Rebirth: I Will Win Easily in the Apocalypse-Chapter 32 - 22: Little Thug

Everyone gathered around the unfamiliar toy and discussed it for a while before taking it as a break.

Nearly all the supplies in the building had been scavenged. The leftover furniture was chopped into firewood by Gu Yanlin and Zhuang Nanyang, bundled up and carried downstairs to be stacked together.

Gu Yanzhi walked a circuit around the 11th floor and chose a window where no one was beneath. Their office building was situated in a corner, with plenty of people on the side facing other office buildings. However, the side Gu Yanzhi chose overlooked an empty plot of land, scarcely frequented by anyone.

"Uncle Zhang, let's lower our stuff from here—it's quiet and will save us the effort of carrying them downstairs."

"I think it's a good idea," Uncle Zhang nodded, agreeing.

"Xiao Song, Yan Lin, Xiao Gu, Old Zhuang, Xiao Liu, Sister Li, and Qianqian, shall we all go down and stand by to receive?" Uncle Zhang glanced around at everyone, choosing who would go down with him.

The spot they chose, although on the back side, could still potentially create a significant disturbance—there was no guarantee it wouldn't attract others. There were many people outside, and the probability of being robbed was fairly high.

One must admit Uncle Zhang's arrangement was quite logical. Song Zhao and Gu Yanlin, both tall nearing 1.9 meters, exerted an intimidating presence just by standing there—especially Song Zhao, whose gaze alone could make one want to turn and flee.

From their long association, Uncle Zhang now understood that although Gu Yanzhi seemed aloof and indifferent, among the three, she was the one who most often took charge, a woman of few yet impactful words. Her decisive killing methods during the previous ship hijacking had left a lasting impression on Uncle Zhang. Even though Gu Yanzhi hadn't intervened in the few occasions there were issues inside their building afterward, having such a person in the team gave him and everyone else a great sense of security.

Among the others, Uncle Zhuang and Sister Li, with their abundant social experience, were adept at dealing with people. Liu Sisi and Zhang Qian were plainly fierce and would assist in any scuffles.

These few people standing together below sent a clear message that they were not to be trifled with. At the very least, they could deter those who had larcenous thoughts but lacked the courage, thus avoiding many unnecessary troubles.

"If only we had known, we wouldn't have bothered carrying it downstairs—it's quite heavy," Gu Yanlin remarked as they went down. If only they had known they could have just thrown the stuff down from above; after all, it was just wood and wasn't going to break.

Fifteen people in total had come, eight went down, leaving seven upstairs to sort and toss things down.

Those above took the opportunity to break open the designated window. Initially, Uncle Zhuang wanted to remove it before going down, but it was frozen solid due to the cold and couldn't be unscrewed—smashing it was quicker.

Once those on the ground received the carts and hand trucks lowered by rope, they were set. From the flood till now, this had become their routine way of life, with those above and below cooperating seamlessly.

Then, they threw all the wood down. It was all tied up before, but some pieces still scattered when they crashed onto the ice below.

Those below, pulling the carts, stayed well away until no more items were coming down. They then re-tied any scattered wood neatly onto the carts.

However, this time they found usable solid wood furniture was limited. After setting aside the pieces Uncle Zhuang used for making hand carts and ice sleds, only one cart was filled.

As expected, the noisy crash of the wood drew considerable attention—some people were already eyeing their group from a distance. The group was substantial and looked tough.

Everyone was waiting for a brave soul to be the first to take advantage and perhaps get something worthwhile from Gu Yanzhi's group, leaving the scraps to be picked up by the rest.

After clearing the wood, they moved the cart aside as water for drinking began to be lowered from upstairs. Apart from the individual small bottles of mineral water that were put directly into personal bags, the water they found this time was in very large barrels, with at least ten 5L barrels and over twenty 20L barrels.

These large barrels of water were thoroughly frozen, but dropping them from the height of four or five stories was enough to shatter them completely.

A 20-liter barrel, tightly secured with ropes, was lowered from upstairs. Due to the force of gravity, Zhong Junfeng and Xiao Lin, who were responsible for pulling the ropes, turned red in the face with the effort. It wasn't until Zhuang Nanyang, who had initially been upstairs organizing things with others, hurried down that their burden was somewhat relieved.

Unlike the wood, which was easily and quickly thrown down, lowering the water barrels was both time-consuming and laborious. By the time the three people had lowered all the barrels, they were utterly exhausted, especially feeling sore and pained in their shoulders.

After the last barrel was lowered, the three people simply sat on the ground and began gasping heavily for air.

The people below, thanks to Gu Yanzhi and the other two who exercised daily, were in much better condition.

The barrels of water were neatly stacked on wheelbarrows, filling up four carts.

What remained were some lightweight food items, which the women upstairs took on, simply throwing down what they could and lowering fragile items with ropes.

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Once all the supplies were loaded, a half-empty small wheelbarrow was left over. The group decided not to leave any gaps, stuffing it with newspapers found in the property storeroom at the top floor.

Although paper burns too quickly to serve as warming fuel, at least it's a harmless combustible.

Just as they had finished securing the supplies, a shifty-looking man appeared out of nowhere.

Gu Yanlin hadn't reacted before the sudden newcomer placed a hand on his shoulder.

The man looked like a small-time thug, his eyes full of cunning and greed. At the same time as he touched Gu Yanlin's shoulder, the dagger in his right hand pressed against Gu Yanlin's lower back.

"Your supplies look nice, share some with me, brother. Sharing is caring," the thug's eyes darted around the supplies, his tone threatening and greedy.

Gu Yanlin's expression turned cold. Seeing the faces of his sister and brother-in-law, he felt a chill run down his spine. He had been careless to allow an ambush.

Lifting his head, he looked at the thug with a calm gaze and spoke in a calm, firm voice, "I'm sorry, friend. These supplies were hard-earned by our team, and I can't give them to you."

"Ha, you think your life is in your own hands to refuse," replied the thug mockingly.

"You better decide quickly whether you want the supplies or your companion's life," the thug's expression turned sinister as he pressed his knife harder against Gu Yanlin's waist and threatened anew.

"Ouch, ouch, I was wrong, spare me, it was just a joke," Gu Yanlin stealthily moved his foot and swiftly, violently kicked the thug's knee, while simultaneously reaching for his eyes with his fingers.

The thug instinctively released one hand in defense, and seizing the opportunity, Gu Yanlin quickly broke free from the thug's grasp. In a swift movement, he pinned the thug down beneath him.

"Get lost," Gu Yanlin initially wanted to end the man right there, but noticing a sign from Song Zhao, he just loosened his grasp on the thug and coldly whispered.