88: Chapter 88: He wasn't fooled after all.

After seeing the situation inside the factory building clearly, Gu Changming withdrew his Mental Power, his gaze falling on Liu Yang's face beside him.

"Did you forget? You guys didn't get along with them before."

"Hmm?"

Liu Yang let out a confused hum, not yet fully understanding the meaning of those words.

The next instant, "Whoosh!"

The sound of something slicing through the air suddenly rang out! A metal chain with a barb shot out from the direction of the factory building. With a "clank," it buried itself deep into the ground at Liu Yang's feet!

Almost simultaneously, a figure leaned out from behind a broken window of the factory building. It was a bald man with a face full of fleshy scars, who barked out in a gruff voice, "Where are you from? What are you doing here!"

Liu Yang shuddered all over, only then snapping back to his senses.

He hurriedly raised his hands, his voice rising in pitch due to nervousness. "Don't—don't attack! I... I used to be part of the Desolate Hunt Group! I'm here to join you now! I'm joining in good faith!"

Gu Changming pursed his lips, his face full of helplessness.

They definitely had sentries. Seeing an opponent's car driving toward them from so far away—it would be a miracle if they weren't on guard.

Just now, as soon as his Mental Power probed inside, he had seen the other side's members armed and lying in ambush behind the main gate.

After a brief silence, the rusted metal door of the factory building let out a heavy grinding sound as it was slowly pushed open a crack from the inside.

Gu Changming glanced inside.

Not bad; there were quite a lot of people.

A few seconds later.

Gu Changming arrived at the gate and raised his hands, allowing someone from the other side with a dagger in their mouth to pat him down, checking if he was carrying any weapons.

Further inside, Liu Yang was hunched over, a stiff smile plastered on his face, bowing and scraping as he spoke to a scarred man who seemed to be the leader.

From time to time, he pointed toward the black Giant Cocoon in the back of the pickup truck outside, keeping his posture very low.

Things seemed to be progressing smoothly.

Before long, Liu Yang walked back toward them, his hunched back gradually straightening on the way.

"It's done!" He walked up to Gu Changming, his chin tilting up slightly.

"It had to be you." Gu Changming gave him a thumbs up.

Liu Yang smiled triumphantly and turned to call over a few people nearby, heading toward the pickup truck carrying the Giant Cocoon to unload it and hand it over to the others.

Gu Changming shoved his hands into his pockets, his shoulders just relaxing as he prepared to find a corner to hang out in.

Suddenly, a whisper came from nearby.

"Is the environment outside that bad now? A while ago, we had to go out and press-gang people, but now, they're all coming to us of their own accord..."

"All?"

Gu Changming's hand in his pocket paused.

He turned his head and began to scan his surroundings.

His gaze stopped abruptly halfway through the turn.

About ten meters away, near the boundary between the factory building's shadows and the light, a figure stood as well, casting a gaze toward him.

Their eyes met in the air.

After staring at Gu Changming for a few more seconds, Zhou Qilin moved first.

He took a step and walked toward Gu Changming at an unhurried pace.

Finally, he came to a stop in front of Gu Changming, at a distance neither too close nor too far.

"What a coincidence," Zhou Qilin spoke slowly, "we've run into each other again."

Gu Changming frowned and asked naturally, "Do we know each other?"

Zhou Qilin's expression faltered imperceptibly for a moment; then, the corners of his mouth slowly curved up into a meaningful smile.

Then, he said nothing more, turned around decisively, walked back, and leaned against the wall again.

Gu Changming pursed his lips helplessly. Tsk, he actually didn't fool him.

Next, Gu Changming also found a corner and leaned back against the metal wall.

At the same time, he kept the other man in his peripheral vision.

It seemed his previous judgment was correct.

That group from the Desolate Hunt Group had indeed been killed by someone. And the killer was clearly this person.

Now that the other guy had blended in here, his plan was likely the same as before: enter first, then wait for a certain moment when the Chain Gift descended to suddenly strike and harvest points.

It was indeed a good method.

Otherwise, if a single person tried to take on a gang of over forty people head-on, no one would be able to win.

"Hmm... wait, I could win."

...

Twilight had completely settled in. Looking through the broken windows, one could see the thick darkness outside.

The interior of the factory building, however, was gradually becoming lively as people gathered to drink or play cards.

Liu Yang seemed determined to establish a foothold here, actively weaving through the crowd with a smile on his face, calling everyone "brother."

In corners on either side of the crowd, Gu Changming and Zhou Qilin each leaned quietly.

Neither of them spoke or moved.

Both were waiting for something.

Their gazes would occasionally cross for a brief moment in the air before quickly parting.

However, this state of expectant waiting was too obvious. Before long, the people drinking and chatting nearby also began to sense something was off.

The noise unconsciously died down, and many people looked back and forth following their lines of sight.

The tense atmosphere of waiting for something to descend was like an invisible chill, quietly spreading from the two corners and gradually soaking through the entire factory building.

The once noisy space became quiet. Everyone seemed to have been infected, unconsciously holding their breath and waiting along with them.

Liu Yang also felt the eeriness of the atmosphere; that unusual silence made a chill run down his spine.

He stepped out from the crowd and shouted toward Gu Changming, "You—"

"BOOM!!!"

The words had barely left his mouth when they were completely swallowed by an earth-shattering explosion!

A blinding orange-red firelight illuminated half the sky, suddenly expanding from the location of the Gas Station beside the factory building, instantly lighting up everyone's faces.

The deafening sound waves and searing air currents slammed into the factory building. Glass windows shattered with a crackle, and the ground shook violently.

Genius.

Gu Changming silently praised himself in his heart.

He had said just now that the gift later might come from the nearby Oil Tanks. Now it was indeed proven.

As the sound of the explosion rang out, everyone inside the factory building was stunned by the sudden blast, their faces filled with confusion and horror.

Before they could even react—

"BANG!!!"

A dull, massive cracking sound came from overhead! The roof was torn open by a terrifying force, leaving a hideous, gaping hole!

Immediately after, a block of concrete enveloped in fire and thick smoke whistled down from above like a burning meteorite, crashing toward the crowd.

Following closely behind, countless concrete fragments enveloped in flames, like a violent meteor shower, also broke through the roof, trailing black smoke and sparks as they rained down relentlessly!

The interior of the factory building also instantly fell into a chain reaction of chaos and disaster.

Due to the impact of the "meteorites," the metal beams supporting some of the pipes suddenly snapped and collapsed, crashing down onto several figures below.

The old electrical circuits on the wall edges also burst out at this moment, snapping toward the target figures.

At the same time, the string of red numbers in the corner of Gu Changming's vision began to jump and rise rapidly.