Exploring the Third Floor

When Tom proposed to explore upstairs, Li Qiang was the first to respond. Liu Lian followed suit, and Zhao Yingying hesitated for a moment before agreeing to join them.

Even with weapons and armor, they were not entirely safe. Faced with multiple cockroaches and rats, escaping was the best option. Modifying the two or three remote-controlled cars in the supermarket into drivable vehicles would greatly aid in escaping or moving to a new destination later on.

According to Zhao Yingying, since the group entered the supermarket from the clubhouse, their activities had been confined to the first floor. While climbing the stairs was feasible, nobody was willing to venture upstairs. They believed it was better to stay in a place with abundant food and wait for rescue.

Each staircase required a running jump to reach, then climbing up, and repeating the process. Naturally, the people from the clubhouse were reluctant to do it. Although Zhao Yingying felt tired, she dared not stay alone on the first floor anymore, fearing that Mr. Li would catch her.

As for Li Qiang and Liu Lian, after these two days of struggling between life and death, they had come to trust every instruction from Tom. They had gradually accepted an unverified speculation: everyone in the entire city had shrunk, and there would be no rescue in the short term. To survive, they had to rely on themselves and their team, with Tom being the core of their group.

A security guard rushed back to the temporary shelter they had built with various sponges and cardboard and reported to the head of security, Zheng Shiyi, "Brother Zheng, they really climbed up. Do you think there are valuable rings or something up there? It's so difficult to climb, yet they still want to go up!"

Another security guard said, "Hard to say. I saw that guy named An wearing a platinum ring on his arm, with a valuable ruby inlaid on it. Do we need to..."

He made a throat-slitting gesture. "So many people have shrunk; a few more deaths won't matter much, hehe."

Zheng Shiyi glanced around and fixed his gaze on Cheng Fuhua.

If Tom hadn't moved so quickly, Cheng Fuhua would have wanted to follow. After listening to Tom and the others, he found their words increasingly mysterious. Without the constraints of the law, people like Zheng Shiyi would definitely have crooked ideas. As a manager, his authority was no longer enough to suppress everyone.

Zheng Shiyi looked at him with suspicion, especially since he had previously taken the initiative to chat with Tom.

Cheng Fuhua couldn't do anything about it. Now Zheng Shiyi was single-mindedly trying to make some money from Mr. Li to secure a living in this downsized world. Of course, he also wanted to make some extra money. It was Mr. Li who stirred up this guy's ambition. Cheng Fuhua looked at Mr. Li beside him, seeing his furrowed brows. It seemed he had his own difficulties.

Mr. Li's name was Li Zexin, just a Hong Kong businessman who appeared to be very wealthy on the surface. He often promised large sums of money to get people to run errands for him. In reality, he relied on the fame he had gained from a couple of impressive visits. For a short time, he could indeed impress these greedy ghosts.

Now, seeing Zheng Shiyi and the others daring to talk about killing and looting, he naturally felt guilty. Instead of being exposed by these people for his lies with another small boss, it was better to lead them to harass those four guys.

With the plan in mind, Li Zexin immediately signaled to his companion Zhang Feng. Indicating cooperation, he received a secret response from Zhang Feng and then spoke up, "Who knows, maybe the three people who went out with Zhao Yingying were killed by them, and now they've come back to us."

Zhang Feng was also a small boss. His wife was more fierce than a tiger at home, so he could only come here with Li Zexin to enjoy the treatment of a big boss. He was also very scared and immediately echoed, "Whatever you guys want to do, I didn't see anything with Mr. Li either. There's no need to go to the police station. As long as we find the contact number, I'm very familiar with Mr. Shen from the Shen Group. With one phone call, he can send someone over to pick us up."

"The Shen Group?" Zheng Shiyi pondered for a moment. "The Shen Group near the Emperor Tower?"

Li Zexin smiled and said, "Is there a second Shen Group in Senchuan City? Mr. Zhang and Mr. Shen are childhood friends. At that time, the reward will definitely be given to you first. It's a very special period now. Even if you make a mistake, Mr. Shen can help you minimize it. He can deal with big things and trivial things alike."

Everyone in the city knew about the Shen Group, officially known as the Haiwei Group, a well-known taxpayer in the area. The group covered several industries, not only domestically but also internationally, with multiple subsidiaries.

"How nice! Steal their armor, and we'll feel safer when we go out!" Zheng Shiyi rubbed his hands together, immediately pointing at everyone, "You go to the stairwell and keep an eye on it. If they come down later, come back and let us know."

The man went to carry out his orders.

Watching Zheng Shiyi excitedly directing others to find weapons, Cheng Fuhua wished he could immediately distance himself from them.

Who was Shen Liansheng? He was the brother of Shen Guantian, the chairman of the Haiwei Group, and the general manager of the Senchuan branch of the Haiwei Group. The Haiwei Group was a prominent taxpayer locally, covering several industries, with multiple subsidiaries. Recently, they vigorously established a new industry, the Haiwei Miniature Industry, entering the microelectronics technology industry smoothly, with strong support from the Senchuan Municipal Government.

Someone who was childhood friends with General Manager Shen would come to this rundown urban village bathhouse to find girls?

Only someone like Zheng Shiyi, brought in from the countryside by the boss, would believe it.

The more he looked into it, the more he believed what Tom had said about "the end times" coming. The darker side of human nature would be unleashed, and what they were witnessing was just the beginning.

