Chapter 129: First Strike, Counterkill!
After everything was prepared, Zhang Yi carried the "special" food, rode his motorcycle, and returned to the Yue Lu community.
Upon arriving at the community, Zhang Yi first called Uncle You, Jiang Lei, and Li Chengbin over to maintain order.
Soon, they arrived at the courtyard, armed with iron rods, shovels, and kitchen knives.
"Zhang Yi, we're here!" Uncle You called out.
Zhang Yi glanced at them and nodded. "Alright, wait here. I'll call everyone down to collect their supplies."
Zhang Yi took out his phone and notified the building representatives to come over.
Uncle You, holding an iron rod, stood beside him like a loyal guard. Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei stood slightly behind Zhang Yi, leading others to protect him.
Zhang Yi glanced at them out of the corner of his eye. Today, Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei seemed more focused than usual. Out of habit, Zhang Yi stepped back a few paces, positioning himself behind the crowd.
Except for Li Jian from Building 18—who adhered to his principles of fairness and refused to personally come to collect supplies—most of the representatives were here. The cigarettes and alcohol they collected were laced with high doses of rat poison. Once ingested, it would take 10 to 30 minutes for the poison to take effect, leading to their deaths.
Zhang Yi narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Alright, everyone come and collect your supplies!"
Starting with Building 1, Zhang Yi threw the supplies two or three meters away, letting the representatives pick them up themselves. One by one, the representatives walked over and took their respective supplies.
"Building 21!" Zhang Yi called, looking at Wang Qiang.
Wang Qiang, head down, walked over. Zhang Yi bent down to pick up a bag of food. Just as he was about to stand up, he heard a shout, "Now!!"
Wang Qiang pulled a handgun from his pocket and fired at Zhang Yi! Zhang Yi's pupils contracted, and he instinctively tried to dodge. At that moment, Uncle You, standing nearby, pushed him away.
Three gunshots rang out right beside Zhang Yi's ear. The sudden attack made each shot feel like an eternity. Uncle You's body slowly collapsed, knees buckling as he fell to the ground. A ringing filled Zhang Yi's ears as he looked up, seeing a group of people with ferocious expressions charging at him.
Wang Qiang held a handgun, Huang Tianfang brandished a kitchen knife, and Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei, less than two meters away, had betrayed him. Out of the thirty or so people present, at least half were rushing towards Zhang Yi, weapons gleaming coldly.
They had waited a long time for this moment. Zhang Yi intended to lull them into a false sense of security and then eliminate them, but they, too, had grown tired of Zhang Yi and wanted him dead. Zhang Yi was the strongest in the community, and as long as he lived, others could die at any time.
Moreover, they knew Zhang Yi's home was a perfect shelter, comfortable and well-stocked with food. Regardless of their motives, they couldn't allow someone as powerful as Zhang Yi to exist in the Yue Lu community.
Many of them had even bought off Zhang Yi's close aides, Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei. They believed Zhang Yi's death was inevitable. Even with a gun, Zhang Yi couldn't kill everyone at such close range.
As Uncle You fell, Zhang Yi’s gaze grew cold and terrifying. Today’s plan had been kept secret from everyone, including Uncle You, who didn’t know Zhang Yi was wearing a bulletproof vest and pants. Even if the bullets hit him, they wouldn't have harmed him. But Uncle You, grateful for Zhang Yi’s help, had unhesitatingly taken the bullets for him.
This stirred a rare feeling of guilt in Zhang Yi, followed by overwhelming rage. Jiang Lei, the closest to Zhang Yi, roared and swung his shovel at Zhang Yi's head. Zhang Yi quickly rolled on the ground, dodging behind his snowmobile. He adjusted his stance and stood up, a black assault rifle suddenly appearing in his hand, loaded and ready.
The attackers' expressions turned from ferocity to confusion, then to fear.
"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat..."
Facing a life-or-death crisis, Zhang Yi squeezed the trigger tightly, holding the gun handle firmly as he began to spray bullets. Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei, the closest to him, were riddled with bullet holes in an instant. Ignoring everything else, Zhang Yi fired at anyone standing.
Behind Li Chengbin and Jiang Lei were a dozen patrol team members, who were stunned when Wang Qiang started shooting. They hadn’t joined in the attack, but Zhang Yi couldn’t differentiate friend from foe in this chaos. The bullets didn’t spare anyone.
With too many enemies, Zhang Yi couldn’t take chances. He assumed everyone was an enemy. Killing them all was his only option. Rows of people fell, including the once-arrogant Wang Qiang, who hadn’t even reached Zhang Yi before being riddled with bullets. His eyes remained wide in disbelief, unable to fathom where Zhang Yi got the assault rifle. If not for the rifle, they would have won.
The handgun had given Wang Qiang false confidence. But just as Zhang Yi didn’t know about Wang Qiang’s handgun, Wang Qiang was unaware of Zhang Yi's bulletproof vest and assault rifle. The difference was that Zhang Yi was prepared for a gunfight, so Wang Qiang never stood a chance.
"He has an assault rifle! Run!"
Huang Tianfang, terrified, dropped his knife and fled. The other building leaders screamed in fear and ran, cursing their parents for not giving them more legs.
Zhang Yi, consumed by rage, saw Uncle You lying in a pool of blood, motionless. Even with his hardened heart, he felt a pang of sorrow. "Uncle You, thank you for taking the bullets for me. I’ll avenge you and kill them all!"
Zhang Yi’s voice was icy. This was the first time since the apocalypse that he faced so many opponents, yet it turned into a one-sided slaughter. As Zhang Yi had said before, in the face of absolute strength, all schemes were meaningless.