The six of them got back into the car and drove out of the alleyway before stopping at an empty street outside.
"Where are we going now?" Jixi asked as the two switched seat positions, letting Yezi drive this time.
"Scouting mission, as you said earlier... We are going to scout the main entrance of the casino." Yezi replied, his voice still sounding a little grumpy.
After driving for three minutes, an entire horde of zombies was right around the corner as they looked to the side.
"Holy shit."
Yezi immediately made a U-turn before driving down a random direction, trying to get as far away from the horde as possible.
But the horde quickly chased after them, and they could feel the ground tumbling a little from the number of zombies behind the car.
"Fuck, there's the zombies that you guys are talking about," Yezi commented as he floored the gas pedal.
"Thank God the road is all empty," one of the soldiers commented, as he expected the road to be filled with car wrecks.
"Yeah..." Jixi murmured, seemingly to have some flashbacks in his head.
After driving around several different blocks for twenty minutes, they finally lost the zombies behind them.
"Shit, did I just drive inside the city?"
Yezi asked as he looked around, only to see skyscrapers surrounding them. He had driven to a place he had no memories of.
"I think so..." Jixi replied.
"Any of you know how to drive back?" Yezi questioned, looking back at the four soldiers sitting behind.
"I know. I have lived in the city for several years now... If you take a right turn and keep driving forward for a few minutes, then take another left turn.
We will be back on the city's outskirts... Then we can go back to where we were earlier," one of the soldiers replied confidently.
"Okay, tell me when I need to turn again," Yezi murmured as he started up the car again.
One hour later...
After driving nonstop, avoiding all the different hordes that kept chasing behind them, they were finally back on the city outskirts.
The car still had half of its fuel as they arrived near the same alleyway as earlier. Their minds were all blown away by what they had witnessed along the way.
"Holy shit, I'm never going in the city again. What was that fucking zombie? It just shot some green thing at the car?
And that giant zombie is throwing a rock at us."
As Yezi commented in excitement, all four of the soldiers looked frightened. Even Jixi was a little nervous about the trip.
"Um... sir, the car's back window is melted a little." One of the soldiers sitting in the back reported.
"Fuck... Whatever, it's not that big of a deal." Yezi murmured after checking the rear mirror and noticing it.
"So that's how our helicopter got shot down..." Jixi thought to himself as the whole helicopter disaster made sense now.
"Anyway, let's go back to our mission."
As Yezi started driving toward the dark alleyway again, they quickly took a few turns, going a street away from the hotel that was next to three shops.
After driving to the road that the captive had described, he quickly drove towards another hotel right across from the casino.
The car was parked far enough that people on the other side couldn't see it as they were walking around on foot to the back of the second hotel.
"Why did we park the car there?" Jixi curiously asked.
"What the hell do you even learn in the military? We are 'scouting,' so obviously, we can't let them notice us.
If we drove straight to the second hotel across from the casino's hotel, they would definitely see us from up there.
Oh, and the casino is on the roof of all ten floors below it. Normal customers can only go up to the tenth floor, which is the middle of the hotel.
Now if we wrapped around on foot, they wouldn't be able to see us from up there... At least that's what I'm hoping."
Despite Yezi throwing a jab at him once again, Jixi didn't try to argue back as he watched him point over to the other side of the street.
The side of the hotel's casino, just right across two different glass doors of the building they are currently in front of.
"Are we going to this hotel building to see what's happening in the other hotel building?" One of the soldiers curiously asked.
"Bingo! It looks like we have some smart fellows here... What's your name?" Yezi asked as they exited the car.
"My name is Han Bang." The soldier replied.
"Good job, Han Bang."
After Yezi patted him on the back, the six of them began entering the extremely tall second hotel, which had several zombies in the main lobby, wondering.
They began clearing the zombies along the way up to the stairways before taking the stairs and going up floor by floor.
When they arrived at the top floor of the building, there was only one room on the fourteenth floor.
A fancy presidential suite with a locked door. Jixi instantly busted it open with a powerful kick as the soldiers immediately followed in with a bat.
