There were still cracks on Jiang Cheng’s television screen, but luckily, it still worked.
She’d just gotten back from her business trip when the zombie outbreak started again, so she hadn’t had time to replace it.
The broken sideboard door, however, had been repaired—Master Luo had fixed it afterward.
The TV had been on all along. Jiang Cheng was also waiting for a government announcement, but all that was playing were pre-recorded programs.
After cooking and eating, she tried switching channels and found that several local stations had no signal—just static.
TV stations weren’t ordinary media. In extreme situations of social upheaval, they were immediately upgraded to strategic command nodes.
When state forces mobilized, the priorities to secure—besides water, electricity, gas, and communications—were television stations.
Emergency orders were issued through TV to stabilize public panic.
During the last zombie outbreak, almost everyone would sit by the TV at set times every day, waiting for the day’s new announcements.
Some even left the TV on all day, terrified of missing breaking news.
It should be the same this time.
Some young people at the Youth Apartments were so absorbed in computers and the internet that they didn’t even own a TV—and they’d learned their lesson last time.
Rumor had it that after the disaster ended, many people had not only upgraded their refrigerators but also bought TVs.
Though even if some still didn’t have a TV, it didn’t matter—there were plenty of empty units, just pick one with a TV.
Jiang Cheng lived in Room 0306 of Building 2. Room 0308 next door was used by Master Luo and Auntie Pan, and she was still using it.
But the entire floor, including Auntie Pan, now had only seven people. The rest were empty.
In this framed structure, a few units shared load-bearing walls, but most didn’t. Jiang Cheng knocked on the wall between her unit and 0304 next door and confirmed it was non-load-bearing.
That made things easier.
Right now, her room was empty—she’d put the quilts and candles into her storage space for now, but she couldn’t keep them there forever.
She needed to find a place to store them.
She’d planned to wait for Auntie Pan to come back after dinner, but Auntie Pan showed up with Li Jiangbing first.
“So it was him,” Jiang Cheng said after Auntie Pan finished.
She’d suspected it before—the person who reported her had to be from the property management.
Because cleaner Liu Hongwang’s actions had been directly opposed to the residents’ interests. No resident would have spoken up for him.
Only a fellow property employee would feel the same kinship.
They’d endured until social order was restored and state enforcement agencies were back in operation before filing the complaint. That showed they’d been too weak during the disaster to stand against the interim committee led by Jiang Cheng.
“You need to watch out for him. He may look older and scruffy, but he knows some moves,” Auntie Pan said.
Jiang Cheng didn’t understand. Li Jiangbing translated: “He knows martial arts?”
“Yes,” Auntie Pan said. “He came from a martial arts school—started training as a child. He used to be a stunt double in films and TV—met a lot of celebrities. Later, when he got older and couldn’t keep up, he became a security guard.”
The best path for martial arts school graduates was to try out for special police—a stable government job.
Going from film stunt work to a residential security guard in his later years meant he hadn’t done well for himself.
Li Jiangbing scoffed: “You should’ve seen how arrogant he was at dinner—all bragging.”
It wasn’t really bragging, though—Cao Jiacai’s ability was genuinely impressive. It’d been powerful from the moment it awakened, leaving the same-type Wu Jiancheng in the dust.
People were now saying that security guard Cao Jiacai was the strongest combat-type ability user of them all.
Li Jiangbing couldn’t help feeling a mix of envy and jealousy—a bitter taste.
Jiang Cheng thanked Auntie Pan.
Her warning was timely. Jiang Cheng didn’t know Cao Jiacai well, but he’d performed brilliantly today. Given her habits, she might very well have tried to recruit him.
Jiang Cheng said: “Auntie, there’s actually something I need your help with.”
Auntie Pan: “Go ahead.”
Jiang Cheng stood up and walked to the TV. She moved a storage cabinet between the TV stand and the computer desk at the foot of the bed, then knocked on the wall.
“Here. Could you please open a doorway for me? I want to requisition 0304.”
Auntie Pan’s Earth-type ability was also leagues ahead of Zhao Yi’s.
She walked over, pressed both hands to the wall, and a fist-sized hole appeared. The bricks and mortar seemed to come alive, writhing as the hole grew larger, eventually becoming a passage big enough for a person to walk through.
On the other side was Room 0304.
The three of them stepped through.
There were dirty socks still on the sofa, unwashed. Half a glass of drink sat on the coffee table. A bag of chips had been sealed with a plastic clip.
The owner had never imagined they wouldn’t come back.
Li Jiangbing sighed.
Jiang Cheng walked straight over and knocked on the opposite wall—good, also non-load-bearing.
Jiang Cheng: “Auntie.”
Auntie Pan went over and opened another doorway on that wall, revealing Room 0302.
Rooms 0306, 0304, and 0302 were now connected, and Jiang Cheng’s usable space expanded rapidly.
She released everything from her storage space right in front of Auntie Pan.
She also moved some movable furniture from 0302 and 0304 into her storage: “I’ll move these to the underground garage later.”
