Re-stamped Villa

Lin Chen walked up to the crowd, his gaze calmly sweeping over the astonished and uncertain faces, and said loudly:

"Everyone, I am Lin Chen, the leader of this post-apocalyptic self-rescue team. I plan to establish a long-term shelter here. However, as you can see, we have a large number of people, and our accommodation is in short supply. Therefore, I would like to 'rent' your vacant villas."

He paused briefly, allowing the information to settle.

"The rent is simple: three bottles of bottled water and three packs of instant noodles per villa per day, until we voluntarily leave. Of course, anyone willing to join us and fight for survival is warmly welcome. What do you all think?"

The survivors exchanged glances, their eyes meeting silently in the air. They knew in their hearts: the bloodshed had stopped, but the world had collapsed, and the rule of law had long since vanished.

The other side was armed; if they really wanted to seize it, no one could stop them. The fact that they are now willing to offer supplies for "rent" is already a great concession and shows them considerable leeway.

Everyone who can live here is a shrewd and capable person.

Several strikingly beautiful female survivors discreetly observed this peculiar group—apart from their leader Lin Chen, who was male, the rest were all young women, each radiating energy and dressed impeccably.

They exchanged glances, already understanding each other: in this apocalypse, the leader's strength and resources must be unfathomable to maintain such a team. And the existence of "superpowers" was no longer a secret.

Associating with the strong and joining a seemingly stable and capable group may be the wisest, or even the only, way to survive right now.

Some people showed signs of weighing their options, while others secretly breathed a sigh of relief—at least, it seemed they wouldn't immediately face violent conflict. The atmosphere in the square underwent a subtle shift in silence.

After some quiet discussion, the survivors reached a basic consensus and elected a representative.

At this moment, a man of about fifty years old stepped forward, speaking cautiously and respectfully: "Mr. Lin, we are willing to accept your conditions. However... we have a few small requests, and we wonder if you could grant them?"

His name was Zhou Tiannian, and he was an industrialist with assets worth tens of billions before the apocalypse.

However, with the collapse of order, his former wealth and status have vanished. He tried to contact his old connections to seek official assistance, but those relationships seemed to have been severed during the Blood Rain Cataclysm.

Reality forced him to rethink his way of survival. After all, what hardships hadn't someone who started from scratch endured? What humble posture hadn't he adopted? At this moment, his humility was merely a survival instinct—he wasn't one of those stubborn people who were obsessed with saving face and out of touch with reality.

"Speak," Lin Chen nodded indifferently, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"Could we... take some time to pack up our personal belongings?" Zhou Tiannian asked cautiously.

"Okay, one hour." Lin Chen readily agreed.

"Also... in the future, could we exchange other items for supplies from you?" he asked tentatively.

"Sure, but I won't accept just anything." Lin Chen's tone was calm, yet carried an unquestionable air of authority.

Zhou Tiannian felt relieved and quite satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations. He was always good at assessing situations, and at this moment he felt even more certain that his judgment was accurate.

After a moment's hesitation, he mustered his courage and made one last request: "Mr. Lin, could you... reserve two more villas for us? We have 50 people here, and we're willing to pay less rent for two villas."

As soon as he said it, he felt a slight tightness in his chest and nervously observed Lin Chen's reaction.

"Forget about the villa," Lin Chen refused decisively, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. "You can live in the property management building. That's it."

A cold wind was picking up, and the temperature was dropping further; he didn't want to waste any more time. "We'll come back to collect the keys in an hour."

After saying that, he turned around and led the women straight towards Li Ya's villa.

"Hmph, what's with the swagger? They'll be dealt with by the authorities sooner or later!" A well-dressed woman in her sixties muttered under her breath, her face full of resentment.

Li Ya, who was at the back of the group, paused and turned around sharply to stare at him. Lin Chen raised his hand to signal the others to continue—he trusted Li Ya to handle the situation.

The survivors around the woman immediately scattered a few steps, fearing they would be implicated.

"What...what are you going to do?" The woman's voice trembled, and her legs shook.

"Say what you just said again," Li Ya said coldly.

"I...I didn't say anything..." The woman's eyes darted away, avoiding direct eye contact.

"Say it again." Li Ya's voice was even colder, and her right hand had already quietly pressed against the hilt of the gun at her waist.

Seeing that the other party was unwilling to give up, the woman, though blustering, shouted, "My son-in-law is the vice mayor of Guangzhou! If you dare to touch me, he will never let you off!"

"I said—" A cold glint flashed in Li Ya's eyes as she drew her gun and pressed it against the old woman's forehead, "Repeat exactly what you just said."

"Ah—!" The woman was so frightened that she wet herself on the spot, her crotch soaked. She collapsed to her knees, kowtowing repeatedly, "I was wrong! I was foul-mouthed! Please don't kill me! I was really wrong!"

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out, swift and decisive.

Li Ya did not hesitate at all. Through Lin Chen's repeated teachings and examples, she had long understood that in this apocalypse, being merciful to potential threats is often the most dangerous thing to do for oneself and one's companions.

A deathly silence fell over the surroundings. Everyone trembled, shrinking back like quails, not daring to breathe.

In fact, this woman had a terrible reputation in the neighborhood—her daughter had long since turned into a corpse, and the so-called "deputy mayor's son-in-law" had disappeared without a trace, so no one was there to support her.

Li Ya holstered her gun and turned to leave when two young women stepped out from the crowd and softly called out to her, "Excuse me... are you Li Ya?"

Li Ya stopped and looked back. The woman who spoke had an oval face, bright eyes and white teeth, and a tall, well-proportioned S-shaped figure, about 170cm tall; the other woman had an oval face, delicate features, and was petite and charming, about 165cm tall. Both of them were quite beautiful, and if they had dressed up a little, they would probably be even more stunning.

"It's me. Do you know me?" Li Ya asked, slightly puzzled. He looked somewhat familiar.

"My name is Qin Yi, and my mother is Zhang Lan—she and your mother have been best friends for many years and she often visits your home. This is my best friend, Li Shishi." Qin Yi pointed to the girl beside her, her voice gentle.

"Aunt Zhang's daughter?" Li Ya suddenly realized. "Aren't you studying abroad?"

Qin Yi studied abroad most of the year and rarely returned to China. It was usually Aunt Zhang who visited her when she went abroad. Li Ya had only seen her a few times in photos.

"I just got back to China a couple of days ago..." Qin Yi smiled bitterly, her eyes filled with exhaustion and helplessness. "But as soon as I landed, I was hit by the apocalypse. It feels like all the hard work I've put into studying over the years has been for nothing."

"Is Aunt Zhang... alright?" Li Ya's heart sank; she had a bad feeling.

"On the day of the blood rain, Mom was taking a walk in the neighborhood, and that very day... she turned into a zombie." Qin Yi's voice was low and slow, filled with suppressed grief. "Yesterday, some neighbors heard that zombie crystal cores could awaken supernatural abilities, so they started hunting zombies in the neighborhood... Mom was among them. But they were later scratched and infected..."

Li Ya's expression darkened. Yet another familiar name had vanished in the apocalyptic torrent.

"Sister Qin, please accept my condolences," she said softly, her tone softening. "If you need anything in the future, feel free to come to my house anytime. I will do my best to help you."

She had a general idea of ​​why the other party had stopped her.