With the room cleared, they finally had their base set up—a temporary base for now as the six of them stood near the window.
"Well, we're going to stay here for a week... You guys go down again to get the food and equipment up here."
As four soldiers headed downstairs, Yezi took out a pair of binoculars, trying to look across to the other side of the hotel tower.
"What do you see?" Jixi curiously asked.
"Many of the balconies on the regular floor held SOS signs, probably when the outbreak had just happened, and the hope of rescue still existed,"
Yezi replied as he continued to look up before reaching all the way up to the twelfth floor across the casino hotel.
Unforunately, the floor had its curtains blocked all of the windows. But the light shining below the curtains indicated that people were living there with power.
"Jixi, write this down: the enemy is on the twelve floors... They have light, power, and several shattered windows."
"Okay, I'll write it down... Anything else?" Jixi asked as he grabbed a small notebook nearby with a pen.
"Not yet. We will have to wait until they send people outside... The angle is too high up for the binocular."
Yezi put down the binoculars as the hotel they were in was nowhere near the same height as the casino one.
"What if they don't send anyone out?" Jixi questioned.
"They will... They already don't have enough food. Or else they wouldn't be sending people to Luoping to trade people for food."
As the four soldiers came upstairs with four boxes of food and water, one of them also carried up an entire detachable telescope.
"Now we've got professional equipment... Let's go to the roof."
After arriving at the roof entrance, Jixi simply kicked the door open again, revealing the roof to be mostly empty with only a few air conditioner units.
"Okay, let's see what they have."
As Yezi set up the telescope and took a peek inside, he quickly readjusted it back to the twelve floors before starting to look up again.
The thirteenth floor did not have a curtain like the twelfth floor. Instead, several people were playing cards at a table, each with a pistol or knife next to them.
After seeing nothing interesting, Yezi moved up to the fourteenth floor.
This time, his interest was instantly caught as several women were surrounded by a bunch of men, all naked as they lay on the sofa.
"I'm going to need eye bleach after this..." Yezi murmured as he moved onto the fifteenth floor.
This floor only had one person on it. A middle-aged man was sitting in an office chair, seemingly thinking about something.
"That's the new boss I'm going to kill with my hand..." Yezi murmured as he continued checking the floor.
To Yezi's surprise, he could see several crates of some unknown chemical, all in a different language.
"Is anyone a chemist or a college graduate?" Yezi asked as he turned to five of them with a question.
"I graduated from college." Han Bang raised his hand alone.
"Perfect. Can you tell me what those chemicals are for?" Yezi pointed for Han Bang to look through the telescope.
"Um... those are to make TNT, if I remember correctly."
"How the hell did they get that in there... Shit, this is going to complicate things a lot."
Yezi's face was in complete shock as the number of crates he saw up there was more than enough to blow up an entire skyscraper.
"They probably had some connection," Jixi replied, noting it into his notebook as Yezi went back to looking in the telescope.
Moving up to the sixteenth floor, Yezi was a little surprised to see almost twenty people tied up and three people standing there as guards.
The next two floors afterward were only to be covered in a curtain, with the roof way too high to see from their position, even with a telescope.
"Write it down: they have hostages on the sixteenth floor. They only have pistols and knives and TNT."
Jixi nodded as he noted everything Yezi explained before putting it along with his pen back into his pocket.
"Okay, we are done here. It's time to go back down."
---
Time quickly began to pass as the moon started to rise in the distance.
"Now we just need to scout them from here. We need to note when they are driving out from the garage over there.
You guys are going to take turns checking it, okay?" Yezi pointed at the entrance of the hotel across the street.
"Yes, sir!"
The four soldiers replied as they began making a schedule among themselves, setting up a dedicated block for the binoculars.
The next day...
Just as Yezi and Jixi woke up for breakfast, suddenly, one of the soldiers on watch duty came back down and yelled that something was coming out of the casino's garage.
The two of them immediately rush upstairs to the telescope, only to see a black sedan driving away.
Unfortunately, the window was all tinted, so nobody could see what was inside.
"Should we go follow them?" Jixi asked.
