Chapter 86 The Small Building is Attacked

Under the armed deterrence of the patrol boats, the scrambling to board the ships was somewhat curbed.

Seeing this, the rescue personnel on the ships immediately broadcast that those who deliberately disrupted the rescue order would be arranged to board last.

Thus, the overt chaos was temporarily suppressed. The rescue boats continued transporting the lower-floor residents who hadn't been evacuated yesterday, and the crowd blocking the corridor bridge on the 12th floor decreased by nearly half.

Shi Jun struggled to climb up from the water. Just moments ago, he had been responsible for carrying all their family's supplies. His wife, holding their child, had originally been standing a bit farther from the corridor bridge.

But as soon as the boat arrived, the crowd surging from the stairwell instantly pushed forward, shoving the two of them to the edge of the bridge in the blink of an eye. If Shi Jun hadn't been quick-eyed and swift-handed, their child would have been pushed into the water.

The child was safe, but a lot of their family's supplies had fallen into the water, and someone had taken advantage of the chaos to swipe one bag. He had no choice but to jump in to retrieve the supply bag.

By the time the family, following the floor order, finally queued up to board the ship, it was already four in the afternoon.

Dragging their exhausted bodies, the group arrived at the survivor base. As previously guessed, the cluster of ultra-high-rise buildings chosen by the Disaster Relief Department was indeed the business district they had explored before.

At this time, several buildings in this business district had already gathered many survivors. The office rooms were relatively large, with at least a few dozen people crammed together in each office.

With so many people, the environment was, as one could imagine, not much better than the crowded conditions in their original residential complex, and the living space wasn't much more spacious either.

Everyone was trying to convince themselves that the current hardship was only temporary. In a couple of days, they would all be relocated to a safer and better place.

On the way, Shi Jun heard from the rescue personnel on the boat that the Disaster Relief Department was divided into several teams conducting search and rescue in different sectors. Their group belonged to Rescue Team Two. After completing the sector's rescue operations, they would be relocated near Mian Mountain or the western hills.

Mian Mountain. Hearing this name again, Shi Jun and Zhao Fangzhe felt a complex mix of emotions. They couldn't help but wonder: where was Bai Xiao now, all alone? Was she doing alright? Their current situation seemed worse than if they had gone with her.

Whether for better or worse, their side was settled for now. Meanwhile, Bai Xiao, at noon, had found a small building about to be submerged and temporarily moored there.

This was a street block lined with small buildings on both sides. Most of them had only their top floor still above water. Bai Xiao chose one at the street's entrance. She directly kicked in a window, climbed inside, and then used a safety rope to secure the assault boat to the window frame.

This small building seemed to be a training institution. This room looked like a storage closet, with old desks piled up filling half the space. Bai Xiao opened the door, went out, and quickly scanned the corridor. There were no other figures in the building. Seeing this, she temporarily set her mind at ease and returned to the original room.

She came back quickly, as the assault boat was still outside and she didn't want to be away for too long. After just a brief reconnaissance and locking the door, she returned to rest.

Having been rained on all morning, even though her body wasn't wet, the chill seemed to have seeped into her clothes. Not wanting to shortchange herself, she directly took out a steaming bowl of lotus root and pork rib soup from her storage slot to drink.

A sip of the warm soup warmed her from the inside out. The broth was delicious, and Bai Xiao even felt half her physical and mental strength restored.

Several pieces of lean ribs and lotus root later, her empty stomach was soon filled. Bai Xiao then turned her attention back to studying the route ahead.

On her tablet was the map she had downloaded. The maps were detailed, covering every province and city. Moreover, she hadn't just downloaded standard administrative maps; she had also downloaded transportation/tourist maps and topographic maps.

Right now, she was looking at the administrative and transportation/tourist maps of this city. According to plan, after a morning's travel, she had basically left the city's bustling district and reached the area between the bustling district and the suburbs.

