"Liu Erlong's men!"
Lin Dong was startled. Without hesitation, he grabbed the nail gun and fired at the figures outside!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several shots rang out, but the nails merely embedded themselves in the thick layers of their clothing.
It was clear—the nail gun wasn't powerful enough to pierce through the soft padding of their down jackets.
"Hahaha! Lin, you think you're so tough, huh? What's a nail gun gonna do? Once my boys smash through that security door, I'll personally cut off your head to avenge my brother Qiang!"
Bang! Bang!
The security door groaned under the assault, visibly warping and denting, cracks beginning to form.
Lin Dong's face darkened, but he remained eerily calm. He immediately turned and pulled a yellow tube-shaped object from the hallway drawer.
The thing was common—at least, the men outside recognized it.
Before the Great Flood, kids in parks often played with these, sucking up water from ponds and squeezing the tube to shoot it out like a giant syringe.
But why the hell was this guy pulling it out now?
The men battering the door were baffled.
A cold smile curled Lin Dong's lips as he aimed the tube at the door's gap and forcefully pushed.
Splurt—
A stream of clear liquid sprayed out.
Adjusting the angle, Lin Dong sent the liquid arcing through the air, dousing the men outside.
"What the hell is this?"
"Shit, what's he spraying?"
The men at the door froze, instinctively looking down.
Then, someone behind them suddenly screamed.
"Fuck, it's gasoline!"
"Damn it, where'd he get gasoline?"
Panic and rage erupted. The ones wearing helmets, unable to smell it, still hadn't realized.
Before they could react, Lin Dong grabbed a lighter and a cigarette from the nearby pack, lighting one.
Through the security door, he flicked the cigarette outward.
The glowing ember landed on the nearest man in an instant.
The man barely had time to register it before—whoosh—flames erupted around him.
Then his entire body was engulfed.
"Ahhh—!"
Terrified, he dropped his hammer, desperately slapping at the flames while trying to tear off his clothes.
As he flailed, sparks flew, igniting the gasoline on the others nearby.
Down jackets were already highly flammable—add gasoline, and the fire spread in seconds.
Screams of horror filled the air as the men scrambled backward.
The stairwell blazed with light, illuminating the scene.
Two human-shaped lanterns burned brightly. Behind them, one faster man had already reached the steps.
But the staircase was crowded—among them stood Liu Erlong.
Behind Liu Erlong were familiar faces: President Wu and his two men from the morning's door-smashing.
Seeing his underlings on fire, Liu Erlong's face twisted in alarm. He retreated down the stairs, cursing, "Dammit, jump in the water, you idiots!"
His shout snapped the two burning men to action.
The two men rushed to the connecting corridor almost simultaneously. Without a second thought—despite being on the 31st floor—they leaped into the vast darkness below.
A piercing scream echoed through the air, brief and harrowing.
With two loud splashes, everything fell silent.
Liu Erlong and the others hurried to the connecting corridor, peering down into the abyss.
In the dim storm, they could barely make out two fireballs flickering briefly before vanishing, followed by the acrid smell of burning rising with the smoke.
And then… nothing more.
Jumping from the 31st floor, with the floodwaters at around the 10th floor—assuming each floor was three meters—meant a fall of roughly 63 meters.
A dive from such a height would be life-threatening even for professional divers.
Let alone these two ordinary men.
Inside the room, Lin Dong only heard the muffled splashes but couldn't see what happened below.
However, he had clearly heard Liu Erlong's furious roar earlier. Now, standing behind the security door, his face was cold.
Yet deep down, he felt a twinge of regret.
"That much gasoline could've powered the generator for over half an hour… wasted."
But in that critical moment, there had been no time to hesitate.
As for burning two people alive, he was gradually coming to terms with such acts.
Long before killing the ambusher named Zhou Jiaqiang, he had already witnessed the horrors outside—murder, rape, and other atrocities.
He had mentally prepared himself countless times for the day he'd have to fight and kill against such brutes.
So when the moment arrived and he took Zhou Jiaqiang's life, the discomfort had been minimal.
Compared to slashing Zhou Jiaqiang's throat, dousing two men in gasoline and setting them ablaze felt almost trivial. He felt no unease at all.
What pained him more than killing Liu Erlong's lackeys was the wasted gasoline.
After all, he had scavenged every drop from abandoned vehicles with immense effort.
It was meant to fuel the generator.
Now, an entire canister had been wasted. Of course, it stung.
Standing by the door, Lin Dong sneered and shouted outside, "Liu Erlong, if you've got any balls, come break this door down yourself. Sending your lapdogs to die for you—how generous of you."
"Listen up, Liu Erlong's lackeys! What era is this? In the Great Flood, no one's above anyone else. Liu Erlong used to be a property manager, but now? Even the damn government's abandoned you. Why still obey him?"
"What's in it for you, risking your lives for him? Does he have mountains of food? Can he lead you out of this building? We're all doomed anyway. If you follow his orders and come battering my door, you're just rushing to your graves."
"Let me make this clear—I've got plenty more gasoline. And not just that. I've got a gas cylinder too."
"Don't fucking push me. Try this again, and I'll blow you all to hell with that cylinder. Believe it?"
From behind the security door, he roared threats while subtly sowing discord among Liu Erlong's men.
His words left Liu Erlong seething downstairs.
"Motherfucker! Lin, if you've got any guts, come out and face me like a man! Hiding inside like a coward—what kind of shit is that?"
Liu Erlong cursed loudly while subtly glancing at the few lackeys beside him.
Sure enough, he noticed their evasive eyes and strange expressions, which immediately made his heart sink.
To be honest, the only reasons he'd managed to gather this group around him were his own brute strength and the stockpile of food he'd seized earlier.
But to say these men were loyal to him would be a joke.
In times like these, people would turn on each other over a scrap of food—murder and bloodshed were nothing.
Some had even sold their wives and daughters just for a bite to eat.
So Lin Dong's words instantly set off alarm bells in his mind, making him wary and cautious of those around him.