"Ah—"
A scream erupted. The nail gun's power was limited, failing to kill the young man outright. Instead, the nail embedded itself in his forehead.
The hardness of the skull, combined with the distance, meant the nail only pierced the flesh.
Even so, the pain instantly dropped the young man to the ground, clutching his head and howling.
Lin Dong felt no pity. He yanked open the inner door and, through the security gate, fired two more shots!
Thud! Thud!
Two muffled sounds as the nails from the gun buried themselves in the young man's body.
His companions, who had been about to rush forward to pull him to safety, were instantly terrified and scrambled back down the stairwell, not daring to help.
Lin Dong sneered through the security gate, "I soaked these nails in fecal water and let them rust. You idiots, enjoy your tetanus."
The people outside felt a chill run down their spines.
At a time like this, getting tetanus was practically a death sentence.
"This kid's ruthless."
"We can't charge the front door. We need another plan."
"Fall back for now. Let's save him first."
Liu Erlong shouted, vaulting over the railing to avoid Lin Dong's doorstep, wary of another nail gun ambush.
Soon, the commotion at the door died down.
Lin Dong exhaled in relief and shut the door.
This sudden crisis had been temporarily dealt with.
But Liu Erlong and his gang wouldn't give up so easily.
Frowning, Lin Dong checked the nail gun—it still had plenty of nails left, and he had half a bag of spares at home.
He quickly reloaded the gun, then rushed to the kitchen window.
His window faced the connecting corridor outside, but there was a three-to-four-meter gap between the corridor and the window—too wide for an ordinary person to cross.
He had already sealed the kitchen window shut, but he still checked to be sure.
The window was tightly closed, reinforced with nailed-down cabinet doors from the inside.
Peering through the gaps, he saw no one on this floor's corridor.
Since this was the top floor, the corridor offered little protection from wind and rain, making it no different from living on the rooftop.
Leaning on his steel pipe spear, Lin Dong sat on the floor, catching his breath and steadying his pounding heart.
He removed his helmet and inspected the damage.
There were clear scratch marks—left by the man he had stabbed to death.
"Thank god I wore the helmet. Otherwise, I'd have been done for."
He couldn't help but feel grateful for his caution and thorough preparation before heading out. Otherwise, he might not have made it back.
"Liu Erlong actually had people stationed here all along? So Cai Zhi and Ma Guocai were right—Liu Erlong's been planning to deal with the 32nd-floor residents for a while."
Lin Dong's expression darkened. If Liu Erlong had already started sweeping the building, once he dealt with the residents below, there'd be nowhere left to hide.
As for whether Liu Erlong could handle the residents downstairs—Lin Dong didn't even need to think about it. Of course he could.
Those residents had long run out of food, with nothing left but their apartments.
Liu Erlong probably already had plenty of empty units under his control, so he didn't need more space.
For those people, surrendering to Liu Erlong wouldn't cost them much.
Of course, if they had women or children at home, they might hesitate.
But Liu Erlong wasn't some pushover. He could easily break down doors and force them into submission.
Not every homeowner has the ability to resist.
If it weren't for the Nail Gun in his hand, allowing him to shoot through the peephole, the security door outside would have long been dismantled by Liu Erlong and his gang.
"No, I can't just sit here waiting to die!"
"If Liu Erlong and his men resort to force, I have to find a way to make them pay!"
"Only by terrifying them, by breaking their courage, can I suppress their arrogance."
Lin Dong's eyes flickered as he glanced at the front door. There were undoubtedly people watching outside—that route was out of the question.
With that thought, he moved to the living room window.
Outside the window, darkness still reigned, the sky choked with clouds, not a sliver of light to be seen.
Faintly, he could hear the Flood surging below, the rain pattering against the glass like nails.
Looking down, he could just make out faint glimmers of light from other floors. In some of the buildings across the way that hadn't yet been submerged, a few rooms still flickered with firelight—likely people burning whatever they could for warmth.
By the dim glow, Lin Dong spotted figures on the water's surface, salvaging whatever floated by.
The Flood had indeed swept in countless crates of food and supplies, some of which might still be edible.
Especially the foam-packed delivery boxes—with luck, they might contain something to eat.
There were also bags of puffed snacks, buoyant from the air inside, drifting along the water.
Even a wooden plank or a piece of foam was valuable now—at the very least, it could be used to start a fire for cooking.
Lin Dong recalled Ding Yan mentioning that Liu Erlong had rooms on the 11th, 14th, 21st, and 28th floors, rotating between them unpredictably.
The bastard was probably afraid of being ambushed, hence the constant movement.
The 11th floor was particularly precarious—the Flood had already reached the 10th floor, making it dangerously close to being submerged.
But Liu Erlong had seized control of the 11th floor, likely not just for an extra room but also to monopolize salvage operations.
Lin Dong guessed that most of the people on the 11th floor were Liu Erlong's men.
Any supplies salvaged probably had to be handed over to him.
"If I could just kill Liu Erlong outright, his gang would collapse in an instant. I might even get my hands on a decent amount of food."
"The key is figuring out which room he's staying in."
Lin Dong frowned. There was another problem—he was alone, outnumbered and outgunned. He needed allies.
But recruiting help came at a cost.
Right now, the only bargaining chip was food.
His own supplies were running low, and there was another issue—how could he ensure his allies wouldn't betray him?
If someone turned on him at a critical moment, he'd be in serious danger.
His thoughts turned to Cai Zhi and Ma Guocai.
Could they be trusted?
Lin Dong shook his head.
"In the face of disaster, order has already collapsed. I can't afford to trust anyone lightly. The more dangerous things get, the more I have to stay sharp."
"Besides, Liu Erlong wasn't acting normal today."
He suddenly remembered Liu Erlong's ferocious demeanor earlier, and a chill ran through him.
Today, Liu Erlong had charged up the stairs, leaping and bounding with the speed of a cheetah.
Not only that—he had even managed to smash and warp Lin Dong's security door with his bare hands.
Was that even humanly possible?
The security door of his house was of decent quality. To dent it with bare hands, how much strength must Liu Erlong possess?
"Can someone with just a basic fitness background achieve this?"
He couldn't quite comprehend it—such power shouldn't belong to an ordinary person.
Liu Erlong was definitely not ordinary.
Peering down from the balcony, Lin Dong spotted some light coming from the rooms below and a plan suddenly formed in his mind.
"Can I climb down from the outside balcony?"
"I've been practicing pull-ups these days, so arm strength shouldn't be an issue. The real question is whether the balcony below is sealed off."
"I remember the 31st floor is occupied by a single woman, whose online name in the owners' group is Song Dabao? Seems like after the Great Flood, I haven't seen her much."
As Lin Dong pondered, a deafening roar suddenly erupted.
The entire floor began to tremble!
His expression changed instantly, and he rushed toward the door.
Through the peephole, he saw several men wearing helmets and thick padded jackets, wielding sledgehammers, violently smashing against his security door!