Mechanic endlessly amassing troops in the apocalypse

Chapter 185 Catching a Turtle in a Jar

The woman did not answer the bearded man's question.

Her gaze swept past the overseers and landed on the people of Li Family Village. She said calmly, "People of Li Family Village, step back."

Tie Tou turned to look at Old Xu, his eyes questioning.

Old Xu's expression changed slightly. He remembered that Mei Xicai had indeed said that someone would come to meet him after he went inside.

But it doesn't say that only one woman was there to meet them, does it?

These supervisors are at least level 20, so sending just one person here seems too hasty. Is this so-called new world a paper tiger?

But with things having come to this point, Old Xu didn't have many options. He could only trust the woman before him, slamming his cane heavily on the floor and saying in a deep voice, "Retreat!"

The team members from Lijiazhuang seemed to have been waiting for this order.

They started backing away almost as soon as Old Xu opened his mouth.

In less than three seconds, the middle section of the corridor was cleared out.

The five supervisors who were originally mixed in with the Li family's team were isolated and exposed.

The bearded man's expression changed slightly, but he wasn't worried about the woman in front of him; rather, he was worried about the Li family villagers who were retreating in unison behind him.

The woman seemed to be of average strength, but if the people from Li Family Village really fought to the death, the five of them would definitely not be able to escape unscathed. You should know that Iron Head was also a level 20 Awakened.

His pistol was still pointed in Tang Mucheng's direction, but his gaze darted back and forth between the Li family members and Tang Mucheng, his expression turning furious: "Old Xu! You dare betray Ironstone Camp? Do you know the consequences of doing this?"

Old Xu snorted coldly, "Consequences? What could they be? It's just death, isn't it? We'd rather die than deal with a bunch of untrustworthy vampires like you."

These words seemed to strike a chord with the people of Li Family Village behind them, who all chimed in, "Yes, we will never associate with you vampires."

"You—you all!" The bearded man's face turned red with anger.

But just then, he suddenly heard the sound of a sword being drawn.

Sizzle!

The bearded man instinctively dodged to the side, only to see a cold, white blade flash past him.

The pistol in his hand was not pulled away in time and was instead sliced ​​in two by the blade.

Before the bearded man could react...

Two more streaks of silver-white blade energy flew out from the blade, drawing intersecting arcs under the fluorescent lights of the corridor.

This time, he didn't have time to dodge.

The bearded man looked down at his chest, where a thin line of blood had appeared.

He tried to say something, but his lips only moved slightly before he fell backward onto his back.

The other four overseers didn't even have time to draw their weapons.

The five people lay on the corridor floor, the blood slowly seeping into the tiles, its red color glaringly bright under the fluorescent lights.

Tang Mucheng sheathed her sword, looked at the people standing in Li Family Village, and said calmly, "Now we need someone to go back and report to lure those people over."

Old Xu's hand, gripping his cane, trembled slightly. The five men didn't even have a chance to draw their weapons. One strike, five lives, clean and swift as slicing vegetables. Is this the essence of the new world?

While Old Xu was still somewhat able to control his shock, Tie Tou and the others were much more exaggerated, exclaiming in surprise. Several women even shouted "So cool!" with stars in their eyes.

However, this mission of delivering the message was not easy; one wrong move and you could die there.

Tie Tou stood at the front of the line, his heart pounding. It wasn't that he was afraid of dying, but he was afraid that he was bad at talking and would make mistakes in the performance.

Wu Qiming is a very suspicious person. I am a rough man. If I accidentally let something slip, the whole plan will fall apart.

But then he thought again, Old Xu has difficulty walking, and the other brothers are either too low-ranking to run fast, or they're even less articulate than him.

Among the dozens of people in Lijiazhuang, he was the highest-ranking and had the most dealings with the overseers at the Ironstone Camp, so he had a general idea of ​​Wu Qiming's temperament. If he didn't take this task, who would?

After thinking it over, he took a step forward and said, "I'll go."

"Iron Head One," Old Xu instinctively tried to stop him.

"Old Xu, I know what to say." Tie Tou turned around, grinned, and said, "Don't worry, I'm not stupid."

Old Xu looked at Tie Tou's face. This burly man had been with him since the apocalypse; he had a bad temper and was clumsy with words, but he had never let him down in crucial moments. He was silent for two seconds, and finally just raised his hand and patted Tie Tou's shoulder heavily.

