5: Take me with you, who is the boss?

It was as he expected; there were indeed people here.

The entrances and exits of the parking lot were now blocked by heavy snow, preventing cold winds from blowing in.

Typically, the temperature in an underground parking lot would be a bit higher than outside.

More importantly, there were cars here.

With cars and fuel, there was electricity.

The car's air conditioning could provide people with some warmth.

In today's society, many people cannot live without electricity; some even panic if their phone battery dies.

The desire to find power and heat sources drove many people to the parking lot.

Quite a few cars were started, with ambient lights on inside, vaguely showing that people were present.

Lu Zheng did not approach the occupied vehicles but walked directly towards the parking lot exit.

As he got closer, he used his Detection Art skill card to scan the surroundings.

A 3D holographic image appeared before his eyes.

People!

At the parking lot exit, people were digging snow.

In such a large community with so many people, it was impossible for everyone to be brainless.

On the contrary, many people knew how to save themselves.

The authorities had already announced that the black fruit could increase cold resistance and grant special abilities; anyone with a bit of sense would try it before the temperature dropped so low that their body completely lost the ability to move.

There were five people at the exit: four were digging snow, and one stood by.

The person standing by seemed to be holding a knife.

Lu Zheng thought for a moment, then quietly walked to the parking lot entrance and used Detection Art again.

The result was similar: five people were digging snow, and one person stood by with a knife.

Clearly, those digging snow were laborers, and the ones who truly obtained the black fruit were likely the knife-wielding overseers, or perhaps someone else entirely.

But no matter what, he needed to control this place.

First, he needed to understand the situation; these people likely possessed special abilities, and he couldn't act rashly when the strength of friend and foe was unknown.

He had plenty of trump cards: ten thousand handguns.

There was no need to take risks.

"Hey, big brothers, I also want to dig for black fruit; can I join you?"

Lu Zheng walked over with a smile.

The knife-wielding overseer was a young man with a walkie-talkie clipped to his waist; hearing Lu Zheng, he picked up the walkie-talkie and said,

"Brother Sheng, a kid came over saying he also wants to dig snow. He looks like he's already eaten a black fruit. How should we handle him?"

A middle-aged man's voice came from the other end.

"Tell him to wait for me to come over."

The young man looked at Lu Zheng.

"You heard him, right? Wait for Brother Sheng to come over, then he'll arrange something for you."

Lu Zheng nodded and smiled.

"My name is Lu Zheng. How should I address you, big brother?"

The young man was pleased with Lu Zheng's humble attitude and casually said,

"My name is Liu Siming, the same surname as Brother Sheng."

"You're a lucky kid to have already found and eaten a black fruit."

"My ability is Strength Enhancement."

"If your ability is good, Brother Sheng might let you become an overseer, like us, where you don't have to work, just watch others work."

"You'll also get a share of supplies and black fruit."

Lu Zheng glanced at the five people digging snow: four men and one woman.

They were trembling all over, their faces pale, clearly indicating they hadn't eaten a black fruit.

Even if it was a bit warmer here than outside, it was still around minus thirty degrees Celsius; without cold resistance, relying purely on their clothes and bodies, they likely wouldn't last more than two or three hours before freezing to death.

These 'Brother Sheng' people were clearly not good news.

As he was thinking, three people walked over, with a middle-aged man in a black mink coat surrounded in the middle.

Liu Sheng looked at Lu Zheng and asked,

"Kid, what's your ability?"

Lu Zheng raised a hand and conjured a bottle of mineral water.

"Reporting, Big Brother, my ability is Materialization, but for now, I can only materialize mineral water."

Seeing the mineral water appear, Liu Sheng's eyes immediately lit up.

The temperature was continuously dropping to minus thirty or forty degrees, and most of the water resources in the building were frozen. If they wanted to drink water, they had to bring it into the car to melt first.

Moreover, with the heavy snow blocking the entrances and exits, water resources would eventually run out.

The ability Lu Zheng displayed was practically a mobile supply station.

With him around, they could basically ensure they wouldn't die of thirst.

If his ability grew stronger in the future and he could materialize food, keeping him would mean having endless supplies at their disposal.

"Haha, good ability! From now on, you're my brother, Liu Sheng's brother!"

"By the way, what's your name?"

Liu Siming interjected from the side,

"His name is Lu Zheng."

Liu Sheng glared at him.

"Get lost! From now on, call him Second Brother. I announce that Lu Zheng will be the second-in-command of our Four Seas Gang from now on."

Lu Zheng showed a surprised expression.

"Thank you, Boss. What is your ability, Boss? Could you show me?"

Liu Sheng felt this was a good opportunity to establish his authority, and he laughed heartily.

"Of course!"

"I'll tell you, those guys all have abilities that enhance physical strength and speed and such."

"Only I can unleash fireballs!"

Saying that, he pointed directly at the snow wall in front of him, and a pigeon egg-sized fireball flew out, impacting the snow wall and exploding, blasting a basin-sized hole.

The fireball's flight speed wasn't very fast; Lu Zheng could see it clearly.

This meant he could easily dodge it.

The fireball was small in volume and mass. Lu Zheng could also use Psychokinesis to influence its trajectory after it was released, preventing it from hitting him.

Danger averted.

Lu Zheng smiled.

"Big Brother Liu, your fireball is too slow. Mine is faster."

As he spoke, a gun appeared in his hand. He fired a shot at the snow wall, then aimed it at Liu Sheng's head.

"I don't like being a second-in-command. From now on, I'm the boss, understand?"

Seeing Lu Zheng pull out a gun, the others were stunned.

With the gun pointed at him, Liu Sheng shuddered in fear.

"Alright, alright, brother, let's talk nicely. You can be the boss, no problem. From now on, I'll listen to you."

He glared at Liu Siming, who was already scared stiff, standing beside him.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and call him Boss!"

Lu Zheng looked at Liu Sheng.

"How many black fruits do you still have on you? How many have you eaten?"

Liu Sheng quickly rummaged through his pockets, saying as he did,

"I don't have any on me. I just caught these people today to dig for fruit for me. They only dug up six in total. My two brothers each took one, and I ate the remaining four myself."

"I've only eaten five myself in total."

Lu Zheng frowned; this efficiency was too slow.

But he glanced at the trembling snow-digging laborers, seeing that they didn't even have proper tools; three of them were even digging with their bare hands, looking like they were about to freeze to death.

There was no way they could be very efficient.

He pointed at Liu Siming.

"You, go call the people from the other exit over. I'll rearrange things for you all."

Liu Siming quickly ran to the other side.

Lu Zheng, meanwhile, approached the snow wall, activated Psychokinesis, and controlled the two nearest black fruits to fly out.

The fruits flew out of the snow and into Lu Zheng's hand on their own, a sight that made the others' eyes widen in disbelief.