"Not yet. It's probably just a normal car driving outside. Han Bang, take the telescope and check if any of the victims have been moved from the sixteenth floor yet."
"Yes, sir." Han Bang murmured, bringing the telescope to the roof as Yezi and Jixi returned to eating their breakfast.
"Now we wait... maybe we can use this to find other settlements that are buying people and free those people as well,"
Yezi murmured as they both popped open the food can. Picking up a fork from their backpack, they began eating it.
Just as the two of them were about to finish the food, the door was suddenly knocked on, instantly waking up the other two soldiers who had been awake all night.
"Wait, it's not Han Bang... It has only been five minutes. He wouldn't knock on the door without saying a word."
Yezi instantly stopped Jixi from opening the door. He could feel something was off, especially as the sound of someone knocking on the door continued.
The two soldiers, along with Jixi, immediately raised their rifles, with Yezi slowly walking over to the door before looking through the peephole.
Unforunately, the other side had completely blocked it off. But at the same time, it only raises the alarm even more.
"Shit, someone else is out there... Ready your rifles."
The three of them turned off their safety as Yezi swung the door open. To their surprise, an entire group of people stood by the doorway.
All of them were armed with different melee tools and weapons, with a middle-aged woman standing in the front.
"Are you guys from the military to rescue us?" The middle-aged woman asked as they noticed Yezi's camouflage clothes and rifles.
"Um, we are not from the military... We are just civilians who have formed a militia," Yezi responded.
The four of them could immediately tell the group of people looked a little disappointed, causing them to be even more alert.
"Oh, that's fine... But can you help us get out of here? We had run out of food for several days now."
Although the group in front of him didn't look like gang members from the casino, the woman's pleading with her face on the verge of tears softened Yezi's heart.
"Shit. Looks like we are having a change of plan... You two, give some food to them right now. Jixi, go call Xiaoyun."
Yezi directed, his mind already thinking of how to report a new group of free laborers to the town.
---
Meanwhile, back in Luoping...
Xiaoyun was lying on the sofa inside the office, his eyes full of black circles as if he hadn't slept for days.
But it wasn't because of his wivies squeezing him clean.
Rather, Yezi's leaving the house had caused Huayi to move in to sleep with Leyan, as she was too scared to sleep alone in a big house.
With Huayi in the house, the other two girls also refused to let him into their room, citing that they weren't feeling well.
The sudden sex withdrawal left him unable to sleep for almost the entire night, only surviving on coffee and a few naps in between.
"Ugh, I'm so tired," Xiaoyun complained.
"Why are you so tired? Didn't you sleep last night?" Leyan curiously asked.
"Looking at him, probably suffering from withdrawal," Yuqi answered for him.
"Yes, please! Let me just do it once... I can't please myself anymore. I tried, but it didn't work," Xiaoyun pleaded.
"Come on, we are in the office... There are people outside working right now. Get a hold of yourself."
Leyan murmured as the four accountants and resource managers had been hiring, working right outside their office, as the town had grown over a hundred people.
Before Xiaoyun could ask again, his phone rang. As he picked up the phone, it displayed Jixi's phone number.
"Hello? Jixi? What's wrong?"
"Boss, we might need a bus to come here and pick us up. The one right across from the casino at the back entrance." Jixi answered.
"What? A bus? Why do we need that?"
"The hotel we are staying in has over thirty people here... Yezi thought that since Mrs.Yuqi always talked about not having enough people, he thought this was the perfect time for it."
"Okay, can you tell me the exact location?"
"Um, the hotel is across from the casino that we are spying on, and we can see Songjia company a few streets from here.
It's the second-tallest hotel next to the tallest one on the outskirts... Oh shit, what the hell are they doing?"
Suddenly, screams could be heard over the phone, mixed with several bangs, before the sound of the phone being dropped ended the call.
"Shit! I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back no later than the evening."
Xiaoyun quickly ran out of the room, not giving them a choice or even asking what was happening.
"I really hope they aren't in trouble..." Leyan murmured as the sudden cutoff clearly meant something bad.
"Maybe I should have stopped him... Whatever. Let them sort it out themselves."
