Chapter 359: 357

The deafening explosion sounded from a hundred meters behind, shaking the entire shipyard.

The violent explosion burst from the narrow passage, and the surging flames burst out like an oversized welding torch. The high temperature rapidly drained the oxygen within the channel, Matthew knelt on the ground, his face swelling into a bizarre purple-red, his ears’ sponges trembling slightly.

Next to him, Bi Fang pressed hard on the back of Matthew’s neck, lying motionless on the ground, feeling the scorching airflow whipping past.

The audience watched in horror as the air distorted and waved due to the heat, and in that moment, everyone seemed to lose their hearing.

On the ground, amidst the blinding firelight, a metal manhole cover was thrown into the air by the shockwave of the explosion, reaching a height of twenty meters before crashing back down, embedding itself into the shattered concrete.

“What’s going on? What’s happening?”

“Someone, anyone!”

“Has the army attacked us!?”

“Help!”

Shouts echoed through the night, some buildings suddenly lit up, and the quiet darkness was completely shattered.

Countless people panicked, deafened by the enormous sound of the explosion, with bright columns of light and the roar of motorcycles rushing in.

“Let’s go!”

Minutes later, Bi Fang picked up the dazed Matthew and re-entered the passage, heading for the manhole cover in front of the warehouse gate. Along the way, everyone could see that the scene in the sewer was completely different than before.

The walls were scorched and cracked, the moss climbing the walls burned to a crisp, leaving only a few parts flickering with dark red light in the darkness.

The stench in the air was even thicker, but it wasn’t the smell of hydrogen sulfide, but the stench after the sewage was evaporated, like dried excrement.

“Ugh!”

Arriving below the manhole cover, Matthew could no longer bear it and vomited out loud, the high temperatures from the explosion and the ringing in his ears surging up in that moment.

Bi Fang climbed up the iron ladder, carefully lifting the cover, speaking without much surprise, “Vomit it out; you’ll feel much better after.”

Under the starless night sky, a dark figure silently observed everyone from the corner of a road, the manhole cover balanced on top.

Bi Fang watched as the lights of the motorcycles scattered like fireflies to every corner of the shipyard and then extinguished. People poured out from every building, fleeing and wailing.

Just as Matthew had said, these people really were half-baked, standing on the ruins relying on ruthlessness and viciousness. If it had been a trained crowd, the situation would not look like this. All passageways would have been guarded long before now, at least until the explosion was thoroughly investigated, they shouldn’t allow free movement of personnel!

His gaze swept around the warehouse.

The dozen or so guards that were originally stationed had mostly run away, leaving only a few scattered around, even hesitating in place.

Matthew asked from below, “How is it? Any use?”

“Yes! Wait here for me!”

Bi Fang pushed the manhole cover open and leaped out of the well, climbing the iron ladder. After he carefully replaced the cover, he crouched down and ran forward like a leopard, disappearing into the grass beside him.

In a building not far away, members of the Bandit Gangs gathered. Soon someone pushed the door and entered.

“What’s going on? Is it the loyalists or the rebels, or have they all started fighting?” The Boss of the Bandit Gangs was tense. Such a commotion, aside from the military, he couldn’t imagine any other situation.

For months, the Bandit Gangs had been imposing their will on the entire city, with everyone avoiding them as they acted like they ruled the world. But facing a real army, they were no better than stray dogs; no, not even dogs, just rats from the sewer that could be burned clean with a single fire.

“No…nobody attacked,” panted the young man as he ran in, simultaneously swinging the door open.

Blazing light poured into the dark hall, not sunlight, but the glow of fire. The flamess seemed to gush forth from the bowels of the earth, shooting high into the air. Charred human figures ran through the fire, and huge steel devices burned as they flipped and fell.

Bi Fang’s heart seized, and he abruptly grabbed an ashtray to smash forward.

The young man let out a blood-curdling scream, clutching his bleeding forehead as he dropped to his knees, not understanding why the Boss suddenly hit him.

“Still say no one attacked! If no one did, did you start this fire?” Boss’s eyes were full of bloodshot rage, his face terrifying.

The young man lay on the ground, blood continuing to stream from his forehead. He reached up to touch it, feeling as if a piece had caved in, tears of pain brimming as he quickly explained, “Really, Boss, if someone had attacked, we would have known earlier. Not a single person, I swear. I heard Sabbas say it might be the underground natural gas pipeline that exploded, that’s why. Half the road got blasted away, and a few guys were in the bathroom at the time. They can’t be found now, seems like they were burned to death.”

Bandit Gang Boss was taken aback and walked to the door to look around. It seemed indeed there was no one. The chaos was solely due to his own unreliable men.

They were not from the military.

The fear that had risen in Bandit Gang Boss’s heart sank back down, relieved. “No attack is good, no attack is good,” he muttered, looking at the young man to the side, devoid of further intent, and waved a dismissive hand, “Alright, alright, go get that wrapped up. Can’t even talk properly.”

The young man dared not say more and bowed his head as he withdrew.

“Wait, the ‘goods’ weren’t damaged, were they?”

“No, they were close, but it didn’t reach there.”

“Good, hurry and put out the fire, so many troubles even this late at night.”

Watching his subordinate’s retreating figure, Bandit Gang Boss rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Is there even natural gas these days?”

“It must be marsh gas.”

“What’s that?”

…

In the shadows, a figure stealthily lurked, hiding its body behind bushes that hadn’t been trimmed in months, thoroughly concealed.

From the northeast corner of the warehouse, through the gaps in the bushes, the drone gave the audience a clear view of the warehouse’s outline.

This was the best position for an assault. Rock Climbing had checked thoroughly; from this direction, there was only one guard, whose angle of view was off. Quick and decisive action meant no one would notice.

Rock Climbing smeared some black ash on his face and tore off a piece of rag, then boldly approached his target.

“Hey, stop, don’t move! Who are you?”

The moment Rock Climbing appeared near the warehouse, the guard spotted him and moved his hand toward his waist.

The more chaos, the less room for error.

The guard was acutely aware of this. Thus, as Rock Climbing approached, he moved to draw his gun to fend him off, but before his hand could even grasp the gun, a white towel was suddenly hurled at his face.

What a joke, playing catch with a handkerchief?

A flicker of absurdity crossed the guard’s mind as he instinctively reached out with his left hand to grab it, but the next second, a hand firmly caught his wrist!

Immediately after, a huge force struck the guard’s left cheek!