"We, we didn't, we just wanted some food, we didn't mean to rob you,"
Lin Hong denied vehemently, his head shaking like a rattle drum.
He certainly did not want to be crushed to death by this monster. Heaven knows why the Angel Envoy he had seen the day before yesterday, with just two arms, had now transformed into this terrifying form.
Lin Hong, at least, could still stammer out words, but Bai Yan'er beside him was nearly scared to pee, trembling, her mouth moving but unable to utter a complete sentence, just like a mute.
The Four-armed Corpse threw the two of them to the ground. Although the creature was not severe, it threw them hard enough to hurt, making them cry out in pain.
Their screams sounded somewhat abrupt and even a bit ridiculous among the crowd.
Su Han's gaze swept over the crowd. There weren't too many people, about seventeen or eighteen, excluding the Contractors, they only made up half of those at the gathering point.
He sneered coldly, "Yesterday, there was a chance to help and get supplies. It doesn't matter if you didn't appreciate it. Now you think about reaping the benefits without working? How could there be such a good thing? Four-armed Corpse."
The Four-armed Corpse stirred, took large strides to a wall in the hall, its arms turning black and muscles tensing. Its whole arm bulged like a cannon poised to fire. It then powerfully punched the wall.
With a "thud," the punch seemingly exploded on impact, creating a huge hole and dislodging bricks from the wall, scattering them inside the hall.
Dust danced in all directions momentarily.
Everyone stared in horror at the scene before them as fear involuntarily surged in their hearts.
The wall was not a sturdy load-bearing wall, but even a mere brick wall shouldn't have been penetrateable by a single punch.
Even a physically strong construction worker wielding a heavy sledgehammer couldn't have demolished the wall like this in less than ten minutes.
But now, a mere punch from the flesh and blood of the Four-armed Corpse had caused such destruction.
They shivered involuntarily, suddenly imagining if that punch had landed on a person. What kind of horrific scene would that be?
Would it be a blur of flesh and blood? Or would it split someone into two?
"I think none of your skulls are harder than this wall, right?"
Su Han's voice came again, but the crowd was silent, no one daring to respond.
Everyone was silent as if chilled, and Su Han merely glanced at them before turning to Captain Cheng beside him, "Captain Cheng, distribute the supplies. Have my portion delivered to my room."
Cheng Zhenyong snapped back to reality and said composedly, "Zhang Fu, start distributing the supplies. The rest of you can go back first. These next few days, I'll assess the fog situation and then organize manpower to explore outside. If anyone wants to secure more supplies, they can sign up then."
"Captain Cheng, it's been agreed then, just these few days. If it takes any longer, we really won't be able to hold on," someone immediately took advantage of the situation and quickly left the living room after muttering the words.
Seeing this, others also hurried away, neither daring to lift their heads nor say any more.
With no one else around to disrupt, the distribution of supplies sped up significantly. Su Han and Yan Meiyu represented their team in cleaning up the floors above the tenth, having contributed the most effort, and thus, received the majority of the supplies.
They were allotted over three hundred pounds of staple food like rice and flour, then dried meat, canned goods, various snacks, and even some medicines—a collection that nearly amounted to a third of this batch of supplies.
Although it was only a third and only two of them had participated in the cleaning, the remaining two-thirds had to be distributed to the security team, He Fang, Xinglei, and Xia Ning based on the effort they put in, so the shares they got were significantly less.
The security team, along with Xinglei, Yan Meiyu, and Zhu Xiong, helped move the items to Su Han's room, followed by Captain Cheng organizing the manpower to distribute the remaining supplies to others who were entitled.
By the afternoon, the noisy and chaotic division of supplies finally came to an end.
The temporary gathering point then fell into a subdued and oppressive silence, much like stagnant water.
Most people shut their doors tightly, remaining silent, some worried about how they would survive the future, others anxious and fearful of being held accountable or that contractors like Captain Cheng might turn into a tyrannical ruling class.
There were also those who slapped themselves, regretting not becoming Contractors, making them feel so passive now.
