Chapter 162: I Gave You a Chance
Zhang Yi's gaze had already turned icy as he pointed the gun at Xu Hao's forehead. The dark gun barrel brought back memories of Zhang Yi's cold and ruthless killings, making Xu Hao realize Zhang Yi wasn't joking.
Xu Hao felt extremely aggrieved, his heart filled with hatred for Zhang Yi. The hatred in his eyes was evident, with bloodshot veins covering his pupils.
"Fine, I'll go!" Xu Hao gritted his teeth, walking towards the passage with a face full of reluctance.
As he walked, he looked around the luxurious decorations of the shelter. Such an opulent survival environment, even better than anything he had experienced before, filled him with a strong sense of resentment.
When Xu Hao reached the passage, he suddenly turned around, glaring at Zhang Yi with malice. "Zhang Yi, you're untrustworthy! You'll get your comeuppance one day!"
Zhang Yi merely glanced at him calmly. Xu Hao sneered, turned around, and walked into the passage.
Zhang Yi stared at his back for several seconds, hesitating. Then he raised his gun, aiming at the back of Xu Hao's head.
Zhang Yi sighed, looking at Xu Hao's body. "Anger won't make you stronger; you need strength."
He walked over to Xu Hao, picking up the backpack he had left behind. "I intended to let you live, but why did you seek death yourself?"
Zhang Yi had been hesitant about killing or not killing Xu Hao. Out of his principles, he had decided to let Xu Hao leave. But Xu Hao's last words changed his mind.
"I already let you go, so I'm not ungrateful. We were square at that point. But then you threatened me. Killing you is reasonable!"
Satisfied with his logic, Zhang Yi nodded to himself. In Cloud Manor, Xu Hao was the only one who knew his identity and had knowledge of the shelter’s layout. He could bring trouble to Zhang Yi someday.
Zhang Yi felt somewhat grateful to Xu Hao for giving him a valid reason to kill him. After killing Xu Hao, he stored the body in his spatial space.
Then he turned on the multi-million dollar sound system in the room, playing a cheerful song:
"Mama, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead. Mama, life had just begun. But now I've gone and thrown it all away..."
Zhang Yi fetched a mop and bucket from the bathroom, whistling cheerfully as he cleaned up the bloodstains on the floor.
"I hope this is the last time I have to kill someone. No one here knows my past, and no one will come to disturb me. If I could live here until the end of the apocalypse, or until I die of old age, that would be wonderful!"
"But it's probably very unlikely," Zhang Yi smiled to himself.
He soon cleaned up the bloodstains. The entire room was now quiet, with only him alive, making it unusually silent. The house was so big, it felt a bit lonely.
"I should go get Ke'er. A mature man always needs a beautiful woman by his side to make life interesting."
"As for Uncle You..." Zhang Yi had other thoughts. The shelter was large with many rooms, but Zhang Yi didn't really want Uncle You to move in. Since he and Zhou Ke'er were still in their honeymoon phase, they wanted their space.
Ke'er always managed to come up with something new, and having others in the house hindered her creativity. For example, she would wear only a white shirt or an apron. With another man in the house, they wouldn't be able to enjoy themselves freely.
"I already have a better shelter. I might as well let Uncle You stay in the safe house. He once took a bullet for me; I owe him. Providing him a good living environment is fair repayment."
"Also, I can't move the safe house into my spatial space right now. It’s better to leave it in Yue Lu community as a backup base. If needed, I can return and live there, with someone to look after it."
Zhang Yi's plan was clear, solving the problem perfectly. Uncle You would likely be very grateful.
However, Zhang Yi still needed to solve one issue for Uncle You—the problem every man understands.
Both Zhang Yi and Uncle You were physically healthy men, one in his twenties, the other in his sixties. Naturally, they had physical and psychological needs.
After killing Xie Limei, Zhang Yi felt he owed Uncle You a woman.
"I promised Uncle You I’d find him a better one. But there aren't many women left alive in the community, and even fewer who meet the criteria."
"Hmm, it's a bit difficult. I'll leave this problem for later. If worse comes to worst, he can find a few women in the community to get by."
Given the limited conditions, one couldn’t be too picky.
Zhang Yi sat on the sofa, in front of a 100-inch TV. Curious about what Wang Siming usually watched, he found the remote and turned on the TV. The black screen slowly lit up.
Zhang Yi walked to the bar, filled with various branded drinks, many of which he had never heard of, supplied by foreign vineyards.
Pouring himself a glass of fresh beer, he watched the TV. He expected to see the few remaining official channels but was surprised to see a white female host speaking in English.
Zhang Yi admitted his English was only CET-6 level, and his spoken English was terrible. He couldn't understand a word.
"Strange, how can it receive foreign channels? The blizzard should have affected signal transmission. Even phones have limited signal range. How did he do it?"
Zhang Yi, surprised, switched channels. Each channel was still a foreign one. As he flipped through dozens of foreign channels, he realized something.
"This shelter must have a super-strong network system!"
Excited, Zhang Yi checked the control room. Following the lines, he found a hidden door revealing a closet-sized independent server!
"He actually set up a server in his own home. Impressive!" Zhang Yi laughed, eyes brightening.
Though he didn't fully understand how it worked, the signal reception indicated the network system in this shelter was incredibly powerful, capable of global signal transmission. This meant Zhang Yi could access global information through the network.