Just as Evelyn Ford predicted, the assault enraged everyone. Within the residential complex, many people had already formed small groups, ready to take their machetes and settle the score. However, their opponents were not to be trifled with. Two of them were hiding guns. Three of the vigilantes who went to confront them were killed, each with a single, fatal gunshot.

Fearing the firearms in their opponents’ hands, the others were furious but dared not voice their anger. They could only meekly take their grain to trade for water.

"Who would have thought? They looked so simple and honest, but they actually have guns." Serena Lynch was relieved she hadn’t let Chase Underwood go fetch water earlier. Their opponents were ruthless; it seemed they had no choice but to take the loss this time.

"Evelyn, we’re planning to go trade for a bucket of water. Are you coming?"

Evelyn Ford shook her head. "I’m not going right now."

The walk from the complex to the courtyard house where the well was located took forty minutes. Evelyn guessed the round trip wouldn’t be safe. She figured someone would take the opportunity to rob people along the way.

Back in her room, Evelyn finished making the fuzzy slippers. She then took out a whetstone and her dagger, sat down on the straw mat, and quietly began to sharpen the blade.

About two days later, a horrifying incident occurred in the complex. That gang had started abducting women and brazenly beating anyone who got in their way. One man was wailing in the common area, begging for help. His wife had been taken, and he’d been beaten.

Everyone was furious, but no one dared to help, fearing the guns they wielded.

Some argued that there was strength in numbers; even with guns, they couldn’t possibly kill everyone. But others were cowardly and afraid of trouble. One person even used the planned resistance as a way to curry favor, reporting it to the gang in exchange for a bucket of water.

Serena Lynch and Chase Underwood went with the others to trade for water, only to find the rules had changed. A bucket of water now cost six pounds of grain, and the bucket itself only contained about four or five pounds’ worth of water.

Evelyn was planning to take matters into her own hands, but before she could make a move, someone else settled the score.

When people next went to trade for water, they discovered that all eight members of the gang were dead. There were no survivors. Their bodies had been strung up for all to see.

"That vigilante has to be someone in our group! Do you remember? Back at the base, the vigilante killed that monster who was hurting those girls. And during the parasite incident, the vigilante killed four people from management. It’s the same this time. It has to be the vigilante taking action again." Serena was practically bouncing with excitement, her eyes shining with admiration.

"This is great! We can go get water now. Mr. Vance has already sent people to maintain order. Everyone can draw water, free of charge."

Evelyn smiled. She slid the dagger from her sleeve back into her dimensional space, picked up her bucket, and decided to go with the others to check it out.

Just then, Ronan Kendrick returned from outside, a bundle of firewood on his back. His eyes met Evelyn’s, and she raised a single eyebrow.

’Well, well. Look who’s back. The vigilante returns.’

"Ronan, let’s go get some water."

Ronan’s ears turned a little red under Evelyn’s stare. "Okay," he said.

"Evelyn, Ronan is so hardworking, isn’t he? He’s never idle. When I ask Chase to go find wood, he comes back with three or four sticks and spends the whole time complaining that his back hurts, his head hurts, his eyes hurt..."

Serena sighed wistfully. "When I first met Ronan, I thought he was cold, aloof, and someone you shouldn’t mess with. You really can’t judge a book by its cover. He’s actually so hardworking and agreeable."

With the gang dead, the number of people heading out for water swelled. After a forty-minute walk, they finally reached the courtyard, only to find the line was already two hundred meters long. Evelyn could also see the bodies hanging in the distance, already swarming with a dense cloud of insects.

"I heard their families came and made a scene earlier, but Taylor Vance ordered them to be driven away. I remember a few of these men... They traded with me for chicks and pumpkin seeds back in the safe zone. They were all such peaceful people then. I can’t believe they ended up like this."

’Such is human nature—complex and multifaceted.’

Evelyn glanced back at Ronan, and he suddenly took her hand.

"The items?"

"I have them. I’ll give them to you later."

"Good."

After half an hour, it was their turn. The well’s output was indeed low. Just as Evelyn’s group finished drawing their water, someone blew a sharp whistle.

"The well’s dry! Come back in five hours to draw more water, and don’t come all at once!"

Evelyn and Ronan carried their two buckets of water and headed back to the complex.

After setting the water down in the room, Evelyn used the excuse of needing to use the restroom and pulled Ronan out with her.

In a nearby collapsed ruin, Ronan took out three guns and a black bag filled with ammunition. Evelyn was stunned.

"Three of them," she breathed.

Evelyn quickly stored the guns in her dimensional space. "Looks like these guys were more than just thugs. It’s a good thing you dealt with them. But their families are still with the group. I wonder how Taylor Vance will handle them."

"They were accomplices. They ate the grain that was extorted from everyone. There’s no place for them in this group anymore."

Evelyn nodded. "Then it’s not our problem to worry about. Let’s go back."

With water, everyone had a chance at survival. The rat- and crow-catching teams grew by the day. Taylor Vance even organized teams to capture insects, cleaning out a room on the first floor of the complex specifically for making "insect cakes."

Most people were still repulsed by the insect cakes, but Taylor Vance was a clever man. He started a public campaign, advertising that the cakes were high in protein and could boost the immune system. For women, he claimed they would replenish vitality, and for men, they would enhance physical strength.

Within a few short days, the insect-catching teams outnumbered the ones hunting crows and rats.

Before anyone knew it, Taylor Vance had gathered a considerable number of followers. In addition to the orphans he had trained and raised in the safe zone, many others had now thrown their lot in with him.

Taylor Vance and his two companions harbored a bone-deep hatred for the He and Hu families who had run off with all the supplies, and they couldn’t let it go. They were certainly bent on revenge. Taylor was a man of both courage and strategy, so his stepping up as a leader was actually a good thing.

Evelyn remained in her room, tinkering with her Poison Powder and crocheting shoes. Ronan occasionally went out to find wood, fetch water, or catch rats.

Half a month flew by. The swarms of insects showed no signs of lessening, and the endless daylight of the polar day continued.

Serena Lynch’s family of three had already moved to a lower floor. To make getting water easier, many people had relocated closer to the well.

When Ronan returned, Evelyn was sitting on the straw mat, staring into space.

"What’s wrong?"

"I was just wondering how long it will take to get to the Northwest."

’It would be nice to have a plane,’ she thought, ’but it’s not like I know how to fly one.’

The roads were uneven, covered in collapsed ruins. It was impossible to drive a car.

’On foot, it would probably take two or three years, and that’s not even counting all the trouble we’d run into along the way.’

"Maybe the insects will disappear soon," he offered.

Evelyn smiled. ’In my past life, the insect plague had broken out in the second year of the apocalypse and hadn’t ended until the fifth. Many things were different in this life, but one thing was certain: the disasters had escalated. This insect plague would only last longer.’

"Oh, right. Something happened to those people who were bitten by the insects. Quincy just told me. One of them wasted away to skin and bones in just three days. His hair turned completely white overnight, and he looks like he’s aged at least twenty years."