After entering the warehouse, Chen Wan and her group placed the iron and steel onto the handcarts inside, then used the carts to wheel them out. Chen Wan and Yiyi possessed immense strength; each pulled a handcart on their own and walked toward the RV. Qin Ke and Jiang Yanxin pulled one together. After repeating this six or seven times, they finally hauled enough iron and steel.
Chen Wan transferred the iron and steel piled up by the trunk of the RV into the compression storage space piece by piece, while Yiyi and the others headed back inside to haul the metal alloys. After another four or five trips, all the materials were successfully gathered. Chen Wan tossed the final bundle of metal alloy into the compression space, thought for a moment, and said, "Let's check what else is useful inside the warehouse. Machetes and axes are consumables; if there are any, let's take a few more."
"Okay, and books too. There are quite a few brand-new books here; let's take some back to read. If there are illustrations, I can use them too," Jiang Yanxin added after some thought.
"Sure, let's sweep through inside again and see what else can be used," Yiyi agreed with a nod.
On a shelf located further inside, Chen Wan found dozens of machetes and axes. More than a dozen of the axes didn't have a single trace of rust on them and looked brand new. Chen Wan tossed these axes, along with some machetes that still looked sharp, onto the handcart and continued her search.
On a shelf stacked with old toys, Qin Ke found a few boxes of completely unopened toy sets and thought about bringing them back for the little one. Among them was a children's playset with a shovel, a bucket, and similar items. Qin Ke figured since the RV now had a plot of soil, the toddler could use it to dig and play in the dirt.
Jiang Yanxin, on the other hand, was sorting through the books. Many of the books here hadn't even had the plastic wrap on their covers removed. Jiang Yanxin picked out some novels and picture albums, along with some children's fairy tale books. Yiyi found quite a few iron pliers, hammers, nails, screws, and nuts deeper inside, moving them all onto the handcart.
In the end, everyone gathered a lot of supplies to bring back to the RV, and Chen Wan placed these into the compression storage space as well.
At the same time, two men holding machetes upstairs were staring viciously down at the scene below.
"Damn it, Fourth Brother, what are those people doing? Why haven't they left yet?" A man wearing a floral shirt asked, trembling as he stared down.
"What are you panicking for? They're probably looking for something in the warehouse and will leave once they're done. If you ask me, Brother Qiang and the others shouldn't have gone down there. Now, damn it all, they've all been taken care of by those people." Fourth Brother knit his brows as he stared downstairs.
He and Flower Shirt had been left behind by Zhang Qiang to guard the Omegas in the room—four women and one man, all of whom Zhang Qiang had brought out from the base during the chaos, and only Zhang Qiang had played with them so far.
"Then what do we do? What if they come up? Those women aren't normal; they seem to have abilities just like the boss. Especially that foreigner who can discharge electricity just now, she was way too terrifying. Hundreds of zombies turned to dust in a matter of seconds. I haven't lived long enough yet, damn it." As Flower Shirt spoke, he actually began to cry from fear.
"Look at how pathetic you are!" Fourth Brother glared at Flower Shirt and cursed. "In the apocalypse, everyone is living with their heads on a chopping block. Since Zhang Qiang is dead, he's dead. Don't these Omegas belong to us, brothers now? There's food and drink here. As long as those women leave, we close the doors and turn this place into our own base. Can't we enjoy being local emperors too? We even have Omegas to sleep with—what a fucking sweet deal!"
"You're right," Flower Shirt smiled, his gaze shifting over to the Omegas. "Fourth Brother, can I pick first in a bit? I've had my eye on that woman with glasses for a long time."
"Look at your pathetic drive. Fine, you can play with her first. We have plenty of time anyway—isn't it a matter of playing with them however we want?" Fourth Brother let out a wicked laugh.
While the two of them were indulging in their fantasies upstairs, Chen Wan and her group had already put all the materials away. Just as Yiyi had suggested, they began heading up toward the sixth floor. While Fourth Brother and Flower Shirt were chatting and laughing, Chen Wan and the others had already entered the stairwell.
