Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies

Chapter 246: West Hill Shelter

When Zhang Yi and Huahua returned home, the living room lights were still on. The commotion caused by Huahua’s earlier cries had woken up Zhou Ke’er and the others. When they realized Zhang Yi was not in his room, they waited for him in the living room, as Zhang Yi was the backbone of their shelter.

Upon seeing everyone awake, Zhang Yi said, "It's good you’re up. I have some tasks I need you all to take care of."

Curious, the women asked, "What do you need us to do?"

Zhang Yi briefly recounted the night's events, explaining how he had dealt with the two intruders. The mention of someone being able to pass through the shelter's solid walls made them all anxious. But they were relieved when Zhang Yi assured them that the intruders had been taken care of.

Zhou Ke’er, hugging herself, frowned in thought, "But the fact that two Superhumans appeared together suggests they must be part of an organized group. Taking them out might lead to retaliation."

Zhang Yi responded confidently, "You don’t need to worry about that. This shelter is incredibly sturdy—it could withstand artillery fire during wartime. Besides, with all the snow outside, large weapons are unusable. I made sure to eliminate that woman who could pass through walls to prevent any chance of our shelter being compromised."

Hearing this, the women sighed in relief. None of them could fight, and their peaceful, happy life depended entirely on Zhang Yi’s protection. They were all deeply reliant on him, especially in times of crisis.

"Now, I’m going to assign you some tasks," Zhang Yi continued. "We might be facing a powerful and unknown force, and we don’t know how strong they are. So, we need to be as prepared as possible."

He turned first to Lu Keran, the mechanical genius. "Keran, I need you to create a large number of explosive devices and set them up around the house. Let me know what materials you need, and I’ll go out and find them."

Being a native of Tianhai City, Zhang Yi knew the locations of the city’s major chemical factories and laboratories, so sourcing the necessary materials wouldn’t be a problem.

Lu Keran nodded firmly, "Don’t worry, big brother. Leave the weapons to me!"

Zhang Yi then took out the bodies of Xie Huanhuan and Liu Ziyang, removing all their electronic devices, including phones and other communication tools, and handed them to Yang Xinxin. "Xinxin, I need you to gather as much information as possible about these two and their organization."

Yang Xinxin responded calmly, "Understood."

Next, Zhang Yi turned to Zhou Ke’er. "Ke’er, I want you to do a full autopsy on these bodies. It’s rare to get our hands on Superhuman corpses, so let’s see if we can uncover any secrets."

Zhou Ke’er nodded, "Alright, Zhang Yi."

After assigning tasks to everyone, only Yang Siya remained without a job. Feeling left out, she approached Zhang Yi and asked, "What about me? I want to help, too."

Everyone else in the group was a talented genius in their field, but Yang Siya, with her relatively ordinary skills, felt she needed to prove her worth. Zhang Yi thought momentarily and said, "You can assist Ke’er and take care of the household chores."

Though the idea of dissecting bodies made Yang Siya uncomfortable, she steeled herself and agreed, determined to contribute.

After delegating the tasks, Zhang Yi, feeling exhausted, went to his room and slept deeply. The next morning, around nine o'clock, he instinctively checked the shelter’s surveillance system, ensuring everything was normal. Only then did he feel at ease.

Though he had killed Xie Huanhuan and Liu Ziyang, he knew their deaths would alert their organization. However, he also understood that if this organization was well-structured, they wouldn’t act rashly. This would give him time to prepare.

Zhang Yi dressed and went downstairs, finding Zhou Ke’er and Yang Xinxin waiting for him in the living room. Both women looked tired, but there was a gleam of excitement in their eyes.

"Brother, Xinxin discovered some important information!" Zhou Ke’er exclaimed.

"And the autopsy results are quite unusual," Yang Xinxin added.

Zhang Yi approached them, curious about their findings. Yang Xinxin, holding a laptop, was the first to share her discoveries.

"From analyzing the devices found on those two, I traced their origin to an organization called the West Hill Shelter," she began. "It’s a massive facility with thousands of survivors."

"The West Hill organization is highly structured, with a few hundred armed personnel, including a powerful unit known as the ACE Special Forces, made up of elite soldiers and Superhumans."

As Zhang Yi reviewed the information, he was struck by the scale of the operation. The West Hill Shelter was likely one of several large government shelters established in Tianhai City. Such shelters were designed to protect key government figures during emergencies and had evolved into powerful entities.

What reassured Zhang Yi was that the shelter’s armed forces numbered only about 500, which made sense given that Tianhai City lacked a major military presence, with only one regiment stationed there. Even accounting for police and security personnel, their numbers would only reach a few thousand, and not all were concentrated in the West Hill organization.

Although the West Hill Shelter was formidable, Zhang Yi felt less intimidated now that he understood its strength. "Ordinary soldiers, even well-trained ones with standard weapons, won’t pose much of a threat to the shelter," he reasoned. "As for the ACE Special Forces, unless they have another wall-passing Superhuman, they won’t be able to breach our defenses."

Superhumans, after all, had their limitations. Unlike Zhang Yi, who had the bug-like ability of the Dimensional Gate that didn’t consume energy, others couldn’t use their powers indefinitely. For example, despite his combat prowess, Fatty Xu could be silently killed by a well-trained special forces operative.

"Looks like we can handle this," Zhang Yi thought, finally allowing himself a relieved smile. For too long, he had imagined the unknown threats out there to be more powerful than they were. "Intelligence is critical—knowing your enemy is key to victory."

Zhang Yi now fully appreciated the importance of Yang Xinxin, the genius hacker, to his team​.

Author's Note