wandering the hallway. When they spotted the two men, they roared and attacked.

Cheng Jing shot them both in the head, then cremated them on the spot, burning them to ash and vaporizing it. The temperature of his ability fire was absurdly high, burning away even the smell.

After dealing with the zombies on the eighth floor, Cheng Jing sent Huang Qian a message, and the three of them began sealing doors.

Some residents came out to see what the commotion was. Once they learned what the three were doing, they supported them, and soon the others also took it upon themselves to help.

The apocalypse had begun more than half a month ago, and the number of humans with abilities was constantly growing.

A few people in the residential complex, whose residents were mostly elderly, had also awakened abilities. Although they all had the most common physique-enhancement type, their active participation still reassured everyone.

Of course, they were all adults responsible for their own actions. Even when following ability users, they understood that their safety was their own responsibility.

More and more people joined in, guarding against one another while also offering one another warmth. As a result, at the neighbors' request, Cheng Jing agreed to join everyone in clearing and sealing each building when he wasn't on a mission.

With so many people helping, they cleared and sealed three buildings in a single day, eliminating quite a few zombies along the way. The rest would have to wait until Cheng Jing's next day off, the day after tomorrow.

After the power outage, none of the access controls around the complex worked anymore, and the main gate had also been damaged. Cheng Jing had no choice but to work with several strength-type ability users to block off all the basement stairwell entrances and elevator doors on the first floor with heavy objects.

This would do a good job of preventing zombies that slipped into the basement through entrances outside the complex from climbing up.

Although this would make the basement a heavily affected area, it wouldn't pose much of a threat in the short term if they cleared it out regularly.

For the three buildings they had already cleared, Jiang Nian recorded the number of surviving households on every floor of each building in a notebook. If a household was gone later, he would simply cross it out. It was accurate and effective.

When Cheng Jing went back to "work" the next day, he submitted the proposal for dividing the city into zones. As more and more people died, it was only a matter of time before the survivors were gathered and managed together to get through the crisis.

So, after submitting the proposal, Cheng Jing reinforced and modified the doors and windows of the two other, unoccupied apartments on their tenth floor. He planned to gather all the squad members there ahead of time so they could look after one another no matter what happened later.

Huang Qian would stay where she was, and the two safe houses would go to the other six. They were all men, so it was easy to assign three to each apartment.

Once the safe houses were ready, they began moving supplies a little at a time whenever they went out. The other squad members finally had the chance to visit their complex, but unfortunately, since it was the middle of the night, Cheng Jing refused to let them come inside to visit Jiang Nian.

After several days of moving things over little by little in secret, the move was finally complete, and the six squad members officially moved in.

During the move, Cheng Jing took the opportunity to tell his other teammates a little about Jiang Nian's ominous nightmares and his stockpiling of supplies. Everyone believed him completely. Abilities had already appeared, so there was nothing strange about ominous nightmares.

On the first day after the move was complete, they held a group meal at Jiang Nian and Cheng Jing's place.

After meeting the man himself, everyone agreed without a word that Jiang Nian's nickname, "Hamster," was well deserved.