Cave Refuge-Chapter 273 - 269: The Ruin of a Family is Worth Ten Thousand Gold_1

Chapter 273: Chapter 269: The Ruin of a Family is Worth Ten Thousand Gold_1

Aside from the survivors who had the audacity to return home and sleep in their beds, the other survivors who spent the night resting in open areas had a night full of fear and anxiety.

As dawn broke through the darkness and the sun rose again, the survivors who had spent the night outside let out a sigh of relief, thinking that after making it through the night, there shouldn’t be another earthquake during the day. However, the earth suddenly began shaking again.

This time, the shaking was even stronger than the previous one, enlarging the cracks that had appeared on the surfaces of many buildings during the last earthquake.

As the ground gradually becomes steady again, the panic-stricken survivors stood there, not knowing what to do.

When the earthquake struck, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson who were just waking up from their sleep in their car, were jolted off their feet. Fortunately, they fell onto a blanket that was still spread out on the ground, preventing them from being injured.

Having just woken up, Dong Tianyu used his Divine Sense to check the ground around him. In case the ground cracked, he could drive their car away from People’s Square in time.

Luckily, even though this earthquake was stronger than the previous one, there were no cracks on the ground, so the survivors staying on People’s Square had only a few minor injuries.

However, the cracks in the surrounding buildings grew bigger and it was clear, even without the use of professional equipment, that these buildings were now structurally unsound and dangerous.

Under these circumstances, even if no more earthquakes occurred, it would be dangerous to return to these buildings.

Unfortunately, in the chaos of the initial evacuation, everyone had left their belongings at home. Unless they were willing to risk going back to retrieve their items, they would be faced with potential issues regarding their livelihood in the future.

Many fearless survivors, believing that another earthquake won’t occur so soon after this one, risked their lives by venturing into the damaged buildings to gather all the usable items from their homes.

For those who lived on the lower floors, it was relatively easy. However, those who lived on the higher floors hesitated. Without the elevator, even if they were able to return to their homes, it would be a hassle to carry all their valuable items down.

While it is true that yesterday’s earthquake did not cause visible cracks on the building’s surface at the beginning, making the elevators safe to use, this is no longer the case. With obvious cracks appearing on the wall, it is clear that the structural integrity of the building is compromised, making the use of elevators far more dangerous than before.

Some might suggest using the elevators to transport their belongings while they utilize the fire escape for safety. Burdened with concern, they failed to realize that if the structural integrity of the building was compromised, there was a high probability that the alignment of the elevator shaft had changed. The most likely issue being that the elevator would get stuck between floors due to a problem with the shaft.

Furthermore, with the significant cracks appearing on the building’s walls, it was clear that there was a great risk of the building collapsing. Therefore, even using the fire escapes was not necessarily safe; it also posed considerable risks.

However, if they did not retrieve their belongings, many survivors would have nothing left to sustain their lives. Thus, for the sake of their families and their own survival, the survivors living on the lower floors took the risk of the building collapsing to return to their homes and carry out their most valuable possessions.

As these individuals made spirited efforts to bring out their belongings from their homes, their courage grew. They then came up with the idea to access the apartments of those high-rise dwellers who were too timid to do so.

They proposed to help them retrieve their belongings, in exchange for splitting the loot 50/50.

Although the 50% split was quite high, many people didn’t want to risk their lives for their possessions, so they reluctantly agreed to their demand.

Of course, the situation was different in office buildings. After all the resources and materials in the command center on the lower floors were retrieved, Robinson William organized some skilled Inner Breath Realm Martial Artists.

They went up to different houses to bring down valuables and returned them to the owners.

Seeing this, Dong Tianyu did not magnanimously forfeit all his belongings. Instead, he let Mr. Thompson make the decisions, asking only that the Commando members bring down the most important items from their home, leaving behind all the miscellaneous ones.

In actuality, the most valuable items at Mr. and Mrs. Thompson’s home were two boxes. One box contains food and drinks that Dong Tianyu had brought back for them, and the other contained replacement bedding and clothing.

While the house is worth its weight in gold, the effort to tidy up all the other odds and ends items at home was too troublesome. Eventually, Mr. Thompson decided to abandon all of it and only asked for the two boxes to be brought down, declaring that they did not want anything else.

