Abundant Resources

The battle was very short.

 A minute ago, the air had been ringing with gunfire, but now, everything grew calm.

 Wang Zhou and the other survivor panted for breath, considering themselves lucky for surviving.

 The other survivors had been somewhat more fortunate and had not gone as far. Once they had heard the news, they had immediately retreated back to the villa area.

 At this time, they were listening to the pair recount their harrowing experience.

 It was mostly Wang Zhou that was talking. While his companion had recovered, his complexion was still pale. As for Wang Zhou, though he had been on the verge of tears a few moments ago, he was now so excited that the others were looking at him like he was a weirdo.

 "…You guys don't know. Those people had savage expressions, guns pointed at our heads. But me, I was fearless, my face composed.

 "At the time, that expert appeared like a gust of wind. Whoosh! He appeared at our side and cut the ropes tying us. Those enemies blocking the road were instantly mowed down…" Wang Zhou suddenly paused here. "It seems like there were two experts! Were they twins? No, they both wore helmets so I couldn't tell. But those experts were truly formidable. That group seemed powerful, but they were paper tigers in front of the experts, not even able to take a single blow…"

 Wang Zhou grew more animated the more he talked, and the others were entranced by his story.

 They hadn't seen it transpire, but they could imagine the power of those two experts.

 How many guns had these people had? The sound of gunfire alone had made them pale.

 But those experts were able to freely navigate that barrage of bullets.

 The shelter was truly too lucky to have experts like these!

 …

 Tang Yu held his face in his hands as he pondered.

 This battle had come very suddenly. Although he had routed the enemy, he was considering his deficiencies in this battle.

 His vigilance was lacking.

 If the enemy hadn't left the survivors thinking they still had some use, the two domain inhabitants might already be dead.

 He had not expected to suddenly encounter this group of outsider Awakened.

 In the apocalypse, when out in the wilderness, groups of survivors would often be wary of each other, but they wouldn't be enemies. Not everyone was evil and wicked. Even if they were all looking out for their own benefit. they had to consider whether it was worth it.

 Once they attacked, losses would be difficult to avoid.

 But these people had attacked with barely a word– oh, no, they hadn't even said anything, and so they had all died. For him, the moral of this story was that one needed to be careful and inconspicuous when doing things, and not get too arrogant.

 Tang Yu found this very reasonable. He had always been very inconspicuous.

 "The construction of the domain needs to be accelerated, particularly in terms of defense. The enemy managed to get all the way to the border of the domain this time. There's no sense of safety like this."

 He considered, "This group has to have some sort of backing. If they all disappear here, it will probably cause a problem. Fortunately, it's not all bad. I got a lot out of this."

 Han Jing's group had all been killed or injured in this battle.

 The majority of them had been killed by Number One and Number Two. These automatons struck with ferocity, and those struck directly by their strength essentially had no chance of survival.

 Tang Yu had also taken action, shooting at an Awakened that had been charging at him like a madman.

 This was the first person he had killed.

 But he didn't find anything uncomfortable about the experience.

 He had heard people say that killing people would cause nausea, would make one go weak at the knees and vomit on the ground.

 But he realized that this wasn't the case. After living a month in the apocalypse, he had witnessed all sorts of gruesome scenes. All he lacked was the final practical exercise.

 Roger had extracted intelligence from the ones who still lived.

 "An Origin Crystal vein! No wonder…"

 Tang Yu also coveted this Origin Crystal vein.

 He was more aware of the importance of Origin Crystals than anyone else. If he could mine that vein, the domain would be able to enter a state of high-speed development.

 It was a beautiful thought, but reality was cruel.

 The domain was severely lacking in manpower, and there was barely enough for a moving team. But mining? Impossible! Moreover, while the Origin Crystal vein was close, only three or four kilometers away, it was still out in the wilderness, in the forests. This environment was extremely dangerous.

 "So I can only look at this Origin Crystal vein, not mine it?"

 Tang Yu was sullen.

 Wait…

 He suddenly recalled Wang Tai. Chen Haiping had managed to recognize this former shelter chief.

 But Wang Tai had been a rather decisive person. Recognizing that he had no chance of surviving, he had committed suicide before he could be interrogated.

 However, Wang Tai's two subordinates had lacked his resolve. Roger had immediately kept a close eye on them and given them no opportunity to commit suicide. Afterward, through his adept interrogation skills, he had even been able to make these two subordinates confess the color of their underwear.

