Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 211 Hot News Articles

At this moment, only one person was on duty—a man in his fifties, wearing the base's uniform dark blue overalls, dozing off in an old rattan chair. Hearing the curtain rustle, he opened his eyes slightly, saw that it was a girl, and then closed them again.

Xu Xiaoyan found a corner near the door, close enough to allow for a quick evacuation in case of an emergency; her back was against the shelves, providing some privacy; and she was a distance from the staff on duty, preventing them from directly seeing her phone screen.

She quickly took off her heavy gloves; her fingers were already red from the cold and her fingertips were numb. But in the warm environment, her blood began to flow back, bringing a tingling sensation. She rubbed her hands together, and when the feeling returned slightly, she took her phone out of her pocket.

She opened the Base Forum APP, entered the main page, and without wasting time browsing other content, she directly clicked the "Post" button at the bottom and then selected the "Base News" section.

The posting interface popped up, with the title bar at the top. Xu Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment, then her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, and the title appeared: [Breaking News! Breaking! Large-scale riot and stampede occur in the ice fishing area of ​​the river outside the city! Live from the scene!]

She paused, examining the headline. The word "Extra" sounded a bit old-fashioned, but that was precisely why it conveyed a sense of formality and urgency. "Breaking News" emphasized timeliness, "Large-scale Riots and Stampedes" highlighted the nature and severity of the event, and "On-site Report" implied the first-hand nature and authenticity of the information.

Is that enough? Maybe we can add a little more.

She added a small line of text at the end of the title, enclosed in parentheses, like a subtitle: (Suspected conflict with "private event" forces, multiple injuries, extremely chaotic scene, continuously updating!)

This makes the whole story more complete. The term "private venue" has a specific meaning in the ice fishing community. Those who know it will understand, and those who don't will be curious. "Multiple injuries" increases the seriousness of the incident, and "continuous updates" suggests that this is not a one-off report and that she may have more information to share.

With the title set, the main body of the text follows.

She wrote concisely but left suspense, mimicking the tone of someone urgently reporting news, even deliberately using a few typos and awkward sentences to create a sense of realism in "posting in haste":

"Breaking news! Just now, a major incident occurred in the ice fishing area of ​​the upper and middle reaches of the river! A suspected violent conflict or accident has broken out, causing a large number of anglers to panic and flee! The scene is extremely chaotic, with collisions and trampling occurring. The exact number of casualties is unknown. According to witnesses, many people abandoned their equipment and fled the ice in a panic. In the distance, there appears to be a standoff and fight, the cause of which is still unclear. It is suspected to be related to the widely circulated rumor of 'booking out the entire ice fishing area'? I risked my life to take firsthand photos of the scene and am continuing to monitor the situation!"

She specifically noted the approximate time—while it may not be precise, it increased credibility. She used vague terms like "suspected," "according to eyewitness accounts," and "possibly," conveying information while avoiding absolute responsibility.

After finishing the main text, it was time to insert pictures. She carefully selected five or six of her most impactful photos to insert into the post. The upload process was a bit slow, as the network signal wasn't very strong here, but she waited patiently.

The first image is a panoramic view of the crowd looking back in terror, used as the header image; then comes a close-up of the middle-aged man's face, his expression of fear striking the heart; next is a photo of the ice surface in disarray, with scattered items and blurry figures of people in conflict in the distance; finally, there are two or three images to supplement the details—overturned tents, abandoned fish, and cracks in the ice.

She simply labeled each photo with "Figure 1: Panoramic view of the crowd fleeing", "Figure 2: Terrified expression of the witness", "Figure 3: Items left at the scene and the conflict in the distance"... The labels are simple, but they guide the viewer's eye and understanding.

Xu Xiaoyan's finger hovered over the phone screen for a moment, her gaze falling on the small checkbox for "Paid Viewing". She checked it without hesitation, and a settings interface popped up at the bottom of the screen, asking her to enter the number of points required to watch.

