Chapter 115: Victory and Defeat

Fugui let out a disgruntled howl from the side.

If you want to curse someone, just curse them—why insult the dog!

An Nan immediately reached out to pat its head in comfort.

Laifu, who had been pacing nearby, saw everyone gathered by the window and jumped up onto the windowsill as well, his eyes sharp as he looked down.

The atmosphere downstairs was tense, like a drawn sword.

Sun Peng stood in front of the building, looking righteous and imposing. “May I ask what business brings you all to our Maple Grove Community?”

The man called Er Kui gave a crooked smile, his voice loud and clear as he replied,

“We’re here to keep the peace, of course! So we’re collecting a little protection fee. Our brothers can’t work for nothing, right? All the other neighborhoods around here have paid up—yours is the last one.”

Sun Peng’s face was expressionless. “Our community is perfectly safe. There’s no need for you to trouble yourselves.”

Er Kui looked him up and down. “Oh? But I heard that all the residents’ food was stolen by a thug from your own community?”

Sun Peng’s expression darkened.

Robbery is robbery, and yet they act all high and mighty! And they have the nerve to call him a thug?

There was no point in arguing further. He simply drew his gun and pointed it at Er Kui.

“What happens in our community is none of your business! You’d best go back where you came from!”

Er Kui’s smile faded, his face turning grim as he stared at the gun pointed at him.

“So, Brother Sun Peng, you mean there’s nothing to discuss?”

Of course, Sun Peng hoped it wouldn’t come to a fight—his bullets were precious, and he didn’t want to waste a single one.

He’d considered giving them a portion of the supplies to get them to leave.

But then he thought, if he gave them twenty pounds of food today, they’d just think he was afraid of them, and next time they’d come back demanding thirty.

Human greed knows no bounds.

Either you give them nothing, or you have to put up with their ever-increasing demands.

After weighing his options, Sun Peng decided on the former.

His confidence rested on the gun in his hand.

He held the gun steady. “I’m asking you to leave. Now.”

Er Kui narrowed his eyes in displeasure. “You think you alone can hoard all the supplies for the whole community? Isn’t that a bit greedy?”

He took two steps forward as he spoke.

Sun Peng immediately fired a shot into the air to intimidate them.

The gunshot echoed through the neighborhood, deafening.

“I’m warning all of you—take one more step and I’ll shoot! If you know what’s good for you, get out of here!”

Er Kui didn’t move forward, but he didn’t leave either.

The two sides were locked in a standoff for a while, until Er Kui suddenly shouted, “Brothers! Charge!!”

In an instant, a swarm of men rushed forward.

Sun Peng was shocked. Are they crazy? Do they all have a death wish?!

He hurriedly pulled the trigger, firing several shots in quick succession.

But there were just too many people—he didn’t even know who to aim at.

His first instinct was to take out the leader, but Er Kui was shielded in the middle of the crowd, impossible to hit. All he could do was fire wildly into the mob, taking down whoever he could.

But even as some fell, the rest weren’t fazed at all, charging forward with the same ferocity.

The distance between them was only about ten meters—within seconds, more than a hundred people had rushed up and subdued Sun Peng.

They wrestled the gun from him and pinned him to the ground, his face full of shock.

Are they really not afraid to die?!

“You’re all insane! Insane!!”

In just a few seconds, he’d killed two and wounded five, firing off several rounds, but it hadn’t scared them at all.

The few lackeys behind him were no help at all; they ended up beaten black and blue.

Now, terrified, they crouched on the ground with their heads in their hands, begging for mercy.

“It’s nothing to do with us! We barely know Sun Peng, we’re just neighbors! He forced us down here at gunpoint to back him up!”

“Yeah, that’s right! We didn’t do anything!”

“We’re willing to cooperate with you guys and hand over our food!”

They all scrambled to distance themselves from Sun Peng, as if they hadn’t been the ones going door to door robbing people under his protection just moments ago.

Sun Peng was furious at their shamelessness.

Just before, they were all calling him “Brother Sun” like he was family! Now they turned on him in an instant.

Upstairs, An Nan watched through the window and shook her head.

“Useless.”

She’d thought Sun Peng, with all his bluster, would at least put up a fight and wear down the enemy, even if he couldn’t win.

Who would have thought that after all those shots, he’d only killed two? So many bullets wasted.

She’d overestimated him.

Er Kui slowly emerged from the crowd, looking at Sun Peng with smug satisfaction.

“Well, didn’t expect to lose, did you? You acted so arrogant just because you had a pistol! Did you really think we’re all cowards afraid to die?”

He looked around at his men and shouted, “Brothers! Go upstairs and take all his supplies!

Seventy percent goes to the families of our fallen brothers! The rest gets divided up—wounded brothers get three shares each!”

The crowd cheered and rushed upstairs to haul away the supplies.

What Sun Peng didn’t know was that the biggest difference between these men and the community residents was organization.

They lived collectively—even if someone was injured or killed, their families would get extra benefits. Every time they went out for supplies, those families would get a bigger share than anyone else.

For them, dying was almost more profitable than living.

These young men never had regular jobs, always hanging out together, obsessed with gangster brotherhood.

In the apocalypse, with no laws to restrain them, every fight became a contest of reckless bravado.

Even if it meant risking their lives, they felt dying was glorious—honoring brotherhood and earning more for their families.

The rest of the group had no objections.

Now that they’d taken over the community, they’d have a steady stream of supplies—there was no rush.

Er Kui enjoyed the look of defeat on Sun Peng’s face, playing with his gun in his hand.

The bullets were spent. He patted Sun Peng down and, sure enough, found a spare, fully loaded magazine.

Er Kui clapped him on the shoulder. “Sorry, your gun and these fifteen bullets are mine now!”

He turned to his men. “Search the place carefully—see if there are any more bullets.”

Over an hour later, the group had hauled all the supplies from the thirteenth floor downstairs.

Along the way, they also dragged out Wang Xiaoyu, who’d been hiding in her apartment.

Wang Xiaoyu’s hair was disheveled, her face full of terror.

Er Kui walked up, grabbed her chin, and looked her over.

“Not bad. Brothers, we’re taking this woman with us!”

Wang Xiaoyu’s face went pale with fear, and she turned to Sun Peng for help.

“Brother Peng! Save me, please!”

One look at these men and you could tell they were ruthless. If she really went with them, she’d be lucky to survive."