Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

”Uh... Xiaojuzi and I will stay behind to keep Xiaoya company, is that okay?”

Yi Xiaoling learned the general situation from Wang Xin and Chen Hanzhou while Zhang Su was lighting a cigarette for a moment of remembrance. She couldn’t bear to leave Su Xiaoya alone.

”Sure, with you guys watching over, it’s definitely safer.”

Zhang Su didn’t object and then headed toward Lei Youliang’s house.

”Brother Su, if you had to do it all over again, would you make the same choice?”

As they turned a corner, Chen Hanzhou asked quietly.

Everyone knew what he was referring to and looked at Zhang Su.

Zhang Su took a deep breath, images from the past flashing through his mind, and nodded, ”Without hesitation, I wouldn’t hold back at all.”

”Then, Brother Su, what if I had been taken hostage back then?”

Wu Lue asked, sounding a bit silly.

Zhang Su glanced at him sidelong and said, ”If you were taken hostage, the thing you’d need to think about most is how to work from the inside to take down those holding you!”

”Oh, right, right.”

Wu Lue felt Zhang Su made a lot of sense.

Not just him, all the others remembered Zhang Su’s words: never passively wait for rescue, never forget self-help in any predicament, and even counterattack if possible.

They arrived at the front of Lei Youliang’s house, the gate left half-open, indicating that Yang Liehuo had been there with his men before. The yard was clean and empty, and they went straight inside. Besides some immovable furniture, they didn’t find anything valuable.

Outside, the sun was high, and with the great lighting in most rural houses, the interior was bright enough that they didn’t need flashlights as they split up to search.

”Ha, found something! This sneaky bastard was really good at hiding things!”

Wang Xin stood in front of a wardrobe, picking up a pack of soft Huazi cigarettes and said to Lu Yubo, rummaging next door, ”Huazi, over ten packs, and over a dozen Yuxi ones, all stashed in the wardrobe’s hidden compartment!”

”Damn, let me see!”

Lu Yubo ran over to the wardrobe, his face lighting up with joy, ”Brother Wang, we’ll have to share this haul among us.”

”Of course, hehehe, free smoking for a while!”

Wang Xin was delighted. According to the rules, they could take a 10% cut. He didn’t dare claim credit alone. Split among the four of them, each would get roughly a pack of cigarettes, making life much more tolerable under cigarette rationing.

”Pack it up and let’s get going; there’s nothing much left here!”

Zhang Su and Wu Lue came from another house. Though they didn’t leave empty-handed, they indeed found nothing remarkable.

Thirty-odd packs of cigarettes were no burden to an adult. Using some clothes left in the wardrobe to fashion a bag, they slung it over a shoulder and carried it all out.

”Wait a moment, there should be something underneath here!”

As the four were leaving the small courtyard, Zhang Su’s gaze fell on a cellar entrance covered by some broken colored steel tiles.

”Let me check it out!”

Wu Lue eagerly removed the tiles with a clatter to reveal the pitch blackness below. He took out his flashlight and shone it inside, turning back excitedly, ”Brother Su, there’s a door down here!”

”A door in the cellar? Let’s check it out!”

Zhang Su moved to the cellar’s edge and peered inside, estimating the depth to be about two meters, with stairs for easy access.

”Let me go! Hehe, if we find something good, I get an extra share, right?”

Without waiting for Zhang Su to make a move, Wu Lue quickly took off his backpack, hung the flashlight from his chest, and descended the stairs.

”Damn, it’s locked!”

”Catch this!”

Zhang Su, having already noticed the lock on the door latch, threw down a steel rod.

Though not a professional crowbar, the lock wasn’t top-grade either; a simple twist and it broke.

However, when Wu Lue cautiously opened the secret door, he sighed and apathetically said, ”Damn it, Lei Youliang is indeed tricky. Brother Su, there’s cash, gold, silver jewelry, some watches, and stamps in here.”

