59: You Suowei

Ten minutes later, the patrol team's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Report, Boss, a man was found outside the Shelter's wall, he fell into the anti-zombie trench and injured his leg!"

Tian Ming picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Ask him, what is he doing?"

"Boss, he says his name is You Suowei, and he's the owner of a cannery. He came to attend a trade fair, and then the zombies broke out, trapping him in the warehouse where he stored his goods. After the weather turned cold, he ran out."

Tian Ming frowned. Running away while guarding a canned goods warehouse? Is this person out of his mind? Doubts aside, he needed to know the location of that canned goods warehouse.

"Bring him back. First, go to Dr. Wu to get him bandaged, then arrange for him to rest in your patrol team's lounge. Tomorrow at noon, have him wait for me in the lounge."

"Understood, Boss!"

Tian Ming turned off the walkie-talkie, flopped onto the bed, and closed his eyes.

...

The next day at noon, after Tian Ming got up, he flew directly from his own rooftop towards the patrol team's lounge.

It wasn't to show off; it was purely to practice the precision of his airflow control.

If he could fly instead of walk, he would. When he became powerful enough, he'd form an air shield in front of himself and fly at Mach 20, circling the globe in an hour.

Tian Ming's thoughts were grand, but he wasn't sure if such high-speed flight could be achieved. He probably wouldn't be able to react fast enough.

The patrol team's night shift personnel had already gone to sleep. In the lounge sat a scruffy, bearded Fat Man, gnawing on a white steamed bun and occasionally sipping hot water.

His face and hands had large areas of frostbite, and his clothes were tattered. It was hard to imagine what kind of willpower this guy had relied on to make it here.

In the lounge, Doggo was also present. Seeing Tian Ming arrive, he quickly stood up.

"Boss!"

The scruffy, bearded Fat Man also quickly stood up. He wiped his mouth haphazardly with his hand, his face constrained, and his voice a bit hoarse.

"Boss!"

Tian Ming nodded and said, "Sit down!"

After they sat down, Doggo's walkie-talkie rang.

"Brother Doggo, there's a fight at the greenhouse construction site, come over."

Doggo picked up his electric baton and said into the walkie-talkie, "Alright, I'm coming over. Damn, these people just can't settle down!"

"Boss, I'll go handle it!" Doggo said.

Tian Ming waved his hand. Doggo threw on his jacket and rushed out in a hurry.

Tian Ming looked at the Fat Man and said, "You're You Suowei?"

The Fat Man quickly stood up, his attitude extremely respectful.

"Boss, Brother Doggo just told me the rules here. As long as you're willing to take me in, I will definitely abide by the Shelter's rules."

Tian Ming waved his hand and said, "No rush. Introduce yourself. I heard you're in the food industry."

You Suowei nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, I do canned food processing and pre-made meals. I have a few factories in this city. The weather got too cold, and the backup power and cold storage all broke down, so the three of us drove out in a truck. We originally wanted to find a large Shelter, but we couldn't find one, and the three people with me froze to death on the way."

As the Fat Man spoke, tears streamed down his face. Relatives and friends had all died in this disaster. In fact, most people who survived were like this.

The Fat Man paused, then continued, "I know of a warehouse in the eastern suburbs of the city, and several logistics bases, where there are large quantities of food. If we can figure out a way to get them here, several years of food consumption won't be a problem. Also, I know a lot about food processing, storage, and preservation. I heard from Brother Doggo that you have superpowers, Boss. I can definitely be of great use under your command."

Tian Ming remained calm, his face expressionless. He said, "There are large quantities of supplies in the city, but we don't have that high a transport capacity. Even if you know the location of the storage and logistics center, it's highly unlikely we can get them here."

The Fat Man's face showed some disappointment. Everyone had their strengths, but whether there were conditions to utilize them was another matter.

You Suowei was in food processing, but now, let alone food processing, he didn't even have raw materials. How could he process anything?

His skills weren't immediately needed by the Shelter, though they might be in the future. That would have to wait until the first batch of vegetables was grown in the greenhouse.

Those excess vegetables could be dehydrated and then stored. Even if everything went smoothly, that would still be half a year to a year away.

You Suowei felt uneasy. He had extensive frostbite all over his body, which was both itchy and painful. Although there was a Clinic, seeing a doctor and getting medicine there still required food tickets or material coupons.

You Suowei had just arrived here, and Doggo had only given him five hundred grams of food tickets, which he had already spent on hot water and two buns and steamed buns at the cafeteria.

Tian Ming could see You Suowei's unease and spoke, "Don't be too nervous. Take good care of yourself. Once you've recovered a bit, go find a job in the work shed. Everyone in the Shelter has to contribute. As long as someone contributes, no matter how much or how little, I will ensure they don't starve."

"Boss, from now on, my life is yours." You Suowei knelt down, his display a bit exaggerated. But in the apocalypse, simply surviving was difficult enough; who cared about so-called self-respect?

"When Doggo gets back, have him arrange a room for you. Mark the location of that storage facility for me; I want to see it."

Tian Ming pulled out his phone, which had an offline map of the entire city.

You Suowei rubbed his hands, took the phone, and marked a location on the map. Then he returned the phone to Tian Ming.

Tian Ming looked at it. It wasn't far from the Shelter, only about fifteen kilometers.

The city was sealed by heavy snow. Although the Shelter's supplies were decent for now, there was no telling when this kind of weather would end. So, they had to find other ways to get supplies.

If ground transport wasn't feasible, then they'd go by air. Tian Ming thought, "It would be great if I had a helicopter."

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. He remembered the set of flying equipment belonging to Shen Yi and Shen Yuan, the siblings. That stuff was good! How could he have forgotten about it?

Tian Ming picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Shen Yi, where are you?"

"Boss, I'm in the Laboratory behind the Talent Building!" Shen Yi's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Alright, I'm coming over!"

Inside the Laboratory, Shen Yi was tinkering with a miniature engine model. A pile of plastic 3D printed parts lay there. Unbeknownst to him, Tian Ming was already standing behind Shen Yi.

"What is this?" Tian Ming asked.

"A hydrogen internal combustion engine. Its structure isn't much different from a traditional internal combustion engine. I've been researching it for a while and have pretty much figured it out." Shen Yi straightened up and introduced it to Tian Ming.

As long as the celestial ring remained, the severe cold could persist for a very long time. For Tian Ming's abilities, other fossil fuels were too complex. Only hydrogen was the simplest. His tinkering with such an internal combustion engine was actually for long-term consideration.

Tian Ming understood Shen Yi's intention and didn't object. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Don't bother with this for now. Show me your single-person flying device."