95: With great power comes great responsibility?

Under the immense pressure, Xu Da's face turned black and purple, and the intense feeling of suffocation brought the fear of death. He didn't understand why Tian Ming wanted to kill him.

The other three were extremely scared. Even when facing zombies, they had a chance to escape, but facing Tian Ming, a deep sense of powerlessness welled up in their hearts.

"Boss, we... we just stole something. You, why do you want to kill us?" Pan Ting cried out in fear. She had a good relationship with Xu Da, and seeing Xu Da tortured beyond recognition, she was extremely panicked.

"He said, I could do whatever I wanted to him. Someone like him just brings trouble upon himself," Tian Ming said indifferently.

Xu Da, in extreme pain, looked at Tian Ming. The arrogance he had initially was gone, replaced by fear and death, filling his eyes with pleading, but he could no longer make any sound.

With a thought, Tian Ming made the carbon fiber binding Xu Da disappear, and he fell heavily to the ground.

Xu Da lay on the ground, gasping for air. His whole body felt as if it had been run over by a car, and all his bones seemed to have broken.

Tian Ming looked at them and slowly said, "Two choices. First, return the stolen goods, but ten times the amount. Second, work for me, but for the first three months, I'll only provide food; nothing else. Of course, if you try to escape, I also have ways to find you. Four people stole a ton of goods; finding your hideout isn't difficult for me."

Tian Ming had completely different attitudes towards Ability Users and ordinary people. For ordinary people, Tian Ming was more lenient. But for Ability Users, it was different. People with superpowers, if not loyal to him, posed a greater threat if they betrayed him.

From the beginning, Tian Ming used strong methods to intimidate them. After subduing them, trust could be slowly built. What Tian Ming wanted to do was to eliminate any thought of resistance in these four people's minds.

The four exchanged glances. Although they were unconvinced, in the face of absolute strength, they could only submit.

Sun Wentao asked, "We are willing to work for you, but what about the people in our Shelter?"

Sun Wentao was naturally referring to the people on the other side of the mountain. When the zombie outbreak occurred, a dozen Ability Users and over a hundred survivors followed the road to a valley where there was an abandoned tunnel, and they established a small Shelter there.

This tunnel was about ten kilometers in a straight line from Tian Ming's Shelter, but it was far from the city. This small Shelter was much worse than Tian Ming's. There was no electricity, no fuel, no supplies, nothing. In this snow-covered mountain state, supplies were consumed even faster.

Actually, it wasn't that bad at first. Initially, they could still drive into the city to collect supplies, but later, as the zombies mutated and became much stronger, more and more people died while collecting supplies, and eventually, they lost their cars. Easily collected supplies also became scarcer and scarcer. And electric cars, without electricity, were basically out of commission.

Since winter arrived, the survivors hiding in caves and tunnels had an even harder time. In just the past half-month, over half of their people had starved or frozen to death.

Listening to Sun Wentao's narration, Tian Ming's brows furrowed.

"How many people are left in your Shelter?" Tian Ming asked.

Sun Wentao sighed and said, "There are sixty-one left, plus the four of us, making a total of sixty-five. If we hadn't brought supplies back yesterday, they would have started on those who died.

It's been snowing heavily this whole time, and except for the four of us, the roads are blocked. They have nothing to keep warm. They can't get out at all and can only huddle in the tunnel."

Upon hearing this, Tian Ming's face showed a slight smile. This smile, however, made the four of them feel a hint of unease. Others were suffering, yet he could still smile?

Pan Ting's brows furrowed slightly, and she asked, "What are you smiling about?"

The smile on Tian Ming's face seemed to irritate some people's fragile nerves.

"Why bother exhausting yourselves collecting supplies for them? Come here, and I can guarantee that with your abilities, you'll have plenty of food and clothing. As for those in the tunnel, if they die, they die," Tian Ming said indifferently.

The indifference in Tian Ming's words sent a chill through their hearts. Those were over sixty lives! Could they just be abandoned?

Pan Ting looked at Tian Ming and slowly said, "In your eyes, is human life worthless? Aren't you being too heartless?"

Tian Ming said indifferently, "In this world now, it's good enough to take care of yourself. Don't ask for too much. Instead of worrying about others, you should worry about yourselves first."

Xu Da had recovered. He slowly sat up and said, "Boss of the Shelter, there's a saying, I don't know if you've heard it: with great power comes great responsibility. Since heaven has bestowed us with abilities, we should bear some responsibility."

Tian Ming frowned. He hated lecturing, especially this kind of sanctimonious lecturing.

He waved his hand and said, "Alright, stop with the nonsense. Tell me the location of your Shelter. Can we drive there?"

Pan Ting's heart brightened, and she asked, "Are you going to save those people?"

Tian Ming did not directly answer Pan Ting's question, repeating instead, "I said, can we drive to your Shelter?" Tian Ming's tone was much heavier.

Sun Wentao nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, but we have to go around the mountain to the north. The straight-line distance to here is only about ten kilometers, but to drive there, we'll have to go an extra 50 kilometers or so by taking a detour."

Tian Ming stood up, looked at Meng Dong beside him, and instructed, "Pick ten people who can drive. We'll make a trip tomorrow. I'll go too, to clear the way for you."

Meng Dong nodded and said, "Okay, Boss!"

Tian Ming then looked at the four and said, "The four of you, join my Shelter and obey my management. I can save the living people in your Shelter."

The four were stunned, then overjoyed.

"Thank you, thank you, Boss, we are willing to join."

Tian Ming lacked both basic labor and high-end talent. Saving over sixty people and recruiting four Ability Users was very cost-effective for Tian Ming. He considered the abilities of these four to be somewhat redundant, but compared to ordinary people, they were much stronger.

"The four of you can rest in the conference room. Once everyone is brought back, I'll arrange your living quarters."

After Tian Ming finished speaking, he walked out of the conference room, and the others followed. The four of them sat there, looking at each other.

"Xu Da, are you okay?" Pan Ting asked.

Xu Da shook his head: "I'm fine. He didn't intend to take my life; otherwise, I wouldn't be alive."

Hong Wei, who had been silent, sneered and said, "I suggested from the beginning that the four of us should join this Shelter. You insisted on saving those burdens. Luckily, this high-level Ability User Boss is reasonable, otherwise, we would have surely died here."

Xu Da said somewhat displeased, "Hong Wei, what do you mean? We are a team. Without Pan Ting's wall-passing ability, could you have collected so many supplies?"

"True, without you, I would have starved to death long ago. And with great power comes great responsibility? When the three of us were caught, I wonder which little brat ran the fastest," Hong Wei's eyes were full of mockery.

Sun Wentao said, "Alright, stop arguing. No matter what, the outcome is good. Tomorrow, we'll go save the people, and with our abilities, we won't have trouble making a living in this Shelter."

Posting again, lest someone skips a chapter and misses it.