At midnight, Luo Zheng stood outside the window, looking over the bustling city. The streets were packed with vehicle traffic, and neon lights flickered, creating a scene brimming with life. His usually impassive face showed a hint of emotion, but he quickly dismissed these thoughts, picked up the car keys from the desk, checked the handgun, and took one last look at a photo. The photo was of Ye Laixiang, sent by the Intelligence Team to avoid any misidentification. After confirming he had morized the person in the photo, Luo Zheng burned it and flushed it down the toilet.
After leaving his room, he knocked on Lan Xue's door. Lan Xue was already prepared. The two of them secretly made their way to the parking lot, where Ghost Hand was waiting in the car, signaling that everything was normal. They quickly got into the car, and Ghost Hand drove out of the parking lot onto the highway.
The ride was silent. Unnoticed, they arrived near a drain. Checking the ti and seeing it was just past 1:10 AM, Luo Zheng and Lan Xue exchanged a glance. Seeing no one around, they got out of the car, opened the trunk, and hurriedly took out three oxygen cylinders and a fla cutting tool to the drain, bringing an extra for Ye Laixiang.
Ghost Hand stayed behind to secure the drain exit and waited in the car. The pair, having done this once before, felt confident. They put on oxygen masks, turned on their powerful flashlights, and ran swiftly into the drain, continuing in silence, focusing intensively on their path. By 2:00 AM, they reached the end of the drain.
Luo Zheng glanced at the ti and breathed a sigh of relief internally. He took off his oxygen mask to test the air, found it acceptable, and signaled to Lan Xue, who nodded in understanding. They removed their oxygen masks, set aside the oxygen cylinders, and Luo Zheng picked up the high-pressure special fla cutting tool. After setting it up and adjusting it, he donned protective glasses, ignited the tool, and a blue light emitted from the nozzle—a serene blue yet scorchingly hot, the fla as long as a pencil.
The serene blue fla touched the steel bars, and the high temperature rapidly lted them, just like a hot knife through tofu. Lan Xue vigilantly watched above, on guard for any presence. One by one, the steel bars were cut, and in about ten minutes, the entire grid of steel bars was cut through. Luo Zheng turned off the cutting tool, lifted the grid of steel bars, carefully removed it, and set it aside.
"I'll go up first," Luo Zheng said, looking upwards. He removed his protective glasses and exhaled in relief, taking the strong flashlight in his mouth and climbing up the ladder. The well walls were full of water outlets, leading to unknown places. Occasionally, a few vents with high-speed rotating fans made a whirring sound as they extracted vast amounts of air.
The underground prison was in a sealed state, relying on these fans for air exchange. Seeing the fans, Luo Zheng smiled, gestured to Lan Xue to bring up the cutting tool, which she did, albeit with a hint of surprise.
Soon, Lan Xue climbed up as well, saw the nearby fans, and quickly understood, handing the cutting tool to Luo Zheng. The fans were secured outside by fist-sized nuts, spinning at high speed, unbreakable by human strength and irreducible by tools. But the cutting tool was a different matter.
Luo Zheng ignited the tool and easily cut through the fist-sized nuts. With no nuts to hold them, the fan blades fell out of their slots and slowly ca to a stop. Luo Zheng handed the fan blade down to Lan Xue below, who secured it on the ladder next to her and continued to scout the area attentively.
According to the original plan, they were to cut open the steel bar grid and release Poison Smoke, but due to ti constraints and a lack of sufficient materials, they had to modify the plan to a penetration rescue. This was a reluctant asure. If possible, Luo Zheng would have preferred to wait another two days, but considering the risk of exposure, they had to take a chance. If it didn't work out, they would resort to the Poison Smoke plan next ti.
The vent was the best entry point. During their last reconnaissance, because of the steel bar grid, they couldn't climb up to investigate and missed the vent, only seeing drainage holes. Now, with the fans sabotaged, Luo Zheng signaled Lan Xue to wait, crawled inside, and after a short distance, peered through the exhaust vent to see the cells below, holding male prisoners, then quickly retreated.
"What's going on?" Lan Xue asked quietly.
"This floor houses male criminals, let's look upward," Luo Zheng whispered, continuing to climb. Soon after, Luo Zheng saw another ventilation shaft. Judging that it was about one floor higher than the previous one, he kept climbing, planning to check every other floor.
A few minutes later, this exhaust fan was also damaged. Luo Zheng crawled inside and found it was still a male prison. Annoyed, he climbed up further and reached another exhaust fan. He quickly broke it and checked the ti—it was half-past two, with only half an hour left until the attack ti.
Luo Zheng crawled further inside and discovered it was a won's prison below. Overjoyed, he quickly retreated and signaled Lan Xue. Lan Xue, understanding the hint, nodded joyfully. Both of them began to crawl inside, where each cell had a vent through which they could see the inmates.
They split up, carefully and cautiously inspecting each cell. They dared not crawl too fast for fear of making noise and alerting the patrolling guards. After about ten minutes, Luo Zheng spotted a woman in the cell below who looked similar to their target. Startled, he began to observe carefully.
The lighting in the won's prison was dim, allowing only a rough view. The more Luo Zheng looked, the more she resembled their target. He flashed his torchlight, which surprised Lan Xue, who was checking other female cells nearby. She hurried over and observed through the vent for a mont. Her face brightened with certainty, and she nodded affirmatively to Luo Zheng.
Overjoyed, Luo Zheng felt confident they had not mistaken the identity with both confirmations. He checked the vent; it wasn't big enough for him to fit through, so he turned to Lan Xue, whose slender body could just fit through. Lan Xue, understanding his look, nodded in agreent. Luo Zheng checked the ti—it was just a bit before three o'clock, so he patiently waited.
Because they lacked enough Poison Smoke, this part of the plan was canceled. To ensure safety, the attack ti was set for three o'clock. Before then, they both had to find Ye Laixiang. Now, everything seed to be going smoothly; they exhaled in relief and lay quietly in the ventilation duct, waiting.
After a while, they heard the patrolling guards speaking. Luo Zheng did not understand Japanese, so he looked at Lan Xue. After listening for a bit, her face lit up with joy, and she nodded at Luo Zheng. He quickly realized that the Shadow had launched the attack outside, and the noise had drawn the guards' attention.
Soon, Luo Zheng heard the loud clang of locks—clearly, the guards were reinforcing their vigilance. The guards leaving the cells made it easier for them to act, an unexpected pleasant surprise. Excited, Luo Zheng nodded at Lan Xue, and together they moved the vent cover.
Just as Lan Xue was about to jump down, Luo Zheng grabbed her hand and looked at her seriously, nodding. Lan Xue smiled understandingly, like a lily under the night sky—serene, elegant, and srizing. She then started crawling down through the vent.
User Comments
0 comments from readers