Since Yunzhou City's terrain was higher in the southwest and lower in the northeast, once she completely left the urban area, she would essentially be traveling upstream. At that point, she would have to rely more on the outboard motor for propulsion.

Fortunately, she had more than one outboard motor. To increase power, she could use two together, or she could alternate them to prevent overloading a single machine.

Besides the issue of going upstream, the water flow conditions in the suburbs might become more complex. Additionally, losing the guidance of urban buildings like city blocks meant finding the way and direction could also waste some time.

Of course, being in the suburbs wasn't all bad news. The water surface would be more open, smaller paths would become fewer, and entangled debris might not be as plentiful as in the city. Even if there was debris, it would likely be mostly vegetation, which was easier to cut through than the various synthetic fabrics and ropes found in the city.

At her current travel speed, she definitely wouldn't reach Mian Mountain today. She would need to find a place to stop for the night along the way.

In the city's outskirts, tall buildings decreased, and factories became more numerous. Given the current water level, most factories were already submerged.

Bai Xiao carefully searched the markings on the map until she spotted a pet supplies company about eight kilometers away. She knew of this company; it was a nationally renowned pet supplies manufacturer.

Therefore, besides the factory, the company's office building was also constructed there, making it one of the few larger buildings in the suburbs. Bai Xiao locked it in as her overnight location for tonight.

Eight kilometers wasn't far. Combined with the thirteen kilometers traveled in the morning, she would have covered nearly half the distance in one day.

Actually, at her speed, she could cover more than eight kilometers in an afternoon. However, there were no suitable overnight spots further ahead. Bai Xiao didn't want to risk traveling at night just to save time; that really wasn't a wise choice.

After resting for over an hour, just as she was about to get up, move her things, and untie the rope, a marble shot through the window straight at her face.

Bai Xiao almost got hit by the marble. Its speed was comparable to that of an electric pellet gun in a game. She had managed to dodge sneak attacks before, and naturally, she could do so now.

However, the current environment wasn't as tense as in the game, and her vigilance wasn't as high, almost letting the attacker catch her off guard.

Bai Xiao cursed inwardly. While ducking and crouching low, she drew the air gun from her waist. The Glock pistol's safety was on the trigger. Usually, merely touching the trigger wouldn't cause it to fire; one had to press the safety and pull the trigger to shoot. Therefore, after drawing the pistol, she only needed to chamber a round. When firing, the safety would be disengaged along with the trigger pull.

She performed a sideways roll on the spot, taking cover behind the wall next to the window. She waited for a long while, but there was no further attack from outside.

Bai Xiao used her foot to hook the disposable bowl and chopsticks she had used for her meal and casually tossed them toward the window.

With a *thud*, the disposable plastic bowl was hit. It wasn't a gun; it was a powerful slingshot. Whoever it was had good aim. Judging by the direction, the attack likely came from the small building directly opposite.

The attacker(s) must have arrived later. They probably decided to attack after discovering she had a boat. If they had been here first, wouldn't attacking from a higher position while she was on the boat have been better? But they hadn't. They were definitely newcomers.

Her deduction was indeed correct. The attackers were indeed newcomers. They were a group formed by residents from the same residential complex. Four families filled two boats, with a third boat carrying all their supplies.

At the last intersection before reaching the small buildings, the water current was too turbulent. The boat carrying only supplies, due to improper handling, had hit some sharp object in the water. It was now damaged, and the air was leaking from the rubber dinghy.

When they saw Bai Xiao's boat, which looked sturdier and was tied with a rope outside the small building, they felt it was like a godsend—a perfect solution arriving just when needed.

The four families agreed to have the elderly and children first paddle the boat to hide behind the opposite building.

The remaining five men and three women deduced that Bai Xiao's side, with only one boat, surely had fewer people than them. They decided to employ a pincer tactic.

One group would go to the opposite building to scout Bai Xiao's situation. Coincidentally, one of them was skilled with a slingshot and could handle long-range attacks. The other group would directly approach the small building from another direction, enter through the door, and catch their target like a turtle in a jar.