Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 454: Chapter 444: Something Has Happened

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a person can’t consider other matters if their most basic survival needs aren’t met.

Evidently, after dividing up the food hoarded by the property management center, the residents of Tang Mo’s complex had met their most basic need: not starving. They weren’t exactly well-fed, but in the current climate, having a meal every day was a remarkable achievement.

Moreover, this residential complex—the one where the Xu Family lived—was home to many high-status scholars, professors, and others with connections to top figures in politics and business.

In this world, utilities like water, electricity, and the internet were all well-maintained, so the flow of information remained completely unimpeded.

Many had already received word that the world’s dire situation wouldn’t last much longer.

No one knew exactly when things would improve, but just having that possibility was like a ray of light in a world of despair, giving everyone more strength to carry on.

Often, people can’t stop the world from changing around them. All they can do is adapt to the ever-changing circumstances as best they can.

The homeowners’ group chat was very active every day. Trapped in their homes, everyone relied on online chats and other diversions to pass the time.

They had fought against Zhang Laohu together and shared food together. A sense of community had formed, and most of them treated each other like friends.

However, during the quiet days Tang Mo spent waiting for her task to end, the group chat could no longer remain peaceful.

”Yinyin! Quick, look at the homeowners’ group chat! That Zhang Laohu escaped! He’s already broken into someone’s house!”

Just as Tang Mo was leisurely lying on her bed reading a comic, a frantic knocking at her bedroom door interrupted her.

Tang Mo heard what Zhou Jingyi said from the other side of the door and quickly opened her phone to scroll through the group chat’s messages.

She had muted the group because it was usually flooded with messages, so she had no idea what was going on.

Tang Mo opened the chat. Messages flew across the screen, each one ending with an exclamation point. It wasn’t hard to imagine the mood everyone was in.

’What happened?’

Tang Mo scrolled up rapidly, trying to find useful information as quickly as possible.

’Found it!’

Soon, Tang Mo found a short video posted by a middle-aged man in the group.

Tang Mo recognized the man. He was very active in the chat, constantly trying to chat up the single women, not even sparing those in their fifties and sixties. A real sleazebag. Word was he was in the construction business, and he looked every bit the part of a stereotypical foreman.

Tang Mo played the video. The camera was pointed at the man’s front door, which was being pounded on heavily.

The voice outside was all too familiar. Back when Zhang Laohu was still Housekeeper Zhang, he would often send voice messages to make announcements, so everyone recognized it.

”Open the door! Open up and I’ll let you live. If you don’t, I’ll smash it down and kill you!”

Zhang Laohu bellowed his threat from outside. The door was already starting to shake.

The hand of the man recording the video was already shaking. ”What do I do? He’s right outside! His Strength is insane! If he keeps this up, the door’s really going to break! Somebody, help me!”

You could hear the sheer terror in the man’s voice. He then posted his address in the group chat.

Tang Mo kept scrolling through the comments.

Everyone knew how terrifying Zhang Laohu was. He wasn’t some ordinary person; he was born with Divine Power. The last time, it had taken everyone working together and catching him off guard to subdue him. Who would dare go over there alone now?

It wasn’t a rescue mission; it was a suicide mission.

But everyone understood the principle of mutual dependency—if one falls, the others are next. Perhaps it was because they’d grown attached from chatting every day, or maybe they were just genuinely good people, but the members of this group were more eager to help than Tang Mo had expected.

Among the subsequent messages, Tao Jiayun was the calmest.

He quickly questioned the man who had posted the video: how many people were outside? What was Zhang Laohu’s mental state? What was the current situation?

He told the man to keep reporting his status in the chat while simultaneously organizing some of the other men to form a rescue party.

If they hadn’t won their battle at the property management center last time, it’s likely no one would have volunteered this time.

But their last victory had been a fruitful one. So this time, even though the danger was greater, many people still volunteered to go.

As terrifying as Zhang Laohu was, he was still just one man.

Once the volunteers were gathered, Tao Jiayun chose a location for them to assemble before heading out on the rescue.

He didn’t have them assemble at the scene of the incident; even the surrounding area was too risky, as they could run into Zhang Laohu at any moment. It was better to be cautious.

It had to be said, Tao Jiayun was both bold and meticulous. He handled every aspect of the situation with care.

Tang Mo remembered Tao Jiayun. He had organized the last ”crusade” against the property management center and had also created this new homeowners’ group. Tang Mo even had his contact info in her app, which he had added when creating the group.

By the time Tang Mo finished reading the messages, Tao Jiayun had already left with his group.

”Yinyin, what are we going to do? That Zhang Laohu is definitely going to come after us for revenge.”

Zhou Jingyi was terrified. Her own daughter and husband had been part of the group that took him down last time. ’We’ll definitely be targeted for revenge!’

Other than Xu Jinsan, the house was full of women and children. If Zhang Laohu really came, the door wouldn’t be able to stop him.

”Mom, don’t panic. Those men went to help, didn’t they? They’ll subdue him.”

Tang Mo took Zhou Jingyi’s hand, trying to calm her down.

’Zhang Laohu was the punishment I set upon Xu Yuanshan and Tan Jing’s family. I hadn’t planned on dealing with him so soon, but I didn’t expect him to come courting death. In that case, there’s nothing for it.’

Tang Mo had left some of her spiritual power behind to monitor the property management center, but she hadn’t been paying constant attention to it.

’After all, my time in this world is limited, and there are still so many good novels, TV shows, movies, and comics to enjoy...’ ℯℯ𝑙.

’Xu Yuanshan is still paralyzed on the floor. As for the mother-daughter pair, Xu Ru and Tan Jing, they’re only capable of petty schemes. In a physical fight, they couldn’t even beat Zhou Jingyi.’

’And as for Zhang Laohu... I could annihilate him without lifting a finger. They’re all so insignificant that they’re not worth fearing, which is why I don’t have the time or energy to monitor them 24/7.’

Because of this, the entire process of Zhang Laohu escaping the property management center and finding a resident’s home took less than ten minutes, allowing it to go unnoticed by Tang Mo.

By the time Tao Jiayun and his party had assembled and arrived at the man’s home, the door was already wide open.