CHAPTER 635: TRAPPED IN THE BUILDING

However, no one seemed in the mood to care about Jing Shu’s truck driver at the moment. Hunger wouldn’t kill anyone immediately, but life couldn’t last long without water.

"We can’t just die of thirst waiting for rescue that might never come; we must make preparations in advance!" Jun Jia might not have known much, but he believed in collective effort—that many minds working together could surely devise a solution. "Wang Miao," he instructed, "we must be ready with at least other sources of food and water! Right, let’s quickly return to the auction and start a crowdfunding effort to secure a water supply."

Li Yuetian interjected, "Wait! As for the water source, we can simply filter it. Let’s send a group to dig through the mudflow, find some stones, activated carbon, sand, and so on. We can dig several pits and set up a makeshift filter. The method is crude, and the muddy water will be hard to swallow, but with many hands on the task, we surely won’t die of thirst. Right now, we are overlooking one point: we don’t have much fuel left. The temperature is dropping to minus thirty degrees, and it gets even colder at night. We must boil water before drinking it. Without enough blankets and such, it’s very easy for people to get sick..."

Jun Jia nodded. "Wang Miao, I’ll leave these matters for you to figure out. Start with the logistics director. Take stock of how long each supply will last and how many usable supplies we have right now, including the public and private goods from this Celebrities Gathering. Then, find whatever else we can use and report back to us.

Captain Li, you go and rally all the armed forces. Give this your utmost attention, issue weapons, and ensure our people are stationed everywhere, patrolling 24 hours a day without any slack. Keep a close eye on Boss Lu and some individuals from the Celebrities Gathering to prevent them from causing trouble.

I’ll lead a team to seal off the auction house and inform them of the situation. We can figure out what to do next after that!"

Young Master Lan said with envy, "Brother Tyrant, your uncle is really impressive."

Gold Dominator hummed proudly, "My dad is even more impressive. Everyone in our family is impressive."

Jing Shu weighed the black case in her hand. Thankfully, she had the habit of carrying it whenever she left the house—firstly, as a cover for her, and secondly, given her cautious and timid nature, she always went out fully armed. The black case contained weapons and various foods, so taking them out later wouldn’t seem abrupt. Of course, the contents of her personal space were all-encompassing. She had everything she could need, so Jing Shu wasn’t troubled about food, clothing, drink, or even various other necessities.

What she worried about was when she could return home.

Jun Jia led his people quickly back to the auction house. Jing Shu quietly instructed Liu with a few words, telling the driver to take the goods and follow Li Yuetian, who would naturally arrange everything. In these chaotic times, Jing Shu didn’t want others knowing that, by a stroke of luck, she still had several truckloads of Insect Cake.

Jing Shu released more insects around her and scattered them throughout the entire New World Building. It was as if she had countless eyes watching every move there, ensuring she’d be the first to know if anything unusual happened.

During these times, she couldn’t afford to be the slightest bit careless. Not only did she have to guard against the natural disasters outside, but she also had to be wary of anyone among the two thousand people who might have malicious intent towards her, or who might seek to take advantage of the chaos.

Jing Shu followed Jun Jia without drawing attention to herself and quickly returned to the unruly auction scene.

The host, Xiao Shuai, sat by the fire on a chair, legs crossed, sipping tea. He was perfunctorily chatting with the anxiously whispering crowd about various trivialities. It was Xiao Shuai’s outwardly casual demeanor that prevented the situation from descending into complete chaos.

"Oh? Look, the boss has arrived. Come on, let the leader of the Township Government tell us what’s happening outside and if we are in any danger," Xiao Shuai quickly stood up, offered his seat, and handed over the microphone.

Outside, everything was quiet, and there was no sound of gunfire. It appeared there were no major problems.

The room immediately fell silent.

Gold Dominator, with Jing Shu and Young Master Lan in tow, returned to their previous private room and said with a brazen air, "All good now, I’m back. With me here, you don’t need to worry about anything. Regardless of what happens, rest assured, I’ll protect you all."

"Brother Tyrant, you’re back! Thank goodness, we were just scared to death."

"What exactly happened outside?"

Young Master Lan coughed once. "It’s not a big problem. Right now, Brother Tyrant’s uncle, who is the highest official here, is about to make arrangements. As long as we follow the instructions from our superiors, nothing will go wrong."

"No problem, we will follow orders."

A group of people chattered as if Gold Dominator had never left with Young Master Lan. The truth was, even if Gold Dominator had really abandoned them, they would have had no choice but to suck up to him later, smiling as if nothing had happened.

Liu took out the blanket again, laid it out for Jing Shu, brought back the stove, and set out a platter heaped with assorted snacks. Jing Shu comfortably sat down, putting her feet up on a stool, and Liu offered her a cup of coffee. Jing Shu, her eyes half-closed, let her thoughts race as she simultaneously controlled the small insects around her to continue gathering information.

Next, she needed to know how many people were in this entire building, what factions existed, if there were any dangerous individuals, and... what supplies and weapons were still available.

Jun Jia clearly had much more experience with such matters. Especially at times like this, it was crucial not to divulge the truth and to stabilize public morale. Thus, Jun Jia said in a very relaxed tone,

"Sorry to have kept you all waiting. In reality, nothing serious has happened—it isn’t a robbery or riot as you may have thought. You all know about mudslides, right? It’s just that since we’re in the suburbs, the mudslides are a bit larger here..." So large it swept the entire building away.

"What?!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s run!"

The hall grew noisy again. With mudslides coming, wouldn’t they be waiting for death if they didn’t flee?

"Stay calm! Listen to me. This mudslide is somewhat special. We originally intended to clear a path, but the road has been cut off. Now, this building is being pushed by the mudslide. We’re no longer in our original location, which is why there’s no signal. But don’t worry, we’ve already sent out satellite signals for rescue, and I believe rescue will arrive before long.

Rest assured, professionals have checked and confirmed there are no other dangers.

For now, the auction is suspended. Xiao Shuai, take some people to seal up the items currently up for auction. We will continue the auction after this is over. What we need to do is simple: just wait for rescue to arrive," said Jun Jia with a natural and sincere expression.

The hall quieted down again. Reassured by the promise of rescue and the knowledge they were only temporarily trapped without immediate danger, everyone finally relaxed completely.

"But!" Jun Jia raised his hand again. "Since this is only a temporary base and we don’t have an adequate water supply, we’ll still have to filter some water ourselves. And, since there are many of us, we might have to stay in this building for a few days."