"Just this stuff?"
Su Han was somewhat surprised as he looked at the items they were holding, which included neither rice nor flour, just a few bags of bread and dried noodles.
Gan Xinglelei complained, "There's not much food, but there are plenty of condoms and blue pills."
Yan Meiyu's cheeks flushed red as she kicked the complaining Gan Xinglelei.
Zhu Xiong laughed, "Not surprising, that pretty boy kept a mistress here, it would be strange without these things. The pair was so 'high and mighty', looking down on everyone—with their noses in the air, they didn't see what was coming. They've brought it on themselves."
When Gan Xinglelei saw Zhu Xiong, curiosity filled his eyes, "Who is he?"
"Zhu Xiong."
Su Han introduced everyone and recounted the recent events.
Zhu Xiong said, "Wait here; I'll get you something."
He entered the house without closing the door, unconcerned about Su Han and the others following him in. In an empty room, he grabbed a couple of crowbars, several large wrenches, metal pipes, and even a sledgehammer before coming back out.
True to his work in transportation, these items looked fierce, but once thrown into a vehicle, they became nothing more than perfectly legal tools.
But whether they are used in legal manners, no one knows.
These items could fix cars, or they could fix people.
The crowbar, a Stanley make, was about 1.2 meters long and weighed around 16 pounds—a substantial heft.
Even a strong man might have difficulty holding it for long, but the weight combined with the length and the sturdy material made it a serious weapon. Zhu Xiong wasn't joking when he said it could crack open the skulls of meaty corpses.
Su Han weighed it in his hand and actually found it a bit light. These days, he could easily lift something weighing 300 pounds; thus, wielding such a weapon naturally felt too light to him.
However, compared to the bone-chopping kitchen knife, the crowbar was much more handy, and its nickname of 'the physical sword of physics' was indeed deserved.
The pipes were of similar length to the crowbars, roughly 1.2 meters, but they were much lighter, weighing at most five or six pounds. Nonetheless, with their solid thickness, they too were formidable bludgeons.
Wrenches were a bit shorter, less than 50 centimeters, but almost as heavy as the pipes. The thick, heavy head of the wrench clearly made it easier to wield against someone.
"These are the tools I use for fixing and carrying in the truck, never thought they'd come in handy now. Do they suit you, brother?"
"Not bad," Su Han nodded as he put away the bone-chopping kitchen knife and picked up a crowbar in one hand and slipped a wrench into his backpack, letting the handle stick out by the side zipper.
"Old Gan, you guys should switch to these weapons too."
"Sure thing."
Gan Xinglei immediately grabbed a crowbar but found it a bit heavy upon trying to handle it. Although he had enhanced himself and could carry it, it still felt burdensome, so he switched to a metal pipe instead.
Yan Meiyu directly took a metal pipe, leaving one crowbar, a few pipes, and wrenches remaining.
"Let the Angel Envoy carry weapons."
Yan Meiyu had a flash of inspiration, suddenly recalling the disadvantage they had faced in the earlier fight.
Although Gan Xinglei had also contracted a meaty corpse as an Angel Envoy, it only seemed to have a little more strength at the moment, and it didn't have overwhelming combat power.
One-on-one was manageable, but against two, it was less effective and struggled to fully protect its host.
However, with weapons in hand, things would be different.
"Yeah, give the Angel Envoy a couple of wrenches."
Gan Xinglei took two wrenches and had the Angel Envoy grasp them. Surprisingly, those huge claws could grip them firmly, turning it into something akin to a wrench-wielding murderer, which was somewhat unsettling to watch.
"Su Han, do you want one for yours?"
Gan Xinglei, holding a pipe, asked Su Han.
Su Han shook his head and looked at Zhu Xiong, "Brother Zhu, get ready. I'll find you a monster."
A flicker of joy passed through Zhu Xiong's eyes as he replied, "Thanks, brother."
Finding a monster wasn't difficult. On the fifth floor, there were four other households. Breaking into two of them revealed nothing—a room was even empty, likely because a tenant had moved out and no new one had moved in yet.
The remaining two households had yet to be entered when faint roars could be heard from inside, obviously harboring something.
"Brother, I'll break the door and let that thing come out to the hallway. Be ready."
Zhu Xiong nodded, his expression grew solemn, and he gripped the steel pipe in his hand tightly.
