Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies-Chapter 1095: Gao Tianwu

Chapter 1095: Gao Tianwu

Gao Tianwu, the village chief of Gaoyuan Village, sat in his office, worrying about the village's food supply for the next half month.

He knew all too well that once food ran out, the entire Gaoyuan Village would quickly collapse. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

But after the apocalypse, growing crops had become incredibly difficult.

They had skilled growers among them who knew how to cultivate mushrooms on rotten wood, but that stuff wasn't filling and could only slightly fill the food gap.

The most crucial staples like rice, flour, oil, and salt were dwindling faster and faster.

They had thought about going to the urban districts of Tianhai City to scavenge more resources.

As early as over half a year ago, they had managed to cross the vast snowy expanse to investigate Tianhai City.

The situation there had chilled their hearts.

It had long been carved up by several large organizations.

Those groups had many people, powerful influence, and possessed firearms. For the people of Gaoyuan Village to go compete with them for supplies would be absolute suicide.

Thinking of this, Gao Tianwu's brow furrowed tightly, worrying about the village's future.

At that moment, a knock came from outside the door.

"Come in!"

Gao Tianwu said.

The door was pushed open, and a young man with a simple, honest face and tall stature walked in.

This was Gao Tianwu's younger brother, Gao Changguang. After the apocalypse, he had been assisting him in maintaining the village's order.

Gao Tianwu forced a smile onto his face.

"Xiao Guang, how did it go with the supply search I sent you on?"

Xiao Guang wore a look of apology. Seeing this, Gao Tianwu's heart sank.

"Brother Xiao Wu, we've already scavenged clean every place within a ten-mile radius of the village. What supplies could possibly be left now?"

"This time, I risked taking the brothers to places farther away, but with the endless snow, everything is buried. There's simply no clue where to start."

Gao Tianwu took a deep breath, his face full of worry. How could he not know how difficult it was to leave the village to search for supplies at a time like this?

Even if there were undiscovered supplies buried in the snow, the year-long snowfall had long since buried those uninhabited areas.

That thick, tens-of-meters-deep snow, if they had to dig through it with human labor alone, when would they ever finish?

Even though he was a superhuman with extraordinary power, it was still difficult to accomplish such a troublesome task.

Xiao Guang continued, "Brother Xiao Wu, if this continues, our village's food won't last much longer."

"People have already started grumbling in private. Last night, I just caught a few thieves trying to steal food! Should we punish them harshly as a warning to the other villagers?"

Gao Tianwu propped his chin on his hand, his expression grave as he said:

"We can't do that. The villagers steal food because they're worried there won't be enough to eat, so they want to hide some away to get through the tough times."

"To put it bluntly, they just want to survive. What's wrong with that?"

Xiao Guang said somewhat discontentedly, "But if everyone acts like them, our village will fall into chaos!"

Gao Tianwu leaned back in his chair, thought for a long time, and then slowly said:

"Given the situation, we have to take some special measures."

"Pass down the order: starting today, daily meals are reduced to one. Except for those on daily patrol duty, everyone else should reduce activity. If you don't move, you won't get as hungry."

"When making porridge, add more water, use less grain. This way, the food can at least last a bit longer."

Xiao Guang made a bitter face. "Brother Xiao Wu, everyone's already eating so little. If we do this, I'm afraid people will resent it!"

Gao Changguang said helplessly, "There's no other choice. We'll just have to let the villagers endure some hardship for now. I'll bear the criticism."

"In the next few days, I'll personally lead a team to search for food. I refuse to believe that in a vast city like Tianhai, there isn't enough food for a few hundred people from Gaoyuan Village!"

Xiao Guang accepted the order and left, then had someone notify the villagers of the news.

Upon hearing this command, the villagers immediately erupted in uproar.

A villager named Meng Chuan immediately said, "Day after day, we can't even eat our fill. Now we have to add more water to the already thin porridge? Might as well just let us drink water!"

"How is Xiao Wu running this village? If he can't get food, he shouldn't have become village chief in the first place!"

Another villager whispered, "You can't say that. If it weren't for Xiao Wu and his brothers back then, how could we ordinary folks have fought off the neighboring big villages? They would have wiped us out completely. Whether we could even survive would have been a question."

Meng Chuan snorted coldly. "The past is the past, the present is the present. No matter how well he did back then, who can guarantee he hasn't changed now?"

"Making us drink porridge every day, for all we know, he's secretly eating white flour buns behind our backs!"

Faced with Meng Chuan's harsh words, not all the villagers were ungrateful.

Someone immediately stepped forward to rebuke Meng Chuan. "Don't talk nonsense. Xiao Wu isn't that kind of person."

Meng Chuan sneered. He first carefully surveyed his surroundings, then lowered his voice to say to the other villagers:

"What do you know? That guy is stealing from his own post, hoarding all the food in his own family's cellar."

"Do you really think he'll share it equally with us? Dream on!"

"I saw with my own eyes him secretly taking a large sack of food from the cellar, sneaking off to who knows where!"

As soon as these words were spoken, several nearby villagers widened their eyes.

"Are you telling the truth or not?"

Meng Chuan vowed solemnly, "How could it be false? If I'm lying, you can cut out my tongue!"

Rumors sprouted wings and flew swiftly through the air.

Because Gaoyuan Village faced a food crisis, with villagers unable to eat their fill, resentment began to grow in their hearts.

At such a time, a tiny spark was enough to plant seeds of suspicion within them.

Given fertile soil, all it needed was time to slowly grow, strengthen, and eventually transform into a terrifying monster.

To solve the village's food problem, Gao Tianwu had no choice but to personally lead a team out to search for food.

As a superhuman, he possessed strength beyond ordinary people, allowing him to better excavate supplies buried beneath the snow layers.

In the past, he had also worked in Tianhai City, delivering takeout and parcels, and serving as a waiter in bars. He was relatively familiar with the locations of some large supermarkets and hotels.

He also knew such places often had stockpiles.

So, leading a group of people, relying on memory and the few remaining tall buildings, they carefully groped their way through the heavy snow.

After several days of hard work, they finally found some supplies from the snow.

Although not much, it filled two sleds pulled by dogs.

Xiao Guang happily said to Gao Tianwu, "Brother Xiao Wu, this is great! If we ration these supplies carefully, they'll last us for several more days!"

Gao Tianwu exhaled a thick white mist, looking somewhat weary, but with unconcealable joy in his eyes.

"Good, let's keep up this momentum. I remember about seven or eight kilometers further ahead, there's a very large supermarket."

"It's getting late. Let them rest first. Tomorrow, we'll take more people to search there."

The daylight dimmed; temperatures would drop even lower at night. The group didn't dare linger, dragging the sleds back home.

Author's Note