Tie Tou took a deep breath, turned around, and ran back the way he came.

Meanwhile, on the other side...

Wu Qiming was standing on the abandoned second-floor platform, occasionally raising his binoculars to glance in the direction of the New World Camp.

The camp was quiet.

There were no gunshots, no flashes of light, and no shouts of battle.

The people from Lijiazhuang have been inside for almost twenty minutes, but there hasn't been a sound coming out at all.

"Brother Wu, could something have happened?" Han Lei, who was sitting next to him, was also getting restless. He pushed up his glasses and his tone was uneasy.

Just as Wu Qiming was about to answer, hurried footsteps suddenly came from the stairwell.

A guard led Tie Tou up quickly. Tie Tou's face was covered in sweat, and his chest was heaving violently; it was clear he had run all the way back.

His clothes were soaked with sweat, and his hair was a mess, plastered to his forehead, but there were no marks on his body.

"What's the situation inside?" Wu Qiming asked abruptly. "Why did it take you so long to come back and report?"

Iron Head, bent over and supporting himself on his knees, panted for a while before catching his breath: "Manager Wu—it's too big inside. We searched several places before we found him."

"Found them? Where?"

"At the very back of the school." Tie Tou straightened up and wiped the sweat from his face haphazardly with his sleeve. "Those people are all gathered in a large playground, having some kind of bonfire party. There are hundreds of them, singing and dancing, and there isn't even a lookout outside."

The supervisors were still inside keeping watch, and they told me to come out and deliver the message first, afraid of missing such a good opportunity.

"A bonfire party?" Han Lei's voice was excited. "A bonfire party in the middle of the night?"

"Really! I saw it with my own eyes." Tie Tou immediately put on an anxious expression. "The playground is at the very back of the school; you can get there by walking straight in from the main gate. All their people are gathered there. We haven't been to the square or the hotel yet, but I doubt they're defended there either. Manager Wu, you'd better give the order quickly, or they might disperse!"

Han Lei turned to look at Wu Qiming, his eyes behind his glasses gleaming with excitement: "Brother Wu, this is a golden opportunity! Hundreds of people gathered together without any defenses, aren't they sitting ducks? Our main force can charge straight in through the front gate and wipe them all out in one go!"

Wu Qiming didn't answer immediately. He stared at Tie Tou's face for several seconds.

The man's expression was sincere, and his words were impeccable.

But Wu Qiming always felt that something was not quite right.

But then I thought, what if Iron Head is telling the truth? If everyone from the New World Camp really did gather on the parade ground, then this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A few hundred people gathered together could end the battle with a surprise attack from the main gate.

On the battlefield, whoever can seize the fleeting opportunity will win.

Wu Qiming threw away his cigarette, turned to face the dense crowd below the platform, took a deep breath, and roared, "Everyone, listen up!"

The main team members all raised their heads in unison.

"All troops, launch an attack! Storm in directly through the main gate! Target—the school playground! Kill any resistance you encounter!"

"Rush!"

The main force surged toward the gates of the New World camp like a floodgate had been opened.

The team members split into three waves and charged toward the half-open iron gate in a dense assault formation.

The refugee caravan was ordered to follow behind, carrying supplies, and surged forward in a chaotic manner.

Ironhead stood at the edge of the platform, watching as everyone from Ironstone Camp surged toward the gate like a tide.

He turned and walked towards the stairwell.

"Where are you going?" Han Lei called out to him from behind.

Tie Tou glanced back at the bespectacled young man, then suddenly smiled and said, "I'll go back and help."

Han Lei didn't think much of it and waved him away.

Tie Tou turned and walked into the darkness, his honest expression melting away like a mask.

He quickened his pace and disappeared in the direction of the New World camp.

Wu Qiming walked in the middle of the group, his steps quick.

As he passed through the iron gate, he made a point of looking up at the watchtower.

There was indeed no one on the watchtower; even the searchlights were off.

This made him believe Tie Tou's words even more; a camp that could be so lax deserved to be ambushed.

But once he entered the camp, his pace unconsciously slowed down.

The cleanliness here exceeded his expectations.

There was no trash, no wreckage of abandoned vehicles, and not even a single zombie corpse on the asphalt road.

The roadside flowerbeds were planted with neatly trimmed shrubs, and all the bulbs on the lampposts were lit, illuminating the entire main road as if it were daytime.

