Apocalypse: After Being Reborn, I Stocked Up on All Supplies-Chapter 157 - : Ambush, Come Back Quickly!

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Ambush, Come Back Quickly!

Three meters above the rooftop surface was made of high-strength, transparent glass.

At this moment, it seemed to be covered with densely packed people.

At a glance, there were prints of feet of various sizes.

A strong smell of Formalin faintly wafted through the air.

This substance is typically used for preservation.

Commonly seen in corpse preservation or in the storage of live specimens.

...

A bad feeling arose in the hearts of the three, who held their weapons tightly and quickly made their way upward.

Reaching the doorway to the twenty-fourth floor, Sun Jingtao raised his hand and then pressed his head against the fire door.

He immediately stood up, more cautious and signaled the other two with his eyes, “No one inside, but be careful of a ruse and ambush.”

Ye Qing and Zhao Pengfei nodded.

Sun Jingtao took a deep breath and opened the door.

He looked around for a second with his gun raised and found no guards.

The three of them stepped one after another, treading lightly and gingerly out of the stairwell.

Upon seeing the scene before them, their pupils shrunk.

On the twenty-third floor, the perimeter of the floor was made up of rooms.

But here, the perimeter was a boundless swimming pool.

However, the curtains by the pool’s edge were all drawn.

Above the pool, the space was now divided into four sections.

Above each section, a very large, crude metal cage had been welded into place.

Each cage had a small door, locked shut.

They must have been a later modification.

Looking inside the cages, at first glance, all were people.

Men, women, boys, girls, densely packed and bound, hanging by their hands.

Every age group was present.

The lengths of the dangling ropes were uneven, ensuring that everyone was submerged below the calves in a specially concocted solution.

It looked like a Water Cell.

Perhaps it was too cold or they were too exhausted; the people in the cages hung their heads weakly.

Alive or dead, it was impossible to tell.

The odorous Formalin scent was emanating from the swimming pool.

It seemed that this was the place they were searching for.

“These bastards! Damn it, they’re not human!!” Sun Jingtao cursed, looking at the scene before him with anger.

Zhao Pengfei’s brow furrowed severely, his eyes laced with despair as he frantically searched the Water Cell.

“Brother Tao, handle this situation. I’ll go upstairs to find Jiang Yan,” Ye Qing said, after a quick assessment of the scene, his mind racing with urgency.

Clearly, this was the core area where everyone was held captive, yet unguarded.

This could only mean that all active forces were concentrated upstairs.

Chances are, Jiang Yan, who had gone alone into the lion’s den, was in great danger.

“Good,” Sun Jingtao nodded, then, feeling uneasy, added, “Be careful by yourself. After we get some of these people down, we’ll immediately come up to join you.”

What they could do now was to get a few people down first and then leave the rest to the people on the scene. After that, they would immediately go upstairs to find Jiang Yan.

There was nothing else they could do.

After all, this place was like an isolated island.

But to go upstairs without first dealing with these people was clearly unrealistic.

Some opportunities never come back.

Ye Qing tucked the handgun away, took the submachine gun they had just seized, checked the ammunition, and hurried upstairs.

Sun Jingtao and Zhao Pengfei were left on the scene.

Both men began carefully moving inward from the stairwell entrance.

The area closest to the two was where the men were held.

These men were tall, with sturdy frames, as if they had been specifically selected.

They were skinny due to malnutrition, just skin and bones.

Adjacent to the men’s area was the boys’ section.

Zhao Pengfei, heart racing with urgency, forgot the rule previously decided by the three, and called out his son’s name, “Zhao Xiaofei!!”

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He, unlike Sun Jingtao and Ye Qing, had not undergone professional training, lacked strong self-discipline.

And not knowing whether his son, whom he depended on, was dead or alive, one could imagine the extent of his inner turmoil.

“Old Zhao, hush!” Sun Jingtao, with a frown between his brows, looked around vigilantly before taking cover behind a barrier in the corner with his gun raised.

No one was there.

And no one responded.

Sun Jingtao breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the worried Zhao Pengfei raised his voice, “Zhao Xiaofei! Xiao Feiji!!”

“Dad…” Hearing his father calling his pet name, a faint, weary voice came from the cage holding the boys.

It was a small boy near the edge of the cage door frame.

His thin body swayed as he attempted to open his eyes but couldn’t manage to.

His nose and throat were very dry.

Perhaps due to the long exposure to the irritating smell, his nostrils and throat were stinging with a burning pain.

Upon hearing his son, Zhao Pengfei, holding a Fire Axe, hurriedly ran toward the cage where the boy was held.

Blinded by panic, he had forgotten the agreement made earlier.

Sun Jingtao had no choice but to guard him with his gun, alert to their surroundings.

Halfway there, the keen-eyed Sun Jingtao noticed something was off.

A small red dot, wavering slightly, appeared right over Zhao Pengfei’s backpack where his heart was.

“Old Zhao!” Sun Jingtao panicked, “Zhao Pengfei, there’s an ambush! Get back here!”

He looked up, trying to locate the sniper.

Only then did he realize that the enemy was well hidden.

And the distance from them was sizeable.

The twenty-fourth floor featured a 360-degree panoramic pool.

And both the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth floors were suspended.

Such a design indeed surprised him.

Meanwhile, Zhao Pengfei ignored Sun Jingtao’s shouts. The axe made a clang as it chopped down onto the metal door’s lock.

“Clang!” The lock broke.

Reaching into his backpack, Zhao Pengfei pulled out a dagger.

He took his son, half-suspended, into one arm, and with a raise of his hand, cut through the ropes binding his son’s hands.

“Xiao Feiji!” Zhao Pengfei, with tears streaming down his face, held his son tightly, full of remorse, “Dad swears, I will never hit you again! Or may I be struck by thunder and never die a good death!!”

The small boy murmured dryly, “Dad, don’t…”

His eyelids finally lifted a little. Before he could see clearly, a sudden gunshot—”Bang!”—sliced through the night air, and with the swiftness of a thunderclap, headed straight for Zhao Pengfei’s back.

Sun Jingtao also finally located the sniper and turned agilely to shoot directly toward the sniper’s position.

“Ah—”

A shotgun cartridge fires ten pellets.

Although they were not within the optimal range, one bullet still hit the target.

Bang!

A figure fell from on high.

At the same time, Zhao Pengfei’s body slid to his knees at the edge of the cage.

“Dad—” The heart-wrenching scream erupted from the boy’s painfully raw throat.

*

On the twenty-fifth floor, hearing the gunshots from the twenty-fourth, Ye Qing paused but then hastened his steps upward.

He clearly overheard that the gunshots on the next floor were even more intense and frequent.

As they had expected, nearly all the firepower had moved up to the thirtieth floor.

However, the sound of combat gunfire still reached him from time to time, which meant:

Jiang Yan was still alive.