Xiang An felt a chill run up his spine, and suddenly turned and looked up.
Behind the rusty anti-theft bars on the second floor, a head cautiously peeked out, squeezing out a flattering smile as it called softly:
"Little brother, can you spare some food? I haven't eaten all day."
【C-Level Survivor detected, add to database?】
Xiang An sized up the man inside the window; he looked a bit familiar, maybe he also ran a shop downstairs?
"Add." He muttered to himself.
【Talent file established!】
【C-Level Survivor: Ye Dayong】
【Skill: Mechanical Repair (lv.1)】
【Database reward: Guide to Disassembling Abandoned Items】
【Shelter buff: Tool durability +10%】
"Are you... the owner of the auto repair shop?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Da Yong Auto Repair at the entrance is mine! Brother, you must have seen me!" Ye Dayong spoke rapidly, the veins in his neck bulging with his swallowing actions, "Even just a pack of biscuits would be fine, it's an emergency, a matter of life and death!"
Xiang An nodded towards the vigilant Shen Xia.
Shen Xia understood and turned to get some biscuits, bread, and bottled water from the shelves, putting them in a plastic bag and handing it to Xiang An.
Seeing the food in the plastic bag, Ye Dayong leaned more than half his body out the window: "Thank you, big brother! Thank you, big sister!"
Hearing this, Shen Xia's body stiffened, and a blush quickly spread across her cheeks. Having always been a solitary person, she had never experienced a situation where she needed to clarify such a misunderstanding.
Xiang An had no time to correct the title details and pushed the supplies through the gap in the bars: "Planning to stay holed up here forever?"
"What can ordinary folks like us do..." Ye Dayong mumbled while wolfing down the food, biscuit crumbs rustling onto the windowsill.
"We'll be coming here often to move supplies, so we can help you out along the way." Xiang An shook his head, "But in the long run..."
With that, he nodded towards Shen Xia and returned, loaded with supplies.
The supplies piled on the balcony were tightly covered with a waterproof tarp. As Shen Xia organized the supplies, she emphasized:
"All food must be moisture-proofed to extend its shelf life as much as possible."
As Xiang An unloaded his backpack and counted the bottled water, he found a small booklet at the bottom. The cover read "Guide to Disassembling Abandoned Items".
Flipping through it briefly, the manual was detailed, covering "Systematic Disassembly Process", "Tool Adaptation Suggestions", "Safe and Efficient Operation Standards", and "Resource Replacement Chart".
"Xiang Ge, the window on the first floor, room 102, is broken."
Xiang An was still flipping through the manual when Shen Xia's voice came from the balcony.
She leaned on the windowsill, poking out half her head, her tone serious: "Zombies should have gotten in already."
Xiang An quickly went to the window and saw greyish-white figures moving behind the broken glass pane.
Although the phone used earlier to lure the zombie horde away had been retrieved, the gathered zombies still hadn't dispersed and had even pushed down the fragile window frame.
"We can't let them keep getting in," he said, frowning, "Cleaning them out later will be a big hassle."
"Luring them away isn't difficult, just repeat what we did before," Shen Xia said, adjusting the backup phone, "But there will still be the same problem from other directions."
"Don't worry, I have a way to solve it completely, but it will take some time to gather materials."
"Using the door we just took down?" Shen Xia's eyes suddenly lit up, "That... can I see how you do it?"
Xiang An glanced at her, seemingly weighing whether to reveal his secret.
"I promise to keep it a secret," Shen Xia said cautiously, "I swear on the three million words of manuscripts on my hard drive that I won't reveal a single word to anyone."
"Including writing it into your novel?" Xiang An raised an eyebrow.
Sensing the teasing tone, Shen Xia's tense shoulders relaxed: "At most, I'll just imagine it; I definitely won't write it down."
Xiang An handed the manual to Shen Xia: "These are partial operating instructions, involving national emergency research secrets. Once you've seen it, there's no turning back."
The manual contained no information about the system, and even included some seemingly profound and mysterious principles, which were more convincing than his baseless fabrications.
Later, as the shelter expanded and upgraded, he would definitely need trusted subordinates. And compared to others, Shen Xia, who had shared hardships and fought alongside him in the early stages of the disaster, was certainly more deserving of trust.
Shen Xia's fingertips trembled slightly as she took the manual: "Are you really letting me see this?"
"Let's be clear first, once you've seen it, you're my person. Even if you want to leave in the future, it'll be impossible."
"In this world now, where else can I go?" Shen Xia eagerly flipped open the title page, "Even without seeing the booklet, don't I still have to be your laborer?"
Xiang An stopped talking and got straight to the point:
"To solve the problem of zombies breaking in through the windows, I plan to build a 'metal grid zombie barrier' fortification on the ground floor, which will require rebar, chains, and iron railings."
Shen Xia flipped through the manual and said in surprise, "So that special equipment can automatically assemble and weld these materials? It must be very large, why haven't I seen it?"
"It's this." Xiang An lightly tapped the silver toolbox in the corner with his toe.
The portable workbench currently needs to be activated through the system, so telling Shen Xia was fine.
Shen Xia was dumbfounded: "This... completely defies physical common sense! Xiang Ge, could you be a reborn person with future technology?"
"As expected of a novelist, your imagination runs wild." Xiang An pulled the manual back, flipped to a certain page, and tapped a small section of text with his fingertip, "This is a modular intelligent construction device developed by the national emergency research department, combining nanobot disassembly technology and prefabricated rapid prototyping principles."
"Has technology advanced this far?" Shen Xia was half-skeptical, "Where does it say that?"
"You've just stayed at home too long without going out and interacting, so you're too slow to perceive the progress of the times." Xiang An snatched the booklet, subtly changing the subject, "You'll understand when the workbench activates and you observe it up close."
"Who says?" Shen Xia said indignantly, opening her notebook, "I keep up with the cutting edge of technology..."
Xiang An slapped the booklet onto the coffee table: "Since you've seen it, let's first figure out where we can gather rebar. Once the materials are ready, we'll block all defensive loopholes as quickly as possible."
He looked up and glanced at the wall clock:
"Lunch according to your emergency plan? We still need to clear out the remaining zombies in the building this afternoon, so we'll need high-calorie supplies."
Shen Xia blurted out: "Compressed biscuits with canned lunch meat, paired with dark chocolate to supplement sugar, and compound vitamin tablets after the meal. This covers carbohydrates, protein, and trace elements."
Yesterday, Xiang An had asked her to make a supply allocation plan based on the current resources, but worried about consuming supplies too quickly, her plan was actually quite conservative.
However, the trip to the convenience store this morning made her realize that actively exploring during the limited safe period had a risk-reward ratio far superior to passively reducing the consumption rate.
Especially after clearing the unit building, each zombie stronghold would inevitably be accompanied by a varying amount of supply replenishment, far exceeding the amount they would consume for lunch.
Xiang An picked up Shen Xia's phone and the rope on the table, got up, and walked towards the entrance: "Once you've seen enough, go prepare lunch. I'll go to the rooftop first to lure the gathered zombies away."