Volume 1, Chapter 63: Hu Biao's Terror, Defection to Long Xiangtian
Inside the dim bedroom of the Morning Light Apartment building, the heavy air was thick with the scent of tobacco and lust.
Hu Biao leaned against the headboard, shirtless, with a cigarette between his lips glowing and fading in the darkness.
His rough fingers were casually stroking the barrel of an AK-74 assault rifle, the cold touch of the metal bringing him a sense of security.
On the bed behind him, a young woman was curled up in the tangled sheets, her bare shoulders covered in blue and purple pinch marks.
"Boss Biao! Big trouble!"
A frantic pounding on the door shattered the silence.
Hu Biao let out an impatient click of his tongue. "Get the hell in here!"
Heiwa pushed the door open, his gaze instinctively drawn to the woman on the bed.
He swallowed hard, forcing himself to look away. "B-Boss Biao, word just came in. That crowd from the villa took the Financial Center!"
"What?!"
Hu Biao bolted upright from the bed, the cigarette dropping from his mouth to the floor.
He grabbed Heiwa by the collar, veins bulging on his muscular arms. "Say that again, you motherfucker!"
"It's absolute truth!" Heiwa's face turned purple from the chokehold. "Our men saw their armed helicopters circling above the Financial Center with their own eyes. The whole building is under their control!"
Hu Biao released his grip, stumbling back two steps until his back hit the wall with a dull thud.
What kind of place was the Financial Center? It was a tough nut that even the government forces wouldn't dare to storm blindly!
Triple-layer bulletproof glass, concrete-reinforced exterior walls, and a vault-level security system in the basement...
"How... how did they pull it off?" Hu Biao's voice trembled slightly.
"Word is they cleared the area with heavy firepower first, then special forces launched a surprise raid..." Heiwa lowered his voice. "The scariest part is, they didn't seem to care about ammunition consumption at all. Machine gun fire was pouring down like water..."
Hu Biao's temples throbbed violently.
He lunged toward the table, sweeping away the pile of debris to reveal a crumpled city map underneath.
His sweat-stained fingers traced frantically across the map, finally stopping at the location of the Financial Center.
"Damn it!" he roared suddenly, slamming his fist hard onto the table. "They're trying to set up a triangular defense perimeter!"
Heiwa shrank back in fright. "B-Boss Biao?"
"Look here!" Hu Biao drew three lines on the map with his finger, connecting the Cloud Villa, the Financial Center, and an area on the south side into a triangle. "Once they take the Financial Center, their next target will definitely be the south side! And us—"
His voice cut off abruptly, his face turning instantly pale.
The Morning Light Apartment happened to be located right on the southern pivot of this strategic triangle.
"Move!" Hu Biao suddenly exploded into action, frantically stuffing weapons and ammunition into his backpack. "Inform all the brothers, pack up your things in ten minutes. We're evacuating through the sewers!"
"Evacuating? Where to?" Heiwa asked, looking bewildered.
"To the damn Aurora Sanctuary!" Hu Biao kicked open the wardrobe, dragging a heavy weapon case out from a hidden compartment. "Right now, only that lunatic Long Tianxiang can protect us!"
The woman on the bed suddenly let out a cold sneer. "Can you even run? Those people managed to take down the Financial Center..."
Hu Biao's movements paused.
He slowly turned around, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. The next second, a muffled gunshot echoed through the room.
Heiwa watched the woman on the bed instantly lose all signs of life, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.
"What are you standing around for?" Hu Biao turned the smoking muzzle toward Heiwa. "Want me to give you one too?"
Five minutes later, the entire Morning Light Apartment building was in an uproar.
More than a dozen armed men scrambled to pack their supplies, some even coming to blows over a box of canned food.
A large number of survivors stood frozen in place, utterly bewildered.
Hu Biao stood at the stairwell, watching this rabble, his face as dark as thunder.
"Boss Biao, the sewer hatch has been opened," Heiwa reported, panting heavily.
Hu Biao nodded, taking one last look at the stronghold he had managed for nearly half a month.
He knew that once he left this place, there would be no coming back.
The armed forces behind that villa would soon turn this entire territory into their domain.
"Let's move!" he ordered through clenched teeth, leading his team down into the gloomy underground passage.
In the damp, foul-smelling air, only his vicious cursing echoed back:
"Long Tianxiang, you better have a way to deal with these lunatics..."
At 2:15 PM, in front of the Financial Center Plaza.
Three Mengshi assault vehicles came to a steady halt before the main entrance of the Financial Center, their tires crunching loudly over the scattered glass fragments on the ground.
Lin Ye pushed open the door. The moment his military boots touched the ground, the surrounding perimeter guards immediately stood at attention and saluted.
"Marshal!"
The uniform cry echoed across the empty plaza.
Lin Ye gave a slight nod, his gaze sweeping over this once-iconic landmark building.
The exterior walls of the skyscraper were riddled with bullet holes and blast marks, but its overall structure remained solid.
"Reporting, Marshal. The Financial Center is completely secured, and defense fortifications are currently being established," Xie Jin reported briskly, stepping forward.
Lin Ye strode forward as An Ruoran immediately stepped up behind him to hold a parasol over his head.
This thoughtful gesture brought a slight curve to his lips.
The days of hauling supplies under the scorching sun in his past life felt like a lifetime ago now.
It reminded him of the ex-girlfriend who had betrayed him in the apocalypse of his past life.
"Wang Qian..." Lin Ye muttered the name softly, a cold and cruel arc forming at the corner of his mouth.
That woman who, in his past life, stopped at nothing to survive—even betraying him and pushing him into a horde of zombies—must be lingering on the brink of death in some dark corner right about now, shouldn't she?
Meanwhile, inside a dilapidated rental apartment in downtown Donghai City.
"Crack!"
The crisp snap of a leather belt landing on flesh was accompanied by a woman's shrill scream.
"Brother Liu, I was wrong! I really tried my best..." Wang Qian curled up in the corner of a moldy sofa, her once-pretty face now covered in bruises, her disheveled hair stuck to a tear-stained cheek.
"Tried your best?" The burly man known as Brother Liu spat, the mixed scent of alcohol and body odor wafting into her face. "That old bastard said you felt just like a dead fish! What use do I have keeping you around?"
Wang Qian trembled as she hugged her knees tightly, her fingernails digging deep into the flesh of her calves.
Before the apocalypse broke out, she had been the campus belle of her department, but now she had to sell her body for half a box of expired crackers.
Her gaze involuntarily drifted toward the fruit knife on the coffee table, its blade reflecting her own distorted silhouette.
"Go again tonight," Brother Liu fastened his belt, warning her with a vicious glare. "If you can't bring back any food this time, I'll throw you outside to feed the zombies!"
After the bedroom door slammed shut with a heavy crash, Wang Qian finally released her lips, which she had bitten until they bled.
She staggered to her feet, pausing for a moment as her fingers brushed against the cold knife handle.
A chaotic roar suddenly came from outside the window—the sound of zombies discovering their prey.
The instinct to survive ultimately triumphed over her impulse.
She let go of the knife with a defeated slump of her shoulders and dragged her battered body toward the bathroom.
The reflection in the mirror left her in a daze.
Was this woman with sunken eyes and a numb expression really the same person who used to have countless suitors?