While excitement brewed on the first floor, Tom and the others had already climbed up to the second floor.

The second floor was the supermarket's warehouse, where plenty of goods were stored. Even if the food downstairs ran out, the second floor could last for a long time.

"Look at all these chicken legs, An, we've hit the jackpot! We don't need to fight with those idiots downstairs; we can just claim this place for ourselves! Haha!" Li Qiang was ecstatic.

Liu Lian gave him a scornful look. "You're getting all excited over just a few dozen chicken legs. When the rats come, all those chicken legs won't compare to your three legs."

Zhao Yingying, who was climbing nearby, chuckled at Liu Lian's jab. She clearly understood what he meant by the "third leg."

Rarely did she find her own sarcasm appreciated by someone else. Liu Lian was about to deliver another quip, but Tom stopped him.

"You guys stay on the second floor. I'll go up and take a look. Remember, be careful if they come up." Tom, wary of the others' sinister intentions, reminded them to watch out for Zheng Shiyi and his group before leaving.

While Liu Lian might have been preoccupied with bantering with Zhao Yingying, Li Qiang understood the significance behind Tom's warning. He would surely urge Liu Lian to stay alert to any activity downstairs.

As the sky darkened, the inside of the building became dim, but Tom wasn't deterred. He casually found a small object, activated the ruby to enhance his strength, and smashed the switch on the wall, naturally turning on the lights.

With the second floor illuminated, he climbed to the third floor, which was already lit up, and began his search.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy in the third-floor lobby, but he had a vague feeling that something was amiss. This led him to develop a negative conjecture about the owner of the building.

Here, he found traces of human activity, but not the usual kind—these were from shrunken people.

Two torn fabric pieces, pieces of meat on the floor with bite marks, and a partially open bedroom door.

Tom gripped his sword tightly and cautiously entered. He found the bedroom light on. On the clean floor, besides a few bone fragments, there were also bloodstains.

The bones were from chicken wings, but the bloodstains... As Tom continued deeper into the bedroom, he was surprised to see another bone, one that shocked him.

Unlike the chicken wing bones from earlier, this was a human leg bone, and Tom was certain he hadn't made a mistake.

"Someone was eaten? By rats or cockroaches?" Tom didn't see any more bones, which gave him a bad feeling.

Ants would leave intact skeletons, and cockroaches had no interest in bones. Only rats or... Tom looked under the bedroom window and saw an orange object trembling slightly. It was quite large, and upon closer examination, he discerned that the orange color was fur.

An orange cat!

Was it a cat that had eaten someone?

This was the worst-case scenario, and Tom's heart skipped a beat. He needed to leave this place quickly, but he couldn't make too much noise, lest he disturb this potential sleeping animal killer.

"Don't be afraid!" a childish voice rang out beside him. Tom turned to see an eight-year-old child sitting on a stack of building blocks, swinging his legs leisurely.

"Young man, what are you doing here... and this cat..."

"Ah Huang is my good friend. Don't worry, if you're not a bad person, I'll ask Ah Huang not to bite you."

Looking at the still-sleeping orange cat, Tom couldn't relax. "Do you own this cat? Is this your home? Where are your mom and dad?"

"Yeah, this is my home! Mom always complains that our house is too small, but now it's huge!" The child jumped down from the blocks and came over, curious about Tom's armor.

"Where are your mom and dad?"

The child touched his gauntlet, then squatted down and excitedly touched his helmet. "Ah, this is the head of Bumblebee, you've become Bumblebee now, haha. I want you to make one for me too!"

Thanks to the popularity of the Transformers movie, all these big robot toys were Bumblebee, although they were a bit ugly. Anyone who had seen the movie could recognize them at a glance, including this eight-year-old boy.

Looking at the still-sleeping orange cat, Tom thought about how to leave as soon as possible and also take the child away. So, he came up with a plan, "Want one? Come with me, downstairs. I'll make one for you."

He intended to take the child downstairs first for safety.

But the little guy was stubborn. "No, Ah Huang said I should stay by its side; it's the safest here."

Ah Huang said? Tom thought of a possibility, but he still didn't quite believe it. "Is Ah Huang the orange cat?"

"Yeah, Ah Huang is my best friend. It protects me from those cockroaches and ants that want to eat me."

Being able to mention cockroaches, ants, and eating me, Tom confirmed most of his suspicions. "Can Ah Huang talk to you?"

"No, Ah Huang only meows. Brother, you're silly. When I touch Ah Huang, it talks to me in my ear, just like this." He walked over, and Tom hurried to stop him; he was afraid the child would wake up the big guy, and that would be troublesome.

"No need, no need. Is it sleeping now?"

"Ah Huang said it needs to grow its body and will sleep for a long time, so let me stay by its side and not go anywhere. It also said there's a big rat outside the house, but it's afraid of Ah Huang, so it doesn't dare to come in. The big rat was outside the window last night. I'll take you to see it."

There was a soft ladder beside the orange cat, something from a child's play set, tied to the window. The little guy led him up the ladder to the windowsill and pointed to a tree outside. "There, it's there again."

Tom looked in the direction he pointed and indeed, not far from the window, under the streetlight, he vaguely saw a black shadow. It looked like a rat, but what surprised him the most was that the rat's eyes were red.

"A mutant rat!" Tom was startled.