Still hoarding supplies in the apocalypse? I'll just go on a killing spree and looting!

He looked for a long time before speaking, his voice lower than before.

"I understand what you're saying about expanding the team, providing better treatment, and different statuses... I know the base needs that right now. But, Ms. Lin, have you considered this? What we're doing is creating a new social class."

His fingers pressed against the window frame, his knuckles turning white.

"Combatants are well-fed and well-clothed. Ordinary people do the hardest work and eat the least rations. In the long run, the families of combatants will be looked up to, while ordinary survivors will become increasingly marginalized. This is not a temporary emergency measure; it is the rule. Once the rule is established, it is very difficult to change it."

He turned around and looked at Lin You.

His brow was still furrowed, but it was no longer furrowed with confusion and frustration; it was furrowed with a kind of struggle that was being persuaded but had not yet been completely let go.

"I used to be a policeman. I've seen too many privileges arising from different statuses, and too many people corrupted by those privileges. Now I only have a dozen or so people under my command, and I can guarantee they won't become like that."

Team Leader Song stopped speaking, his expression becoming very complicated.

"But what if one day our combatants grow to dozens, or even hundreds? What if their families use their status to bully other survivors? What if their captains start using the 'red armband' to suppress the 'blue armband'?"

He paused, his voice lowering as if he were asking himself.

"What's the difference between what we're doing now and the evil forces I investigated before the apocalypse...?"

Lin You did not answer immediately.

She leaned against the sofa armrest, her right hand resting on the bandage, and remained silent for a long time.

Then he spoke, his tone turning cold, like a knife wielding a chilling wind.

"The difference is that you're still thinking about this question. People who have thought about this question are at least less likely to be corrupted. Because every time you give out an armband, you're reminded of the question you asked yourself in this room today."

She paused for a moment.

"And another thing. The difference is that the gun in your hand is to protect those people, not to exploit them. If someone uses a red armband to bully a blue armband, you can take that armband back. You are the enforcer of the base; you set the rules. If someone abuses their power, then kill them."

Lin You spoke with a chilling aura, her gaze fixed on Team Leader Song's face.

"Before the apocalypse, there were laws, procedures, and government guarantees. After the apocalypse, you have nothing. You only have your judgment, your bottom line, and the gun in your hand. Absolute fairness died on the very first day after the apocalypse. Your job is not to revive it... but to let more people live."

Team Leader Song looked at Lin You, his fingers slowly retracting from the edge of the window frame, and he sat back down on the sofa.

His lips were pressed tightly together, and then he looked down at his hands for a long time.

When he looked up, the line at the corner of his mouth loosened a little.

It wasn't a smile, but it was a little lighter than the somber expression from before.

He picked up the notebook on the table and opened it again.

The pen paused on the paper for a few seconds, then began to write. The scratching sound of the pen tip gliding across the paper lasted for a long time.

He suddenly stopped writing halfway through and looked up.

"If those survivors ask—why do you get to eat the good food while we get the bad food, why are you given special treatment? What should I say?"

Lin You looked at Team Leader Song, who seemed relaxed and had given up on something, and said in a cold tone.

"Then let them go outside the wall and see the corpses of those killed by the beasts, and then come back and ask you this question. If they still dare to ask this question after they've seen it, they're just asking for death."

Lin You spoke with chilling coldness, her voice filled with an intense, palpable killing intent.

Team Leader Song didn't say anything more. He repeated Lin You's words to himself several times, then lowered his head and continued writing.

The scratching sound of the pen tip gliding across the paper lingered for a moment before finally stopping.

He closed his notebook, stood up, paused at the door, and didn't turn back.

"I'll take care of this. You focus on recovering."

His back was very straight, a stark contrast to the exhausted Team Leader Song who had been slumped in the sofa just moments before.

Lin You laughed, shook her head, and said, "Leave the search for supplies to me. You need some time for training. At least teach those people how to protect themselves."

Team Leader Song stood at the door for a long while before whispering, "Thank you."

The door closed.

Lin You leaned against the sofa armrest, her right hand unconsciously pressing the bandage on her left arm.

The stinging sensation had disappeared; the potion synthesized by the system was more effective than I had imagined.

It's as if it doesn't belong to this era.

I clenched my left hand and felt much less discomfort.

After Team Leader Song left, Lin You and Mu Xue began preparations.

After half an hour.

An armored vehicle left the Orchid Mountain base directly, passing through the still-unfinished gate and heading towards Z City.

More than half an hour later.

