Chapter 29

The several dining tables placed in the hall were quickly filled, with people clustering together, bickering and shouting over trivial matters like chopsticks and bowls, their bodies making large movements from time to time. They hurriedly scooped rice from the buckets and ladled soup from the basins, even the pickles in the bowls were quickly divided up, creating a lively atmosphere. During the scramble, a lot of rice and soup fell to the ground, trampled by countless feet, turning into clumps of dirty, sticky mud.

Everyone held bowls brimming to the top, looking at the latecomers who had just entered the hall with smug eyes. The latecomers were not to be outdone, using spoons to scoop the leftover rice from the bottom of the buckets and pouring the last of the soup from the basins into their bowls. Even so, their food was still nearly half less than those who came earlier, with no trace of meat or pickles.

"Fuck, you're all a bunch of starving ghosts reincarnated—"

A man of medium height, holding a bowl, walked to the wall and squatted down, grumbling to himself as he ate: "Everything has to be snatched, do you even know how much you can eat? These bastards will die from overeating!"

This was indeed the truth—Su Hao had previously obtained many large stainless steel basins from the store for easy cleaning and storage. These basins were large, and a pound of rice filled them to the brim. With soup, a full, brimming basin of food weighed at least two pounds.

The people rescued from the bathhouse had been resting for nearly a week. Their stomachs could now handle normal food and no longer required liquid nourishment. Perhaps the terrifying experience had made them abnormally sensitive to hunger, giving them an extremely strong desire to possess food.

However, they simply couldn't eat that much.

A rather plump middle-aged woman stood up from the large bucket of rice. She was one of the latecomers, holding a half-empty bowl. She angrily turned around, noticing that the soup basins on the tables were already empty, with no meat scraps left. This terrifying reality made her feel deeply humiliated, her facial muscles twitching into a strongly angry expression.

She wanted to vent her anger, to point at those eating and scold them. A few strong men sitting at the table looked at her indifferently, their eyes filled with undisguised mockery and disdain. This provocative gesture, like a bucket of ice water, immediately extinguished the flames of anger in the woman's eyes. She glared at the men, quickly comparing her strength and numbers with theirs, and muttered curses only she could hear, then turned and walked toward the table where Su Hao was sitting.

This was the only table in the hall with empty seats, reserved for core team members. Of course, the variety and quality of the food were no different from the other tables.

There were still three empty seats—Li Xiaomei was busy in the kitchen with her child, Liao Qiu and Han Jing were on their way back. The others around the table had not yet started eating. It wasn't that they weren't hungry, but they felt that all the companions should be together for a meal to be peaceful.

They went out every day. Despite their enhanced physical condition, no one knew what dangers they might face. The disaster and death had brought the survivors closer, and from the moment they tightly held each other's hands, they were more like a family than a team.

Everyone knew this table belonged to the core members and no one had ever sat there. The plump woman knew this very well, but after hesitating, she still walked over and unceremoniously picked up a spoon, scooping out several large pieces of meat from the untouched soup basin and filling her bowl.

Du Tianhao's cigarette was half-smoked, his right hand holding the butt frozen in mid-air.

Han Jing and Zhang Jingjing exchanged glances, their eyes simultaneously focusing on the plump woman.

Old Song was somewhat taken aback, his mouth slightly open, but he said nothing.

Cao Rui leaned back, her arms crossed, staring at the woman coldly.

Tao Yuan frowned slightly.

Xin Yan turned to look at Su Hao, noticing that his beautiful eyes were slowly narrowing, his gaze cold and sharp.

The plump woman also sensed the atmosphere becoming tense, she smiled awkwardly, quickening her movements, continuing to scoop meat from the soup basin, and digging out many pickled garlic bulbs from the pickle bowl, quickly filling her bowl to the brim.

"Put it down."

Su Hao pointed at the bowl in the woman's hand. His voice was soft, but everyone around could hear the potential for an explosion in his tone.

The woman's face turned red and white, a hint of anger flashing in her eyes. Reluctantly, she put down the heavy bowl, but perhaps feeling it was too hard to give up, she immediately reached out and tightly held it.

"I... I haven't eaten yet."

She racked her brain for appropriate words.

Su Hao looked at her unwilling face and said calmly, "We haven't eaten either—every day's food is supplied in sufficient quantities, it should be enough, and everyone gets a share. As for what you plan to take away, it belongs to others. Of course, if you really need it, it's not impossible. But you must give me a sufficiently compelling reason."

