40: These beasts massacred an entire building.

Gu Jie didn't agree immediately. "In principle, it should be, but the remaining rice and oil belong to Property Owners who haven't claimed them. I'm sorry, but I can't give you other Property Owners' things. How about you ask the other Property Owners in the Property Owner Group if they agree first?"

Both sides were locked in a struggle!

“What does Section Chief Gu mean by this? Are you threatening me, making me offend the entire community?” Zhao Li's eyes widened, clearly angered.

Gu Jie smiled and said, “What is this Property Owner saying? I’m just discussing the matter as it is; how would I dare threaten our patrons?

My point is that our Security Department does have a spare key to the Property Management warehouse, but distributing and collecting benefits is not our Security Department's responsibility. We have no idea which Property Owners have already collected and which ones genuinely haven't.

I can open the Property Management office, and those present can correspond one by one. Those who haven't collected can collect on the spot; for others, please return.”

“My household hasn't collected.”

“My household hasn't collected either, it's absolutely true.”

The two Property Owners quickly raised their hands, followed by a few others, but the number did not exceed ten.

Zhao Li subtly winked at the Property Owners beside him, and two of them immediately raised their hands. “We haven’t collected either.”

“Right, right, and us too.”

Eventually, everyone declared, “None of us have collected.”

Gu Jie insisted, “Then please, this Property Owner, say hello to the other Property Owners in the group. If they are willing to let you collect on their behalf, I certainly don’t mind.”

Zhao Li saw that if he didn't do something, he really wouldn't be able to get any supplies back today. Moreover, Gu Jie and his men were all holding professional police batons; one strike could stun a person, and even a large number of people would be no match. So, he had no choice but to open the Property Owner Group.

Soon, there was a reaction in the group. Nobody wanted their food to be taken by others. Those who hadn't collected came down themselves, demanding that Gu Jie immediately open the Property Management warehouse.

“Then please follow me.” Gu Jie took the key and walked at the very front of the crowd.

The moment he opened the Property Management warehouse, he was immediately pushed aside. If he hadn't been agile, he would have been trampled to death on the ground.

All the Property Owners swarmed forward, rushing into the warehouse to loot, and it was quickly emptied.

Many people didn't get anything and were unwilling, so they started fighting in the warehouse. “This is mine! My family didn’t collect; your family did! Give it to me!”

“Why should I give it to you? If you have the guts, grab it yourself.”

“Ah, give me back my rice!”

“---”

It was utter chaos inside. Outside, Gu Jie and the others had already stood far away, waiting. Having witnessed such riots, he was already numb.

Yan Xueqing asked, “Section Chief Gu, why did you open the granary?”

Gu Jie pointed to everyone in their frenzy and said, “To appease them, and to tell all Property Owners that our Property Management has nothing left, so we naturally won’t become targets for others again.”

Yan Xueqing's eyes lit up. “Section Chief Gu is brilliant.”

Half an hour later, the nearly 200-strong group of Property Owners gradually departed. Gu Jie saw clearly that Zhao Li, the leading Property Owner, had grabbed two bags of rice and a barrel of oil.

Many others didn't get anything; one grown man cried on the spot, feeling like he couldn't live, while some were still fighting to snatch rice from others. Even after they walked outside, many were still chasing and snatching, a bloody and ugly scene.

After no one else emerged from the warehouse, Gu Jie led his men inside, and his eyes widened in shock. There were at least thirty bodies inside.

Here, a group of ‘messengers of justice’ had just dispersed, satisfied. Over there, in a high-rise residential building starting with ‘K’, a frantic hunt for supplies was unfolding.

It was a powerful looting group of twenty adult men. Each of them held a professional weapon second only to a military shovel, and they had already ransacked the entire building.

Everyone's haul was abundant; some carried whole bags of rice, others milk and bread, and some even gleefully clutched large bags of frozen meat and ribs.

And with every step these people took down the stairs, they left a bloody footprint. Their sports shoes were already soaked and stained red with blood; every step they took represented a life.

Strangely, after these people left, no one in the building behind them cried or screamed. There was only one truth: everyone had been killed, not a single one left alive!

“Bang!” Gu Jie, back in the Property Management office, slammed his fist on the table. “These beasts, they’ve slaughtered an entire building. Did everyone see? The situation is out of control now; the whole community is in chaos. From now on, we just need to protect ourselves.”

“But Section Chief Gu, are we just going to watch these people do as they please?” Yan Xueqing pointed at the killers on the screen who had massacred an entire building, each smiling with utter delight, his blood boiling.

Gu Jie shook his head helplessly. “What else can we do? In normal times, as Section Chief, I wouldn’t stand by if something like this happened. But now, what can we do?

Today is the third day of the virus outbreak. Many families have run out of food, which is why they thought of raiding our warehouse. It's the same logic as robbing others; this situation was bound to happen sooner or later.

Not only do we need to protect ourselves from being hunted by such people, but we also need to guard against the dense hordes of zombies outside the community walls. Now is not the time for us to take responsibility for protecting these beasts, but for ourselves and the Property Owners who still have a conscience.”

As a retired soldier, how could he stand by and watch such a group of beasts hunt innocent Property Owners? But the world had changed. Even if he led all the Security Department personnel out and fought those people to a mutual defeat, what would be the result?

How many people could he save?

They had just quelled one wave and stopped things here, but hadn't other buildings already been massacred? Soon, there would be other buildings.

Due to hunger, not having enough to eat, coupled with the sudden drop in temperature and abnormal cold, many people's minds completely collapsed. If they couldn't buy, they'd snatch; if they couldn't snatch, they'd kill. The tower of civilization and morality completely crumbled.

There were no longer any bottom lines; the hope for life turned into cruel, unscrupulous means.

“Section Chief Gu, quick, look! Those Property Owners who didn’t get rice and oil are all ganging up on Si Nan!” Yan Xueqing suddenly shouted.

Gu Jie quickly walked to the monitor. At least seventy or eighty people were smashing Si Nan's courtyard gate, and Zhao Li was among them. “It seems things are far from over.”

But when he saw Zhao Li in the crowd, Gu Jie suddenly understood. “What a tactic! That Zhao Li wasn’t trying to stand up for other Property Owners at all; he was forming a gang and uniting two hundred Property Owners for an open robbery. His intentions are despicable!

He clearly just grabbed two bags of rice and a barrel of oil, enough to sustain himself for at least a month, yet he led people to Si Nan's house. Does he think he can succeed as easily as he did when he robbed our warehouse? Just wait and see.”