Chapter 374 A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity...
"Thump, thump-thump—thump, thump."
The agreed-upon knock sounded again, short and clear, like the beat of a heartbeat striking the nerves of everyone in the abandoned shop.
The sound echoed in the space filled with the stench of sweat and cheap tobacco, tightening the already tense atmosphere even further.
Sitting on the only wooden stool, Yao Zhuo, the burly man known as "Boss" by everyone, slowly raised his eyelids and nodded slightly.
The metal-type ability user, who was standing guard by the door with bulging muscles, immediately understood and activated his ability again, silently melting a gap in the door that was temporarily sealed by the metal plate.
As soon as the gap appeared, three figures darted in like eels.
As soon as they entered, the three of them felt the gaze of hundreds of eyes on them.
The three of them dared not delay and quickly walked up to Yao Zhuo.
The short, thin man in the middle spoke first: "Boss, after Wan Mei and the others left, most of the people in Flameheart Market retreated back to the base! Now there are only about ten people left in the market area!"
Old Fu, who had been frowning, asked urgently, "Old Ma! Are there only about ten people left near the inner gate?"
Old Ma nodded: "Yes! It's that group of people!"
Old Fu: "Boss! Those ten or so people are the legendary Level 4 ability users from the Blade Base! ...They're the ones who took down Blade and killed Mu Jin!"
Wan Mei let out a disdainful sneer.
"Boss! Listen to this! Old Fu is always looking ahead and behind, only knowing how to boost the morale of others while diminishing his own!"
To put it bluntly, isn't it just fear of death? Before, even with ninety people guarding the market, we still had to think twice. Now? It's like God is practically handing us food!
She spread her arms and incited the crowd in the room, whose eyes were gleaming with greed.
"Ninety people have been reduced to ten or so! What do you call this? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! A godsend!"
"We have over a hundred brothers, each one of them a superhuman. Taking on ten or so of them is a piece of cake! Those supplies are practically free!"
"Yes, boss! Sister Wanmei is right!"
"Quickly finish this, kill those dozen or so men, grab the supplies, and run!"
"Opportunity knocks but once!"
"Let's do it! The bold will get rich, and the timid will starve!"
Wan Mei's words were like a spark falling into an oil drum, instantly igniting the greed and wishful thinking of most people in the room.
The thought of the abundant supplies within easy reach made many people breathe heavily, and the fear in their eyes was replaced by fervor.
Old Fu: "Boss! Be extremely careful! The people from Flameheart aren't stupid. How could they expose such important supplies there and leave so few people behind?"
Wan Mei: "Killing and looting, as long as we're fast enough, there won't be any problem. Once we get the supplies... just throw that pile of gunpowder the base chief gave us in!"
Yao Zhuo remained silent, his fingers rhythmically tapping his knees.
He glanced around at his men, and finally his gaze settled on the anxious face of Old Fu.
He slowly stood up from the wooden stool, and a powerful sense of oppression naturally emanated from him.
His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears: "Old Fu, I understand your concerns."
He offered a reassuring remark, but then abruptly changed the subject: "However, this time, we have no choice but to go!"
Everyone knows what's going on inside the base...
If we don't get enough supplies, even if we go back unscathed today, with Huang Pan and his gang adding fuel to the fire in front of the base commander, will they still give us a place to stay?
At that point, you'll be caught in the middle, and you'll be doomed!
Furthermore, if we want to start our own business from scratch, this batch of supplies is the foundation of our success!
"Either way, it's a bet, so let's go all in and fight for a better future! Brothers, tell me, are we in or not?!"
"Let's do it! We'll do as the boss says!"
"Let's give it our all! Let's take a gamble!"
Yao Zhuo's highly inflammatory words ignited a desire for survival in everyone's eyes.
"Alright!" Yao Zhuo waved his hand sharply: "Let's move out!"
The metal sealing the door quickly and completely melted and contracted...
The doors were wide open, letting in the blinding afternoon sunlight. More than a hundred survivors swiftly and orderly walked out of the shop.
Various vehicles, modified and welded with steel plates and spikes, climbed up the gate.
The convoy sped off towards the Flameheart Base...
On the other hand, inside the Flameheart Market, a completely different scene unfolded.
The noise subsided, leaving only an empty space and the lazy afternoon sun...
As Lu Nange strolled along, everything in her path—the remaining supplies on the stalls, the crystal cores harvested that morning, and all sorts of strange items the survivors used for bartering—was collected into her spatial storage.
She took Lu Beiye's hand and said to everyone, "Let's go back and eat!"
The moment everyone turned around, Shi Xu stopped in his tracks.
He tilted his head slightly, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
"Something's wrong... More than ten vehicles, going very fast, heading straight for us... There are hundreds of people."
Almost at the same time, the walkie-talkie clipped to Chi Yi's waist emitted a crackling electrical noise.
Immediately afterwards, Chi Si's voice came from inside: "Chi Yi! Chi Yi! Please reply if you receive this!"
Chi Yi quickly pressed the intercom button and said succinctly, "Speak!"
"A convoy, without any obvious markings, is speeding towards our base market! It's less than two kilometers away!"
The people in the vehicle were fully armed; their intentions were unclear, but they certainly didn't seem to have any good intentions!
Chi Yanzhou: "Chi Si, maintain surveillance. Make emergency preparations inside the base. No personnel should go out for the time being."
Chi Si immediately responded over the walkie-talkie, and you could even faintly hear the wind howling as he ran: "Understood, young master! Chi Wu is keeping an eye on things! I'll bring men over to support you right away!"
"Hmm." Chi Yanzhou responded and casually handed the walkie-talkie back to Chi Yi.
Then he looked at He Zhuo and Ji Xian: "Build a ladder? Let's see which 'distinguished guest' is in such a hurry..."
"Alright! Brother Yan..."
He Zhuo and Ji Xian stepped forward simultaneously.
In an instant, a slight tremor came from beneath my feet, and a wide, thick earthen ladder quickly "grew" out along the smooth, steep surface of the metal shield, with even steps.
The ability to manipulate supernatural powers did not stop He Zhuo from talking non-stop.
While maintaining his ability output, he complained with a look of indignation: "Damn it! They really know how to pick their timing! Why did they have to come right at mealtime? Don't they know the rules?"
"Nothing should be delayed, not eating! That's so inconsiderate! If they're really here to cause trouble, that's utterly heinous, their intentions are despicable, and they're extremely malicious!"
Gu Wan: "If they're really here to cause trouble, we don't need to be polite. We'll beat them all into shriveled pumpkins and burn them to the ground!"
He Zhuo and Ji Xian controlled the size of the earthen steps, just enough for the dozen or so of them to stand in a row and climb up.
Lu Nange took out several military high-powered binoculars from her spatial storage and handed them one by one to her companions.
The group climbed the earthen steps to the top of the golden shield, where their view suddenly opened up.
Sure enough, dust billowed in the distance as a convoy of more than ten modified vehicles sped toward the Flameheart Base, exuding an undisguised ferocity.
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