Although Robinson William said he would arrange for Commando members to bring down all the valuable items from each household, nobody really held him to it.

After all, from a height of about thirty floors, it was impossible for the Commando members to carry all the odds and ends down the fire escape route, one trip after another.

Hearing that Mr. Thompson’s request was fairly simple and didn’t require the help of the special operations team to pack, all they needed was to carry down two boxes.

Robinson William looked at the other families, including his own, who were still discussing what items they needed to bring back, so he decided to have four special operations team members go upstairs to bring down Mr. Thompson’s belongings first.

As for the others, the plans could be made once they had finished discussing their needs.

The four special operations team members quickly arrived at the Thompson’s home, and per Mr. Thompson’s instructions, they quickly found the boxes located in two different rooms.

They didn’t open the boxes out of curiosity to see what was inside, instead, each easily lifted a box to their shoulders.

While the boxes may have weighed hundreds of kilograms, all four special operations team members were Inner Breath Realm Martial Artists, carrying a box was relatively easy for them.

However, since there were only two boxes and it wouldn’t look good to have two members carrying boxes and two with empty hands.

So, the other two special operations team members took all the clothes and shoes hanging in the closets, and threw them on the bed. They then wrapped them up in a sheet, and carried the bundle on their backs.

While one was packing up the clothes, the other found two more sheets and used them to wrap up all the bottles and jars from the kitchen and bathroom and to separately bundle up any visible food in the kitchen.

When these four left Mr. Thompson’s place, they weren’t empty-handed. Even though they had to use the fire escape to go up and down, it was not a big deal for these Inner Breath Realm Martial Artists.

The four quickly came downstairs and placed everything in front of Mr. Thompson. In addition to the two boxes, there were now three more bundles of stuff wrapped in sheets.

Just as Mr. Thompson was about to open the boxes to get something for the special operations team members, Dong Tianyu stopped him.

He pulled out four packs of cigarettes from his pocket (storage space). Without waiting for their refusal, he directly placed them into their hands.

Dong Tianyu’s actions brought smiles to their previously expressionless faces.

They had moving stuff just to complete the task. The three extra bundles of stuff were carried down by the other two because they thought it wouldn’t look good to come down empty-handed, they didn’t expect Dong Tianyu to give such an expensive gift.

In these times, regardless of the brand, cigarettes are actually quite valuable. After all, Pengcheng doesn’t produce tobacco locally, and the leaders wouldn’t be planting tobacco in this current time period as long as they are sane.

So, the tobacco circulating in Pengcheng consisted of what was left over from before and mostly purchased at a high price from outside.

Because the disaster period this time was longer, with the eternal night, there was varying degrees of economic recovery starting to appear in different places, so many things were in small supply, but production had indeed begun incrementally.

Tobacco also reappeared on the market. However, cigarettes produced at this time didn’t have the sponge filters, and most were made directly from paper and processed tobacco.

However, even these types of cigarettes were popular in the market.

The four packs of cigarettes Dong Tianyu gave to the special operations team members were beautifully packaged, and it was apparent that they were produced before the disaster. Even if these cigarettes have been left for a long time, as long as they are well preserved, their taste won’t change for three to five years. Even if they have been kept for over ten years, they can still be smoked, though the taste may change slightly.

Truthfully, cigarettes are similar to tea leaves. Although they have been processed, they are still plant-based. So as long as they don’t rot, they can generally still be used.

The packaging of the four packs of cigarettes Dong Tianyu took out was intact without any damage, clearly a good choice.

After seeing that Robinson William had no intention of preventing them, the four simply said their thanks and happily took the gifts.

Robinson William felt helpless. Even if their job was life-risking, martial artists in the Inner Breath Realm in Pengcheng were still increasing in number, but not to the extent that they could serve as movers.

Dong Tianyu’s politeness set a good precedent. Otherwise, the special operations team members, although obedient to Robinson William’s orders to help the family members move, wouldn’t be happy about it.

No matter how you look at it, the item Dong Tianyu gave to them was meant to show appreciation and lessen some of their resentment.

Watching Dong Tianyu effortlessly carry a box in each hand to the back of his vehicle, the others didn’t pay much attention. At this time, martial artists weren’t rare, and Dong Tianyu’s display didn’t draw the attention of others.