After going out to kill zombies for three days, they had rescued 14 survivors and brought them back to the villa district. It was the soldiers’ duty—they could not abandon a single citizen.
The rescued survivors were settled into one of the villas. Cold-weather supplies had already been distributed throughout the villa district, all of which had been retrieved by Xue Chao and his team.
There were now a total of 94 people in the villa district. Based on Gu Cheng’s memories, the extreme cold would last for about a month and a half.
Gu Cheng found Wang Che, hesitating slightly. “I want to provide some supplies to the military and the survivors. Is that okay?”
Wang Che looked at him without speaking. Gu Cheng continued, “I’m not being a saint. I just feel that these soldiers have it really hard. They’re all around my age, in their early twenties—some are even younger than me.
“They could have stayed under their parents’ protection, but instead they’re carrying heavy burdens in difficult times. And those survivors—they’re just ordinary people without abilities. It’s very hard for them to survive in this apocalypse. I don’t know what will happen to them in the future… maybe they won’t make it. I can’t control what happens later. Just this once. There won’t be a next time.”
Wang Che gently patted his head. “I didn’t say you were being a saint. I’m just thinking about how to give, and how much would be appropriate. I need to discuss this with Fu Zhe. I’m glad you thought to talk to me first. To the outside world, my ability is storage space, and yours is water. Remember—don’t expose your own storage space.”
After that, he got up to find Fu Zhe. In truth, both Fu Zhe and Xue Chao had wanted to ask Wang Che for help, but neither knew how to bring it up. In the apocalypse, everyone understood what food meant.
So when Wang Che brought it up himself and explained Gu Cheng’s idea, Xue Chao was deeply grateful. Although this was their duty, the soldiers under his command had fought alongside him through life and death like brothers. They had to rescue people while going hungry, and he had seen it all, blaming himself for not being capable enough.
“Wang Che, thank you—both you and Gu Cheng. I don’t know how to express my gratitude. No words are enough, but I’ll remember this. When I return, I’ll tell my brothers. In the future, we’ll do everything we can to protect your team. As long as it doesn’t go against this uniform I wear, I’ll go through fire and water for you.”
Wang Che patted his shoulder. “About how much do you need?”
Xue Chao felt embarrassed to ask. “However much you can give, I’ll take. Any amount is fine—just do what you can.”
Fu Zhe looked at Xue Chao. The troublemaking kid from childhood who used to fight everywhere had now become someone many survivors relied on—a strong and upright soldier.
“This help can only happen once, so let’s be a bit more generous.”
Wang Che nodded. “Alright. I’ll go prepare it. Wait a moment.”
Wang Che discussed it with Gu Cheng. His storage space had just awakened and covered 200 square meters, already filled with quite a bit of firearms, clothing, food, and medicine.
In the end, they provided: 200 bags of rice, 500 cans, 200 jin of dried vegetables, 10 water tanks, 20 tubes of frostbite ointment, 20 boxes of cold and fever medicine, and 20 boxes of instant noodles.
The military had also gathered a considerable amount of supplies earlier, which should be enough to get them through the extreme cold.
After a month of extreme heat and a week of torrential rain and flooding, blue-green algae had multiplied massively, releasing oxygen through photosynthesis and diluting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. This caused surface temperatures to drop. Without sunlight, the floodwaters quickly froze, and temperatures plummeted—the global extreme cold had arrived.
Although the villa district had prepared in advance, the cold was still so severe that people could barely move.
Because the temperature drop came so suddenly, too many people were unprepared and froze to death on the spot. Even those who survived found life much harder.
The temperature drop happened at night. Wang Che noticed it immediately, quickly putting on clothes and going room to room to warn everyone. He turned on the heating and took out pre-filled hot water bottles from his storage space, giving each person a thermos.
Even though they were all ability users and added extra clothing and blankets, they were still freezing badly. Only Chen Chuan, who had awakened a fire-type ability, was not afraid of the cold.
For breakfast, they had preserved egg and lean meat porridge, soy milk, fried dough sticks, and soup dumplings. The hot food warmed their stomachs, and gradually, their whole bodies felt warmer.
The military also cooked hot porridge and pickled vegetables for everyone. Outside, the temperature had dropped to around minus 40 degrees Celsius. Some southern soldiers couldn’t adapt to the cold, and one suffered hypothermia while delivering porridge.
They carried him back, wrapped him in blankets, and gave him hot water, but they still couldn’t save him—another soldier was lost.
Three elderly people with weaker constitutions also couldn’t endure the cold. Another four developed fevers and were placed in isolation.
The families of those isolated refused to cooperate, unwilling to let their loved ones be taken away.
“Where are you taking my son? We’re not going anywhere!” A woman around fifty clung tightly to her feverish son, refusing to let the soldiers take him for isolation.
Xue Chao personally led the team. Seeing the middle-aged woman causing a scene, he spoke firmly, “Move aside. Anyone with a fever must be isolated. Our unit has fever medicine that can save him. Don’t delay our work.”
“No, you can’t take him! Just leave the medicine here—you can’t take him!”
After three warnings with no result, Xue Chao ordered forced isolation.
During the struggle, the feverish man suddenly bit into the neck of the middle-aged woman standing closest to him.
The surrounding women screamed in terror, which only made the zombifying man more violent.
With a swift motion, Xue Chao swung his blade and beheaded both of them.
The survivors had never witnessed such a scene before. They hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet, and after seeing this, none of them had any appetite.
No other abnormalities were found among the remaining survivors for the time being.
After resting for a day, Xue Chao decided to lead a team out to eliminate zombies and search for supplies.
This time, not only did Wang Che’s team join, but Chu Xiuyuan’s group of three also insisted on going along, leaving Ye Wen, who had no abilities, behind to guard the base.
Xue Chao agreed readily—with the help of these two teams, the task would be much easier.
Their first destination that day was a nearby canned food factory, the largest one in Hai City before the apocalypse.
They drove across the frozen surface, each vehicle equipped with anti-slip ice spikes on the tires to prevent dangerous skidding.
They arrived at the factory in 30 minutes. Lu Ning quietly warned that there were quite a few zombies inside. The rain and fevers had both occurred at night, and there were about a hundred zombies—likely workers who had been working overtime.
The military led with firearms, but ammunition was limited, so most relied on Tang swords and axes to kill zombies.
Because of the cold, the zombies moved more slowly. It could also be that their levels were low, making them easy to kill.
In stark contrast was Chu Xiuyuan’s team. Having never gone out before, their faces were pale.
“Ah! Brother Xiuyuan, save me! There’s another one here!” Jiang Li, whose ability was only defensive, relied entirely on Chu Xiuyuan’s protection. While killing zombies, Chu Xiuyuan also had to endure Jiang Li’s piercing screams, which gave him a headache. He deeply regretted bringing her along.
Meanwhile, Gu Cheng followed behind with a Tang sword in hand. When encountering zombies, he showed no mercy—sometimes killing one with a single strike, sometimes needing two. He was doing his best to adapt to the apocalypse.
It had to be admitted—Wang Che’s team was exceptionally capable. They were no worse than the military. Even the girls without combat abilities all wielded Tang swords, and not a single one of them held the team back.