Chapter Ten: Residents +1 +1

"Ms. Jiang, don't you think there's been some misunderstanding?" The plump woman wiped away her tears, her face once again plastered with a fawning smile, though it held a hint of calculation. "This house belongs to you, and while you are the owner, we are, after all, not..."

Before she could finish, the tall, thin man tugged at her sleeve. He cast a panicked glance at Jiang Qiyu and hissed, "Are you crazy? If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"

Jiang Qiyu watched them with a look that was neither quite a smile nor a frown, her eyes as cold as poison-tipped blades. "It seems you haven't grasped the reality of the situation yet," she said. Her tone was flat, yet it carried an irresistible, intimidating weight.

With a flick of her wrist, she produced several bottles of mineral water and loaves of bread from thin air, followed by a few thin contracts which she placed on the table. "Those who wish to stay, sign these. Those who don't, can leave right now. I won't force you."

The contracts appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by an inexplicable pressure that left the group even more unsettled regarding Jiang Qiyu's true nature.

Old Li swallowed hard, his gaze fixed on the contracts on the table and then on the supplies that had materialized behind Jiang Qiyu. He was secretly stunned. He had seen with his own eyes how cleanly and efficiently she had dealt with the zombies, and he had witnessed her ability to conjure items from nothing. He knew that in this world, following someone like her was the only way to survive.

"I'll sign!" Old Li picked up the pen without hesitation and signed his name on the contract.

Jiang Qiyu gave him an approving look.

System notification: Residents (1/10), Stone (1000/1000), Wood (1000/1000), Timber (100/100), Primary Warehouse (1/1).

The others remained hesitant. The young cleaner clutched the fruit knife in his pocket, his palms slick with sweat. The plump woman eyed Jiang Qiyu and the middle-aged man suspiciously, as if suspecting them of some trickery.

The plump woman’s eyes darted around. She nudged the tall, thin man with her elbow and whispered, "Old Gao, do you think this girl is just bluffing? Who can conjure things out of thin air? Could this be some kind of magic trick?"

The tall, thin man frowned, unable to make up his mind. "Hard to say. The world is chaotic now; anything can happen. But she’s able to produce so much food and drink—she’s definitely not simple." He snuck a glance at the contracts on the table and then at Jiang Qiyu, calculating his options.

The young cleaner gripped his fruit knife tighter, his lips trembling slightly. "I... I'm a little scared..." he whispered, his eyes filled with fear and unease.

"Those who do not obey orders may leave now," Jiang Qiyu said, casting a disdainful glance at them. Her tone was bone-chillingly cold, as if she were speaking of something utterly trivial. She turned and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, her slender fingers brushing the glass as she looked down at the crowd below, who appeared no larger than ants. As she watched the sky grow dim outside, images of her tragic death in her previous life flooded her mind.

In that past life, how much had she sacrificed for so-called "kinship" and "family"? And what was the result? She was heartlessly abandoned and left to struggle for survival among a swarm of zombies.

In this life, she would not make the same mistake. If these people wanted to live, they had to obey her orders. If they didn't, they would be culled. In this apocalypse, survival of the fittest was the natural law. Building a territory required manpower, but it required absolute loyalty even more. There were too many people right now; it was the perfect opportunity to weed out the unqualified.

After Jiang Qiyu turned away, the room erupted into chaos.

"Who does she think she is? Acting like she's some kind of queen!" The plump woman snatched the bread and water from Old Li's hands and took a savage bite of the bread. "It's just some food and drink!"

"I think we should leave; it feels dangerous to stay with her," the young cleaner chimed in. He looked at the supplies that had appeared out of thin air, then at the indifferent Jiang Qiyu, his heart in turmoil. He was afraid of the danger in following her, but even more afraid of surviving alone in this perilous world. He took a small step forward, then retreated, repeating the motion several times, unable to make a decision.

The plump woman remained defiant. "Even if it’s real, why should we listen to her? There are so many of us; are we really afraid of one woman?" As she spoke, she grabbed the contract from the table and slashed at it viciously. "I’m not doing this!"

A flash of white light occurred, and the plump woman vanished from the spot instantly, leaving only a few scraps of paper drifting in the air.

The group stared in horror, unable to believe their eyes.

The room was so quiet that the drop of a needle could be heard; each person’s breathing was audible. The moment the plump woman vanished was like a thunderclap in their minds. A living person, one second there and the next gone—no screams, no struggle, not even a warning. It was as if she had been completely erased from the world.

They recalled the scenes they had seen on their phones: mutilated corpses, the stench of decay, and those walking corpses wandering like zombies.

The disappearance of the plump woman made them feel the threat of death once more. They did not know where she had gone, whether she was alive or dead, but they knew that if they didn't obey, their fate might be the same.

Fear, like an invisible net, shrouded them tightly. They dared not speak, move, or even breathe, terrified that they might be the next to vanish.

The young cleaner clutched the contract tightly, his body shivering. He thought of his elderly parents, his younger siblings still in school—if he died, what would become of them? He dared not gamble, nor did he dare resist; he could only choose to submit.

Terrified, his legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor. He tremblingly picked up the contract and signed his name. "I... I'll sign! I'll sign!"

The others, realizing the situation, scrambled to sign the contracts, fearing they too would vanish like the plump woman.

"Ms. Jiang! Please, keep us! We will definitely follow your orders!" The tall, thin man cried out, crawling to Jiang Qiyu and clutching her legs.

"Please, save us! We’ll do anything!"

The others knelt one after another, weeping and begging for mercy, pleading for Jiang Qiyu's pity.

"Please, give us a way to live!"

After signing the contracts, they stood anxiously in place, waiting for Jiang Qiyu’s next instruction. The plump woman’s sudden disappearance had made them realize deeply that in this apocalypse, their lives were as worthless as grass, capable of being erased at any moment.

The system notification sounded repeatedly: Resident +1, Resident +1...

"Resident count (11/10). Congratulations to the Host for completing the mission. A beginner's gift pack has been awarded. Would you like to claim it?"