CHAPTER 650: SEARCH FOR ME!

When they heard Jun Jia planned to search every room and conduct a carpet-style search for food, not sparing any other place, many people’s expressions finally changed!

The food they had was obtained through various coincidences or from those who had brought food for auction.

In any case, until they knew when they would be rescued, food was these people’s greatest reliance!

Jun Jia laughed, bursting into loud laughter.

A strange atmosphere filled the room. Some people bowed their heads, some stood up, and some resisted, unwilling.

These people, who had survived four years of the apocalypse, were clearly unwilling to contribute all their food.

Jun Jia’s laughter made those present even more uneasy.

Then, the man sitting next to Jing Shu, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly stood up and asked, "Where’s Boss Lu? If the boss of the new world has stock and contributes it all, I’ll do the same."

Boss Lu found himself in the hot seat. All eyes, including Jing Shu’s, turned towards him. Considering Jing Shu had swept through the entire building a few days earlier, many people were indeed hiding food, but she wasn’t too clear about Boss Lu’s situation.

This was because there was a completely sealed room, impenetrable even by insects, which hadn’t been opened for many days.

If I’m not mistaken, that must be a safe several hundred times larger, doubling as a cold room, Jing Shu thought.

Might there be something good in there?

Jing Shu considered a heist but then shook her head. As of now, Boss Lu hasn’t done anything wrong, and after robbing luxury goods from the United States, my standards have risen.

Unless it’s extinct livestock or rare fruit and crop varieties, I don’t care for them. It’s not worth risking exposing my space to steal worthless items.

Reclining on his executive chair, Boss Lu said lazily, "I’ve already contributed all my food. Brother Jun even said he’d award me a first-class merit medal later."

Everyone gritted their teeth. Isn’t this just bluffing? But the others understood—Boss Lu was siding with Jun Jia. What a bootlicker!

What were they to do? Giving up their food was unbearable; surrendering it was unthinkable.

Seeing their dilemma, Jun Jia added fuel to the fire. "It seems you don’t want to be rescued? Fine by me. After all, I’m the only one who knows the satellite password. Starting today, I’ll stop calling for help too. Let’s just wait here to die; the sooner we die, the sooner we’re reborn."

The crowd’s expressions changed dramatically again. This was a threat!

Stranded on this drifting, isolated island, who knew how long they would float if not rescued? Who could survive under such harsh conditions? Each passing day increased the danger!

"You are all my witnesses. For the next 24 hours, I absolutely will not call for help. I’ll just stay here with you all. Whoever calls for help is a dog." Jun Jia shifted to a more comfortable position, crossed his legs, and even took a sip of hot tea.

Jing Shu kept her head down and said nothing. Jun Jia is just bluffing, she thought. He clearly doesn’t have any satellite equipment to call for help.

However, this didn’t seem very effective. Everyone, embodying the spirit of ’every man for himself,’ simply played dumb.

Just then, an inconspicuous, bald, middle-aged man in the corner stood up to speak:

"Director Jun is doing this for our sake, so everyone can survive! I also want to be rescued and leave this damn place as soon as possible. I’ll say no more. I’ve hidden 200 cans of braised pork, and I’ll contribute them all..."

"Lao Liu actually..."

"Wow, when did Lao Liu become so righteous?"

After that, one or two more people contributed some food, including dried plums and biscuits.

Jing Shu suddenly realized. Jun Jia must have arranged some shills in advance; otherwise, why would the prize I received earlier also contain canned braised pork?

Seeing the atmosphere grow cold again, Jun Jia stood up, waved his hand, and ordered, "Apart from those who just volunteered their contributions, search everyone else’s rooms and bring out all the food."

There had been some room for discussion before, but now he was showing his true colors. Many people in the room stood up. They had originally thought that since Jun Jia was willing to negotiate, he wouldn’t dare resort to force. But they never expected him to use such harsh tactics so quickly.

"You can’t do this! This is private property!"

"I’ll contribute! I’ll contribute! Just don’t search my house!"

"Too late." Jun Jia, still smiling, waved his hand, signaling everyone to sit down and not be so agitated. "Don’t dwell on it. The search is already underway. You’d better just wait here and don’t make any rash moves."

Jing Shu raised an eyebrow. So, this was all a play directed and orchestrated by Jun Jia himself, all to consolidate the remaining food from these people. That earlier threat was just an excuse, a pretext of ’courtesy before force.’

If I’ve guessed correctly, several of the shills in this room have already reached an agreement with Jun Jia.

The people in the room were anxious but dared not make a move. Soon, Li Chenglong led his men to search every nook and cranny of everyone’s rooms.

And indeed, they found quite a bit of food—a real hodgepodge of items.

A record keeper began to take inventory in front of everyone as a continuous stream of food was piled up. Many of those present had terrible expressions. Some were shaking so badly they could hardly stand it, but there was nothing they could do. They wanted to cause a scene, to resist, but how? With guns pointed at their heads, what else could they do?

It had been futile to think they could reason their way out of this.

Wang Miao, leading another team, arrived and said awkwardly, "We’ve searched from the third floor of the residential area upwards, excluding Boss Lu’s place. We basically found no food."

True enough. Everyone was living in the hall now. Even those who had been well-off before, after so many days without provisions, what food could they possibly have hidden?

Their pockets were as clean as a whistle.

"Keep searching. Search the entire building. Don’t overlook the outside either. Check any places with disturbed soil, pits, or hidden compartments," Jun Jia ordered with a wave of his hand.

The expressions of everyone in the room soured further, except for Boss Lu, who yawned lazily, the indifferent Gold Dominator, and the unconcerned Jing Shu.

As time passed, virtually all the food in the building was gathered. Jing Shu estimated that if they were frugal, it would be enough to feed everyone in the building for at least two to three days.

A drop in the bucket, indeed, Jing Shu thought.

Jing Shu feigned sleep. She opened her space, fed the pigs, harvested vegetables, and began drying the fresh produce to make Dried Vegetables. Now that her space could generate electricity, many things had become much more convenient.

Soon, footsteps echoed from outside again.

"Report! We’ve discovered an underground passage in the first-floor plaza toilets! Inside, we found a large amount of edible food!"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man beside Jing Shu trembled and sank to his knees.

Everyone was instantly energized.

Jing Shu frowned. Was that the toilet that kept spewing out endless rotten mermaids? How did I not notice it before? Or was this just some coincidence?