Flower Shirt snapped out of it and looked outside. "Hey, Fourth Brother, where did those women go?"
"They probably went back to that RV. Our room is very hidden, so it's impossible for them to know there's anyone upstairs," Fourth Brother replied, though he felt a bit hollow inside. He comforted himself with the thought that as long as those women left, he and Flower Shirt could play however they wanted.
"That's good, that's good," Flower Shirt prayed silently, his eyes sweeping over the Omegas sitting on the floor.
Chen Wan and her group walked very fast, and soon, a series of footsteps echoed through the empty hallway of the sixth floor.
Flower Shirt panicked completely this time. "Fuck, Fourth Brother, those people really came up! What do we do? What do we do?!"
Fourth Brother lowered his voice and grabbed the man's floral shirt, dragging him close. "Shut the fuck up! If you make any more noise, you're literally telling them someone is in here, you idiot!"
"Ah, right, right. Keep it down, keep it down," Flower Shirt muttered under his breath.
However, the Omegas sitting on the ground had no intention of remaining quiet. One of the curly-haired women threw her body sideways, knocking over a nearby chair. The chair legs scraped harshly against the floor, followed by a loud thud. The noise vibrated clearly through the silent hallway.
Eyes blazing with fury, Fourth Brother lunged forward and slapped the curly-haired woman across the face. Then, deciding to commit fully, he grabbed his machete and took up a position right by the door. With such a massive noise, those women had definitely noticed them; their only choice now was to fight to the death.
Fourth Brother glared at the submissive Flower Shirt and said harshly, "If you don't come over and help, we're both dead. Fight them to the death in a moment!"
Flower Shirt thought about it and found it reasonable. After all, if Fourth Brother died, he would be completely doomed anyway.
Even without the noise, Chen Wan and her group knew exactly which room held people, since Yiyi had already scanned the area.
Without bothering to quiet their footsteps, Chen Wan and her crew walked right up to the door. Chen Wan raised her foot and kicked it. Her kick didn't look like it carried much force, but with just a light strike, the door panel was violently sent flying with a loud bang.
Startled, Fourth Brother found himself facing Qin Ke right outside the door. He swung his blade straight at her. Qin Ke dodged to the side, executed a grapple to wrest the steel blade from his grip, and in a single fluid motion of dodging and leaping, climbed onto his back.
Qin Ke locked her legs tightly around Fourth Brother's thighs and used her bare arms to violently strangle his neck. Fourth Brother struggled for barely a few seconds before losing all his strength.
Chen Wan turned her gaze toward Flower Shirt inside, planning to finish him off. In his desperation, Flower Shirt grabbed one of the bound people off the floor to use as a human shield, shouting tremulously, "Don't come over! None of you come over! If you take another step forward, I'll kill her! These are all innocent people!"
"Is that so? What does their innocence have to do with us?" Chen Wan was certain Flower Shirt wouldn't dare do anything. With every step she took forward, Flower Shirt dragged the hostage a step back.
"You—none of you come closer! Aren't you good people? The one in my hands is a good person, too! This is a human life, are you really just going to ignore it?" The man's eyes were bloodshot, and tears actually rolled down his face; it was clear he was terrified out of his wits by Chen Wan and her group.
"Who told you we were good people? Besides, we don't even know these people. Even if you kill her, it has absolutely nothing to do with us."
While Chen Wan was keeping Flower Shirt distracted, Qin Ke had already raised her gun. With a loud bang, the man collapsed to the ground.
Chen Wan and the others untied the people on the floor. Along with the curly-haired woman who had just been used as a hostage, they set everyone free.
Except for the curly-haired woman, the other Omegas huddled tightly together. The curly-haired woman looked at Chen Wan and her group, expressing her gratitude, "Thank you for saving us."
