The Self-Righteous

Tom agreed to take Linda out to let her experience life after shrinking and to mentally prepare her for the various threats from insects and beasts they would face. After all, her room was clean and free of mosquitoes, unlike the corridor outside.

Therefore, to take her out, he needed to prepare a set of protective gear for her. In the past, Tom would have had to search for plastic toys. But now, with his metal shaping ability, he only needed to take two screws, flatten them into thin sheets, and then shape them again.

A metal helmet was customized to prevent sudden attacks from mosquitoes. Linda was dissatisfied with the helmet being too plain and crude, so Tom had to make some adjustments. He added some aesthetic patterns and embedded several metal feathers made from thin sheets on both sides of the ears, which looked quite stylish.

Linda recognized the reference immediately. "Is this the helmet of the protagonist, Leinas, from the Norse Mythology? It looks a bit like it, hehe."

After making the helmet for her, they naturally needed some armor. They couldn't be too particular here, so Tom simply made a rough shoulder and chest protector. However, for the chest part... Linda complained that it was too tight after Tom made it twice. Eventually, Linda generously allowed Tom to measure her chest with a thin rope.

Blushing, Tom took the measurement and then closed his eyes to visualize the dimensions in his mind before completing the chest armor.

"Is it big enough?" Tom had learned to ignore Linda's teasing and began helping her put on the armor.

"Um... It doesn't match Leinas's helmet..." Linda wanted to complain, but Tom simply turned around and started putting on the Old Street No. 0 Armor, completely ignoring her. She pouted and glanced at him before finally saying softly, "Well, it's clear that you've never had a girlfriend. It's normal not to understand how to be considerate. I forgive you!"

Tom hesitated for two seconds while putting on the armor. As a single guy, receiving such a blow was unbearable. He took a deep breath and told himself not to argue with a girl who was clueless about the situation and continued putting on the armor.

Tom peeled the iron armor for Linda a bit thinner, considering that the little girl had less strength and couldn't bear too much weight. If he could get the leather from mutated cockroaches, it would be the best material—lightweight and offering protection comparable to thin iron.

They collected some food and bottled purified water, enough for the two of them to eat for a while. Tom carried the backpack and Linda's home appliance remote control and left the house.

The door closed slowly behind Linda, and Tom placed the remote control next to it so they could enter if they wanted to go back to the room.

There were still five green dots on the fourth floor of the building, indicating five survivors. They were gathered together, probably a family. Tom planned to go to the fourth floor to check.

When climbing the stairs, Linda was a bit short and couldn't jump high enough with the iron armor. Tom had to lift her up and put her on his shoulder, climbing four floors of stairs. At first, Tom felt a little embarrassed, but after a few lifts, he got used to it, treating her like a piece of cargo to be transported.

The perceptive girl noticed Tom's change in attitude from his actions and teased him a few times, but Tom automatically filtered them out. So, the girl pouted and complained that he was an insensitive blockhead.

"The real blockheads are in the shelter," Tom scoffed to himself mentally, but he wouldn't be foolish enough to say it out loud. He found that the more he responded to Linda, the more energetic she became. So, after a few silent responses, Linda's teasing would just fall on deaf ears.

Arriving at the fourth floor, Tom led Linda to the door of 403. He originally thought they would have to face a closed door, but they saw a delivery box blocking it, preventing the door from locking.

Looking at the delivery box, Linda smiled and said, "SF Express, hehe. They must have realized there was a power outage, so they opened the door with the battery still charged. Otherwise, they would have been trapped in the room forever. Not stupid."

Tom shook his head, pushed the door open a bit, let her in first, and then squeezed in himself.

As soon as they entered the room, before they could even shout, they heard quarreling coming from the living room in front. Tom and Linda followed the sound and saw five little people wrapped in cloth arguing.

"If you have the ability, go back to your own home. What are you doing here showing off?"

"If I could go back, I wouldn't stay here. Do you think we want to? With this decoration, this taste, I've been enduring it for a long time!"

"Then please leave! Don't shamelessly stay in someone else's house."

"Fine, we're leaving!"

The argument was between three women, and the other two men stood quietly on the side. When they saw Tom in his current appearance, the two men actually hid behind the women first, which surprised Tom.

The woman with long hair, taking the lead, asked, "Are you sent by the government to rescue us? Where are the police? Where is the military? Why did it take so long for them to come, and it's just a little person like you! We are taxpayers. How can they send little people to rescue us? Give me the phone, I want to complain!"