There was no stench of corpses in the air; instead, a faint aroma of food wafted from a certain direction.

Wu Qiming's uneasy feeling resurfaced.

Cleanliness signifies order. Order signifies management ability. Management ability signifies combat effectiveness.

Would someone who can manage a campsite so well be so stupid as to let hundreds of people gather together for a bonfire party without any precautions?

"Brother Wu," Han Lei leaned closer and pointed ahead, "I can see the teaching building."

Wu Qiming raised his head.

The main teaching building of Longjiang No. 7 Middle School is just ahead. The building is brightly lit, and the light coming through the windows is warm and quiet.

The main door on the first floor was wide open, and the lobby was empty, without even a guard.

"First team, go in and scout ahead," Wu Qiming ordered in a low voice.

The first team of more than a dozen members, carrying guns, crept into the lobby along the corridor walls.

Their footsteps echoed in the empty hall, sounding exceptionally clear.

Several team members quickly searched the classrooms on both sides of the lobby, then turned around and gestured outside: empty, no one is here.

Wu Qiming frowned, waved for the second and third teams to follow, and then stepped into the lobby of the teaching building.

He walked to the end of the corridor and pushed open the door leading to the playground.

The playground is indeed very large. Large enough to hold over a thousand people.

But there was no bonfire, no crowd, and not a single survivor singing and dancing on the playground.

There was only one person on the playground.

The man stood in the center of the playground, dressed in a black robe with a hood covering most of his face.

Behind her was an empty rubber track, and in front of her was a row of neatly stacked supply boxes.

"Who are you?" The captain of the first team raised his gun and pointed it at her.

The woman did not answer. She slowly raised her right hand, her five fingers slightly spread.

Then Wu Qiming felt as if an invisible hand was pressing down on his shoulder.

No, it's not just the shoulders.

My whole body was sinking, my knees were aching, my back was tight, and every muscle felt like it was filled with lead.

He suddenly turned to look at Han Lei next to him. Han Lei's face was already flushed red, his glasses had slipped off his nose, and he was barely able to stand by supporting himself on his knees.

I heard a dull thud from behind as something heavy fell to the ground.

Several lower-ranking team members lay face down on the ground, their faces pressed against the tiles, unable to even move a finger as they tried to get up.

Han Lei forced out a few words through gritted teeth, "A special awakened individual!"

Wu Qiming gritted his teeth, mobilized all his spiritual energy to resist the invisible pressure, and barely straightened his back.

His gaze swept past the woman in black robes on the playground, across the surrounding buildings, and his heart sank completely.

The windows on the second floor of the teaching building were opened simultaneously.

A row of dark gun barrels protruded from the window, aimed at the main team crowded at the entrance of the playground.

Gun-wielding figures emerged from behind the flower beds on both sides of the playground, from the gaps in the stacks of supplies, and even from the lampposts overhead.

There were at least a hundred gun barrels surrounding them from all sides.

Mei Xicai walked out of a classroom on the first floor of the teaching building, playing with a dagger in his hand, a smile on his face.

"Manager Wu," he stopped and bowed slightly to Wu Qiming, "welcome to the New World Camp."

Wu Qiming's pupils contracted sharply. This guy was Li Fei's man from beginning to end?

I've been tricked. From beginning to end, I've been completely fooled.

"Kill them!" Wu Qiming roared as he drew the gun from his waist.

But as soon as he raised his arm, the intensity of the gravitational field suddenly doubled.

The pistol slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. He knelt on one knee, his hands bracing against the rubber track.

The powerful gravitational field was like a giant millstone, crushing him and the more than three hundred people he brought with him underneath, and no one could escape.

Several awakened individuals above level 30 in the main team were still struggling, relying on their strong physiques to resist the gravity field and move forward.

But every step required tremendous physical exertion, and the muscles trembled uncontrollably under the force of gravity, leaving deep dents in the rubber track beneath their feet.

Then they saw several black, fully mechanical gorillas.

Three enraged gorillas emerged from behind the equipment room on one side of the playground, their heavy alloy armor reflecting a cold, hard silver light under the streetlights.

They stopped in front of the main force, looking down at the few high-level awakened individuals who were still struggling, as if they were looking at a few ants.

Sun Biao, the leader and a level 30 awakened being, roared and poured all his spiritual energy into his right arm, punching the enraged gorilla directly in front of him.

The force of that punch was enough to blast through a half-meter-thick concrete wall.