Chapter 190: It's Fine, Just to Make Some Friends
"Meng classmate, remember to keep your door tightly locked when you go out recently."
"If you need any security assistance, just let us know."
That day, Meng Ci and Shen Que went out to exchange water and met Yun Jingcen and Fang Shurui, who were also there to exchange water.
After the four of them left the exchange point, Yun Jingcen mentioned the recent events.
It turned out that starting from the fifth day of the polar night, items started disappearing from the residential buildings in the base.
Although most people had converted their belongings into points and kept very little food at home, the losses were minimal.
However, recently, two households in the villa area were robbed, with a significant amount of food and gold stolen.
These two families were not only wealthy before the apocalypse, but also had members who were high-ranking government officials.
Even after the apocalypse, they contributed a lot, which put pressure on Lu Chen and his team.
Lu Chen, during this time, reformed the security team and recruited a group of members to patrol continuously.
Yun Jingcen and the others, having prior patrolling experience, rejoined the security team.
But because the night was so dark, there were always blind spots.
As a result, theft and covert killings persisted despite efforts to curb them.
"And it's said that most are outsiders, sneaking in under the darkness."
"Last night, around eight or nine, several people were killed."
The outsiders were people living outside the base.
When the base was set up, some military and civilian personnel, who couldn't afford the housing inside the base, obtained cards at the points exchange center.
They lived outside but would enter the base to exchange for goods.
Among them, some banded together and committed various crimes.
Before the polar night, officials sent people to confiscate from some of them.
But because there were too many, they couldn't confiscate all of them.
However, before the polar night, these people were somewhat restrained.
Once the polar night began, they became even more reckless.
They would target those with point cards, force them to exchange their points at the exchange center, and hand over the goods to them.
If someone refused, they would be killed immediately.
Even if they complied and handed over the goods, they would still be killed.
Because these criminals were cautious, the officials only managed to catch a few of the bad guys.
Most were still rampaging and looting recklessly.
Meng Ci and Shen Que had long been prepared for this and were not surprised at all.
They also instructed Yun Jingcen and the others to be cautious during patrols. Afterward, the two drove back home.
"Bang!"
Since there were few people in the villa area, the road was nearly deserted.
Just as they were about to arrive home, they heard a tire blow out.
Fortunately, Shen Que wasn't driving fast and quickly regained control of the vehicle.
However, they had driven this route many times without incident.
Recalling what Yun Jingcen and the others had said, Meng Ci and Shen Que exchanged a glance, realizing they had probably been targeted by the vagrants.
Shen Que turned off the car, plunging them into darkness.
"Shall we check it out?" Shen Que asked, taking Meng Ci's hand.
"Hmm." Meng Ci nodded. Given that they were now targets, there was bound to be a fight.
The sooner it was resolved, the sooner they could go back and eat. Rather than wait for the vagrants to attack, it was better to take the initiative.
"Wait."
Hearing Shen Que's door creak open, Meng Ci remembered something and stopped Shen Que.
"What is it?" Shen Que was puzzled but quickly locked the car door to prevent any ambush.
Using the cover of darkness to avoid detection by the vagrants, Meng Ci pulled out two pairs of night-vision goggles from his spatial pocket, giving one to Shen Que.
"Put these on."
Recognizing the object, Shen Que immediately understood. These were the same night-vision goggles Meng Ci had given him during the attack on the White Tiger Hall in the rainstorm period.
After putting on the goggles, Shen Que saw three men standing nearby, clad only in pants. They stood haphazardly, their faces set with determination.
There were several large stones placed there, which is why Shen Que hadn't noticed them under the low beams.
On Meng Ci's side, no one was present.
"Let's go."
Noticing Shen Que was ready, Meng Ci said.
"Shen Que, how did you drive!"
"The tire burst unexpectedly."
To avoid arousing suspicion, Meng Ci pretended to complain about Shen Que.
The two were in perfect sync, and Shen Que understood Meng Ci's intention.
He replied, "There might have been some nails or broken glass on the road. I'll go check."
"How? We didn't even bring a flashlight." Meng Ci continued to complain.
Although the two of them were arguing, they didn't forget to observe the situation of their opponents.
The three people standing on the left, upon hearing that they hadn't brought a flashlight, had one of them step forward eagerly, though he was quickly stopped by the man next to him.
"Don't worry," Shen Que spoke to reassure them.
Seeing the three people make a move, Meng Ci quickly pulled out two knives from his spatial pocket, handing one to Shen Que.
Shen Que then lightly touched Meng Ci, gesturing for him to look at the rear of the vehicle.
Meng Ci looked over and saw two men, one tall and one short man, approaching. The tall one not only held a flashlight but also carried something that looked like a tire.
"What's the matter?" the taller man asked loudly, shining the flashlight at Meng Ci and Shen Que.
Meng Ci replied, "Nothing much, just a flat tire."
Meng Ci was relieved that their night vision goggles looked like regular glasses, so he wasn't worried about being found out.
The two men had already come closer, and the taller one feigned surprise, "What a coincidence."
"We found a wheel outside earlier and were planning to bring it to the points exchange center tomorrow to exchange for some points."
"Since you need it, you can take it."
Meng Ci hurriedly declined, "Thank you for your kindness."
"But no, points are so valuable nowadays. You should take it to exchange for points."
"As for our car, we'll leave it here for now and check the exchange center later to see if it can be repaired."
The tall man placed the tire on the ground and said gravely, "Isn't it the same thing?"
"If you feel uncomfortable about it, just give us something in return. There's no need to let the authorities profit from the difference!"
Hearing this, Meng Ci sneered inwardly. So, this was their plan all along, waiting for us here!
Offering the tire was just a way to test us.
Meng Ci's face showed hesitation, "This tire might not be a good fit."
"Additionally, we left in a rush and didn't bring anything to trade."
The tall man said, "It's alright. We can check it first. If it fits, we'll replace it for you. If not, no problem."
"For payment, my brother and I are free, so we can go with you."
"That's right, that's right," the shorter man said with a simple smile.
"Since we've connected so well, consider it a friendship."