Chapter 56: The Assault

Chapter 56: The AssaultZhang Yi sat quietly at home, awaiting the arrival of the crazed neighbors.

His expression was serious, and a large array of weapons was laid out in front of him.

At that moment, he received a message from Uncle You, the security guard.

“Zhang Yi, you better run! They’re all coming for you with weapons.”

A warm feeling surged in Zhang Yi’s heart. In such a world, it was rare to find good people.

He smiled and replied, “Uncle You, don’t worry. I can handle this.”

Uncle You was silent for a moment, seemingly understanding that there was nowhere to run now. Resistance was the only option.

He said, “Zhang Yi, I hope you can survive. I’m sorry I can’t help you this time.”

Uncle You felt deeply ashamed. He owed Zhang Yi a favor because Zhang Yi had reminded him to stock up on supplies, enabling him to gather plenty of instant noodles and sausages.

Now, his living conditions were still manageable.

But seeing Zhang Yi about to be besieged by so many people, he felt powerless.

Zhang Yi replied calmly, “Your kindness is already shown by not joining them. Don’t worry about me.”

Uncle You’s choice was the most prudent. Coming over to help Zhang Yi now would likely result in being hacked to death by the more than one hundred residents.

After a brief chat with Uncle You, Zhang Yi remained cautious and didn’t reveal any details about his home.

Trust no one fully, regardless of who they were.

Before long, Zhang Yi felt a slight tremor beneath his feet and heard a rumbling sound from outside.

“They’re here,” Zhang Yi murmured.

He knew that was the sound of over a hundred people flooding up the stairs.

However, Zhang Yi lived on the 24th floor.

With the elevators out of service, those climbing the stairs would be utterly exhausted.

Of course, not only were the people from the lower floors coming.

At least, through the surveillance on his large screen, Zhang Yi saw his neighbors from the adjacent 2402 apartment also coming out with kitchen knives and wrenches.

Next door was a young couple, the woman holding a kitchen knife and hiding behind the man.

Their eyes glowed with envy as they stared at Zhang Yi’s door.

Knowing that their neighbor had been living a heavenly life for the past half month must have driven them mad with jealousy.

The crowd soon filled the corridor outside Zhang Yi’s door, making it completely impassable.

A few held umbrellas over their heads to prevent Zhang Yi from pouring cold water on them.

Before long, someone couldn’t hold back and started banging on the door.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Zhang Yi, get out here! This is your last chance if you don’t want to die!”

“Don’t wait for us to break in, or it’ll be too late for words then!”

Through the surveillance, Zhang Yi didn’t see Sun Zhichao or Chen Zhenghao among them.

This confirmed one thing: Sun Zhichao and Chen Zhenghao hadn’t told them about the actual situation in Zhang Yi’s house.

In other words, they intended to use the other neighbors as cannon fodder, letting them bear the brunt of Zhang Yi’s crossbow and high-voltage attacks first.

Zhang Yi didn’t hesitate, as he had plenty of energy and wasn’t worried about the electricity.

He pressed the high-voltage button.

A fierce electric current immediately seized the young man banging on the door, his face contorted in pain!

The most terrifying part was that with over a hundred people packed into the corridor, the electric current passed through him to many others behind him!

“Ahhh!!”

“It’s high voltage, get back!”

Those behind him, feeling the shock, quickly let go.

If not for their thick clothing, they wouldn’t have had a chance to escape.

Everyone got a taste of the high voltage, their muscles twitching in pain.

The man banging on the door and the seven or eight people around him suffered the worst, unable to escape, their bodies charred black by the electricity.

The others, terrified, didn’t dare to help.

After about ten seconds, Zhang Yi cut the power.

Nine people collapsed to the ground, smoke rising from their bodies, filling the air with the smell of roasted meat and burnt clothes.

“Bang!!”

The nine fell together, their bodies charred black, uncertain if they were dead or alive.

But everyone knew that even if these people had a breath left, in their current state, they were as good as dead.

Everyone’s eyes widened in terror at the scene before them.

They hadn’t expected so many to die instantly, right before their eyes.

The expressions of those electrocuted were extremely grim, their eyes wide open in death.

Several women in the crowd couldn’t bear it, screaming and bending over to vomit.

But their stomachs were empty, and they could only retch.

Some felt the urge to flee.

But when they reached the stairwell, they found it blocked by Chen Zhenghao and his men.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get back!” Chen Zhenghao, holding a gun, spoke menacingly.

The stairwell was their only escape route, and Chen Zhenghao blocked it to force everyone to fight Zhang Yi.

If they died, Chen Zhenghao could rightfully take their resources.

Sun Zhichao and a few others, dragging their wounded bodies, were also present.

They looked at the nine corpses with cold expressions, clearly sharing the same intention as Chen Zhenghao.

Seeing the crowd’s fear, Sun Zhichao shouted, “That damn Zhang Yi is a beast! He’s killing his neighbors.”

“Brothers and sisters, we must kill Zhang Yi to avenge them!”

“Don’t be afraid. Use wood to break the door; just don’t touch it!”

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“Once we break down this door, there’s warmth and endless food waiting for us!”

Sun Zhichao’s words rekindled the crowd’s anger.

They had endured hunger and cold for over half a month. For a bite of food and a moment of warmth, they were willing to risk everything!

Someone quickly fetched a piece of wood, seemingly dismantled from a large cabinet or bed.

“Brothers, let’s break it down! Open the door and kill that dog Zhang Yi!”

A group of people, holding the wood, began frantically ramming Zhang Yi’s door.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

The violent ramming caused the water on Zhang Yi’s table to ripple.

But Zhang Yi found it not intense enough.

He retrieved a large Sennheiser speaker from his storage space, connected it to his phone, and played his favorite song, "Love While Doing."

The energetic song blared inside, further enraging the people outside.

“Zhang Yi, you’re dead! We’ll kill you today!”

“You will pay with your life for my brother’s death!”

They rammed the door harder.

But after dozens of hits, they were dismayed to find the door barely budged.

A dozen strong men exerting force together, totaling over a thousand pounds, left only white marks and tiny dents on the black iron door.

Despair filled their hearts.

“What kind of door is this? Why is it so strong?”

“At this rate, how long will it take to break it down?”

Everyone was panting heavily.

They were working in temperatures below minus seventy degrees, and with insufficient food, they had little strength.

Many felt their legs weakening and had to rotate shifts.

But at this rate, they would all be exhausted before breaking the door.

One man approached, stared at the door for a while, and then exclaimed, “This... this is a bank vault door!”

He worked in a bank and recognized the details.

Despair spread among the crowd.

“Does that mean it can’t be broken?”

The bank employee shook his head bitterly, “Forget using wood. Even with explosives, you couldn’t break this top-grade vault door!”

“Without the key, only the world’s top lockpickers could possibly open it.”

At this point, Zhang Yi, holding a crossbow, moved to the shooting hole.