Human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

Chen Yu nodded: "Got it. Wait in the Vehicle. I'll go pick up the goods."

After speaking, he stepped past Li Mengyao and walked toward the main door of the bus compartment.

"Chen Yu, I'll go with you!"

Zhang Wanyue volunteered.

Chen Yu nodded: "Mhm, alright."

Yang Kexin also spoke up: "I'll follow too!"

Deng Yuxin also stepped forward.

Chen Yu waved his hand: "I don't need you all. I'm just going to pick up some goods. The Class Monitor accompanying me is enough."

After saying that, he was the first to get off the Vehicle. Zhang Wanyue put on her cotton coat and followed closely behind.

Inside the Safety Compartment.

Li Mengyao took a deep breath and directly closed the door.

Leaving only her and Wang Mengmeng inside.

Wang Mengmeng: "?"

The flush on her face had faded slightly, but her lips were still red: "What's wrong, Mengyao? Why are you closing the door?"

Li Mengyao's expression was ugly, and she questioned in a low voice: "Wang... Meng... Meng! You... have you no shame! You clearly know the relationship between Chen Yu and me, yet you still..."

Wang Mengmeng's eyes darted away: "Mengyao, listen to my explanation."

"Explanation?"

Li Mengyao pointed at Wang Mengmeng's mouth: "Explain what? Explain what you were just doing? Explain how my best friend crawled to my ex-boyfriend's feet?"

"Don't you know... you're like a... like a..."

She couldn't bring herself to say the word, but she was furious.

"I didn't!"

Wang Mengmeng grabbed Li Mengyao's hand and said with extreme sincerity: "You know too, only if Brother Yu is happy can we stay by his side, and that's the only way we'll be safe!"

Li Mengyao was momentarily speechless, unable to find a word to refute.

She could only say angrily: "That's still no reason for you to seduce him!"

Wang Mengmeng quickly clarified: "Who seduced him! Brother Yu requested it himself! I... I didn't!"

Li Mengyao: "Then you..."

"Oh, come on!"

Wang Mengmeng opened the door of the Safety Compartment and whispered: "It's a good thing that I can gain Brother Yu's favor. I believe he loves you, and when the time comes..."

The two linked arms, sat back down in the last row, and began whispering their plans... "They're out! They finally came out! Hahahahaha!"

"Director Yu! Our Vehicle can finally be warm too!"

"Heaven doesn't forsake us! We actually found it!"

"And Zhao Chen's team found one too..."

"Our two Vehicles each get one unit, this is amazing!"

The blizzard in the early morning still howled.

But the crowd was extremely excited.

Over twenty people gathered together, their noisy discussions filled with fervor.

Director Yu walked at the very front, surrounded by several trusted students.

He smiled brightly: "I estimate we are the first ones to evacuate safely! Look, exactly ten Vehicles are still lit up there, not one is missing!"

Someone leaned over: "Huh? Director, didn't Chen Yu and his group find a prototype machine a long time ago? They even killed that entire team, their bodies are lying right there, why didn't they just come out and keep driving?"

Director Yu scoffed: "Young people, they luckily found one prototype machine, got a taste of the benefits, and now they don't know the immensity of heaven and earth, thinking they can find a second one~"

"And they don't even look at what kind of place that is! An ice hole, a monster den! Do they really think it's their own backyard?"

He deliberately raised his voice so more people nearby could hear:

"See? Heaven is fair!"

"It won't give all the benefits to those who only think of themselves and don't understand collective cooperation!"

"Now, two prototype machines have been found by our comrades!"

"We've cornered the market! Hahahaha!"

A student skilled at flattery immediately chimed in:

"The Director is right!"

"Director Yu leads well!"

"Only by following the collective can we have meat to eat!"

Director Yu listened to these voices with satisfaction, looking around with smug contentment.

His gaze fell upon the tall, thin boy limping in the rear.

His name was Zhao Chen.

Yes, his small team had also found a prototype machine.

Director Yu rubbed his frozen hands and chuckled: "Little Zhao~"

Zhao Chen sensed something, his expression becoming unnatural, and he quickly called out: "Director Yu helps students without seeking repayment, truly a model of teaching ethics!"

"Hey, why say such things? Isn't that being formal?"

Director Yu smiled even more kindly.

He stepped past the crowd and walked directly in front of Zhao Chen, raising his hand to heavily pat Zhao Chen's shoulder.

The force was considerable, making the already exhausted Zhao Chen sway.

Director Yu leaned in closer and lowered his voice: "Little Zhao, in the Outpost, we've shared life and death. How about I be frank with you?"

Zhao Chen swallowed his saliva: "Director, please speak..."

Director Yu nodded: "Look, your team only has six people in total, some injured, some crippled. This prototype machine is a hot potato, who wouldn't be envious?"

Zhao Chen's face was grim: "Director, you are from the Administration Department, you definitely wouldn't tell outsiders..."

Director Yu sighed softly: "Whether I speak of it or not isn't important. All these students are watching."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the few disheveled teammates behind Zhao Chen.

He then continued: "As a teacher, I have the responsibility to protect every student, and also the responsibility to ensure valuable resources are utilized to their maximum effect."

Zhao Chen tried to step back.

But Director Yu's strength was truly considerable; the hand resting on Zhao Chen's shoulder gripped his shoulder blade.

Making it impossible for him to pull away immediately.

Director Yu smiled kindly: "Hand the prototype machine over to me for safekeeping. I guarantee I absolutely won't treat you unfairly. I will trade food to your team every week!"

Zhao Chen's face was ashen. Within his field of vision.

The people from Director Yu's team were quietly surrounding them.

Just moments ago, they were friendly and familiar.

Now, this group of people intended to kill them.

"What are you doing? We are all classmates!"

"Didn't you just talk about the collective!"

"Director Yu! We can protect the prototype machine! We don't need your..."

Behind Zhao Chen, three men and two women spoke up urgently.

Director Yu interrupted directly, the smile vanishing from his face: "Protect it well? You few pieces of trash don't even have an A-Rank Talent! I'm only discussing this nicely with you out of respect for the teacher-student relationship!"

As the owner of the Vehicle, Zhao Chen naturally knew Director Yu's hypocritical methods.

He glanced at his injured teammates, then looked at the crowd eyeing them covetously before him.

He was somewhat helpless: "...Fine!"

"Brother Zhao! You can't agree! If we hand it over to them, we'll freeze to death too!"

"If they dare, let them kill us! Let's see if they have the nerve!"

"Exactly! Let's fight them!"

Zhao Chen waved his hand: "Enough! We are no match for them. Director Yu is right, the prototype machine is a hot potato; we can't keep it anyway..."

Director Yu nodded in satisfaction: "Mhm~ Well said! Little Zhao still has team spirit!"

"Everyone see that? This is the power of unity! Only by banding together and concentrating resources where they can be most effective can we survive!"

"Those who only care about themselves and delusionally try to hog all the benefits will only be like a snake trying to swallow..."

However, before he could finish speaking... a calm voice cut through the howling blizzard, coming from not far away:

"Director Yu is right."

"I just wonder... can your snake swallow two elephants?"