Chen Wan looked at her. "It's nothing. Zhang Qiang's men are all dead, so you're safe now."
Chen Wan then looked back at Jiang Yanxin and the others. "Everything is settled. It's time for us to leave."
"Okay," Jiang Yanxin nodded in response.
However, the male Omega among them spoke up at that moment, "C-Can you take me with you? I'm an Omega, I can help fulfill your physical needs."
Chen Wan knit her brows and looked at the man. "We all have partners, and we have no interest in you. Take care of yourself. Before leaving, I'll advise everyone: in the apocalypse, it's better to rely on yourselves than on others. Depending on anyone is useless, so you'd better think carefully about how you're going to survive next."
With that, Chen Wan walked out the door with Jiang Yanxin and the others. What a joke—could just anyone board her RV?
They had gathered most of the useful materials from this location. There was a fair amount of food left, but Chen Wan didn't touch it. Since they weren't short on food right now, there was no need to haul back a bunch of expired products.
"Let's leave this place and find an empty area before we start assembling Yanyan," Chen Wan suggested after some thought. After all, with those Omegas still here, she didn't want outsiders knowing about the RV's secrets.
"Alright, let's head back to that suburban area from before. However, our RV is running low on fuel," Yiyi reminded them.
"We'll drive on electricity for now. Didn't Zeus just fill up the battery? Once we finish putting Yanyan's body together, we can find a gas station to refuel and hit up a supermarket or somewhere similar to restock. Since the iron, steel, and alloys will be used up, it'll free up space in the compression storage," Chen Wan outlined the upcoming plan as they walked.
"No problem, we'll follow your lead," Qin Ke said with a smile.
Reaching the RV, Chen Wan called inside, "Wanning? Mom? Take Yangyang back to the bedroom first. A few of us are covered in blood splatters; it's not good for Yangyang to see."
"Okay, Sister Chen Wan, I'll take Yangyang away," Jiang Wanning called back. Hearing Chen Wan's words, she picked up the toddler who was playing on the first floor and carried her to the simulated sunroom. Jiang Zhaoyuan was currently using pliers and a hoe to work the soil, and the toddler watched her grandfather, looking curiously at the dirt in front of them.
Hearing that there was no noise from the toddler on the first floor, Chen Wan opened the RV door. Once everyone went inside, they split up to take showers. Because they were anxious about Yanyan's assembly, Chen Wan and Jiang Yanxin showered separately this time. An extra room had been added to the second floor, meaning the RV now had four bathrooms—more than enough for all of them to clean up quickly.
Qin Ke was easily the most impatient among them. She took a quick, basic shower and emerged within ten minutes. Yiyi followed shortly after. By the time Chen Wan and the others came out, Qin Ke was giving Yiyi a shoulder massage, pumping her up as she rubbed: "Yiyi, my girlfriend's life is entirely in your hands. You have to do a spectacular job. Once Yanyan is back, you can have me do whatever you want."
"Ha, don't worry. Am I not reliable enough for you to trust me?" Yiyi arched an eyebrow at Qin Ke, then added, "Right, to precisely mold Yanyan into an android body, aside from the crystal nucleus, I need to read your memories of her. This will allow for a better one-to-one physical replication. Do you mind?"
"I don't mind at all. Take whatever you need," Qin Ke replied, looking at Yiyi with absolute compliance.
Yiyi smiled and let out a sigh, placing her palm against Qin Ke's forehead. At the same time, Qin Ke's memories of Shen Mingyan were completely transmitted into Yiyi's optical computer.
Yiyi smiled at Qin Ke. "All set."
She then turned to the rest of the group. "I'll go up to Qin Ke's room on the second floor to assemble her. Don't come in while I'm working. It should take about three hours, and I'll call you guys once it's done."
As she spoke, a crystal nucleus materialized in Yiyi's palm. She explained, "This is Yanyan's crystal nucleus. I'm going to get to work now." With that, she carried the crystal nucleus up to the second floor.