In the evening, Zhang Yi and the others hosted a banquet to welcome Yang Xinxin and Lu Keran. It had been a long time since they had eaten such good food, and even though they were elites from a prestigious school, after a few seconds of restraint, their eating habits became a bit exaggerated.
Zhang Yi silently put down his chopsticks, amused by watching the two girls eat so enthusiastically. Yang Mi and Zhou Ke'er, on the other hand, felt distressed as they served the girls more food, asking them how they had survived during their time at Tianqing Academy.
Lu Keran, with her mouth full of meatballs, grabbed a big bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup and mumbled, "There was no shortage of food at the school!"
"We only had about 300 students, but there were a dozen cafeterias, and the warehouse was stocked with more food than we could ever eat. Not to mention the supermarket on campus."
Zhang Yi smiled lightly. He couldn't quite comprehend the world of an elite school, but he could imagine it based on Lu Keran's words.
After swallowing her food, Lu Keran looked at Zhang Yi gratefully and said, "But thank goodness you came to save us, big brother! Otherwise, with the weather so cold, we wouldn't have lasted long, no matter how much food we had."
Zhang Yi smiled, "Fortunately, you were underground with many people, so it wasn't as cold."
Snow and ice can act as excellent insulation, at least in terms of blocking the wind. In Xu Dong Village, their houses were buried in snow, and it was thanks to Xu Chunlei building snow shelters that they were able to maintain their current lifestyle.
"As long as you work hard here in the future, you won't go hungry," Zhang Yi said.
Lu Keran's straightforward personality was to Zhang Yi's liking. Not because he had any personal interest in her, but because he enjoyed dealing with honest people.
Lu Keran nodded enthusiastically, "Thank you, big brother!"
Yang Mi and Zhou Ke'er exchanged glances, finally feeling a sense of relief. They had been worried that Zhang Yi might see these two newcomers as burdens. After all, adding two more mouths to feed would increase the consumption of household resources by nearly half.
What they didn't know was the vast amount of supplies stored in Zhang Yi's dimensional space. Even if the five of them ate and drank to their heart's content every day, it would take nearly 200 years to deplete the supplies. Plus, Zhang Yi could always go out and search for more frozen supplies, so food was never a concern.
After dinner, Yang Mi took the initiative to clean up the dishes. Lately, she had been handling most of the household chores. Even when Zhou Ke'er was around, Yang Mi would often take over the work. Her attitude toward Zhang Yi had shifted from initial wariness to trust, and now even a sense of guilt had emerged.
In this household, Zhou Ke'er was a doctor, Yang Xinxin was a computer genius, and Lu Keran was a mechanical expert. But what about her? Other than keeping Zhang Yi company, what else could she do?
Although Zhang Yi had never said anything to her, Yang Mi was a very proud woman. She didn't like being a useless "vase."
At the dinner table, as Zhang Yi ate, he discussed the rules of the shelter with Yang Xinxin and Lu Keran. The ease of their conversation left Yang Mi feeling slightly downhearted. She wished she could be more useful, like Zhou Ke'er and the others, becoming someone indispensable.
...
After dinner, the group rested on the sofa and watched TV. Zhang Yi leaned back, with Zhou Ke'er and Yang Mi sitting on either side of him. Since the two younger girls were present, they didn't act too intimate. However, Yang Xinxin noticed something unusual in the atmosphere. Though she didn't say anything, with her intelligence, she understood that such situations were quite common in the apocalypse.
Meanwhile, Lu Keran sat cross-legged on the bed, barefoot, her eyes glued to the huge TV screen. The content they could watch now was limited to pre-recorded films and news from official channels around the world. Most of the internal news was ignored, as it didn't provide much valuable information.
As they continued watching, the atmosphere in the living room became more tense. Today's news had delivered some crucial and unsettling information.
"The snowstorm that has persisted for over a month shows no signs of stopping, and the temperature continues to drop. Global connections between most regions have been severed."
"This has led to escalating conflicts over resources, particularly between countries and regions."
"The extreme weather has caused multiple regions to lose control of their governments. Armed organizations have risen to power and are using force to control resources and surviving populations."
...
Such news left everyone feeling heavy-hearted. It meant that the world had officially entered an era of chaos, where military power would no longer be restrained.
"This is bad," Zhang Yi muttered, folding his arms across his chest.
Yang Mi didn't fully understand. "Hasn't chaos already descended? I just didn't think it would get this terrifying."
She sighed softly, having once hoped that the world would return to normal and that she could resume her life as a beloved celebrity. But now, that hope seemed impossible.
"It's not the same," Zhang Yi explained. "In the past, even armed organizations were still somewhat afraid of higher powers. But with this extreme cold lasting over a month, it's clear that the Ice Age won't end anytime soon."
"With that being the case, armed forces no longer fear being held accountable. So, they'll act without restraint."
Yang Xinxin added, "It's like the rules and regulations in some organizations. They may not be strictly followed by everyone, but their existence makes people cautious and prevents them from going too far. Now, though, there's no order left in the world."
"It won't be completely like that," Zhang Yi said, glancing at Yang Xinxin.
"The strongest military power still belongs to the top tier. It's just that the extreme cold has made it difficult for them to maintain control over other regions, leading to the rise of local warlords."
"It's somewhat like the era of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The King of Zhou held the highest military power, but other regions were governed by local forces. Unless the apocalypse ends, this situation will continue for a long time."
Yang Xinxin nodded, agreeing with Zhang Yi's analysis.
Yang Mi blinked and then smiled. "Isn't that kind of good? It's not too different from before. At least they still have some scruples, right?"
Zhang Yi laughed.
"Not at all!"
"Why not?"
"In the past, all power belonged to the highest authority. Now, local armed forces have been given control over their regions. This means that we could be entering an era of warlord strife!"
Zhang Yi took a deep breath. "And with that, the era where human lives are as insignificant as grass will arrive."
Conflicts between ordinary people resulted in limited casualties. But once superhumans entered the fray, the death toll would rise rapidly. And compared to battles between armed forces, those casualties were nothing.
Zhang Yi had once spent a month wiping out over a thousand people in a neighborhood. But now, with regional armed forces entering the fray to fight for resources, the death toll would become immeasurable, and the safety of ordinary civilians would be even less assured.