Occupying the Resources - Villain

The commotion on the back of the wood was just a small episode. They arrived on the fourth floor just before the sun completely set, leaving only residual light on the horizon and dimming the hallway.

Tom approached the tightly closed door, feeling the intense vibration of his watch. He reluctantly pushed the door... but it wouldn't budge. The door was securely locked, yet his watch indicated there were survivors inside. It seemed they had locked themselves in.

Was he going to give up just like that? Tom didn't think so. He remembered the layout of his rented apartment and immediately asked Prince Xiong and the others, "Do the windows or balconies of your rooms have edges?"

Lin Meiqi shook her head, "Didn't pay attention."

Prince Xiong scratched his head, pondering for a moment. "Seems like... yes."

Feng Hanyun looked puzzled.

Liang Pingchuan timidly raised his hand, his submissive appearance resembling that of a student in class trying to prove himself to the teacher due to lack of confidence.

Tom pointed at him. "You, speak."

"Uh... from the bay window of Room 403, you can jump onto the air conditioner above Room 403. The air conditioner frames of Rooms 403 and 404 are parallel. As long as you bring a board, you can walk over and then reach the master bedroom of 404. The layouts of these two rooms are symmetrical."

Prince Xiong laughed when he heard this. "Big brother, why are you so familiar with this? According to the rules, my surname is Wang, not you. Don't deny it, you must be the legendary next-door neighbor."

Liang Pingchuan's expression immediately dimmed. "Well... you're not wrong... the woman next door is related to me. Even if her husband comes back, I can climb back in through the window."

"What about the woman?"

"She's dead. After she mutated, I climbed over. The couple were lying in bed, and their heads had exploded... ugh..."

While they were chattering, Tom had already commanded the wood to enter the neighboring room, which was open.

This room showed signs of small-scale activity, with broken cloth and some human bloodstains on the floor, as well as remnants of ants. It seemed the owner of this room had engaged in a struggle, possibly dying in a corner, being carried away, or evacuating. After all, Tom had noticed there were quite a few people in Room 404 when he was in the shelter.

After spending more than ten minutes reaching the bedroom mentioned by Liang Pingchuan, the wood carried everyone to the bay window. By now, it was getting dark outside.

"This window is tough, how do we break it..." Liang Pingchuan was complaining, but Tom had already lowered the barrel of the woodworm zero cannon and aimed it at the glass of the bay window.

With a muffled sound, a fist-sized hole appeared in the window as Tom pushed the barrel back onto his shoulder, picked up a thick butcher knife, and went over to enlarge the hole.

At this moment, a strong wind blew outside, bringing in the cool night air. The sudden chill made everyone shiver.

Feng Hanyun looked at the pitch-black outside and asked fearfully, "If we go out... will we be blown away by the wind?"

Tom, focusing on enlarging the hole, replied absentmindedly, "I'll go out by myself, you guys stay here and wait for my news."

"We stay here?" Feng Hanyun became even more frightened, unconsciously hugging her arms and shivering in the chilly air as she looked around, "What if rats come in?"

Tom gestured that the opened hole could allow the Old Street Zero Armor to drill out, then explained, "Staying here might also get you eaten by rats. If you come out with this body, you'll be blown away directly outside."

Liang Pingchuan didn't mind. After all, he had invisibility. Hearing Tom's arrangements, he just hid in the corner, grinning as he took out his precious Level 2 Blue Crystal.

Prince Xiong was a bold and capable person. Even without abilities, he felt secure holding a weapon. As for Lin Meiqi, she was a 16-year-old girl who feared nothing and loved chaos. Although she was intelligent and knowledgeable, she couldn't shake off her teenage nature of being fearless.

So, while Feng Hanyun was still complaining, this adventurous girl immediately made her request, "I'm not afraid. Tie me to your armor and carry me over!"

"No!" Tom glared at her, knowing this little girl wouldn't behave, "You stay here and behave yourself."

"I don't want to!" Lin Meiqi put her hands on her hips, defiantly saying, "Take me!"

Tom firmly refused, "No, I can't take you to take risks!"

"But why not? It's just tying me up, what's the risk? Since those people are still alive, it means they haven't encountered any mutated creatures."

"No, once there's a conflict, I have to prepare for the worst."

After hearing this, Prince Xiong interjected, "Boss is worried those survivors might turn hostile? Don't worry, a bunch of pseudo-middle-class weaklings. Just now, that guy with abilities, Deng Xin, is a perfect example, and your sleazy colleague too. Even if they have abilities, they won't be able to turn the tide."

Tom thought about it and realized it made sense.

Lin Meiqi was delighted to hear this. "Wow, I didn't expect even a temporary worker like you would be good at helping people."

"No, I just don't want Boss to overestimate those idiots. They have average abilities but arrogant mindsets. They're just all talk. I've been doing discipline inspection work for a while now, and facing those guys is no different from dealing with these people."