"Click"
Like before, Su Han's Angel Envoy flesh corpse thrust its sharp metallic Claw directly into the iron door, creating a hole and then unlocking it.
With a light click, the door opened, and the flesh corpse inside heard the noise at the door and rushed over quickly.
Retreating about two or three meters, the Angel Envoy flesh corpse positioned itself just behind Zhu Xiong, separated by no more than the span of one body.
At this distance, even if Zhu Xiong made a mistake, he could still protect him.
Zhu Xiong took a deep breath, his eyes wide open as he watched the door, and with a bang, the door was struck open, and a flesh corpse staggered out from inside.
Its spine twisted, yet its stature was not short, approximately one meter eighty, about the same height as Zhu Xiong, roaring and opening its wide mouth as it rushed towards Zhu Xiong, the nearest target.
Zhu Xiong's heart pounded, but his eyes became fiercer, "Fuck your grandfather, sorry neighbor."
He strode forward without any hesitation, and fiercely smashed the metal pipe down.
With a heavy thud, the flesh corpse was sent staggering, its form lowering, momentum checked.
An old hand in brawling, Zhu Xiong knew not to hesitate and swung his metal pipe in a full circle, hitting hard, thud after thud, the pipe meeting flesh.
Arms were broken, a head caved in with a blow, blood splattered, coating him, yet he did not stop his assault.
After more than a dozen blows, finally, there was silence, and Zhu Xiong stopped, panting heavily.
"Damn it, that wore me out."
The flesh corpse was beaten to death without any hesitation; the Book of Blood Spirit on Zhu Xiong's arm glowed red, then enveloped the corpse he had killed.
The flesh corpse turned into a red light, and then bonded with the pages of his Book of Blood Spirit, ultimately completing the Contract.
And in the moment of the Contract, Zhu Xiong felt the reciprocation of power from the Angel Envoy, a warm current flowing toward every part of his body.
'This feels better than a footbath'
Zhu Xiong's body quivered slightly, that thought subconsciously appearing in his mind, and then, as the warmth passed, he came back around.
"I cannot thank you enough, in this apocalyptic world, if you need any help, just tell me. If we need to go out and gather resources, and the truck needs driving, count me in."
Zhu Xiong didn't harbor wild ambitions because of the Contract; he knew the world was sure to descend into chaos, and that monsters wouldn't be limited to these flesh corpses.
Only by working together could they possibly survive, much like when he drove trucks through the chaotic North back then.
"It's getting dark, we'll continue clearing the lower floors tomorrow."
Hearing Su Han's words, Zhu Xiong understood and immediately nodded, "Tomorrow, I'll pitch in too, count on me, brother."
After clearing the sixth and fifth floors, the hallway's light gradually dimmed, suggesting it was nearly evening.
Su Han and the other two retreated back to the seventh floor, moving all the resources they had found.
"On the fifth and sixth floors, we found roughly one hundred fifty kilograms of rice, thirty bags of noodles including instant noodles, ten cans, four kilograms of cured meat, and various other items like eggs, snacks, and some medicine, mostly for colds and fevers."
Yan Meiyu voluntarily tallied up the resources, which, added to the previous collection from the seventh floor by Su Han, resulted in no more than three hundred kilograms of supplies in total.
Normally, a person's daily intake of rice and other foods, if abundant, would only be about half a kilogram to a little over one kilogram. However now, everyone had been enhanced, and with meat scarce, their consumption of rice and flour would definitely be more.
Two to three hundred kilograms of rice and flour could last them one to two months, but cooking rice required water, which was the biggest limiting factor.
"Tomorrow we'll focus on clearing the flesh corpses, speed up getting to the ground floor to assess the situation. We'll continue to gather resources, but that won't be the main focus; what's more important is to collect as much water as possible since we might be cut off from water supply before long."
Yan Meiyu nodded and said, "Got it, I'll go cook something to eat."
Su Han instructed, "Make sure to cook plenty."
Dinner was simple, cured meat with some fresh vegetables they found, and about three to four kilograms of rice.
The three of them finished their meal plainly. Though it looked like a lot of food, nothing was left over.
As Su Han had significantly enhanced his body far more than Gan Xinglei and Yan Meiyu, naturally, he ate the most, virtually taking care of the entire meal himself.
After dinner, the three sat on the couch, and Su Han thought for a moment before asking the two about serious matters, "How fast do you two feel the Angel Envoy power is reciprocating?"