Her fingertips tapped lightly on the virtual keyboard, typing "0.2". For a dull, oppressive, and monotonous life, 0.2 points could buy something that could be the subject of conversation all day, a thrilling story to tell at the dinner table, or something to brag to the neighbors about "what's happening outside". The large-scale riots, stampedes, and conflicts in the ice fishing area outside the city—each of these keywords was full of excitement, a rare spice in those safe but boring daily lives.

Xu Xiaoyan was quite confident that someone would be willing to pay. She had been on the forum for quite some time and knew which content was most popular. Blood, violence, danger, and firsthand scenes—these elements combined were something almost everyone loved to watch.

After completing the operation, she continued to scroll down and found the privacy settings. She set the poster information to "complete privacy," which meant that her posts would not display any traceable nicknames or identifiers, only an anonymous code automatically generated by the system, "user_7A83F92." The avatar was also a default gray outline, with no personal introduction or posting history. In this way, even if someone wanted to trace the source of the information, they would have no way to do so.

Once all settings were complete, she hovered her finger over the "Publish" button and pressed it.

When the "Published successfully" message popped up, she quickly exited the publishing interface, returned to the forum homepage, and refreshed it.

Seconds later, her post appeared at the top of the latest list with a prominent title, followed by a small "New" sign and a flame icon—indicating it was newly published and gaining popularity.

She turned off the screen, put her phone on silent mode, turned off all notification sounds and vibrations, leaving only the faint light effect when the screen lit up, and then put it back in her inside pocket.

She did not leave the warm container.

Instead, she shrank further into the corner, leaning against the shelf piled with old fishing rods, pulled down her hat brim to almost cover her entire face, closed her eyes, and crossed her arms in front of her chest, striking a standard "resting with eyes closed" pose.

But actually, her ears are pointed.

Outside the container, the wind was still howling, but compared to before, there seemed to be some other sounds. On the distant ice, the sounds of commotion had not completely subsided—there were still sporadic shouts, footsteps, and the scraping sounds of items being dragged. However, the sense of chaos from the large-scale escape had diminished, replaced by an eerie, tense calm, like a brief respite before a storm.

She was waiting. She knew she wasn't the only one on the scene in the forum. There were those who had fled back to shore, those who were hiding in other corners, and those who were bolder and closer to the conflict—someone would also think of posting, or at least replying to other people's posts. Piecing together those fragmented pieces of information might give her a more complete understanding of the riot.

Time passed by, second by second.

The container was quiet, with only the occasional crackling of the charcoal fire in the corner stove and the gradually steady breathing of the person on duty—he had fallen asleep again, his soft snores rising and falling rhythmically. Warmth enveloped her, and her frozen fingers and toes began to regain feeling, bringing waves of tingling sensation.

She silently calculated the time in her mind. The post had been published for about five minutes. That was enough time for some people browsing the forum to see the title and decide whether to pay. If it were her, seeing such a title, she would most likely click on it out of curiosity.

Could her account balance have already started to change?

The thought, like a tiny claw, gently scratched at her heart. She resisted the urge to take out her phone and check, deciding to wait a little longer.

Just as she was considering whether to wait a while longer to observe the situation or to slip away now that the situation had eased up a bit, the noise outside, which had calmed down a bit due to the crowd fleeing, suddenly rose to a whole new level!

It didn't gradually increase, but suddenly erupted, and the sound rapidly approached the area of ​​the official site where she was! The footsteps were dense and heavy, not just one or two people running, but a group of people moving, mixed with the ear-piercing sounds of objects colliding and metal being dragged.

Immediately afterwards, shouts and curses erupted:

"Damn it! Give me back my fish!" A rough, hoarse male voice roared, filled with rage.

"Bullshit! We blocked it with our net!" Another voice retorted, even louder and sharper.

"Brothers, let's fight them!"

"You think I'm afraid of you?!"

Then came the piercing, sharp clang of metal colliding—clang! Thud!—the clash of iron against iron. There were also the muffled thuds of flesh hitting flesh, the sound of fists slamming into bodies, the thud of people falling to the ground, and the painful groans.

All of this happened too fast. From the sound to its approach, it only took a dozen seconds. Xu Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly opened her eyes, but her body did not move much. She simply straightened up from the corner without making a sound.