Armored vehicles were parked at the back gate of the water purification company.

Lin You jumped out of the passenger seat and stretched her left shoulder.

The healing medicine worked faster than she had anticipated; the fracture had completely healed, leaving only a few faint red scars under the bandage.

She pulled her left arm out of the sling, ripped off the bandage, and drew the mantis knife from her back.

Seeing Mu Xue following behind, Lin You nodded.

"Muxue, stay close to me, and watch my right side."

As she spoke, Lin You reached out and pushed open the door of the water purification company.

Mu Xue followed behind her, carrying a shotgun, the muzzle pointed to Lin You's right. She still wasn't quite used to using a shield.

Compared to a shield that can only passively withstand attacks, the shotgun she wields undoubtedly makes her feel safer.

In this unfamiliar place, Mu Xue instinctively chose a firearm.

The water purification company has a storefront in the front and a warehouse in the back.

The store was a mess; the water purification devices that were originally intended as samples were scattered everywhere like trash.

Lin You glanced at him with a look of regret, then whispered to Mu Xue behind her.

"Stay close."

Soon the two arrived at the back door of the water purification company.

Lin You used the tip of her knife to push open the iron gate.

The door was unlocked, making a dry, scraping sound that echoed in the empty room.

Lin You frowned immediately, realizing that she had underestimated the impact of the smog on the environment.

For three consecutive days, the fog not only blocked signals.

Some inexplicable changes also occurred with metals exposed to air.

Take this iron gate in front of us, for example; it doesn't look like it's changed much.

However, the door hinges, which are frequently rubbed, have become severely oxidized due to wear and tear and the lack of paint protection, making them look as if they have been left for a long time.

Behind the iron gate was a temporary warehouse.

Fortunately, there were no strange beasts here, and the surroundings remained very quiet.

The two looked at the shelves, which were mostly overturned, with water purifier cartridges scattered all over the floor, some of which were crushed.

Some people have been here, but fortunately, they weren't after these water purification devices.

Mu Xue picked up one; the packaging read "Industrial-grade RO reverse osmosis membrane".

She looked up at Lin You.

Lin You nodded. "That's it. Find one with its original packaging."

Mu Xue squatted down, examining the scattered filter cartridges with both hands. She pinched the edge of the filter cartridge packaging bag with her fingers, flipped and turned it, and it disappeared perfectly intact in her hand in an instant.

Lin You looked up at the iron frame against the wall.

Four boxes of filter cartridges were neatly stacked, with twenty-four cartridges in each box.

Next to the iron frame are eight high-pressure pumps, brand new and unopened, with labels that read "Stainless Steel Multistage Centrifugal Pumps".

Lin You's expression immediately brightened; she hadn't expected to find such a good thing here.

When the apocalypse occurred, the solar ion storm nearly destroyed all electronic devices.

The electronic chips inside the centrifugal pump must also be in a mess.

Lin You reached out and opened a box, looking at the centrifugal pump inside, which seemed to be intact, and pressed a button.

The centrifugal pump began to be disassembled little by little in her hands.

The distinctive gray specks of light, characteristic of metal, flew out of the box, as if the box itself was glowing.

Soon, a ball of gray metallic light disappeared from Lin You's arm.

Unsurprisingly, the centrifugal pump was faulty, but the blueprint recovered by the centrifugal pump was incomplete.

However, eight centrifugal pumps can indeed be assembled into a complete centrifugal pump, and the recovered materials can also be used to make two more.

Of course, Lin You's mental strength also increased from 150 to 110 points.

The mental energy required is several times that of a fruit knife, and the recovery time for each one exceeds one minute.

"Muxue, take these with you first."

Mu Xue leaned closer and looked at the brand-new, unopened boxes, which contained four boxes of intact filter cartridges.

Mu Xue slung the shotgun diagonally behind her back and squatted down in front of the iron rack.

She opened her right hand, and the air around her palm began to distort. The outline of the first filter cartridge flashed and disappeared.

The second box. The third box.

When she received what seemed to be the umpteenth box, Mu Xue was momentarily dazed, and blood suddenly started flowing from her nose.

Dark red blood dripped onto the cement floor.

She wiped it with her sleeve and continued reaching for it.

"That's enough." Lin You pressed her hand down. "Move the rest to the back seat."

Mu Xue looked up at her; there were still traces of blood hanging below her nose.

"Sister Lin, I'm fine."

Lin You suddenly turned her head to look at one corner of the warehouse and shouted coldly, "Who's there! Show yourself!"