The Crowd 09

The deeds of Building 17 spread through the neighborhood. Some other buildings started to follow their example, establishing committees to attempt self-rescue, while others descended into even greater chaos.

However, none of this had much to do with Fang Zhiyi. He wasn't a savior and couldn't save everyone.

While Fang Zhiyi stared at the map, sketching and marking, Chen Rui sat nearby watching. He finally understood—every time Fang Zhiyi went out with the scavenging teams, it was largely to memorize what lay in the more distant areas. Chen Rui felt that the young man before him was simply a god.

He was even planning for what would happen afterward.

"The rain has stopped!" someone shouted in the corridor, followed closely by the sound of cheering.

Chen Rui also jumped up in excitement. "The rain stopped! Zhiyi! Did you hear that?"

Fang Zhiyi merely nodded, continuing to mark his map.

Chen Rui was a bit puzzled. Was he possessed? A moment later, he suddenly realized: Fang Zhiyi had killed people. Once the disaster was over, he would definitely face a reckoning.

Chen Rui gritted his teeth. "Don't worry. When the time comes, we'll testify for you. The people you killed all deserved to die."

Fang Zhiyi still just gave a casual, noncommittal response.

Although the rain had stopped, the floodwaters receded very slowly. Fang Zhiyi still organized scavenging teams to go out according to his previous plans.

Seeing that the disaster was about to pass, some people no longer took his words to heart. However, a portion of Fang Zhiyi's die-hard followers honestly did as they were told. They didn't know why, but they knew listening to Fang Zhiyi was never wrong.

Rumors began to spread in the building. The disaster was ending, and those who had killed would be punished. For a time, people in the building were on edge.

Only Fang Zhiyi maintained the same behavioral pattern as before the rain stopped.

"When the water level drops to the seventh floor, head to the west of the city. There is a logistics hub there," Fang Zhiyi instructed.

Chen Rui nodded.

"Some people think the disaster is already over, I reckon they..."

"If they don't want to go, let it be. Just gather the ones who do want to go."

Watching the rubber dinghies set off again, towing handmade wooden cargo boxes behind them, some people were confused, while others felt that Fang Zhiyi had become addicted to playing the boss.

Zhao Hu still led the vanguard. They found some waterlogged packaged food here. Although some of it had taken on water, much of it was still edible, along with some canned goods. However, on the return trip, Fang Zhiyi changed direction, and they rowed toward the outskirts of the city.

Along the way, they saw many people poking their heads out of buildings to watch them, giving off the vibe of the ending of a disaster movie.

It wasn't until Zhao Hu's oars were repeatedly blocked by several floating corpses that everyone's mood grew heavy again.

"Fang Zhiyi, don't worry. When they investigate afterward, we'll all testify for you. If it weren't for you, we probably would have either starved to death or ended up like them..." Zhao Hu said out of nowhere.

Fang Zhiyi smiled and just quietly looked ahead.

A subordinate next to Zhao Hu nudged him. "Bro, we killed people too..."

Zhao Hu froze, his face turning somewhat gloomy.

No one spoke for the rest of the journey.

It took them a full half-day to reach the place Fang Zhiyi designated. Looking at the hillside before them, Zhao Hu, who had been silent the whole way, couldn't wait to jump out. "Solid ground! Hahaha! Ground!"

A few more people jumped down, and some even lay on the muddy earth.

Fang Zhiyi just looked up. There was a building up there, originally a sealed-off holiday resort that had been submerged. Now that the water had receded, the resort finally saw the light of day again.

Chen Rui followed his gaze, looking puzzled.

"Put everything here," Fang Zhiyi said.

No one understood what he was thinking; only Zhao Hu bent down and got ready to work.

"Boss, it's over. Are you planning to hide out here?" someone realized.

Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes at him. "Over? Over my ass. After raining for so long, with all those corpses thrown into the water, what do you guess will happen after the water recedes?"

"What... will happen?"

Chen Rui realized it. "Plague!"

Everyone gasped in horror.

"Stay away from crowds, stay away from the city..." Fang Zhiyi said, looking at the resort in front of him.

The expressions of the crowd turned to admiration once again. Was he even human? How could he think of all this?

As for Fang Zhiyi's theory, half of the residents in Building 17 didn't believe it. They still thought everything was over. However, the others felt that Fang Zhiyi had been very thorough in his considerations.

"This Heavenly Dao is a bit flawed too," Fang Zhiyi muttered as he looked at the sky.

Little Hei smiled. "That's just how this world is set up. They are just working according to the rules, aren't they?"

"I can see that. If it were my world, the government and the military wouldn't just watch this all happen. At the very least, the rescue efforts wouldn't stop."

"That impressive?"

"Of course."

Little Hei reached out a tentacle and patted Fang Zhiyi's shoulder. "Homesick?"

"Of course."

Even when the water level dropped to the third floor, Fang Zhiyi didn't stop working. He led those willing to follow him to continue scavenging in places with supplies. Along the way, they encountered other survivors, but everyone greeted each other quite amicably, and there were no instances of people fighting over supplies. This put Zhao Hu in a good mood, until Chen Rui poured cold water on his parade.

"You think they're being friendly? That's just because we have more people and we're all armed."

Zhao Hu muttered to himself, looking entirely unconvinced.

That was until they reached the third floor of a shopping plaza and witnessed two groups of people fighting viciously over supplies. One person after another fell to the ground. The victors, their eyes bloodshot, shouted and cursed loudly; even when their opponents had lost the ability to resist, they still moved in for the final killing blow.

Fang Zhiyi once again displayed his composure. The winners were excitedly moving the supplies, but they immediately became vigilant when they saw Fang Zhiyi and his group approaching. Fang Zhiyi saw that what they were moving was nothing more than waterlogged packaged rice, and he instantly lost interest.

However, those people actually set their sights on their weapons, and their leader even shouted at them to drop their things and get lost.

And then... his arm was snapped by Fang Zhiyi, and Zhao Hu and the others swarmed in. After claiming victory, Zhao Hu asked if they should take the supplies away. Fang Zhiyi shook his head. "Leave it for them. We don't need it."

Zhao Hu felt it was a bit of a pity, but over a long time, he had grown accustomed to listening to Fang Zhiyi.

The water level grew lower and lower, and receded slower and slower. The entire building was filled with a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone discussed their plans for after the disaster ended, and someone even patted their chest and declared they would treat everyone to a huge feast later.

Only Fang Zhiyi continued to make preparations, inventorying supplies and pondering over the map. Because the water had receded, some people had already chosen to leave their group; now, only a dozen or so people remained with him.