Apocalyptic Calamity: My Proficiency Panel-Chapter 80 - 70 Initial Exploration of the Gathering

Chapter 80: Chapter 70: Initial Exploration of the Gathering Place_1

Chapter 80: Chapter 70: Initial Exploration of the Gathering Place_1

Li Ming didn’t want to be seen as an external force imposing change. By making the first move himself, he could prevent them from viewing themselves as a unified entity, thereby avoiding the necessity of dealing with them as a whole.

He wanted any semblance of order and humanity to be under his control, not the control of a collective that only interacted with him. This would only make the things he wanted to do even more troublesome.

Moreover, if the gathering place was not closed off and people could move freely in and out, then his entry might be as inconspicuous as meeting a stranger in a neighborhood. No one would be necessarily inclined to treat him differently, allowing him easy access…

While heading here, Li Ming had already planned his approach. Determined, he quickly climbed the stairs to the fifth floor, encountering a guard halfway up the fourth floor.

He raised an eyebrow and paused.

The guards at the stairwell were somewhat taken aback to see a well-built stranger approach.

Having been stationed there, they hadn’t seen Li Ming arrive in his truck. Seeing such a stranger, they wondered who would venture in by themselves at this time.

And why did this stranger look so strong?

“You, what is your business?”

One of the guards couldn’t help but ask, somewhat taken aback by Li Ming’s imposing physique.

“Nothing much, just came to find some people to work. I saw so many people here. I need help with my tasks. Anyone willing to help will be fed three meals a day. They will also have access to bathing facilities and drinking water, safety guaranteed. So I thought, maybe some folks here might be interested.”

Li Ming noticed the guard’s curious smile and casually tossed him a cigarette. The guard scrambled to catch it. Upon seeing this, Li Ming distributed a cigarette each to the other guards as well.

“Looking for workers? In case you haven’t noticed, it’s the end of the world, full of zombies. What kind of work are you talking about?” A young man asked, impatiently lighting up the given cigarette and inhaling deeply, looking at Li Ming with confusion.

“It’s precisely because it’s the end of the world that I need workers. We need to restore production. I’m trained in martial arts and can easily handle regular zombies. But I realized that we must tackle the food issues by growing our own food. Relying on scavenging ready-made things in the city won’t be sustainable.”

Seeing the man smoking, Li Ming thought that things were looking up and he chuckled, “I can’t do all the farming by myself, and I was worrying about what to do. Then I saw all these people around here, and I thought I could hustle to find someone to help.”

“Since it’s the end times, let’s not talk about money. I’ll provide the food, and you help me plant it. When the crops are ready, we will have more food to support us all.”

Li Ming explained his plan calmly and reasonably.

“Are you serious about the work? Where do you plan to grow the crops and how many people do you need? Do you really have that kind of food supply to provide three meals a day?” One of the guards couldn’t resist asking.

“Of course, the farmland is two kilometers away in a villa area. Plenty of land there and I’ve got the seeds. Anybody who’s willing to work can eat, and I guarantee you’ll be well-fed at every meal. After all, only a full belly can produce the energy needed for work.

“However, I only need women for the regular work; I just need a few men for the temporary work of digging land.”

Upon hearing this, Li Ming looked towards him and laughed before pointing out, “There are so many people here. I’m sure I can find a few, right?”

“Ah, sure, you can.”

The guards reflexively nodded at Li Ming’s words. Li Ming thanked them and then walked casually through their midst.

“Wait, did we just let him in?”

The guards still upstairs only reacted after Li Ming reached the upper level, “Don’t we need to notify the boss?”

“Well, the boss didn’t tell us to stop anyone.”

The squad leader pondered, “If he really does have food and can support a group of people, wouldn’t that be good for us? Let’s just pretend we didn’t see anything.”

“Anyway, people come in and out all the time. If something goes wrong, we can simply say we didn’t notice he wasn’t one of us.”

Hearing this, the others looked at each other and silently agreed, thinking of the unique character of the two mutants in the gathering area.

………

After passing the guards at the stairwell, Li Ming looked utterly relaxed, with his weapon in hand. He turned the corner and continued to climb, and soon, a big door appeared before him.

There were three men and five women congregated here. Seeing the sudden appearance of a robust stranger, their gaze shifted onto him, assessing him from head to toe.

Most of the women were dressed scantily, and most were of average appearance. The men were even more simply dressed, only wearing singlet and shorts, with simple weapons in their hands.

The eyes of the eight people were filled with curiosity and scrutiny, obviously having seen Li Ming drive up in his truck.

Li Ming smiled at them, then stepped over the threshold, walking into the interior of the canteen on the rooftop under their gaze.

In an instant, a vast space came into view, a large gathering place appeared before him.

Not far from the door, there were quite a few people huddled together, mostly women, with fewer men. Directly opposite the door was the large bedding layout Li Ming had seen before.

As he entered, many people turned their attention to him. These people had obviously seen him get out of the truck with a backpack, so their gazes fell on him, the outsider.

One piece of bad news – the gathering place was indeed closed off.

But the good news – the administrators hadn’t intervened to kick people out yet, so he could still trick a few more… scratch that… rescue a few more people to go work!

“Hello everyone, my name is Li Ming, I live outside this gathering place. I happened to notice there are a lot of people here a few days ago, so I came over today to ask if anyone is willing to work.”

Li Ming smiled at the people whose gazes were now fixed on him, and immediately addressed the group without hesitation, clearly stating his purpose.

His loud, resonating voice immediately attracted the attention of several people. This was a small gathering place of only a few dozen people. Although the sound of occasional chatter was constant, it was still subdued compared to the sound of Li Ming’s voice.

Quite a few people noticed that this big man had something to say, so they all paid attention.

Seeing that there weren’t too many people paying attention to him, Li Ming smiled, then took off his backpack, opened the zipper, and dumped the food all over the ground.

Instant noodles, bread, braised eggs… a pile of food instantly formed a tantalising stack on the ground.

“Wow!”

In an instant, those casually paying attention to Li Ming suddenly straightened up, their eyes fixed on the pile of food that Li Ming had dumped on the ground.

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At this moment, it seemed that it didn’t matter who this man was, where he came from, or what his ultimate goal might be.

Li Ming noticed the crowd starting to swarm around him and furrowed his eyebrows. He suddenly slammed his crowbar onto the ground.

“Bang!”

With a muffled sound, the floor tile was shattered by the crowbar. The scattered fragments calmed the crowd, especially the group of men who had come from behind holding weapons. They stopped in their tracks.

“Anyone willing to work with me will be guaranteed three meals a day. And each person can now get a sign-up bonus: five packets of instant noodles, two loaves of bread, two braised eggs.”

Li Ming’s sharp gaze swept over the crowd as he shouted out his offer, immediately attracting the attention of everyone in the canteen.