CHAPTER 128: MY NAME IS LI TIAN.

The military officer furrowed his brows and waved a hand. "All right, you take a team and assign these criminals. Gather the resources from the houses of the deceased and the criminals, and load them onto the truck. I’ll conduct an investigation here."

"Yes, sir!"

Shi Zi was forcibly taken away by two men. Meanwhile, a squad of police officers, along with four rows of criminals, began assigning the listed addresses. Eventually, the criminals were formed into groups of five to carry the items.

Jing Shu explained to Mr. Jing and Grandma Jing, "The criminals brought here are for ’rehabilitative labor.’ It means removing everything from houses left empty by the deceased, as well as from the houses of those who committed crimes."

Mr. Jing, who had been about to light a cigarette, thought better of it and put it away. "Those people’s houses have no food or knives. Even bedsheets, cloth, and usable bowls have been taken. What valuables could possibly be left?"

"Houses still have beds, sofas, cabinets, and even doors and tables. Anything that can be carried away is being taken. Consider this: now, without the sun, we are experiencing drought and water shortages. Many forests have caught fire, trees are gone, and other materials are also gone. We won’t be able to produce these things for at least a few years, so of course, we must store them in advance."

It seemed to Jing Shu that after hoarding food, the government had begun stockpiling cotton, hemp, and wood. Regardless, these materials were still useful; at the very least, they could provide fuel for future snowstorms and save many people.

Zhou Xiang, lying on the ground, initially spasmed as blood pooled around him. Soon, however, he stopped moving and was completely lifeless.

Within minutes, an increasing number of rotten corpse insects densely covered the corpse, laying eggs. After a short while, many flies also arrived to lay eggs in the blood.

The residents of the community, witnessing a human body being devoured for the first time, were so frightened they dared not speak.

The military officer saluted first. "My surname is Li, and my given name is Yuetian. The ’Yue’ in my name is the character for ’says,’ as in ’Confucius says...’ You can all call me Mr. Li. I am also responsible for the public order in your community."

He then informed everyone about the new laws, detailing the severe penalties for criminals. He stated that from now on, anyone caught robbing or killing would be executed on the spot.

He also promoted the various benefits for civil servants, establishing a hierarchical system that made the citizens envious.

In conclusion, Li Yuetian summarized that as long as everyone was obedient, complied with directives, and actively responded to the nation’s call, those without a criminal record might have the possibility of "entering the system" in the future. He warned them not to cause trouble, or the consequences would be severe.

Next, he conducted registration and surveys for each household.

When it was Jing Shu’s family’s turn, Li Yuetian indeed took notice. It wasn’t because their home was clean and odor-free, but because of the advanced age of Grandma Jing and Mr. Jing. The elderly couple were already eighty years old, yet despite the intense heat, they were only sweating lightly and appeared quite healthy.

In the apocalypse, the elderly were the most difficult to survive, followed by children.

"Do you have high blood pressure? Are you still taking your medication?" Li Yuetian asked, looking at Grandma Jing’s information.

"How could I not? Thankfully, my granddaughter bought quite a lot of high blood pressure medication a while back."

Li Yuetian briskly jotted down the details. This family is truly fortunate, he thought. This girl, Jing Shu, had been a gourmet food live-streamer before Dark Day, so she had numerous purchase records. She had also sold food and earned a considerable amount of money, allowing her to live comfortably for the past six months.

Truly a lucky girl, Li Yuetian mused, not giving it much more thought. He was handling the cases of about a dozen people who had all gone on a buying spree during that period. One boy, who believed in the doomsday prophecies, had even sold his house to buy over two million in food. Unfortunately, most of it spoiled due to the heat and infestation by rotten corpse insects—a real shame.

Jing Shu’s attention, however, was drawn to a man who kept sneaking glances at her. When she looked his way, the man immediately dropped to his knees, desperately pleading for mercy. This left Jing Shu speechless. She didn’t even recognize him.

Chouchou felt like he was about to die. Fortunately, Li Yuetian spoke up at that moment.

"Which one is Zhang Bingbing?"

Wang Qiqi brought out Zhang Bingbing, who was finally wearing a dirty dress of an indistinguishable color. Zhang Bingbing kept her head bowed, her hand on her slightly protruding belly, and clung to a man in his fifties. A young man in his twenties followed the older man.

Reading Wu You’ai’s report, Li Yuetian’s brows furrowed tightly. He knew such an unconscionable thing had happened in this community. If it were up to him, he would have killed those two men on the spot. This woman had already been tortured to the point of mental breakdown. What was the point of her continuing to live? Unfortunately, she was pregnant, and the child was innocent.

Li Yuetian’s tense face struggled to form a smile, unaware that his expression was terrifying enough to make a neighbor’s child cry. He pulled out candy from his pocket. "Here’s some candy for you."

Zhang Bingbing took the candy with a blank expression and immediately gave it to the old man.

The old man looked smug. He had trained Zhang Bingbing well. He had also taught Zhang Bingbing to threaten suicide if anyone dared to bully him and his son.

Li Yuetian clenched his teeth. "To hell with it! I can’t take this anymore! Handcuff these two!"

With a wave of his hand, two more police officers rushed out, subdued the father and son, and pulled Zhang Bingbing aside.

"Zhang Bingbing, they’re going to kill your husband! Your child in your belly will have no father!" someone shouted.

Zhang Bingbing descended into madness, pulling her hair, slapping her own face, and furiously trying to break free from the police. "I want the child’s father! I want my husband and my young husband! AAAHHH! Without them, I can’t survive! I don’t want to live anymore! I want to die! I want to die!"

Jing Shu could never have imagined that the former white-collar professional, Zhang Bingbing, would end up like this—so severely deranged, as if she’d been given a bewitching potion.

Left with no other choice, the police knocked Zhang Bingbing unconscious.

Seeing the murderous glint in Li Yuetian’s eyes, the old man no longer dared to gamble with his own life or his son’s:

"Officer, Officer! Zhang Bingbing and we are in a consensual relationship. We get along very well! Without us, she would definitely try to kill herself! Are you going to tie her up for the rest of her life to stop her? Besides, if we’re separated, who will take care of her?"

Li Yuetian stared coldly at the old man and waved his hand for the umpteenth time. "You there, come here for a second."

Wang Qiqi scampered over.

Li Yuetian whispered a few words in her ear, and Wang Qiqi nodded vigorously. Then, Li Yuetian waved his hand for the umpteenth-plus-one time. "That will be all. Disperse!"

Although Jing Shu was some distance away, she still overheard Li Yuetian’s words: "Keep an eye on them. Let me know if the child is born or not. I won’t feel at ease until such scum are dead."

Jing Shu sighed. In the years since the apocalypse began, such things had become all too common. All sorts of bizarre events occurred, and humanity’s moral bottom line had plummeted to a new low.

Grandma Jing kept exclaiming, "What a sin, what a terrible sin!" all the way back to their comfortable villa, while Jing Shu got busy preparing her Dried Vegetables. The first batch of daylilies and radishes had been collected and processed, and Jing Shu stored them in her space.

For the second batch, she planted eggplants and cucumbers. She also planted some in the villa’s garden, which would provide a legitimate explanation for her supply of these Dried Vegetables in the future.

Today, Jing Shu gathered fresh cucumbers and eggplants.

Dried eggplant was also incredibly delicious. She sliced it and dried it until no moisture remained. Afterward, it could be prepared in any way desired.

There were also many ways to prepare dried cucumbers. The inner pulp and seeds should be scooped out and discarded. The rest could be dried in a day. It could then be pickled in jars or rehydrated with water when needed.