Chapter 98: Establishing Authority

Chapter 98: Establishing AuthorityZhang Yi had made up his mind to wait and see how the situation developed. However, he also knew that some people would not be able to contain their greed and would attempt to take action against him. Therefore, he needed to be extra vigilant about safety for the foreseeable future.

He had a police helmet to protect his head and a bulletproof vest for his body. But when he looked at his legs, he frowned. While his upper body was protected, he lacked bulletproof pants.

After some thought, Zhang Yi came up with an idea. He took out a bulletproof vest from his alternate space and handed it to Zhou Ke'er.

"Is this for me?" Zhou Ke'er asked, excitedly.

"No, help me take it apart. I need to use it," Zhang Yi replied.

Disappointed, Zhou Ke'er pouted but obediently took the vest and used scissors to cut the seams. The threads were tough, designed to withstand immense impact. It took her considerable effort to finally separate the vest into two pieces of fabric.

Zhang Yi took the pieces, measured them against his legs, and nodded in satisfaction. Wrapping the fabric around his legs and covering them with winter pants, he effectively created makeshift bulletproof pants.

"The legs also have major arteries; I can't be careless," he muttered.

Once he was fully equipped, Zhang Yi pondered for a while, realizing he couldn't let his neighbors feel too complacent. He needed to instill a sense of crisis, prompting them to take the initiative to fight others. After all, he had organized them as cannon fodder, not to pamper them.

Given the signals from other buildings, he had to respond. So, he sent a message to the residents' group chat, informing everyone of the current situation.

"@Everyone: Brothers and sisters, family of Building 25! We are facing a significant crisis. Some people want to steal our food."

"Nearby buildings are envious of our ability to go out and find food, so they’ve threatened us. They claim that if I don’t share our food with them, they will attack our building."

As soon as Zhang Yi's message went out, the group chat exploded with activity.

The neighbors, who had just glimpsed a hope of survival and now relied on Zhang Yi to bring back food daily, were outraged. They couldn’t accept the idea of other buildings wanting to rob them.

"Damn it, what are those bastards thinking? If they have the guts, they should go find food themselves!" Sᴇaʀᴄh the ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"Fight them to the death! We won’t give them a single grain of our food!"

"Yeah, we have Zhang Yi with us! If it comes to a fight, we can take them on!"

However, some people expressed concerns.

"But there are only about thirty people in our building now. If all the other buildings attack us, can we really hold out?"

"That... does seem difficult."

"Can’t we negotiate with them, ask them not to attack us?"

"Haha, do you really think that’s possible? Everyone is fighting for food to survive. Who’s going to listen to reason?"

"Ah? Then what should we do?"

"Fight! Without food, we’ll die anyway!"

The neighbors argued fiercely. While many were outraged, a significant number were also fearful. The thought of opposing the entire neighborhood, with potentially thousands of attackers, felt like suicide.

Zhang Yi sent another message at an opportune moment.

"You all know the situation outside. The heavy snow has buried all low-rise buildings, including most grocery stores."

"Finding supplies is extremely difficult and largely dependent on luck."

"There are thousands of people outside. If we give them our food, you will have nothing to eat."

"I, Zhang Yi, don’t want to provoke them. I still have enough supplies for a few days. The decision is up to you."

"Do you want to keep the food for yourselves or give it to them for temporary peace? The choice is yours."

Zhang Yi’s ultimatum was like putting a gun to someone’s head and asking if they wanted to live or die. In reality, there was no choice.

Hearing his message, the neighbors realized they had no retreat. Without food, they were as good as dead. Fighting gave them a chance to survive.

"I understand now. Let’s fight them!"

"This food is ours. Why should we give it to them?"

"They can go to hell!"

"Yeah, if they can’t get their own food, they shouldn’t think about stealing ours. How despicable!"

"I, Luan Qiang, hate people like that the most. Disgusting!"

Seeing the mood sufficiently roused, Zhang Yi declared, "Alright, we can’t let them look down on us! We need to show them our strength."

"Tonight, Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei, you’ll lead a team to attack Building 26. The Tianhe Gang doesn’t have many people left. Finish them off!"

"This will avenge our fallen family members and serve as a warning to the other buildings!"

Li Chengbin responded enthusiastically, "Got it, Brother Zhang!"

Jiang Lei echoed, "Yes, Brother Zhang!"

Zhang Yi continued, "As for me, I’ve been busy all day and am quite tired. I won’t join you tonight. Next time, for sure."

Li Chengbin reassured him, "Brother Zhang, we understand. You’ve worked hard today!"

Jiang Lei added, "Brother Zhang deserves the credit. We can’t let you handle everything, right, everyone?"

The neighbors responded in unison, "Absolutely right!"

Zhang Yi smiled, "Good brothers, off you go!"

After riling up the neighbors, Zhang Yi tossed his phone aside, picked up Zhou Ke'er, and headed to the bedroom. She let out a playful scream.

An hour later, Zhang Yi lay on the sofa, a cigarette in his mouth, while Zhou Ke'er lay exhausted but content on his chest.

"Ding!"

A WeChat notification sounded. Zhang Yi picked up his phone and saw a message from Jiang Lei.

"Brother Zhang, the Tianhe Gang is tougher than we thought!"

Zhang Yi’s lips curled into a smile.

"Of course, it’s tough! If it were easy, I would have already stormed in and wiped them out myself."

The Tianhe Gang members were construction workers, strong and armed with makeshift weapons. They understood how to use the terrain to their advantage.

Jiang Lei and his team would undoubtedly suffer heavy casualties in an assault on the well-prepared gang. Zhang Yi didn’t mind. These neighbors were expendable to him.

Feigning concern, he asked, "How are our casualties?"

Jiang Lei reported, "We lost eight men and only managed to kill three of theirs."

Zhang Yi was pleased with the outcome. The Tianhe Gang didn’t have many members left, but they were all tough fighters. Losing three more members would almost leave Huang Tianfang alone.