Extreme Cold Apocalypse: My Shelter is Full of Beautiful Women

Chapter 39: Merger and Acquisition, the OPs' Premeditated Plan.

The owner of Building 2 died.

This news was like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, creating ripples of varying sizes in the neighborhood.

Veteran Zhou.

The old man who had been discharged from the army for many years, whose left arm was still wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage, the man who gritted his teeth and bought the first arrow tower for the children in the building, was found dead in the snow below his own building.

The body was frozen solid, and the expression on its face was still frozen in the moment before it died.

It wasn't fear, it wasn't anger, it was confusion.

It was as if he never understood why the person who killed him did so, even until his death.

"Old soldier Zhou is dead."

When the message reached 404, Ye Yan put down his teacup, paused for a moment, and asked, "How did they die?"

The other party died in an area not covered by the Fire Eye, and even Ye Yan did not know the specifics.

Le Wuyou held up her phone, her face pale: "The group chat says she was killed. There was a wound on her neck, not from a wild animal bite, but from a sharp weapon. She bled to death, and the blood froze in the snow, covering a large area."

"They are awakened beings."

Standing by the window, Qi Rushuang looked in the direction of Building 2 and finally spoke her conjecture: "Ordinary people can't even stand downstairs in this weather. Only an Awakened One could kill someone at this time and escape unscathed."

Ye Yan did not deny it.

Through the fire eye.

Ye Yan could see that Building 2 was currently in complete chaos.

Without the protection of the original poster, the survivors in the building were like a swarm of headless flies, running around in fear and despair.

However, the chaos did not last long.

The people from Building 9 have arrived.

Zhao Tianchen's men, those with vacant eyes and stiff movements.

They stood in a row in front of the two buildings and announced in a flat, monotone voice:

Starting today, Building 2 will be merged into Building 9.

No one resisted.

It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't dare.

Those "people" stood there, emanating an indescribable stench of decay, and anyone who approached them would instinctively feel a chilling fear.

That fear did not come from rational judgment, but from the instinctive alertness of an animal.

Ye Yan, who witnessed all of this through his fiery eyes, frowned.

"What's going on with these people?"

Looking at these puppet-like people, Ye Yan had a bad feeling.

It seems that Xu Qiang's information about Zhao Tianchen's sequence of events is incorrect!

Furthermore, judging from this situation, Zhao Tianchen's sequence is quite troublesome!

Building 2 was thus quietly swallowed up.

Some voices started to appear in the group.

It started very lightly, as if testing the waters.

"Who would kill someone as good as Old Soldier Zhou?"

"He doesn't usually make enemies."

Then, the wind changed direction.

"Think about it, who benefits the most from Zhou Laobing's death?"

A message suddenly popped up, directly tagging Ye Yan: "Ye Yan, did you kill Old Soldier Zhou? You sold him the arrow tower, then turned around and killed him, just to scare the other people in the buildings into buying your stuff? Is that it?"

The message was not sent.

It displays "Blocked by the group owner".

But everyone saw it.

Everyone saw it in the seconds before it was deleted.

silence.

No one spoke again, but everyone knew the truth.

It's not Ye Yanqian's.

The smart ones know that's not true.

But intelligent people are always in the minority.

Most people's minds are filled not with logic, but with fear.

Fear needs an outlet, it needs a specific person to hate.

Ye Yan, on the other hand, had arrow towers, torches, two beautiful women, a warm room, and everything they lacked.

Hating him needs no reason.

"The sentiment in the group is not right."

Qi Rushuang put down her phone and walked to Ye Yan's side.

Her voice remained calm, but her brows furrowed slightly, an expression she only wore when she was thinking.

"Someone is stirring up trouble. The death of Veteran Zhou is being deliberately framed against you."

Ye Yan leaned back on the sofa.

"I know."

Aren't you worried?

"What are you worried about?"

Ye Yan glanced at her, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Worried they hate me? They've hated me since day one."

What I fear most is not that they hate me.

Qi Rushuang squatted down, her gaze level with Ye Yan's.

"What I fear most are those original posters; if they unite, they'll be difficult to deal with."

Ye Yan remained silent.

Qi Rushuang continued, "Old Soldier Zhou's death is probably related to those who wanted to kill you. Every business you sold—arrow towers, torches, fire eyes—were weakening their power. Before, the people in their building could only survive by relying on them."

Now, they can rely on you. Those thread owners' prestige is waning day by day; if this continues, their threads will become yours.

"so what?"

"So someone killed Old Soldier Zhou and framed you. First, to get rid of a disobedient leader; second, to make the other leaders wary of you; and third, to sow suspicion in the minds of ordinary people." Qi Rushuang said, word by word, "A triple kill."

Le Wuyou sat up from the sofa, clutching her doll, her expression a mixture of confusion and horror: "Wait, wait, wait, what are you talking about? Who killed Old Soldier Zhou? Why are you framing Ye Yan? Why are those landlords uniting?"

Ye Yan glanced at her.

Le Wuyou looked genuinely bewildered.

"Because you're stupid," Ye Yan said.

"You're the stupid one!"

"You're not stupid, so tell me, who killed Old Soldier Zhou?"

Le Wuyou opened his mouth, then closed it again.

She looked down at the doll in her arms, poked its eyes with her finger, and muttered softly, "How should I know—"

Ye Yan did not continue to make things difficult for her.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the buildings outside illuminated by the firelight.

"I have touched upon their interests."

He said, his tone as calm as if he were describing the weather, "The arrow towers weakened their irreplaceable status, the torches robbed them of their monopoly on supplies, and the fire-eyes directly reached into their buildings. Before, the people in their buildings could only kneel and beg for their protection. Whether there was food or not was up to them; who would go on patrol was up to them; who would live and who would die was up to them."

He turned around.

"Now, those people can buy torches from me for warmth, and arrow towers from me for survival. Those landlords are no longer the only option. Their power is slowly flowing into my hands."

"So they want to kill you?" Yue Wuyou finally caught up.

"It's not necessarily those landlords who want to kill me." Ye Yan shook his head. "Old Soldier Zhou is dead. Who killed him? Zhao Tianchen? Possibly. Blind Liu? Also possible. Jiang Yu? Although she has a motive, she doesn't seem like the type to do such a thing."

"Who is that?"

"have no idea."

Ye Yan turned around and looked out the window towards Building 2.

"But it doesn't matter."

Le Wuyou's eyes widened: "Doesn't matter? Someone wants to kill you, and you're telling me it doesn't matter?"

"That sounds pretty scary."

"Aren't you afraid?"

Ye Yan didn't answer, but just smiled.

That smile sent a chill down Qi Rushuang's spine.

"Aren't they afraid of having their power taken away?" Ye Yan looked at the wolves outside the window, thought of the new blueprints, and sneered.

"Then I'll let them see it for themselves."

We're short of manpower!