Can you imagine what it feels like to be doused in cold water at minus seventy degrees?
Zhang Yi, holding a large hose, directed a jet of water toward those little Karamis outside the door.
The temperature difference between the inside and outside of the room was about a hundred degrees.
Thus, the water was still steaming as it flowed out, but upon striking those individuals, it quickly froze!
The weather was bitterly cold, and they were all dressed in down jackets and wool sweaters.
The cold water soaked their entire bodies, instantly making them feel as though they had been placed in a freezer.
"Damn it! So cold, I'm freezing to death!"
"Aaaaah, stop pouring, stop pouring!"
At that moment, they would have preferred a severe beating over enduring the torment of freezing.
One by one, their lips turned purple from the cold, and some even passed out on the spot due to the extreme low temperature.
Instinctively, they hurriedly ran away from Zhang Yi's doorstep.
But in just a few seconds, they were soaked through and through.
Even before they could reach the elevator to escape, their clothes had already frozen stiff.
Zhang Yi watched them run off before finally turning off the faucet.
He had initially planned to discipline them with a crossbow.
But the reload was too slow, and he might have been counter-attacked through the shooting holes.
Instead, the effect of this overwhelming deluge was much better.
After a thorough chilling by Zhang Yi, those little Karamis' lips all turned purplish blue from the cold.
They quickly ran back to Chen Zhenghao's place.
Seeing them return in such a sorry state, Chen Zhenghao was furious.
"Where is that little bastard? Did you catch him?"
But his underlings were busy scrambling for blankets and sheets to keep warm.
Their clothing was completely soaked and had turned to blocks of ice.
About a dozen people fought over clothes and blankets in the room.
However, due to too many people and not enough materials to go around, a few of them, out of desperation, had to strip naked and huddle together for warmth.
The scene was somewhat bizarre.
This made Chen Zhenghao even angrier as he slapped the table hard and yelled, "Someone explain to me what the hell is going on!"
A few underlings, once they had regained some warmth, shivering, explained the situation to Chen Zhenghao.
"That Zhang Yi is despicable, attacking us with a water hose. We just couldn't take it!"
"We don't know how thick their door is; we smashed it for ages and only chipped the paint."
After listening, Chen Zhenghao's eyebrows were deeply furrowed.
He had felt the sturdiness of Zhang Yi's door himself when he went to smash it.
It seemed difficult to forcefully break in.
But soon, he sneered.
"No matter, even if their home is an ironclad fortress, there will always be a flaw."
"And I refuse to believe that he can stay inside forever!"
"Just keep watch nearby, and as soon as he steps out, beat him to death for me!"
Chen Zhenghao said menacingly.
His minions, too, were desperados, and upon hearing these words, they shivered and sneered coldly.
Though they were already chilled to the bone, they still had to show that they were tough.
However, what they couldn't imagine was that Zhang Yi had no intention of leaving his home.
Outside was hell; his room was heaven.
Who would willingly leave heaven for hell?
...
After dealing with Chen Zhenghao and his people, Zhang Yi continued to go back to his game.
He knew these guys wouldn't give up so easily, but they also didn't have the ability to break into his home.
Going out?
Heh, Zhang Yi would never make that choice, not in a thousand years!
Not even a hundredth of a percent of risk would he dare to take.
Why not comfortably hunker down at home, where it's nice and cozy?
Soon after, Zhang Yi went to the floor-to-ceiling windows to check out the scenery outside.
People were actually out there shoveling snow with their tools.
It seemed he saw Uncle You, the security guard, that straightforward and enthusiastic ex-serviceman who was always the first to rush into action.
The dozen or so people downstairs were some of the more agreeable young folks from the homeowner's group chat.
Members of the community committee, such as Auntie Lin, however, were nowhere to be seen.
They struggled against the thick snow layer that was two or three meters high.
But Zhang Yi knew that what they were doing was utterly futile.
Not to mention anything else, just thinking about digging a path from beneath the building to the community entrance would take a whole day.
But what if they did dig through? What then?
The roads outside were completely buried too.
Such heavy snow could only be cleared slowly by professional-grade, large snowplows.
But in the south, there were no such specialized vehicles.
Going out had become an impossible task.
Moreover, in the weather of sub-seventy degrees, they wouldn't last long.
Without adequate protection against the cold, their physical condition couldn't withstand such low temperatures.
Just staying outside for half an hour could result in frostbite.
Zhang Yi shook his head.
These honest folks were indeed quite pitiable.
However, it wasn't his place to comment on others' choices.
After all, at this point, everything was irrelevant to him; he just wanted to live well himself.
As the afternoon arrived,
Zhang Yi felt a bit hungry and took out a lavish meal from his interspace.
It was a simple meal, just a plate of Australian lobster, a Wellington steak, two Huangshan pastries, and a bottle of cola.
He had plenty of such delicacies in his space.
Now that he was confined to his home daily, Zhang Yi's routine had become flexible.
It was sleep when tired, eat when hungry, with no need to distinguish between day and night.
The heavy snow continued to fall outside the window.
Zhang Yi occasionally glanced down at the area beneath the apartment building.
The snow-clearing crowd had gone back.
And the spot they'd so laboriously cleared was quickly concealed again by the heavy snowfall.
Presumably, they'd also realized that their power alone was not enough to combat nature.
Dressed in a long-sleeve undershirt, Zhang Yi lay on the sofa with the indoor temperature at a comfortable 27 degrees.
He turned on the TV and watched a program.
Many national television stations had ceased broadcasting; only some provincial stations and the central station continued.
Mostly, they were broadcasting official work and slogans encouraging the populace.
"This moment, our gaze turns to Shengjing. The officials are masterminding our command, launching the final offensive against the snow disaster!"
"Reports indicate that because of inadequate snow disaster response, Big Rice Country has suffered two hundred million affected and tens of millions of deaths!"
"The snow disaster in our country is within a controllable range; everything is moving in a positive direction."
"We hope everyone will not panic, believe in the power of the officials!"
Zhang Yi shook his head.
The scale and terror of this snow disaster were beyond human imagination.
Although the authorities were endeavoring to resolve the issue, human power is all too trivial in the face of nature.