The plump woman clearly wasn't prepared for such a rebuke. Her face turned ugly, and she tried to ease the tension by turning around and pointing at the other tables, which were already full, angrily shouting, "They've already divided all the food. I just came a little late, and there's nothing left. This... this is unfair—"

This statement instantly offended almost everyone in the hall. Many people put down their bowls and chopsticks, looking at her with fierce, unfriendly eyes. Although intimidated by Su Hao and the others, no one spoke, but the threat and gloom in their eyes were unmistakable.

Xin Yan placed her hand on Su Hao's leg and asked seriously, "Since you knew this would happen, why did you come late? If you had come down earlier, there would be no problem, right?"

As a woman, Xin Yan was more细腻 (attentive) than Su Hao. She wanted to steer the conversation in another direction to avoid angering everyone.

The plump woman clutched the bowl in her hands and answered matter-of-factly, "I overslept and didn't notice the time."

This made Su Hao pause, instinctively looking at his watch—the hands had already passed 6:50, and in a few minutes, it would be 7:00 PM.

He looked around, noticing that each core member's face showed a strange expression.

Sleeping... until 6:30 PM?

His gaze returned to the plump woman. Su Hao suddenly noticed that although her clothes were dirty and torn in several places, the label was a genuine French brand, "Montagut." The side of her pants had a seam, revealing a light gray silk lining. As for her shoes, the edges of the laces were covered with mud, and the letters "BELLE" were visible.

Su Hao shook his head lightly—his thinking was still largely in the future, often forgetting that the current era was at the end of civilization.

In the future, water resources were scarce, and bathing was a luxury beyond imagination. One had to spend a lot of money to get a five-minute shower at a public bathhouse run by the military. The computer-controlled timer even measured the water flow in seconds.

Now, bathhouses were a civilian facility, but their costs were still high, and ordinary people rarely visited. Therefore, the customers were either of a certain status or had considerable wealth.

Old Song stood up from his seat, reached out, and forcefully "took" the bowl the plump woman was holding. This silent and forceful action made the plump woman feel deeply humiliated. She clenched her teeth, glaring at him with fierce anger. Zhang Jingjing, who was closest, could even hear the grinding of her teeth.

It was very harsh and made one's heart tremble.

"Someone will come. Don't think that saving a few people is a great achievement. The government's rescue will be here soon. You will regret what you did today. There are many people in this world you can't provoke or offend. You'd better remember that—"

She left these somewhat incomprehensible words, broke the chopsticks in her hand, and stormed out of the hall in a rage.

Du Tianhao watched the arrogant and plump figure disappear at the stairwell, rubbed his chin covered with coarse stubble, and shook his head, saying with a malicious smile, "Is this woman crazy? What does she mean by those words?"

Han Jing looked at the bowl of rice on the table, unsure, and asked, "Is she... delirious from hunger?"

Cao Rui still had her arms crossed, coldly "hmm"ed, and made no comment.

Li Xiaomei walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming porridge and sat down at the table. Tao Yuan helped her take off the child on her back, held the child, and used a spoon to scoop up the porridge, blowing it to cool it down, and slowly fed it to the child.

"I originally planned to tell you later. But now you've seen it—some people are really out of line."

Li Xiaomei smoothed her hair behind her ear and said in her characteristic soft voice, "You go out every day and don't see or know what happens in this building. They are very lazy; many won't get up until mealtime. After lunch, they go back to sleep or gather in groups, either boasting and chatting or playing cards and chess. Of course, not everyone is like this; a few help me with some tasks, like cooking."

"At first, I thought they had been confined for a long time, their bodies were weak, and they needed more rest to recover. But it's been so long, and they should have recovered, yet they are getting lazier and don't want to do anything. They took a lot of cigarettes and alcohol from the basement, as well as various candies. The rooms are terribly dirty, with packaging and cigarette ash everywhere. Even during the day, many rooms have the lights on, and the water runs freely when they wash. This morning, someone even asked me why I didn't clean the room and threw the dirty sheets at the door for me to wash..."

Li Xiaomei's face showed anger. This kind and gentle woman rarely spoke, always smiling warmly at others. Her thoughts were mostly on her child and husband, and she took on the team's logistics support voluntarily, without being assigned. She was a woman with a gentle character, hardworking, adaptable, and with few material desires, but she had a dignity that no one could touch.

"They don't seem to understand the situation or what has happened. To them, it's just a disaster, and help will come soon from outside. They are not afraid or worried. I think the problem lies with us. We should talk to them and explain the situation."

Li Xiaomei did not demand specific punishment for anyone. She calmly finished speaking, used a spoon to scoop up the porridge, and focused on entertaining the child in her arms, returning to her role as a wife and mother.