Yuqi murmured, shifting her attention back to work as there wasn't much the two could do now with him gone.
---
As Xiaoyun ran on the street, Yueyue was on duty patrolling the town today. Her face looked a little bored as she happened to walk past him.
"Hey, where are you going?" Yueyue asked as he stopped Xiaoyun.
"Going to drive a bus right now," Xiaoyun replied before shoving Yueyue's hand aside and running down the sidewalk.
"Wait, you don't even know how to drive a bus!" Yueyue yelled as she started chasing after him.
Just as the two kept running down the sidewalk, a bus happened to stop in the distant right before them, dropping people off for work.
"Wait, wait."
The bus driver seemed to hear Xiaoyun's voice as it didn't start up the bus again, waiting for Xiaoyun to catch up.
As Xiaoyun stepped inside the bus, he was a little surprised to see Renqin sitting in the driver's seat.
"Hello Xiaoyun, long time no see. You taking the bus?"
Renqin curiously asked, but Xiaoyun didn't answer as he turned his attention to the other passenger inside the bus.
"Everyone, please get out of the bus. You guys can go to Yuqi for compensation. The bus is temporarily under military use."
Within seconds, all of the passengers flooded out of the bus, none of them questioning it, as even Renqin attempted to get off as well.
But Xiaoyun held him back, not letting him leave.
"Wait, Renqin. I need you to drive the bus," Xiaoyun asked urgently.
"To where?"
"I need you to drive to the city outskirts. It's the second-tallest hotel on the outskirts near the Songjia skyscraper——"
"Hell no, that's too dangerous. I'm not going back to the outside world. That place is a hellscape."
Renqin interrupted as he rejected Xiaoyun's proposal. His face was full of fear as if some bad memories had popped into his head.
As Xiaoyun tries to convince Renqin once again, Yueyue finally catches up and walks inside the bus.
"Wait, Xiaoyun. You didn't tell me you wanted to go outside." Yueyue angrily asked as she entered the bus.
"It's urgent, okay? Yezi is in trouble. Please Renqin. Just once, okay? I won't ask you to drive outside ever again." Xiaoyun pleaded.
After a short silence, Renqin backed down, accepting the request as he entered the driver's seat.
"Fine, fine, I will drive there... I think I know what you are talking about. But just give me a moment."
As Renqin finally started the bus back up, Yueyue immediately stopped it again.
"Wait, you guys can't just drive there. Let me call Yiming to get more people. We need some soldiers alongside us."
Yueyue pointed out as she pulled out her phone. Renqin turned over to Xiaoyun, who nodded in agreement after a short consideration.
"Mr.Yiming, can you hear me?"
"Yes, Yueyue, what do you need?"
"Can you call the militia——I mean the soldiers to get to the front gate? It's an emergency with Yezi."
"Okay, I will do that right now."
As Yueyue hung up her phone, Renqin didn't waste any time and started driving the bus towards the entrance.
Two minutes later, all of the soldiers were already at the front entrance when the bus arrived.
"Get on the bus. I'll explain along the way. Yiming, you stay behind and make sure Luoping is safe."
Xiaoyun waved at the soldiers as the bus opened its door, getting ready to explain the emergency mission.
---
After taking several wrong turns and with a miracle, they managed to avoid the zombie horde and arrived at the hotel.
However, they had arrived at the wrong one.
Renqin somehow drove right in front of the casino, which forced them to drive another loop before finally arriving at the back entrance Jixi had described.
Xiaoyun pulled out his phone and started calling as everyone waited patiently for it to connect inside the bus.
"Jixi, you there?" Xiaoyun asked as the call finally went through.
"Is this Mr.Xiaoyun?"
A weirdly familiar woman's voice asked, confusing Xiaoyun a little. But he quickly recovered his composure.
"Yes. Who are you? Where is Jixi and everyone else?"
"If you want your friend to be safe, come up to the roof by yourself without any weapon. We can see you from here." The voice replied.
Xiaoyun hesitated for a second but accepted it in the end.
"Fine, just don't hurt them. I will go there myself."
