31: Villa No. 35's infamous reputation

Sun Ergou heard what the person beside him said and couldn't help spitting on the gate. "Pah, how afraid of death is this family? They built their house like a bunker."

"Brother Sun, I have a bad feeling. Could this be the home of that family of three? We don't have guns; we can't beat them." A thug suddenly said. Remembering how Ai Yue and the two others had shown their prowess at the community entrance, he instinctively felt this was the home of that family with explosive combat power.

Sun Ergou, who was enjoying his cursing, suddenly felt a chill on the top of his head. Not knowing where it came from, he shrunk his neck and swallowed the words he was about to say.

Having also gone up to the third floor, Ai Guosheng and Li Shilan said to Ai Yue, "Yueyue, how should we deal with those scumbags outside?"

Ai Yue's lips curled slightly, her eyes cold. "Mom, Dad, this is a rare opportunity to practice. Don't be stingy with the bullets."

Hearing that he could fire live ammunition, Ai Guosheng became visibly excited. He immediately pulled a pistol from his waist, chambered a round, and aimed—all in one smooth motion.

Li Shilan was not to be outdone. She took aim and was the first to fire a shot.

The father and daughter followed suit. As the three of them pulled their triggers, two thugs outside fell to the ground.

The shot Li Shilan fired grazed Sun Ergou's ear, taking it clean off. With a miserable scream, Sun Ergou quickly rolled on the ground, rolling all the way behind some bushes. He felt as if the bullets were chasing him until he finally hid behind the bushes.

If he had been even a second slower, he would have ended up in hell.

Upstairs, Li Shilan shook her head regretfully. "What a pity, I missed. That thug is as slippery as a loach."

While Li Shilan was chasing Sun Ergou with her shots, the remaining people were taken out by Ai Yue and Ai Guosheng—one shot, one kill—before they could even flee.

Ai Guosheng was as happy as a child right now, completely failing to notice Li Shilan's dejection.

Seeing Ai Guosheng's smug and happy look, Li Shilan couldn't help but feel annoyed. She reached out and pinched the tender flesh at his waist, then gave him a heavy "Hmph" before turning and walking away.

Seeing his wife was unhappy, Ai Guosheng immediately wiped the smugness off his face. Ignoring the follow-up plan, he followed closely behind her, coaxing her with a humble tone.

Seeing this scene, Ai Yue felt a bitter taste in her mouth. She rolled her eyes helplessly. Showing off their love every day—did they ever consider the feelings of a single dog like her?

Sun Ergou scrambled away. The distance was too great and the range was too far, so they could only give up.

For a long time, there was no movement from the Dragon Tiger Cooperative. Ai Yue wasn't sure if they would dare to attack, so she kept watch on the third floor. However, as time passed, she grew impatient and simply went downstairs to sleep and recuperate.

By nightfall, the two households that refused to hand over their food were stormed by the thugs. The thugs broke in, killed everyone, and dragged the bodies out to hang in front of the doors as a warning to others.

This tactic of killing the chicken to scare the monkey was particularly effective. By the next day, everyone obediently handed over their food, except for Villa No. 35, where no one dared to collect it.

Fang Zhongguan kept his word; as long as they obediently handed over food according to the rules, he didn't make things difficult for the owners.

And so, the first day passed without incident.

Ai Yue waited all night, but they didn't come. Exhausted, she ate a quick dinner and fell asleep in bed.

The current weather was neither cold nor hot. The entire city was still soaked in water, and the water level showed no signs of receding. As it became harder to find food outside, more and more people died.

Upon waking, Ai Yue fiddled with the radio. This was the only thing that could contact the outside world.

She remembered that in her previous life, after the heavy rain ended, news from the military would come.

China planned to build five Safety Towers across the country. They would announce this to all citizens via radio, hoping that talented individuals with various skills would go to the nearest Safety Tower to jointly build the only shelters in this Apocalypse.

However, she wasn't sure of the exact timing. After all, her memories from her previous life were from a long time ago, and many things were blurry; she only remembered the general idea.

In her previous life, Ai Yue had no chance to hear such crucial news.

Later, she learned from others that the military had given everyone a chance, but she blamed herself for meeting the wrong people and missing it entirely.

Every time she thought about that scumbag couple living so comfortably in the Apocalypse, Ai Yue's teeth itched with hatred.

In this life, she definitely wouldn't miss it.

No one knew better than her, who had been reborn, that in the early stages, the military accepted anyone who went. Once the Safety Towers were completed, getting in would be harder than climbing to heaven.

She knew even better how extreme life was inside and outside the towers: inside was heaven, outside was hell.

Later, the Safety Towers became the heaven that those outside yearned for. As long as one got in and performed the corresponding labor, they wouldn't have to worry about food, housing, or safety.

In the later stages of construction, there would be limits on quotas. Those who didn't make it in the beginning became even more desperate. To get a spot in a Safety Tower, they would do anything—no matter how despicable, vile, or how much it lowered the bar of human decency.

During this time, whether it was day or night, Ai Yue kept the radio on all day, constantly changing stations, fearing she would miss news about the Safety Towers.

In the afternoon, while Ai Yue and her parents were doing their routine training, they suddenly heard dense gunfire.

Their hearts sank, realizing that Fang Zhongguan had brought his men.

Quickly putting on bulletproof vests and helmets, they hurried toward the third floor.

Standing by the window, the three of them saw a dense crowd of people a hundred meters from the gate, holding guns and firing at their villa's gate.

Ai Yue took two submachine guns from her space and gave them to her parents. Unfortunately, the range was too far to hit those thugs.

Ai Guosheng stomped his feet in anxiety. "If they keep shooting, the gate will be destroyed sooner or later!"

"Dad, don't panic! Watch me!" Saying this, she took out the only sniper rifle from her space.

Setting up the rifle, Ai Yue calmly pulled the trigger. With every pull of the trigger, one of the most aggressive shooters in the dense crowd opposite them would fall.

In just one minute, Ai Yue shot and killed twelve of them. Meanwhile, the enemy hadn't even broken through her gate, leaving only a ground full of shell casings. Although the gate was pitted from the shots, its functionality and safety were completely unaffected.

As his side kept falling, and one shot even nearly hit him, Fang Zhongguan became terrified. Not only was he scared, but everyone who had followed him was also terrified. In their eyes, Villa No. 35 was a haunted house specifically designed to harvest human lives.

It was terrifying; one never knew when the companion beside them would spray them with blood and drop dead.

The others didn't dare stay any longer; they were scared out of their wits. Without waiting for Fang Zhongguan's command, the crowd turned and fled in a chaotic scramble. Fang Zhongguan didn't have the courage to stay alone and turned to run with them.

After today, legends about Villa No. 35 spread throughout the city, with all sorts of stories being told.

Some said that the most powerful murderous demon lived in Villa No. 35, killing people for fun at the slightest provocation.

Others said that three vengeful ghosts lived in Villa No. 35, and they would harvest lives just by someone standing outside the gate—it was horrifying.

The rumors even grew more bizarre; some people actually said that a savior lived in Villa No. 35, that there were endless delicacies inside, and that it was the safest place in the world.

As a result, people outside all wanted to go to Villa No. 35 to gamble for a chance at survival. However, Lushui Villa was the territory of the Dragon Tiger Cooperative, and it was impossible to get in. So, no one dared to go, which thwarted the intentions of many who wanted to seek a lifeline at Villa No. 35.