Before Wu Lue, in a space less than two square meters and about head height, stacks of cash were neatly piled in a corner, uncountable at a glance, likely several hundred thousand to a million. Next to it were curated jewelry display cases containing many gold pieces and elaborate watches.

”Damn...”

The three above ground all simultaneously flipped him the bird.

”Haha, Brother Su, these gold bars all have bank markings. I bet he looted a few banks when the disaster hit, worth a fortune... sigh.”

Wu Lue counted briefly with a rueful expression. If he had come by such wealth before the catastrophe, it would’ve been... well, he’d no longer need to learn through a computer; he could have some real-world interactions!

”Damn, this guy was really preparing for a comeback when things returned to normal, just didn’t anticipate how severe things would get...”

Zhang Su shook his head silently. While gold wasn’t useless, at least at this stage, there was no place to use it. Considering the global gold reserves and the current population size, even if industry resumed, supply would outstrip demand.

”What do you say, Brother Su? Should we take some of it?”

Wu Lue felt the pull of easy riches for the first time, yet filled with a sense of powerlessness.

”Bring up the watches and gold, leave the rest down there.” Zhang Su said, then tossed an empty backpack inside. They had prepared plenty of bags for their resource gathering.

A few minutes later, Wu Lue climbed out of the cellar, shaking a weighted-down backpack full of glittering bounty before the others.

”Everyone choose something nice for their wife. Whatever’s left goes into the camp storehouse; could trade for something useful down the line.”

With each passing day, as humanity moved beyond its initial struggles, order began to slowly form. Beyond basic survival needs, other desires would gradually emerge. Some items, currently useless, might become coveted over time.

Zhang Su’s words left no room for modesty. Among those present, except for Wu Lue, each had a spouse. Chen Hanzhou, moving the fastest, picked a diamond ring. Wang Xin chose a ring as well, while Lu Yubo, after much contemplation, selected a necklace.

”I don’t have a wife, can I take a watch for myself, Brother Su?”

Wu Lue feigned a pitiful smile, holding the backpack awkwardly.

”Sure, no problem!” Zhang Su agreed readily. He wasn’t idle either and picked out a pair of earrings each for Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan.

At present, survival on Celestial Horse Island was largely secured, and it wasn’t an issue for them to begin seeking a bit of cultural refinement, adding a touch of adornment.

”Hehe, I was just talking to Xiaoya about getting married earlier. It’s like getting ice cream during a storm; now I have the ring. Hey, Xiaochen, are you thinking of proposing to Pei Lan too?”

Wang Xin gleefully admired the pure gold ring on his hand.

”I was... uhm, Brother Su, that reminds me of something.”

Chen Hanzhou examined the ring, the small diamond gleaming brightly in the sunlight. He hesitated, ”Wouldn’t Pei Lan wearing a ring in the camp seem too flashy, drawing bad attention?”

Celestial Horse Island was no longer the small force of over twenty people it once was. Including the two Satellite Villages, they were approaching a population of a hundred, both men and women. Chen Hanzhou figured there might be idle gossip.

Zhang Su curled his lips into a subtle smile, ”We found these goods through our own efforts, it should be seen! If anyone wants similar, they must strive themselves. Envy and jealousy get you nowhere! But there’s something I’d like to remind you: with the camp growing, in the future, we can’t distribute resources like before. Old Yu and I are working on a points-based system to trade resources, it needs to be standardized.”

The group nodded in agreement. As true core members, none wished for any trouble on Celestial Horse Island, and they trusted that as long as they didn’t slack off, Zhang Su wouldn’t let them down.

Leaving Lei Youliang’s yard, they continued to gather supplies from other former residences in the vicinity, mostly finding food and some daily necessities.

Half an hour later, three vehicles slowly exited Kuanzhuang. In the passenger seat of the FJ Cruiser, Su Xiaoya’s eyes were red as she hugged a large backpack full of past memories.