128: Begging is begging.

Si Nan suddenly narrowed her eyes. "Anything else?"

"And a pack of cigarettes for each of us every three days." This was added by Deng Jiude. He was older than Zhuo Guangshun and had a heavier, long-term smoking habit.

Si Nan pointed at their feet. "The road is right there. Please leave; I won't be seeing you out."

"Let's talk this out, let's talk this out." Deng Jiude clung to the steel plates shamelessly.

Si Nan grew angry. "What are you doing? Are you itching for a scolding? Not telling you to get lost immediately is already a sign of my respect for my elders. Don't speak to me in that high-and-mighty tone as if I owe you something. What right do you have?

Every time you open your mouth, you demand three full meals a day and a pack of cigarettes for each of you every three days? You really have some nerve.

If you're so capable, go out of this Residential Area and scavenge for yourselves. I have nothing for you here!"

"You—?" The two old men felt their faces flush with embarrassment.

"Begging is begging. In all my years, this is the first time I've seen someone beg so self-righteously. You're truly shameless; as a fellow man, I'm disgusted by you."

Luo Sen walked out from inside holding some blueprints, his grey-blue eyes swirling with murderous intent. In the next second, Zhuo Guangshun and Deng Jiude were lifted off the ground, looking as though they were about to be tossed over the wall to feed the zombies.

At the critical moment, Zhuo Guangshun, his face drained of color, spoke up. "Wait! I take back what I said. I'm willing to be of use to you—I'll even kill people—as long as you give us a meal and some water every day."

"Me, me, me—me too! I was wrong. I said the wrong thing just now. I was joking, just joking. We also thought it was impossible. Right, right—it was just a joke."

Deng Jiude was also terrified. His flabby body trembled uncontrollably, and all his previous arrogance had vanished.

Aaaah, what kind of power is this? Is this man a devil? He can actually lift hundreds of pounds with his bare hands! They had never seen such miraculous power. They were going to die! Aaaah— "Heh, a joke? Your expressions don't look like you're joking. Throw them out." Si Nan remained unmoved.

"Ah, no! Please don't! We'll submit, we'll willingly submit! We were wrong, wrong, wrong! Little girl, for the sake of the Armored Vehicle I gave you, please spare our lives!"

Deng Jiude's previous bluster was completely gone as he begged Si Nan in fear.

Zhuo Guangshun added, "We cooperated so well before. It's a fact that you took so many good things from me, right? Although I don't know what deal you made with those three men, I can see clearly that they've become your followers.

If you can take them in, why can't you take us in? Look at these steel plates; I guess you want those people to help you reinforce the Residential Area's perimeter wall? We'll help you too.

We don't ask for anything else, just the same treatment as those people. Everything else is up to you. How about it?"

Si Nan crossed her arms. "First of all, let me correct you. The Armored Vehicle wasn't a gift; I traded food for it with you, Deng Jiude. It was a fair trade."

"Right, right, a fair trade." How could Deng Jiude dare to say otherwise?

Si Nan said with a cold face, "How about this: I'll return the Armored Vehicle to you, and you return the food I traded. Then you can go out and scavenge for food and supplies yourselves. That way, you won't feel resentful or think I owe you for the rest of my life."

"Master, we were wrong! We beg for Master's forgiveness! Waaaah, I don't want to die! I don't want to turn into a zombie! I don't want to be torn apart and eaten by zombies!"

That old man, Deng Jiude, was actually so scared that tears streamed down his face as he began to wail.

Si Nan and Luo Sen: "..."

Even Zhuo Guangshun looked at him with disdain. "Old Deng, you spineless coward! If the deal falls through, the worst that happens is death. Why is a man nearly fifty years old crying?"

"Waaaah, because I don't want to be eaten by zombies! I have a lot of meat; it'll hurt so much!" Deng Jiude wailed at the top of his lungs.

"So noisy! Shut up! If you keep wailing, I really will throw you both out." Luo Sen had a headache from Deng Jiude's racket.

"Mmph!" Deng Jiude quickly covered his mouth, but his trembling fat showed that he was truly terrified of Luo Sen.

Si Nan saw how scared they were and realized they truly didn't want to die. Although she didn't like these two, as long as they were useful and could help clear out intruders while she and Luo Sen were away, it would be a good thing.

She raised her hand, and Luo Sen suddenly withdrew his power.

"Aiyah!" The two fell from the air onto the ground. Fortunately, the thick white snow cushioned them, or the fall would have hurt even more.

Si Nan said, "First, you have to kill. If you don't know how, learn. Second, you have to be ruthless. If you can't do it, you'll be the ones dying. The others following me have already trained to become martial arts experts."

Zhuo Guangshun and Deng Jiude, sitting obediently in the snow and listening: "..."

"Third, Zhuo Guangshun, if you want to follow me, hand over your Property Ownership Certificate first. The house will be mine from now on; soon, the entire Residential Area will be mine. If you don't agree, you can go straight home.

However, I will soon conduct a massive purge of the entire Residential Area. Those who submit will live; those who oppose me will die. You can go back and enjoy a few more days of carefree living."

The two: "..."

Bullshit!

Do we even have a choice at this point? You're forcing our hand—no, you're literally holding a knife to our throats.

He asked, "Then where will I live?"

Zhuo Guangshun looked at his own house with great reluctance, then couldn't help but glance at the house behind Si Nan.

Si Nan's lips twitched. "Stop looking. This is my home; no one but Luo Sen is allowed inside. Your house belongs to me now, but you can still live in it as usual."

This made the two of them breathe a sigh of relief immediately. "That's good then."

Si Nan continued: "If you do those things, you'll get the same treatment as the people from the other three building units. No slacking off; work when there's work to do. No idling around. You'll get two meals a day, and you'll eat whatever Luo Sen and I manage to scavenge from outside.

As for cigarettes, I'll consider it, but you should try to quit. Those things have become extremely expensive luxuries since the zombie virus started.

We can still find some now that the Apocalypse has just begun, but later on, when no one is producing them, they'll be gone forever. If you don't quit, will you even be able to survive then?"

"Understood." The two nodded with wrinkled faces, forced to admit that Si Nan was speaking the truth.

Si Nan gave Zhuo Guangshun a nonchalant sideways glance.

For a split second, Zhuo Guangshun didn't realize why she looked at him. Then, he scrambled up from the ground, ran home, and quickly returned to hand the Property Ownership Certificate to Si Nan with both hands. "Can I have a pack of cigarettes as a reward now? I can't go on like this."

He gripped the Property Ownership Certificate, reluctant to hand it over to Si Nan.

Si Nan snatched it away. "I'm not a walking supermarket. I don't just have whatever you want. If I don't finish this work, how will I have time to go out and scavenge for supplies?"

Since these two had annoyed her, she wouldn't give them anything even if she had it.

"We'll do it, we'll do it."

"Leave it all to us."

The two men cast aside their dignity and quickly started moving the steel plates.

Zhuo Guangshun felt uneasy and whispered to Si Nan, "You're not really going to make us kill people, are you? So many people in the Residential Area have already died; they're almost all gone."

Si Nan glanced at him coldly. "What do you think? Didn't you both want to live just now? Is death even a big deal anymore?"

"I—?" Zhuo Guangshun was left speechless by her retort.