The man on duty was also awakened. He stood up from his wicker chair, walked to the door, but dared not lift the curtain and go out directly. He just peeked out through the crack in the door, muttering to himself, "How did they get here... This is bad... Why haven't the guards arrived yet..."

Xu Xiaoyan didn't make a sound. She lowered her body and moved to the other side of the door, keeping her distance from the man. Then, she stretched out her left hand and used her fingertips to lift the heavy curtain with a very thin slit—no more than a centimeter wide, just enough for one eye to observe the outside.

She held her breath, pressing her right eye against the slit, the view outside causing her pupils to contract slightly.

The crowd was clearly divided into two distinct groups, and a full-blown brawl broke out in the open space of less than 30 square meters in front of the "Fish Purchase" and "Fishing Gear Rental" containers! This open space was originally intended for people queuing to rest and sort their catch, but now it had become a chaotic battlefield.

Judging from their attire, there is a clear difference between the two.

The group on the left, about eight or nine people, were dressed in a rather mixed manner—some wore old military overcoats, some wore tattered cotton-padded jackets, and some wore work clothes that they had somehow gotten their hands on. The colors were all different, but they all looked old, dirty, and even a bit tattered.

The "weapons" they held were quite down-to-earth: some held kitchen knives, the blades gleaming coldly in the dim light; some held hammers, the wooden handles worn smooth; others held wood-chopping knives, which were used for splitting firewood, with thick backs and sharp blades; and some even held a thick wooden stick taken from some piece of furniture.

The group on the right was slightly larger, about twelve or thirteen people. Their clothing was relatively uniform and thicker—mostly dark or camouflage down jackets and windbreakers. Although they were worn, they looked neater than the other group. More importantly, the tools they carried were more "professional": most of them were short sticks—which might be specially made or modified from steel pipes; there were also ice chisels, which are long iron spikes used for ice fishing, with sharp tips, and now they were being used as spears; and two other people were holding something that looked like police batons.

The battle has reached a fever pitch.

There was no set pattern at all, no back-and-forth moves like in the movies. It was just the most primitive and savage pushing, shoving, and chasing. Two people would roll on the ground, punching, headbutting, and biting each other. One person would raise a machete and chop down, while the other would block with a short stick, producing a piercing metallic clang and sparks flying everywhere.

Several of them were clearly in a frenzy, their faces contorted and ferocious, their eyes bloodshot, and they were roaring. The knives and sharp tools in their hands gleamed dangerously in the limited daylight, and each swing of their weapons made a whooshing sound, which made Xu Xiaoyan's eyes twitch.

Several people were already lying on the ground, some curled up, holding their heads or abdomens with their hands, emitting suppressed groans; some were motionless, it was unclear whether they had fainted or not... Many more had obvious bloodstains on their bodies and faces.

A man wearing an old military overcoat had a gash on his forehead, and blood smeared half of his face. In the freezing cold of minus twenty degrees Celsius, the bloodstains quickly froze and darkened, turning into purplish-black scabs. But he seemed to feel no pain and continued to roar as he lunged at his opponent.

In such a low-temperature environment, the intense fighting caused white steam to rise from everyone's heads—it was the steam formed by the heat generated by the vigorous exercise meeting the cold air, which enveloped the fighting crowd and made the whole scene appear even more intense.

"They're really risking their lives for fish..." Xu Xiaoyan clicked her tongue in amazement. She couldn't help but admire the group's fierceness from the bottom of her heart. To be willing to fight for their lives in such an extreme environment for fish was something that could not be fully explained by the pressure of life.

Wait a minute, isn't this firsthand footage of the "escalating battle" just the perfect sequel to the forum post?

The conflict spread from the ice to the shore, escalating from a chaotic escape to a direct confrontation, and from a possible accident to a full-blown brawl—a brawl involving deadly weapons and bloodshed. The information contained here is far more explosive and valuable than the initial photos of a simple escape.

The risks are certainly greater. Outside, there's a real, chaotic battle. If she's discovered taking photos behind the door, either side could mistake her for someone with ulterior motives, and the consequences could be unimaginable.