 He had also learned that Wang Tai had another reason for guiding Han Jing here, his own personal objective besides the Origin Crystal vein.

 He apparently wanted to get some important resources.

 The two of them hadn't known much. Most of it was conjectures they had developed from observing Wang Tai's conduct and habits.

 Wang Tai had always had a habit of hiding resources.

 Tang Yu felt that the likelihood of this being true was rather high. Fleeing in panic, Wang Tai would have never had the time to run away with these resources. His two subordinates were further proof of this.

 After these people had been squeezed of all their value, Tang Yu left them to Roger to handle.

 They couldn't be let go.

 This group was far too dangerous. As for that Lindong boss that backed them, Tang Yu wasn't worried. He was currently considering Wang Tai's hidden stash.

 "Where would he have hidden it?"

 …

 Compared to the eastern part, the western villa area was the true core of the vacation villa. Wang Tai had previously dwelled in Villa No. 1 of the western villa area.

 Tang Yu had searched this part before, but he hadn't found anything of value. Now that he thought about it, that was very strange. How could Wang Tai's residence not have anything of value? He hadn't had time to pack before running!

 From his own perspective, Tang Yu also had a habit of hiding things in his home. For example, in the castle, there was a little storehouse where he had placed all the Origin Crystals he had gathered. 

 Wang Tai had definitely hid his possessions in his villa, but it definitely wasn't in an obvious place.

 The villa covered a rather large area, and after going around it, Tang Yu determined that there were two possible locations. It was either in the villa's small front garden or in the basement.

 The basement was empty at this time. He had already taken all of the food that had been stored there.

 "Number One!"

 The automaton guard appeared at Tang Yu's side. He pointed at the walls of the basement around him. "Break the wall here. Remember to not collapse this place."

 Boom! Number One became a human-shaped bulldozer, instantly turning the rather clean basement into a ruin. The place looked even worse than the ruins left by the demonized beasts.

 In the ruins was a large, particularly obvious hole.

 "As expected! There was a deeper basement!"

 This basement had an even smaller area, but he could see that it was piled high with resources. Not only was there food, there were also luxury goods like alcohol and tobacco, even guns. Treasures were spread out before him…

 "I'm rich!"

 There was a lot of food in the basement, and Tang Yu also spotted a freezer. It was connected to a diesel generator and still working. 

 In the freezer, Tang Yu discovered a number of vegetables and meat.

 At this point, it didn't matter how long the meat had been frozen or how fresh it was. The abundance of food could be compared to pre-apocalypse times!

 This guy Wang Tai really knew how to enjoy himself.

 It was all thanks to him. Tang Yu felt like he had to thank Mister Wang Tai for his selfless contribution.

 The food took up a large part of the refrigerator. A small part of the basement stored some items for daily use, and the rest of it was taken up by guns.

 Tang Yu no longer felt anything special about ordinary pistols and rifles, but he still managed to find a pleasant surprise among the guns and ammo: two light machine guns. These would be a great boost to his shelter's defense line.

 Of course, his domain didn't even have a defense line yet.

 "However… this stuff alone wouldn't be worth Wang Tai's efforts. He would have to take these things with him, and they take up so much space. If Wang Tai wanted to not draw Han Jing's attention, he wouldn't be able to take that much with him.

 "The most valuable thing should be…"

 Tang Yu looked at a safe in the corner.

 A secret basement with a safe—Tang Yu didn't even need to use his brain to know that there was something valuable inside.

 And it seemed like a very high-class safe with formidable defensive capabilities. But that was before the apocalypse. Now, it could easily be smashed open.

 In front of him was a dazzling pile of Origin Crystals.

 Tang Yu held his breath. This was the first time he had ever seen so many Origin Crystals.

 How many were there? One thousand units? Two thousand units? More?

 "Five thousand, two hundred and fifty-five units of Origin Crystal have been detected." The system's cold voice rang out in his mind like music to Tang Yu's ears.

 Today, he was a man with money… no, with Origin Crystals.

 Thank you, Wang Tai.

 Besides Origin Crystals, there were also high-class demonized beast materials, like sharp claws or thick hides.

 Some of these were special products that had become available only after the apocalypse, and he had momentarily been unable to recognize them.

 For example, there was a white and transparent crystal the size of a basketball.

 There was also a brick of some unknown metal.

 Tang Yu inspected these materials one by one and then placed them back in the safe. He decided that it would be best to just take the entire safe with him.