Chapter 194

Scarface slammed his crowbar against the iron door of the stronghold with a loud clang, leaving a dent in the door panel and rust chips falling off.

He tilted his head, a sinister smile on his lips, and shouted into the doorway, "Kai! Stop playing dead! If you don't open the door, I'll tear off all the acid shields on these people at the door and leave them naked in the acid rain to feed the mutated acid ants!"

The refugees outside the door huddled together, mostly the elderly, women, and children who hadn't managed to get any acid-resistant supplies. One of them, an old woman wearing patched acid-resistant clothing, was holding a five- or six-year-old child in her arms. The child's small acid-resistant headgear was something she had traded for half a bag of compressed biscuits from the "Number One Store in the World" just yesterday. The child was now tightly clutching the old woman's clothes, her eyes filled with fear.

"Scarface, don't go too far! These are innocent people!"

A Kai roared from inside the door, but his voice was clearly powerless—the mutated acid ants in the stronghold had not been cleared out yet, and more than a dozen were lying on the manganese crystal shelves at the warehouse entrance. The acid had corroded small holes in the shelves, and if he was distracted by opening the door again, the acid ants would likely rush into the warehouse and destroy the remaining acid-resistant materials inside.

Scarface seemed not to hear, instead leaning forward and grabbing the old woman's acid bra strap, his fingers clenching tightly: "Innocent? In this world, being alive is what's innocent! Open the door, and I'll let her go, otherwise—"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly yanked, and the strap of the acid shield snapped with a "bang." The acid shield, still warm from the child's body, fell into the mud and was instantly drenched in acid rain, turning white.

"My bra!" the child cried out in fright. The old woman quickly reached out to pick it up, but Scarface kicked her wrist with a "smack." The old woman curled up on the ground in pain, and her wrist quickly became red and swollen.

Worse still, the moment the acid shield fell off, a few drops of acid rain hit the child's cheek with a "sizzle," and blisters instantly formed on the skin. The child's cries suddenly rose in intensity, becoming heart-wrenching.

"Stop!" Ah Jie inside the door was anxious to rush out, but two acid ants crawled onto his trouser leg. He quickly stomped his foot, and the acid ants fell to the ground, but quickly crawled towards the tracking laser gun next to him. The gun body had already been corroded with two small holes. If it was gnawed for a while longer, it would be completely unusable.

Akai grabbed him, gritting his teeth as he said, "Wait a little longer. Chen Yang said he's bringing his men this way, they'll be here soon!"

But Scarface didn't give them a chance to wait. He picked up the child's acid shield, crumpled it into a ball, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it: "Kai, I'll count to three more. If you don't open the door, you'll end up like this old woman!" His two thugs joined in the jeering, reaching for a young woman's acid shield—

The girl's acid-proof clothing had holes, only covering her chest and back. When the thugs ripped it, the hem tore instantly, exposing her waist and abdomen, which immediately turned red when the acid rain hit her. The girl screamed in pain and tried to back away, but another thug grabbed her arm, rendering her unable to move.

"One!" Scarface began to count, his voice rough and hoarse, like sandpaper. The old woman, holding her child who was crying uncontrollably, crawled through the mud to reach Scarface's trouser leg, pleading, "Please, don't hurt the child. I'll give you my antacid repair serum, just half a bottle, which I stole yesterday..."

"Two!" Scarface kicked the old woman away. Her forehead hit the doorpost, and blood seeped out. Acid rain fell on the wound, making another "sizzling" sound. She trembled all over in pain, but still held the child in her arms tightly.

Kai, watching this scene from inside the stronghold, had bloodshot eyes. He grabbed a manganese crystal iron rod from the side and was about to rush out, but was stopped by Jie: "Acid ants! Acid ants have crawled into the warehouse!"

The two turned their heads and saw three mutated acid ants had already scurried into the warehouse and were crawling towards the acid-resistant manganese crystal powder in the corner—

That was their last bit of first-order manganese crystal powder. Although it couldn't deal with second-order acid ants, it could temporarily slow them down.

Akai could only turn around and try to drive away the acid ants. He smashed the iron rod down on the acid ants, but their shells were too hard. The impact only made them pause for a moment, and they started crawling towards his hand. He quickly retreated, feeling anxious and angry, but he was powerless to stop them.

"Three!" Scarface finished counting and reached out to pull the only remaining acid-resistant headscarf on the old woman's head—it was something the old woman had made by soaking strips of cloth in acid-resistant repair solution, better than nothing.

The moment the headscarf was ripped off, acid rain pelted the old woman's head, quickly corroding her hair and turning it yellow. Her scalp became red and swollen, and tears mixed with blood streamed down her face. Yet, she still clung tightly to her child, trying to prevent the acid rain from getting on him.

"Open the door! Open the door!" Seeing the old woman's miserable state, some of the refugees outside the door started shouting into the door, their voices filled with despair, "Akai, save us! If you don't open the door, they're all going to kill us!"

Akai's hands were clenched so tightly they turned white, and he almost deformed the manganese crystal iron rod. He looked towards the warehouse; the acid ants had been driven out, but the situation outside was even worse—

Scarface's hand had already reached for another woman holding a baby. The woman's acid shield was a expedited order from "Number One Store in the World" and she hadn't even had a chance to wear it yet.

Just then, Scarface suddenly stopped. He looked up at the sky and frowned. The sky, which had been gray, gradually darkened. The wind picked up, and the acid rain was blown at an angle, hitting the metal sheet with a crackling sound. A muffled rumble of thunder could be heard faintly in the distance.

His eyes lit up, and he turned to the thugs beside him, saying, "It's getting dark, the acid rain is getting heavier, perfect time to break in!"

With that, he pulled a rusty axe from his pocket and chopped it down hard on the lock of the stronghold's door! With a clang, the lock snapped, and the door creaked and toppled inwards. Scarface led his thugs inside, their eyes immediately gleaming with greed as they spotted the acid-resistant supplies at the warehouse entrance: "Take all the acid shields and manganese powder! Anyone who tries to stop us will be thrown out to feed the acid ants!"

Akai and Ajie quickly blocked the warehouse entrance, holding iron bars in their hands, and shouted angrily at the thugs: "Don't come any closer! These supplies belong to everyone, not just you!"

But the thugs didn't care at all. Scarface raised his axe and swung it at Akai. The axe whistled through the air and was about to hit Akai's shoulder when suddenly, a thunderclap rolled across the sky, and blinding lightning illuminated the stronghold. The acid rain instantly turned into a downpour, hitting people painfully.

Scarface paused, looked up at the sky, and a more ruthless smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "Thunder is good, with darkness and thunder, no one can come to save you! This stronghold, and your lives, belong to me today!"

As he spoke, he raised his axe again and chopped at Akai. Meanwhile, the mutated acid ants in the warehouse, seemingly startled by the thunder, began to crawl toward the door again. The people in the stronghold were now completely trapped in a desperate situation, attacked from both inside and outside.