"Miles, sir!"
Just after dinner, Nathan's voice suddenly rang out from outside.
"What's wrong? Is the food all gone?"
Miles casually slipped on a thermal shirt and stood by the door to answer the video call.
"No... no..."
Nathan sounded somewhat sheepish. "I'm sorry, Miles, it's my fault. I've caused you trouble."
"You've caused me trouble?"
Miles was momentarily taken aback, then chuckled. "Are you talking about Nicole? Well, it's not entirely your fault, but just remember—I have nothing to do with her!"
"Huh?"
"Huh, what? It's freezing out, go back inside."
Nathan stood there, momentarily dazed, then shook his head. "No... it's not about that. I was talking about the Nanshan Military Academy people... They're probably the ones I brought here."
Nathan then recounted in detail everything that had happened earlier that day.
Miles listened, shaking his head in exasperation.
The gist of it was that Nathan and his group had traveled to the far-off North Bay Area to catch zombies, but the Nanshan Military Academy was also there. The students noticed Nathan and his group, and thus, followed them all the way here.
"No wonder…"
Miles sighed, half-amused. "I was wondering why they insisted on walking twenty kilometers just to get here. It seems you guys were 'showing off' your supplies, and that's what attracted the wolves."
The so-called "showing off" referred to food.
Nathan and his group had traveled a considerable distance and, of course, carried food with them.
The students, seeing them as easy targets, had followed them over the twenty kilometers.
However, Miles didn't blame Nathan.
At least his intentions had been good; it was just an unfortunate accident.
Miles suddenly had the odd feeling that Nathan had become some sort of bad luck charm for him.
The first time he met Nathan, he was surrounded by enemies.
The second time, he nearly got surrounded by zombies.
The third time, he made a fool of himself with Nicole and had to endure Lisa's scolding for several days.
And now this was the fourth time…
Miles couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief.
"You never let me have a moment's peace, do you?"
Nathan thought he was angry and quickly responded, "Don't worry, Miles, it's my mess, I'll go and handle it!"
Without waiting for a reply, he rushed off, looking as if he were prepared to risk his life.
Miles shouted at him, "Come back here!"
"Huh?"
Lisa, who was about to wash the dishes, jumped in surprise and timidly approached with two plates in hand.
"I wasn't talking about you, I wasn't talking about you…"
Miles, his face clouded with frustration, forced a smile. "I was talking about Nathan."
"Four or five hundred of them? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Miles was too tired to argue. He muttered quietly, "Since you think you made a mistake, I'll give you a chance to make up for it..."
"No problem, don't worry, I'll get it done!"
Nathan patted his chest with determination before leaving.
But Miles watched his retreating figure with a sense of unease, feeling that yet another disaster was on the horizon.
Since the establishment of the City in the Clouds' zombie elimination team, their numbers had plummeted from six or seven hundred to a mere seventy or so.
At present, they were in a rare period of relative stability.
With thirty portions of food each day, though the seventy-odd members were still hungry, they no longer faced starvation.
Now, however, an additional four hundred people had arrived, each with only thirty portions of food.
It was easy to imagine how the famished military academy students would react when they saw the residents of the villa area also receiving thirty portions of food!
Thus, the once peaceful City in the Clouds was once again thrown into chaos.
Anthony, with more than seventy people, was holding a meeting.
"From today on, we'll only handle the villa area. Don't go near the high-rise buildings anymore."
As soon as Anthony finished speaking, the residents protested.
"Why?"
"The villa area is large, but zombies don't like such open spaces. Most of them are in the high-rise areas."
"Exactly, if we can't catch any zombies, Boss Miles will reduce our food rations, and the roasted chicken will be gone..."
At the mention of roasted chicken, the residents couldn't help but swallow.
Since the appearance of zombies, Miles had distributed at least a thousand roasted chickens, though no one knew exactly how many he had stockpiled. Perhaps in a past life, he had run a poultry farm?
The reason, however, was quite simple.
When Miles worked at the South China logistics center, he had come across a warehouse filled with pre-cooked roast chickens from a well-known brand. All it took was a little reheating, and it became a delicious meal.
But now, the roasted chickens were gone.
As the number of zombies dwindled, many people hadn't tasted roasted chicken in quite some time.
"Roasted chicken will come back, and so will the bread!"
Anthony shouted, "Now that those Nanshan Military Academy students are here, Boss Miles has strictly forbidden any conflicts. So for now, we need to endure."
"They have no right to be here!"
"Exactly! They're not even residents, and now that they're here, we'll catch even fewer zombies!"
"Kick them out!"
"Yeah, tell them to get off our turf!"
For once, the residents of the villa area were united in their anger against the military academy students.
Seeing that the mood was right, Anthony sighed and said, "But don't underestimate them. They're all trained fighters, and there are four to five hundred of them!"
"So what? As long as Boss Miles steps in, even a thousand of them won't stand a chance!"
"Exactly! I've heard that when Boss Miles faces zombies, all he has to do is look at them, and they drop dead!"
"Look? No, he just stares them to death!"
Anthony watched them with a mix of amusement and disbelief.
Miles had become something of a legend in their eyes. They not only didn't dare resist, but they didn't even think of questioning him.
"So, friends!"
Anthony raised his voice. "The more this happens, the more we need to prove our value. If we let Boss Miles handle everything, what do we even need to be here for?"
And that was true.
They were being fed by Miles; surely they were supposed to contribute in return?
Miles was no philanthropist, as everyone knew well.
"Anthony, what do we do now?"
One of the residents asked, and Anthony quickly responded, "We do nothing. Even if we find zombies, we pretend we can't catch them and drive those beasts into Zone F."
"Huh? Isn't that just delivering roast chickens to them?"
Some didn't understand, but most caught on quickly.
One person explained, "Are you an idiot? If they find zombies, won't they fight over them? Once they start fighting, they'll fall into chaos. Then..."
It seems the successful ones weren't idiots after all.
The residents of City in the Clouds were clever—though their spirit had been dulled by the apocalypse, now that someone was stirring the pot, they naturally perked up.