"Alright, but be careful what you say." Tom decided to take Lin Meiqi with him. When he turned to see Feng Hanyun with her mouth open, he immediately said, "No, you don't need to think about it. I'll only take her."

Feng Hanyun hadn't even spoken yet before Tom pushed her back, and she could only retreat into the corner with a plaintive expression.

Time was pressing, and darkness was about to fall. With Prince Xiong's help, Lin Meiqi, this little girl, was tied in front of Tom. With a towering height of 9.9 centimeters, carrying a little girl of 6.3 centimeters in front, it looked quite comical.

Just as Prince Xiong finished tying her up, taking advantage of Tom's momentary distraction during inspection, he held his stomach and pointed at Lin Meiqi, laughing heartily, "Is this... a kangaroo carrying a joey? Haha, but the pouch on the little joey's chest is too big, isn't it? Haha."

"If you laugh again, I'll tear your mouth apart!" Lin Meiqi was angry. She tried to kick him, but Prince Xiong had already distanced himself. Despite her struggles, which hindered Tom from checking the ropes, he pressed her down. "Don't move, or I'll throw you out."

"Ah!" Feng Hanyun screamed first, making Tom immediately alert. "What's wrong?"

"Haha, Boss, are you trying to squeeze the little sister's chest flat?" Prince Xiong grinned.

Due to wearing leather gloves, Tom didn't feel much with his hands, so when he stopped Lin Meiqi, his hand ended up in an odd place, which he didn't notice. After Prince Xiong's reminder, he looked down and saw his hand was indeed in an inappropriate position.

Meanwhile, Lin Meiqi looked up at him with a smile, "How does it feel?"

"Uh, I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Tom quickly withdrew his hand, then jumped out of the glass with one foot. "Uh... be careful, don't run around if you encounter threats. Prince Xiong, take care of them."

"No problem, Boss!"

The wind outside the fourth floor was strong. If Lin Meiqi weren't tied to the Old Street Zero Armor, she would have been blown down the stairs. At this moment, she was tied to Tom's chest, excitedly looking around with her blue eyes, making admiring sounds.

Tom landed on the top of the air conditioner and sighed, "Can't you be quiet? With such a strong wind, dust will blow into your mouth."

"Big brother, we're small, we can definitely feel dust getting into our mouths. It's fine. It's so dark now, and those dark clouds... what are they?" Lin Meiqi asked.

Tom looked over and saw several long creatures hovering in the air. He kept walking but remained vigilant. "It's going to rain. In June and July, when it rains, it pours. Those might be insects. We need to be careful; now, any creature could attack us."

"It's better to be small, haha. This way, we can see how beautiful human-made structures are. What used to be ordinary man-made objects, when viewed from a smaller perspective, look like something out of a mythological paradise."

"But such a paradise isn't beautiful; the price of admission is too high." Tom reached the edge of the air conditioner and saw a gap of nearly twenty centimeters in the middle. He had a plan. "And the owners of this 'paradise' aren't friendly to us."

Removing his gloves, the armored suit squatted down halfway. Using the metal shaping ability of the Level 2 Blue Crystal, he peeled off the iron skin on the top of the air conditioner, slowly twisting it into a brick-like extension that was 7 centimeters wide and 5 centimeters thick, reaching to the other side.

"See, this world is still very friendly to you. It wasn't so easy to do this before. Not to mention now, you don't have to look at your boss's face or rely on their money to survive. You just grab whatever you see, like whatever you want, how nice."

"Grab?" Tom walked onto the iron brick bridge, controlling his balance carefully, and slowly walked to the other side of the air conditioner. "Usually, this term is used for rights of use. Have I monopolized anything up to now?"

"The right to use a woman counts too! Hehe, haven't you ever wondered why that useless boyfriend of Feng Hanyun was so anxious when she came out with you? In his eyes, you've monopolized his girlfriend. Just like... the guy on the third floor."

Zhao Xifeng? Tom understood why Zhao Xifeng was so eager to come out now, and before leaving, he looked at him with resentment.

"Oh, so according to you, have I become the villainous boss who bullies men and women?"

"Reality doesn't have protagonists and antagonists. It's just different stances and interests."

"He can think whatever he wants. Now, survival is so difficult; he still thinks about those trivial matters played out repeatedly in TV dramas, which will only put himself in danger."

"Love is not a trivial matter. Dog-head god, have you never had a girlfriend? Never been in love?"

"No." Tom answered without any hesitation, "I'm an orphan. There's no one to rely on, and I have to work hard to survive. This applies both before and after shrinking."

Lin Meiqi nodded repeatedly, "No wonder you adapt to this environment so easily. Haha. Speaking of monopolizing, have you seen the way others look at me? I'm also a resource you've monopolized!"

"You?" Tom was stunned for a moment, "You're just a 16-year-old girl. Why would I monopolize you? Don't think so... Oh no! Hold on tight, I need to accelerate!"

"Why?"

Tom, wearing the Old Street Zero Armor, began to run faster because he saw those long, hovering creatures flying towards him.