The woman with long hair had a very strong presence, and she was aggressive from the start, directly confronting Tom, making Linda cover her mouth and laugh secretly, enjoying the drama.

"Sorry!" Tom cleared his throat and calmly said, "I'm not sent by the government. I'm just passing by with good intentions, seeing if you need help."

"Are you blind? We've been trapped here for over two months, and we've run out of food and water. Of course, we need help! Do you think you're powerful just because you're wearing iron clothes? Are you stupid? Quickly give us some food!" 

Tom looked at the other two women and then at the two silent men, shook his head, and turned to leave. If they were going to be pushy, he wasn't going to entertain them. They all seemed safe enough, except for the shortage of food.

Seeing Tom about to leave, the woman with long hair hurriedly ran over to block his way. "Don't leave! Why are you so rude? I just said a word, is it necessary to be so petty? Do you know who I am?"

"Miss..." Tom started, but the woman with long hair interrupted him. "What 'Miss'? How can you be like this? Calling me 'Miss,' do I look like one of those lowly women who sell themselves?"

Tom rolled his eyes, sighed, and pushed past her to continue walking. Women like her were either kept mistresses or executives of certain companies, relying on their status and makeup to think they were princesses or queens, always acting superior to others. He couldn't be bothered with them.

But then, one of the men couldn't bear it anymore and rushed over, shouting at her, "Stop it!" Then he grabbed Tom. "Sorry, sir, she's ignorant. Please... please don't argue with her."

The woman with long hair couldn't accept it. She angrily shouted, "Zhao Xifeng, how dare you scold me for an outsider? You bastard, are you trying to rebel?"

"Han Yun, don't you understand? He's just passing by and isn't obliged to help us! We've been trapped here for over two months. Don't ruin our hope of escaping!" 

"The country will come to rescue us. I'm the general manager of our Haotao Industrial Company. Our company will pressure the government, and they will send someone to rescue us. Why do we need to beg this weirdo?"

"Han Yun, stop it!" Zhao Xifeng, the man who called out to Tom, pleaded, "Sir, please, give us some food and water, and then take us out. You're not from this neighborhood, you must be from outside."

"Yeah, yeah, save us!" The other two women and one man rushed over and pleaded with Tom.

Tom actually felt a bit soft-hearted. It was only people who conflicted with his values that he considered "cold-blooded." Seeing these four men and women soften up, and then seeing the long-haired woman, who turned red and white, and then purple, he shook his head. "Okay! I have some ready-made cookie crumbs here, and there's only one can of water left. Do you still have bottled water?"

Taking the cookie crumbs from Tom, the two women stuffed them into their mouths. But Zhao Xifeng went directly back to the long-haired woman's side and handed her the crumbs he received.

The long-haired woman was not having it. She angrily yelled and slapped the cookie crumbs out of his hand, "I don't want to eat something from an uncultured, unidentified person!"

Zhao Xifeng sighed and picked up the cookie crumbs, offering them to her again.

He was a devoted man, but unfortunately, he ended up with a melodramatic woman.

Tom didn't really care about this. He directly asked one of the women if they had any food left. The answer was as he expected—the food on the table in the living room had long been eaten. Only in the dining room, there were some leftovers, but they were no longer edible. However, there was an unopened bottle of purified water.

There were some on the computer desk in the bedroom, but they couldn't reach either the dining table or the computer desk.

Tom thought for a moment and decided to help them out. So, he took the other man to the bedroom. At his suggestion, the two men agreed to let him toss them onto the computer chair. Then they put down the rope, and Tom climbed up, then tossed them onto the computer desk.

A computer chair was only about 60 centimeters high, and tossing an adult man up there was very easy for Tom, who could use 4.5 times his arm strength.

The two men pushed a whole box of cookies, while Tom helped them push down an unopened bottle of purified water.

They were starving. The two women quickly tore open the packaging and ate the cookies. The woman with long hair hesitated for a moment before also stepping forward.

The two women glanced at each other and silently agreed to let the woman with long hair join them. As a result, the woman with long hair glared at Tom and shouted, "I didn't eat your things, hmph!"

Tom could see that these two women were on the same side, while the woman with long hair and Zhao Xifeng were probably from the neighboring room. Being so impolite and arrogant in someone else's home, it seemed that Zhao Xifeng truly loved her.