Alice didn't look back; she quickly pulled the trigger, firing several bullets in succession. The men who intended to ambush her fell into the water, staining it even redder.
"What about you? Do you want to keep your lives as well?" Alice coldly glanced at the others.
Those men immediately threw down their knives, begging for mercy, "No, no, no, we don't want to. We're leaving right away."
Seeing them attempting to paddle away on an inflatable boat, Alice's tone became menacing, "Hmm?"
The men quickly abandoned the inflatable boat, jumping into the water like dumplings, swimming away rapidly.
Witnessing Alice subduing the group, the people hiding in the commercial street rushed out.
"We're so grateful to you; otherwise, we wouldn't know what to do today."
"Beauty, you're amazing. That gunshot scene just now was both beautiful and cool."
"Thank you for protecting us. We won't forget your great kindness today. If there's a chance in the future, we'll repay you."
"..."
Hearing these grateful voices, Alice's expression remained unchanged. She calmly stated, "You might have misunderstood. I didn't save you; I did it for ourselves. You just happened to benefit from it."
Her ruthless words made everyone's faces awkward, and they exchanged glances.
A big brother spoke up loudly, "Since we benefited, we should thank you."
Alice paused for a moment and agreed, "Indeed, you should be thankful."
Arnold couldn't help but chuckle, "With those robbers blocked on both sides, someone must have gone to inform them. If we don't leave now, they'll catch up."
This scared everyone, and they didn't dare to stay for another second. They paddled their boats desperately to get away. Some of the people who were robbed didn't go far and returned after seeing Alice dealing with their attackers.
They looked at Alice timidly, "Can we get our belongings back?"
Alice had no intention of taking their belongings. She didn't answer, just paddled away with Arnold.
Seeing this, the others breathed a sigh of relief and quickly rowed away. Their belongings were preserved, and they considered themselves fortunate to escape unharmed.
Ten minutes later, the people released by Alice arrived with dozens of others, but the scene was already empty.
"Damn it, everything on the entire commercial street has been taken. Wang Er is useless; he can't defend even with people having guns," the leader cursed angrily.
They had blocked the other end of the commercial street, thinking they would have a great harvest this time, only to find it was all in vain.
"That woman has some skills, and Wang Er was unprepared, so she took the gun away..." explained a few subordinates, scratching their heads.
"Can't even handle a woman, bragging about how powerful they are. Go and find that woman for me. Get back everything, with interest!" The man was furious.
"Yes!"
Alice was unaware that she had attracted attention. She disassembled and reassembled the gun, muttering, "Only three bullets left, not enough!"
"Big brother, do you know anyone who sells weapons?"
Arnold pondered for a moment and said gently, "I have an old classmate working as a mercenary abroad. I'll try to contact him when we go back, but I can't guarantee if he's still alive."
Alice raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had just asked casually, but it turned out that Arnold really had connections.
Alice, is the apocalypse really coming? Do you know what will happen next?" Arnold suddenly asked.
Alice turned her gaze to him, meeting Arnold's eyes. He smiled and said, "From my observation, I noticed that you calmly prepared supplies before the heavy rain. According to the normal way of thinking, people would stock up on food for a few days, but you bought supplies for a month and accurately predicted when the heavy rain would stop. This can't be just a coincidence, right?"
Arnold had wanted to ask this question for a while, but there was a voice in his heart telling him not to.
Alice pursed her lips and, in the end, chose not to hide it from him. "Let me ask you, do you believe in the apocalypse?"
Up until now, Blanche and Atticus thought of this as a natural disaster, something that would eventually pass, and they would see the light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps everyone else thought the same way, but there were still many catastrophic events that were difficult to endure, extreme heat, extreme cold, continuous daylight, eternal night, earthquakes...
Each disaster eliminated the weak, and the current heavy rain was just the beginning.
Arnold's heart sank, and he didn't say whether he believed or not. "Is there no hope?"
Alice, who had no idea that she had crossed over from the 'original world' before finishing reading the text, silently thought to herself and after a moment of silence, said, "No one knows what will happen tomorrow, but I will do my best to protect all of you."
In the memories of the 'original,' family was important to her, and since she had 'borrowed' her body, it was only right for her to protect her family.
Arnold chuckled at her words. "How did you suddenly acquire the ability to predict the future?"
Alice made up a serious story, "One night, I had a dream. I dreamed of the apocalypse, starting with an abnormal heavy rain. Later, everything was validated, and I realized it was all true."
Arnold fell silent for a moment. "So, is this the reason you've become calm and rational?"
Alice, formerly an assassin before entering the book world, was not only calm but also ruthless. The original host, on the other hand, grew up in a loving family, lively, optimistic, with a hint of pampered indulgence from being born into a wealthy family.
Before, she had been worried about whether the Allen familys would see through her, but they never asked about the sudden change in her personality from beginning to end.
"Yes," Alice lied with open eyes. "Ever since I learned that the apocalypse is coming, I've been panicked and scared. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid you would think I'm crazy, like I've been possessed by a movie."