42: Chapter 42 10 people

"I-I-I'll do it," the young boy's voice was weak.

Ye Qingqing looked at the boy and didn't actually have high hopes for him. At a glance, he seemed too soft-hearted to handle things, but there were no other good candidates at the moment.

Huo Sixian looked at the boy and felt he wasn't bad; at least he had the courage to stand up, which already made him better than many others.

"What's your name?"

The boy's voice remained frail. "M-my name is Zhao Lichu."

"Alright, Xiao Yan, you'll be responsible for the headcount in the building and arranging the distribution of supplies."

"Okay..."

Ye Qingqing looked at the boy with his soft, weak voice, and a wave of doubt rose in her heart. This person...

Is he really reliable?

When Huo Sixian, Ye Qingqing, and the others returned to the 32nd floor, they noticed that the zombie corpses they had slain along the way were gone. Although bloodstains remained in the hallway,

it was much better than when they had first headed down.

"Boss, do you think that guy... is really reliable?"

The one asking was Kong Ziyi, who couldn't keep things to himself. Although Ye Qingqing was also very curious, she wouldn't ask as directly as Kong Ziyi did.

"Not reliable," Huo Sixian's answer was crisp and direct.

So direct that it immediately silenced Kong Ziyi.

"Then, then why?"

Huo Sixian sighed. "Even if he's not reliable, he was able to stand up. That's much better than the others, isn't it?"

"We can't save these people. If we keep helping them—if we helped them clear the zombies in the building today—what about tomorrow?"

"We took responsibility for distributing their supplies today, but what about tomorrow?"

"Could it be that we have to stay with them forever?"

"Zi Yi, do you think this feels like the apocalypse?"

Huo Sixian's words plunged Kong Ziyi into deep thought.

They also made Ye Qingqing's brow twitch. Could it be that Huo Sixian had noticed something?

"Apocalypse? Boss, aren't you being a bit too serious?"

Lu Huan, listening to Huo Sixian's words from the side, couldn't help but voice his own doubts.

Ye Qingqing chimed in from the side, "Yeah, isn't 'apocalypse' a bit of an exaggeration?"

At that moment, the group had just reached the corridor of the 32nd floor. The people from downstairs hadn't come up yet. Huo Sixian looked out the window by the Fire Escape.

He suddenly pointed at the water below. "Look, the rain has stopped and the Typhoon has passed, but the water level is still rising."

"Moreover, the zombie virus has appeared. Do you think if this water never stops, it might one day rise all the way to the 32nd floor?"

Huo Sixian's words completely set off alarm bells for Ye Qingqing.

!!!

That's right!!!

Everything in this life had changed. In her previous life, there was no such thing as a flood at this time, but now there was, and even the zombie virus had appeared.

Huo Sixian was right; whether the water would rise to the 32nd floor was indeed a concern.

"Then what will happen to these people?"

"Look at the supplies distributed by The Authorities."

"With the current flood, all the major granaries must be submerged."

"The rescue teams that were supposed to come haven't arrived, and there are no temporary shelters. Even if there were, and people were taken in by rescuers, what happens after that?"

"Will there be food?"

As Ye Qingqing listened to Huo Sixian, she felt a chill of terror, because everything he said was the truth.

In her previous life, the granaries weren't submerged, but they were destroyed by the Typhoon.

Much of the grain was lost, destroyed in the storm. The Authorities wanted to help but lacked the means.

Let alone now.

"So, these people can only save themselves. We can't save them. It's even possible that we won't even be able to save ourselves."

Huo Sixian's final sentence left everyone in silence.

Eventually, everyone returned to their own rooms in silence.

Upon returning to Room 323, Ye Qingqing immediately brought Ah Huang out of her space. Ah Huang had been happily wandering around the open ground in the space, having the time of his life.

Suddenly, an inexplicable force pulled him out of the space.

Ah Huang was so angry he wanted to curse, but when he saw Ye Qingqing, that sudden flare of anger vanished.

He obediently stretched out his little puppy head and ran to Ye Qingqing to nuzzle her.

Ye Qingqing checked Ah Huang from top to bottom, and only after confirming he was fine did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Actually, Ye Qingqing knew every move Ah Huang made within the space, but without seeing the specific situation with her own eyes, she still couldn't feel at ease.

However, now she knew that at the very least, if they had to move or were out in the wild later, she could completely take Ah Huang into the space.

She would never again have to worry about Ah Huang being left home alone while she was out.

Ye Qingqing couldn't help but feel that this space was quite useful; she even wanted to continue upgrading it to see if she could store more living creatures.

It would be even better if she could raise some chickens or ducks.

After all, given the open ground in the space now, Ye Qingqing estimated she could grow some vegetables. Although she had hoarded many supplies, just consuming without producing wouldn't last forever.

Once this busy period was over, Ye Qingqing planned to work on planting vegetables in that open ground.

That would be a source of continuous productivity.

By the time Zhao Lichu finished the headcount and brought people up to collect supplies, two hours had already passed.

Ye Qingqing had originally estimated that there should have been about 40 people living in this building.

However, the population gathered in the building at this time was only around 10 people.

They almost filled the corridor.

"Is everyone in the building gathered here?" Huo Sixian asked in a deep voice.

Zhao Lichu's voice was still weak, but he answered quickly, "Yes, including me, there are 95 people in total."

Zhao Lichu was actually very surprised himself, as he was shocked by the number of people remaining in the building. In such a short time, this was all that was left.

Not long ago, they were all neighbors who could chat together in the Building Chat Group.

Ye Qingqing sucked in a breath of cold air. In the entire building, including those of them on the 32nd floor, exactly 100 people remained.

"Distribute the supplies." Huo Sixian's expression was grim, as was everyone else's.

Because the number of people had decreased, the supplies distributed to each person could be much more.

But Huo Sixian still couldn't help but remind them, "The situation with news from The Authorities is still unknown, so treat these supplies as if they are the last ones you'll get."

Fearing they might not understand, Huo Sixian added, "Be frugal with your eating."

Each person received one 500ml bottle of water, along with enough food and fuel for half a month.