As Xiaoyun hung up the phone, Yueyue immediately reached over Renqin to lock the door, preventing him from leaving.
"Let me out. Renqin, open the door."
Renqin immediately opened the door just like Xiaoyun had ordered. But Yueyue quickly stood herself in front of the exit.
"You can't go there yourself, it's way too dangerous!" Yueyue argued.
"Yeah, Mr.Xiaoyun. It's way too dangerous."
"We don't know what's up there. We should plan before going. There's no rush for things like this."
Despite the soldiers siding with Yueyue, Xiaoyun still remained firm in his choice.
"I promised Huayi that Yezi would come home safely. This is an order, Xiaoyue, move over."
In the end, Xiaoyun forcefully moved Yueyue to the side, showing zero leniency as he left the bus all alone.
"Ugh! This idiot!"
Yueyue fell into silence as none of the soldiers knew what to do until Renqin reminded everyone to follow Xiaoyun's order to stay inside the bus.
---
When Xiaoyun walked into the hotel lobby, he took out his phone and called again, waiting for other side to answer.
"I walked in alone like you wanted it. Which floor are you on?" Xiaoyun questioned as he entered the stairway.
"The roof."
As Xiaoyun began walking up the stairs, his mind was starting to regret his irrational decision.
Still, he remained steadfasted as he finally arrived at the roof floor.
The door was already opened as a whole crowds of people was in before his eyes, some armed with swords and some arms with pipes.
Almost all of them were armed with melee weapons, besides the six of them that are armed with M16 rifles.
Over to the side, Xiaoyun could see Yezi and Jixi tied up next to the soldier, all fully disarmed with several guards right next to them.
"What do you want?" Xiaoyun questioned, showing zero fear on his face despite all six of them pointing their rifle at him.
A woman looking to be in her late thirties stepped up from the crowd before pulling out Yezi's pistol after noticing Xiaoyun's gun on the side.
"We heard you wanted to attack the casino next door?" The woman questioned back.
"Yes... Last week we killed several of their henchmen who came to threaten our town. We also rescued several people who they kidnapped in an RV."
The answer instantly made the crowd's faces widen for a second before Xiaoyun continued with his response.
"The six people you are currently holding are meant for scouting mission... Are you guys a part of that casino group?"
"I don't trust you. How can you prove that you saved those people?" The woman asked, ignoring his question.
"Let me make a phone call right now..."
As Xiaoyun reached the side, the atmosphere immediately got a little tense. But it quickly cooled down as he pulled out a phone rather than his pistol.
"Hey Yuqi... Can you get the record on the people we saved from the RV? Yeah, can you get them to your office and answer this phone?"
Xiaoyun paused for a second, then continued.
"Oh, does one of them work in the office right now? That's perfect... I found some people in the city who seem to know you.
Can you tell them how we had treated you? Just say whatever you had experience in the town... I'll put give them the phone now."
The moment Xiaoyun threw his phone over to the woman, she instantly caught it before turning on the speaker.
"Hello?" The girl on the other side asked out loud.
"Qi Ai, is it really you? Oh my god, I thought I would never see you again! Are you okay?" One of the women at the back asked excitedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Mom... Mayor Xiaoyun had treated me extremely well. They saved me from those kidnappers. Where are you guys——"
Before the phone call could continued, the woman in the front ended the call and threw the phone back to him.
"Sorry for the misunderstanding... We have several people who they kidnapped, so we are just taking extra precautions."
The woman signaled her crew to untie Yezi and the soldier before apologizing, letting them go as they ripped off their mouth tape.
"I should never have fallen for an innocent-looking woman. How could I fall for the classic blunder——"
"It's okay. Everybody makes mistakes. Don't be so harsh on yourself."
Despite Xiaoyun's reassurance, all six of them still looked a little grumpy, almost as if they still couldn't believe the trap they had falling into.
"Well, unfortunately, we can't return these to you. We need it oursleve." The woman replied after noticing Xiaoyun looking at her mens.
"It's all good. You guys can keep it... All I care about is my men getting back home alive. Come on, let's go."