Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies

Chapter 379: A Burst of Acting

Liang Yue rushed back to the shelter, her anxious demeanor catching everyone’s attention.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Yi asked, looking at her with curiosity.

Breathing heavily, Liang Yue exclaimed, “Zhang Yi, something terrible has happened! My students… they’ve all disappeared!”

Her words startled everyone present.

“What? They disappeared?”

“All of them? How could that happen?”

“Maybe they went out to gather firewood or food?”

Though their faces showed concern, their eyes betrayed indifference. In the entire shelter, only Liang Yue truly cared about the students. The rest of the group had no fondness for them.

Liang Yue shook her head. “I’ve searched everywhere I could. There’s not a trace of them! Zhang Yi, I suspect one of the surrounding factions might have extended their reach here.”

Zhang Yi crossed his hands and frowned deeply.

“That’s certainly possible. But I don’t understand—why would they kidnap your students?”

“Do you have any enemies from your past?”

Liang Yue looked confused and helpless.

“I… I don’t know. I taught at Tianqing Academy for three years and never had any conflicts with anyone.”

Zhang Yi reassured her, “Don’t panic. Getting worked up won’t help. We need to think this through calmly.”

He gave a subtle signal to Yang Xinxin and Lu Keran. The two girls walked over to Liang Yue, gently guiding her to the sofa and offering her words of comfort.

Looking into her eyes seriously, Zhang Yi said, “Liang Yue, I need to make something clear. I had nothing to do with their disappearance! If you don’t believe me, I can show you the shelter’s surveillance footage.”

“I was here in the shelter all day yesterday—I never left.”

Liang Yue’s eyes widened in alarm as she quickly responded, “No, no! Zhang Yi, I would never suspect you of doing such a thing!”

To her, Zhang Yi had become a kind and gentle man. The idea of him harming her students never crossed her mind.

Zhang Yi shook his head. “It’s better to be clear about these things, so there are no doubts among us. Since your students disappeared, everyone in the shelter is a suspect.”

Yang Xinxin chimed in, “Exactly. None of us would ever do such a thing, but it’s good to put everyone’s mind at ease.”

Liang Yue felt embarrassed. “This… this feels unnecessary. I know Zhang Yi isn’t that kind of person.”

Though her words expressed confidence, a tiny seed of doubt lingered in her heart. After all, not everyone possessed the ability to make people vanish without a trace. Ŕ

“No harm in checking,” Zhang Yi said calmly. “We’ll also review the surrounding footage to ensure no strangers appeared nearby.”

Summoning the shelter’s AI, Xiao Ai, Zhang Yi instructed it to pull up surveillance footage from the past day.

Soon, the 100-inch wall screen in the living room displayed recordings from over a hundred cameras, fast-forwarded at high speed.

It didn’t take long for the group to review all the footage.

The shelter’s surroundings had remained as quiet as usual, with no signs of anyone entering or leaving.

This eliminated everyone in the shelter as suspects—the students’ disappearance wasn’t an inside job.

Liang Yue exhaled in relief. The outcome she had feared most had not come to pass.

Zhang Yi leaned forward, resting his hands under his chin. His expression grew serious.

“This complicates things. We don’t know who took them or why.”

“This puts us in a completely passive position. While the known factions in Tianhai City are possibilities, we can’t rule out other unknown groups.”

“The only option we have is to wait. If the captors took Liang Yue’s students, they’re bound to make a move eventually.”

Liang Yue clenched her fists tightly.

“But why me? What would anyone want from me? I can’t think of anyone I’ve wronged!”

Zhang Yi chuckled softly. “It’s a complex question, but since they took your students, it’s likely about you.”

“Of course, this is just a theory.”

Liang Yue furrowed her brows deeply. She desperately wanted to take action but found herself paralyzed by uncertainty. She didn’t know who the enemy was or what they wanted, leaving her powerless.

At that moment, Zhang Yi’s warm hand grasped her cold one.

Startled, Liang Yue looked up to meet his gentle gaze.

“Liang Yue, don’t worry. Your problems are my problems,” Zhang Yi said sincerely.

“I promised to help you take care of those students, and I won’t go back on my word.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“If there’s any news, I’ll act immediately!”

A warmth spread through Liang Yue’s heart. Feeling lost and overwhelmed, she could only rely on Zhang Yi’s guidance.

Zhang Yi, meanwhile, smiled to himself. Internally, he was ecstatic—finally rid of those troublesome students.

It wouldn’t be long before they were dead. Whether the people from Yangsheng Base killed them or the poison Zhang Yi had been slipping into their food did the job, their fate was sealed.

Most importantly, Liang Yue would remain unaware of his involvement, ensuring their relationship stayed intact.

The group comforted Liang Yue, lifting her spirits slightly, though she still struggled to fully relax. Zhang Yi instructed Lu Keran and Yang Xinxin to escort her back to her room to rest.

Once they were gone, Zhou Ke’er approached Zhang Yi, leaning against him with a worried expression.

“Zhang Yi, could it be one of the nearby factions planning to attack us?” she asked.

“Mm, that’s likely,” Zhang Yi replied without hesitation.

He hadn’t told anyone about killing Gao Yuan and his group, but he knew a conflict with the major factions was inevitable.

They would need to fight to prove their strength and deter anyone coveting the West Hill Base’s territory. It was unavoidable.

Yang Siyah sighed. “We’ve barely had a few days of peace, and now it’s back to fighting again?”

Zhang Yi chuckled lightly.

“You’ve got it wrong,” he said.

“War isn’t disrupting our peace. It’s what gives us temporary tranquility.”

“In the apocalypse, war and violence are the norm—peace is the exception.”

Leaning back on the sofa, Zhang Yi began strategizing how to handle the impending conflict.

“If it’s just two factions attacking simultaneously, we should be able to hold them off,” he mused.

“But if they team up with others, things might get a bit tricky.”

His brow furrowed slightly. “If that happens, it could be a real problem.”

Author's Note