97: This is what the end of the world should look like

In the darkness of the tunnel, a thin man walked over, his eyes squinting into a narrow slit from the light of the flashlight, having been in the dark for too long.

The clothes on the man's body had already formed into hard plates, stiffly worn, like he was wearing a suit of armor.

His hair was matted on his head like an oil slick, his face was covered in grime, and his lips were pale and cracked; if he hadn't spoken, Tian Ming would have thought he had encountered a zombie.

He slowly shuffled over, his pupils gradually adjusting to the light.

"Brother Tao, you're back! I thought, I thought you had abandoned us!" The man's voice was hoarse and tearful, not too old, yet a man was tearfully wiping his eyes in distress.

This man was named Liu Shu, in charge of supplies at the Tunnel Shelter, but continuous cold weather had pushed this Shelter to the brink of despair. The only hope for everyone was an Ability Users team like Sun Wentao's.

Sun Wentao said, "Don't cry. We're saved. There's a large Shelter willing to take us in. This is the leader of that Shelter, Leader Tian Ming!"

Liu Shu squinted his eyes, looking at the man in front of him. He dropped to his knees with a thud: "Leader Tian Ming, you are our savior! If you hadn't come, we would have been eating dead people in a few more days."

"Alright, stop crying. Where are your people? Take me to see them," Tian Ming said.

Liu Shu nodded and led Tian Ming and the others towards the depths of the tunnel.

After walking about fifty meters, they entered a larger utility room, where dried grass covered the ground. The air was foul and pungent, like a mixture of a cesspit, sweaty feet, rotten eggs, and fermented herring, truly indescribable.

Inside the utility room, men and women were huddled together, curled up for warmth. Under the light of Tian Ming's flashlight, their faces were numb and vacant. Their eyes were hollow, their bodies trembled, and having not bathed for several months, some of their clothes, stripped from the dead, emitted a putrid stench.

Seeing Sun Wentao return with Tian Ming, they showed no surprise, just a numb and weak smile, then continued to huddle together, as if the world had lost its color.

In this Shelter, there was initially competition and internal strife. But later, with the arrival of heavy snow, no heating, and dwindling resources, the internal strife abruptly ceased. Everyone huddled together, their faces showing weakness and exhaustion.

Squeak, squeak, a few mice scurried out from under the dried grass. Tian Ming frowned slightly; this place was too dirty and too smelly, simply not a place for humans to live.

"Everyone, stand up and follow me. My Shelter has food, heating, and a hospital. I'll give you ten minutes; I won't wait past that. The vehicles are outside the tunnel."

Tian Ming dropped these words and turned to leave. He couldn't stand being in this place. Others couldn't see it, but he did: several people in the pile were already dead, and those mice were currently feasting on them.

Behind him, Sun Wentao's voice came from the tunnel: "Everyone, don't just stand there! Hurry up and go! Do you still want to live?"

As the voice fell, those people one by one crawled out of the haystacks. They were too listless to even speak, their expressions numb, mechanically shuffling their steps.

Tian Ming and Meng Dong stood at the tunnel entrance, Meng Dong's expression somewhat heavy. He had already instructed people to turn on the heating in the vehicles.

"Under the Apocalypse, these are just ordinary people," Meng Dong said with some emotion.

Whoosh, a box of bread appeared, along with a box of mineral water. Tian Ming said to Meng Dong, "Have the brothers distribute some food to them."

Meng Dong nodded and said, "Alright, Leader!"

With that, he opened the box of bread, and Meng Dong and the others distributed the loaves one by one.

Ten minutes later, Sun Wentao ran over: "Leader, five people have already died, and two others, whose legs were bitten by rats earlier, are already unconscious. Should we take these two?"

The two people were carried out, right at the tunnel entrance. Tian Ming walked over and took a look. One person's leg had turned completely black and was entirely necrotic. Both of these individuals had been unconscious for a long time, merely hanging on by a thread.

"Leader, these two are still alive, but even if we take them back, they can't be saved. Their limbs are already necrotic, and they weren't amputated in time," Meng Dong said.

"Give them a send-off."

After Tian Ming uttered these words, he got into the vehicle. Subsequently, two gunshots echoed from the tunnel entrance. The suffering of those two people ended at that moment.

Out of 61, seven more died overnight. The remaining people were not in good condition either. They felt as if they were dreaming, it seemed so unreal.

Sun Wentao drove at the front of the convoy, while Tian Ming sat in the passenger seat, silent. After gaining superpowers, it was like being an emperor, far removed from human suffering; some things he simply couldn't see.

"Leader, it wasn't this bad here at first. The situation only rapidly deteriorated after the snow fell," Sun Wentao sighed and said.

"Why are you explaining to me? Don't you have heating ability? Why didn't you provide them with heating?" Tian Ming's three consecutive questions left Sun Wentao speechless.

He had tried, but in such cold weather, once he stopped, the heat dissipated very quickly. If he used his ability for too long, he would become fatigued. He couldn't be a human heater.

"Leader, no matter what, I still thank you on their behalf!" Sun Wentao said somewhat awkwardly.

Tian Ming's lips curled into a cold smile: "There's no need to thank me. The ones who survived are only alive because it wasn't their time to die. At first, you had over a dozen Ability Users; with even a little sense, you wouldn't have collapsed. The value of you Ability Users is much higher than ordinary people, yet you foolishly acted as their nannies. Before the snow fell, couldn't you have had them gather food themselves?"

Sun Wentao sighed. They, these people, were too benevolent. Their abilities couldn't control the whole situation, yet they wanted to be saviors. Not everyone can be a savior; at the very least, you need abilities comparable to gods for reality to operate according to the rules you set.

Tian Ming closed his eyes, leaned back on the seat cushion, and slowly spoke: "Kindness that exceeds one's ability will only make the situation worse. Before acting, you must carefully weigh yourself. Can you bear the consequences? If not, cut ties when necessary. For useless people, abandon them when necessary."

"Leader's lesson is correct!"

Sun Wentao nodded slightly. He couldn't refute what Tian Ming said.

An hour and a half later, everyone returned to the Shelter. Gouzi and Lin Yue were already waiting at the Shelter entrance. After getting out of the vehicle, Gouzi scurried over.

"These people are entrusted to you. Register them well, settle them in well, and give them three days to recover. If there are special talents, recommend them to me. All expenses will be put on account, and they will need to repay their debts once they recover," Tian Ming said, and Gouzi nodded continuously.

Lin Yue, however, hesitated to speak, as if there was something she was debating whether to report to Tian Ming.

"Looking at you, it seems like something's up?" Tian Ming asked.

Lin Yue gritted her teeth and decided to tell Tian Ming: "Leader, in the dormitory area, someone is pimping."