Everyone was plotting quietly, no longer daring to stick their necks out, their unease spreading through the crowd like an invisible force.
Everyone was vaguely aware of one thing, the lingering semblance of order was slowly erasing its boundaries.
-----------------
Night gradually enveloped all seven buildings; all the rooms were deathly quiet, occasionally some abrupt noises appeared, only to quickly vanish again, making the dark corridors seem somewhat frightening.
"Thump, thump, thump"
A soft knock resounded on the third floor, subdued enough that only those in and near this particular room could hear it.
Inside, Lin Hong was startled and asked the door warily, "Who is it?"
Lin Hong's tone was quite unfriendly, his eyes full of anger, his plans from the morning not only disrupted by Su Han but also marred by humiliation. His mood was at an all-time low.
He even thought more than once that if he had the chance, he would eventually reclaim this situation. Wasn't it just that someone had become a bit more formidable?
"Open up, I need to talk to you."
Instead of answering Lin Hong's question, the person outside continued in a low, undeniable tone.
Lin Hong showed a hesitant and frightened expression. Bai Yan'er grabbed his hand, shook it, and her face also bore a frightened look, signaling him not to open the door.
Could this be that kid sending someone after him?
Lin Hong worried internally, "If you don't say who you are, I won't open the door. Get lost."
The person outside cursed softly, then threatened in a lowered voice, "Our boss, Brother Fang, is looking for you? If you don't open up, you're in for it."
Lin Hong's eyes widened, he of course knew who Brother Fang was, having encountered him when cleaning the floors.
He was astonished internally, "What does Brother Fang want with me?"
"Bang bang bang"
The knocking came again, and Lin Hong, jolted by the noise, knew he had to open the door.
Offending Su Han he was already worried about how to get along in this gathering spot, but offending another, Brother Fang, would really be the end of him.
Lin Hong quickly opened the door, bowing slightly and nodding, "Misunderstanding, just now I didn't know it was you."
He stealthily sized up the man, a slick-looking fellow, indeed the one who had cleaned the floors with Brother Fang, seemingly named Wu Guang.
Wu Guang merely glanced at Lin Hong, his gaze then skipping over him to fall on Bai Yan'er, contemplating
Bai Yan'er's cheeks were slightly gaunt, giving her a somewhat severe look, but her figure was undeniable, curvy and well-shaped.
'Such a waste on this loser.'
A flash of greed passed through Wu Guang's eyes, but fortunately, he didn't forget what he was there for.
"Come with me, our boss wants to see you."
Lin Hong blinked, quickly nodding, "I'll come right now."
Wu Guang was pleased with Lin Hong's attitude, nodded, then turned and led the two quietly to where Brother Fang's room was located.
He pushed the door open, saying as he entered, "Brother Fang, I've brought him."
Brother Fang was sitting on a sofa in the living room, saying to Wu Guang, "Close the door."
Wu Guang closed the door firmly behind him, which made Lin Hong and Bai Yan'er shudder inwardly.
Fortunately, Wu Guang just closed the door and did not do anything else.
The three of them walked into the living room, and only then did Lin Hong see clearly that there was more than one person in the room.
Those who usually hung out with him were all there, six people including Wu Guang, all gathering in the living room.
Feeling their gazes, Lin Hong panicked internally, squeezed out a smile, and bowed, apologizing, "Brother Fang, did you have some instructions for me?"
Brother Fang was different from Captain Cheng and his team, which he knew from the day they encountered each other on the fifth floor.
Though it was Brother Fang who had informed them about the gathering spot downstairs, letting them go down, his attitude was even worse than Su Han's.
Moreover, he had later sneaked back to the fifth-floor room to check, and most of the jewelry he had bought for his precious Bai Yan'er was gone.
Time and again, he had seen clearly that Brother Fang and his group were nothing but greedy wolves, so he had always tried to avoid contact with them.
Brother Fang looked at him, asking him directly, "I remember that day, you mentioned that Su Han had taken your stuff, right?"