The Apocalypse Shelter System

The three continued talking, exchanging stories. Yue Lie was more composed, but compared to Di Ping, who had spent two or three years navigating the chaos of the marketplace, he still seemed a bit inexperienced. Liu Han, as usual, was unpredictable.

In a short while, the conversation covered the situation within the base.

The people at the base had initially fled after the government's large-scale retreat and found their way to this place. There were originally five to six hundred people, but as others gradually joined, the number swelled to over a thousand.

At first, everything was fine. The mall had a supermarket with plenty of food—vegetables, oil, grains, and a warehouse full of bread and biscuits.

The base was managed by a man named Ge Zhongping, along with about ten officials who hadn't been evacuated. He became the highest authority in the area once the provincial leaders had withdrawn.

Around a hundred police officers, who hadn't managed to evacuate, naturally supported Ge Zhongping. While their weapons were not as powerful as the military's, they were enough to intimidate the general population. Consequently, Ge Zhongping became the undisputed leader.

At the beginning, with food in good supply, the management was fairly competent. Everyone had enough to eat and drink, and the people generally approved of Ge Zhongping, considering him a good leader who cared for the people.

But the daily consumption of food was overwhelming. The supply dwindled quickly, and when the leaders realized the situation was dire, the already discontented police, many of whom had questionable morals, began to rebel. They demanded priority food rations for those protecting the base.

Some more conscientious officers opposed this, but they were in the minority and lacked the power to resist the growing demands of the majority.

As tensions rose, Ge Zhongping and the management saw the danger of losing their support and agreed to restrict food rations.

However, the food was consumed even more quickly.

In desperation, a cruel plan was hatched: those with the strength to search for food were forced to go out, or else they risked losing the little food they were getting and being forced out of the base.

The rest of the people, fearing death, were forced to comply. While some resisted, once a few of the ringleaders were killed, the rest fell in line, understanding that their only option was to go out and search or starve.

Yet even after finding food, the situation only worsened. The management demanded that the food be handed over, leaving only small portions for the ones who had searched. While there was anger, no one dared to defy the orders.

The leaders, having adapted to the new world order, began exploiting their power even further. They used food to manipulate the desperate women in the base, satisfying their desires.

As time passed, their cruelty intensified. They even started targeting the women openly, knowing no one would dare speak out against them.

Ge Zhongping, once a man of some integrity, fell into depravity. He allowed the abuse to continue while enjoying the best food, women, and luxuries, as though he were the king of this post-apocalyptic world. He relished the freedom the apocalypse offered, unconstrained by the regulations and controls of the old world.

Hearing the two men speak with bitterness about the state of the base, Di Ping's anger flared. He had witnessed the dark depths of humanity in his past encounters, but this... this was something different. These were people who had become monsters, driven by greed and power, inflicting unimaginable suffering on their fellow humans.

As he listened, a surge of rage swelled within him. These people, in Di Ping's eyes, were no longer human. They were worse than beasts, and they no longer deserved to live. His anger became a fire in his veins, a burning desire for justice and retribution. Though he didn't want to kill, he understood that some people had long lost their humanity, and they needed to be eliminated.

In his heart, he had already sentenced them to death.