Jiang Li’s actions had indeed intimidated everyone. They had not expected her to be so ruthless, killing without hesitation. Everyone kept their distance from her, creating a clear vacuum around her and her area.
When Gu Jin returned, he saw exactly this scene: two tents with a wide empty space around them, and two corpses lying on the ground.
“Are you alright?” Gu Jin walked over and asked Jiang Li.
“I’m fine. Just dealt with two problems.”
“That’s good.” Seeing that she truly was unharmed, Gu Jin did not say anything further.
He put down the supplies he had brought back, then silently walked over to the two bodies. He lifted them up and threw them into a nearby crack in the ground.
After that, he returned and began preparing something to boil water. First, he arranged stones into a circle, leaving an opening for lighting a fire. He also left a gap at the top where a pot could be placed. This structure was quite stable and could also block the wind.
While Gu Jin was working, Jiang Li went into the ruins and found a pot that looked relatively new. In reality, this pot was taken from her space, it had been the one she used before. The pots in the ruins were either too dirty, deformed, or completely unusable.
She poured a little water over it to make it look as if it had been washed, then gathered some firewood before walking back.
What Gu Jin made was quite good. The two of them filled the pot with water and boiled it to sterilize it before starting to cook instant noodles.
The noodles were found by Jiang Li in the ruins. The packaging was intact, and she also found a small pack of compressed biscuits and a few bottles of water.
After cooking the noodles, Jiang Li used a disposable plastic lunch box as her bowl, which Gu Jin had also seen before. Unexpectedly, Gu Jin took out the same type of lunch box, the one from the meal Jiang Li had given him last time. He had kept it all this time.
The aroma of instant noodles drifted through the square, but no one dared to cause trouble for Jiang Li and the others anymore. They could only watch from a distance.
Many people saw that Jiang Li and her group had set up a cooking stove and tried to imitate them, but none of theirs were as well-made as Gu Jin’s; they were only barely usable.
Some people could only eat the bread or biscuits they had on hand. Others did have instant noodles, but they had no water, or not enough water, and did not know how to build a proper cooking setup, so they could only eat them dry.
On Jiang Li’s side, no one dared to cause trouble, but in other parts of the square many people were being robbed, mostly the elderly, women, or individuals alone. From time to time, shouts, cries, and sobs echoed across the square.
Jiang Li knew this, but did not intervene. Helping one person would lead to another, and there were too many people for her to manage. Moreover, even if she helped them once, they would still be robbed after she left; in the end, the only real solution was for people to become strong themselves.
In her previous life, she had also helped others, but what she received in return was not gratitude, it was moral coercion. So in this life, she no longer wanted to get involved.
After finishing their meal, the two of them returned to their tents to rest separately. Inside her tent, Jiang Li even took out an apple from her space to eat. In the apocalypse, fruits and vegetables were considered luxuries; they were hard to preserve and difficult to carry, so almost no one stocked them.
Gu Jin also returned to his tent and ate a piece of bread. He had a relatively large appetite, but he felt it would be awkward to keep eating outside.
At night, under the dark sky, bonfires lit up one after another. The scene, though still harsh, carried less despair and a little more warmth.
And so they stayed in the square for about two weeks. During that time, some people wanted to return home, but several aftershocks made them abandon the idea. Others left for different areas, while some came here instead, so the people in the square gradually changed over time.
Now, most buildings had collapsed everywhere. The majority of people chose to stay put. From those who arrived later, they learned that other places were in the same condition, which further discouraged anyone from leaving.
One day at noon, Jiang Li heard noise nearby, it was an official vehicle announcing that a base had been established in H City, and those who wished to go could report there.
People immediately gathered around the official vehicle, asking questions about the base in a noisy, chaotic crowd.
“Is the base far from here? If we don’t have a car, will the base send someone to pick us up?”
“Does the base have food?”
“The base—”
“Alright, alright, everyone listen to me.”
The leader was a man surnamed Wang, around 180 cm tall, with a crew cut.
“The base is in H City. A bus will come in three days. Those without cars can take the bus; those with cars can follow behind the convoy.”
“As for everyone’s biggest concern, food, the base uses a point system for transactions. Points can be exchanged for supplies, or earned by completing missions. You can learn the details after you arrive at the base.”
“Whether you go or not is up to you. If you have family or friends in other cities, you can also go to other bases. For other questions, you can slowly understand them after you get there.”
After confirming the meeting location, Captain Wang got into the vehicle and headed to the next location.
The car left, but discussion about the base did not stop. Everyone continued talking about it.
From what they learned, official bases had been established in all four directions, east, south, west, and north. This was City D, and the nearest base was in City H. In the pre-apocalypse era, it would take two to three hours on the highway, and over an hour after exiting the highway to reach the base location.
Now, because of the earthquake, the highway was likely unusable. Traveling on surface roads would probably take at least a full day. With the cracks caused by the earthquake and collapsed buildings everywhere, detours might even take two to three days to reach the base.
In her previous life, news that the base had been completed only came more than a month after the earthquake ended. In this life, however, it had been announced so much earlier. Although the major earthquakes had stopped, aftershocks were still occurring, less frequent over time, but they still happened occasionally.
In her previous life, Jiang Li only learned after arriving at the base that the government had actually prepared in advance. No one knew why the extreme heat could not be predicted earlier, but earthquakes had been detected beforehand. After all, seismographs had existed since ancient times, and with modern technology, it was even more advanced.
The fact that everything had been brought forward so much in this life made Jiang Li uncertain whether these changes were related to her rebirth. Or perhaps this apocalypse would end differently in this life. Everything was still unknown.
Either way, for now, this was good news, it brought a glimmer of hope to people in an abyss of despair.
Seeing that Jiang Li looked completely calm and seemingly uninterested, Gu Jin asked her, “Are you going to the base?”
“Yes. But I’ll set off a bit later than the main group. What about you?” Right now there were too many people going at once; where there were people, there would be trouble. Besides, with so many heading out together, she did not want to waste time queuing or getting caught up in delays. She was not in a hurry, she could take it slowly. As long as she reached the base before the extreme cold arrived and secured a place to stay, that was enough.
“Mm. I still have some things to handle. After I finish, I should also head to the base.”
Jiang Li did not ask what those things were. Everyone had their own secrets, and their cooperation was only temporary. She also had secrets of her own, so there was no need to probe further.