Old Song sighed, "We may have made a mistake—bringing them in was a bad idea. We should have set up a separate camp nearby."

"We need more people."

Tao Yuan's opinion was between opposition and agreement but was very sincere: "We should start building the field base as soon as possible. Move everyone there. They will soon realize that things are not as they imagine and can choose those who are willing to join us."

Du Tianhao turned and glanced at the crowd eating at the other tables, muttering to himself, "A large forest has all kinds of birds. The same goes for a large group of people—full of all sorts of scoundrels... We need to give them a lesson. Or, throw them out?"

Su Hao leaned forward, his back slightly bent, his hands crossed on the table. His eyes showed something else, and he tried to control his emotions, speaking as calmly as possible: "Move the extra weapons and supplies into the underground garage. The gate is sturdy, and we'll add two more locks. Tomorrow, take them all out. Tao Yuan is right—the materials are ready, and we can start the construction work."

Xin Yan shook her head worriedly, "They won't follow your arrangements."

"Should we just feed them for nothing?"

Han Jing's tone was harsh, and her words became more intense: "We risk our lives outside, while they hide in their rooms and enjoy themselves. What is this? The woman's words, though harsh, were at least partly right—this is unfair."

"As long as we control the weapons, they won't cause much trouble."

Su Hao smiled faintly and said, "Don't forget, we are enhanced. Even a boxer like Tyson can be taken down with one punch."

...

The sun, as usual, rose above the horizon, its pale golden light turning the sky a faint blue. The air was moist and cool, and a few insects with wings dampened by dew clung to the window glass, struggling to fly again. Their movements were difficult, wobbling as if they had been trampled all night, only able to gasp and slowly wait for recovery.

The hall of the small building was filled with the aroma of food. Breakfast was simple—leftover rice from the night before, boiled with water, served with pickles, light and refreshing.

"Creak—"

The door of a guest room on the third floor opened, and a middle-aged man, around forty, walked out, looking energetic. He stood in the corridor, watching the sunrise, enthusiastically doing a few chest-expanding exercises, then returned to the room to wash up and walked down the stairs at a leisurely pace.

Apart from the core team members like Su Hao, he was the earliest to rise among the rescued.

"Hey! Why are there no steamed buns today?"

The middle-aged man approached the table, smiled, and greeted everyone, sitting between Liao Qiu and Old Song. He looked at the rice and pickles in everyone's bowls, frowned, and asked unhappily, "Can't you make something else? I saw that the warehouse has rice, flour, canned goods, and cured meat. We should eat what we have, why save it?"

Su Hao put down his bowl and chopsticks, turned to look at him, and asked, "Do you know what happened outside?"

This question clearly surprised the middle-aged man. He opened his mouth, nodded blankly, "Those monsters are terrifying. A few friends I know were infected; it must be a disease, right?"

Su Hao asked again, without comment, "Do you know that many people have died, and those who survived have mostly left the city?"

"Of course I know."

The middle-aged man's expression turned dissatisfied, "If it weren't for the thugs at the bathhouse, I wouldn't be trapped here."

Su Hao took a deep breath, relaxed, and said sarcastically, "You can leave now; no one will stop you."

The middle-aged man looked at him in surprise, his eyes filled with confusion, "Why would I leave? There are those monsters everywhere outside; I don't want to be their snack."

Su Hao took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and asked, exhaling smoke, "Do you plan to stay here forever?"

"Of course!"

The middle-aged man's expression turned disdainful, "The best thing to do in a disaster is to stay in a safe place and wait for rescue. It's common sense, even a child knows that. Like the earthquake a few years ago, someone will always come to help us. But to be fair, you volunteers have done a good job. Otherwise, we would still be trapped in the bathhouse, and we might have starved to death."

"Volunteers?"

This word made everyone at the table look at him instantly.

Xin Yan's face was full of shock, "You... you actually think we are volunteers?"

"Isn't that what you are?"

The middle-aged man's expression was also rich, "My phone hasn't worked, which means communication is down. You found the bathhouse, so you must know the area well. I don't know where you got your guns, but you're definitely not police or military. The only people who would come to rescue during an epidemic are volunteers. Yes... like during the earthquake a few years ago."

Su Hao wanted to say something. He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound.

Tao Yuan sighed, "Xiaomei was right—they still don't understand the situation."

Cao Rui's face was tense, and she spat out a few words, "A bunch of idiots."

"No! A bunch of self-righteous idiots."

Du Tianhao swallowed the food in his mouth and corrected her.