With the furniture removed from 0302 and 0304, there was even more usable space.
Auntie Pan was surprised: “You took so many quilts. And so many candles too.”
Jiang Cheng glanced at the time and said, “It’s this late, and still no government announcement.”
Auntie Pan was silent for a moment—she could guess as much herself: “This time, probably a lot of officials died too. Won’t be like last time.”
People who worked concentrated in one building had suffered heavy losses. They’d heard that at least three floors of the five-story Development Zone Government Building had no signs of life.
The same could be inferred for other government office buildings.
Jiang Cheng said: “I’m afraid this time, even water, electricity, and gas might not be guaranteed. Those aren’t things you can’t live without. What I fear most is that heating won’t be guaranteed.”
Auntie Pan sighed: “Back home, we could burn firewood. But in the city, with all these high-rises, you can’t just burn things. What are we going to do?”
Jiang Cheng said: “We’ll figure it out when the time comes. For now, I’m stockpiling quilts so no one’s left freezing and scrambling when the cold hits.”
Auntie Pan said: “You really think ahead.”
Auntie Pan might not have much formal education, but in terms of character, she was better than many.
Jiang Cheng had emptied her storage space right in front of her, and Li Jiangbing hadn’t been surprised at all—he’d clearly known about it already.
Auntie Pan understood very well: she was now finally one of Jiang Cheng’s “own people.”
And she was happy to be.
Some said Jiang Cheng was ruthless and cold-blooded.
But Auntie Pan had observed her and long since noticed that Jiang Cheng treated those around her very well.
She’d awakened her ability this morning and started showing its power in the afternoon. After returning from Mai Duoduo, many people treated her differently than before.
It was as if she’d suddenly become visible.
She could understand Cao Jiacai’s arrogance and inflated ego too.
But Jiang Cheng had “seen” her even before that.
Maybe that had to do with Old Luo—while he was alive, Jiang Cheng had held him in high regard.
Of course, you could also say it was because Old Luo was a hard worker and useful to Jiang Cheng. But Old Luo had died yesterday—and Jiang Cheng had still maintained the same attitude toward her. She hadn’t ignored her; in fact, she’d cared even more.
In Auntie Pan’s heart, anyone who didn’t let relationships cool after someone was gone, who continued to care for a widow and orphan, was a good person.
Auntie Pan had her worries: “If that happens—if the government really falls apart—someone like Cao Jiacai will be emboldened.”
Li Jiangbing’s expression turned grim.
Cao Jiacai knew martial arts, and Li Jiangbing might not necessarily lose to him in a fight.
But with superpowers in the mix, that was a different story.
Damn it—Cao Jiacai was like a wizard now. A rolling pin in hand, one raise of his arm and a fireball flew out, another raise and another fireball flew out.
The biggest ones were as large as a basketball, radiating heat—people wouldn’t dare get close.
At dinner, Cao Jiacai had even said he’d held back during attacks, controlling his flames to only burn zombies’ heads to avoid causing fires.
“If I wanted to,” he’d boasted, “I could turn someone into a human torch.”
Li Jiangbing believed Cao Jiacai could do it. But that meant the gap in combat power between them was enormous.
Auntie Pan’s concern was valid.
“Auntie,” Jiang Cheng said, her eyes free of worry. “Combat has never been humanity’s primary need.”
She smiled again—the smile that always made people feel at ease.
“The most basic needs for human survival…”
“Are food and drink.”
Auntie Pan thought for a moment and suddenly saw clearly: “Yes, yes. No matter who it is, they need to eat and drink before they can fight.”
She looked at Jiang Cheng, then at Li Jiangbing, and thought of Song Jingshuo.
Her heart felt light and open.
Auntie Pan not only helped Jiang Cheng open the doorways but also sealed the original entrance doors of 0304 and 0302 from the inside.
If anyone opened those two units’ doors from the outside, they’d only see walls.
That was Li Jiangbing’s suggestion.
He said: “A bunch of them are thinking of moving into our building. Zhang Lesi and a few others have already talked to Su Yu—they’re moving in tomorrow to be her neighbors.”
One of Jiang Cheng’s traits was that she always stood at a height, commanding the big picture—she kept a bit of distance from the rank and file.
Li Jiangbing, as her wingman, perfectly filled that gap.
He could blend in with anyone, anywhere. Whatever “everyone” was thinking or planning, he’d know first and communicate it to Jiang Cheng in time.
That’s how the iron triangle worked—everyone had their own niche.
Both Li Jiangbing and Auntie Pan took a pack of candles and a few lighters from Jiang Cheng back home, just in case.
After entering his place, Li Jiangbing tossed the stuff on the shoe cabinet by the entrance and headed straight to the bathroom to pee.
After finishing, he was about to flush when he glanced at the yellow liquid in the toilet bowl and suddenly remembered Jiang Cheng’s request to purify water.
It seemed that might actually be very useful in the future.
Grabbing his waistband, Li Jiangbing took a deep breath, gathered his energy, and bellowed: “Hah!”
And began practicing purification.
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