107: 107. Crush

Just as a dozen people stepped forward to surround the blacksmith, a commotion suddenly erupted behind them. They turned to see that the corrugated iron gate behind them had been slammed shut by three figures who had appeared at some unknown time!

Brother Peng, who was leading them, glanced at the dozen or so people in the room, his brows slightly furrowed, and his tone carrying a hint of disappointment: "Only this many people?"

"There must be more; their people outside are definitely rushing this way. Brother Peng, what do you say?" Xiao Dao licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Engineer Lei twisted his thick neck, letting out a series of 'crack, crack' sounds, and grinned: "Hehe, same old rules then, let's see who takes down more, how about it? The loser treats us to drinks and meat tonight!"

Brother Peng's face broke into a battle-ready smile: "No problem!"

He Jun watched these four people begin to discuss as if no one else was present, completely disregarding them, and was instantly so angry he laughed: "Very good! So, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it? Hahaha... Do you four really think you can be the oriole? You don't know your place!"

The people he brought were not street thugs; they were professionally trained bodyguards and enforcers, always at the forefront of fights. How could they be intimidated by these four?

He waved his hand and shouted sharply: "Get your weapons!"

Swish, swish, swish!

Almost simultaneously, everyone pulled out gleaming collapsible batons from their waistbands or pockets, flicking them open with a crisp 'clack'.

The tips of the batons pointed at Brother Peng and the other three, their eyes fierce.

"Charge! Beat them to death!" He Jun roared.

The dozen or so men instantly rushed forward like rabid dogs, their faces contorted, their batons whistling through the air as they savagely struck at Brother Peng and the other three!

Facing the incoming batons, Brother Peng neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, he snorted coldly, his left hand flashing out like lightning to grab an opponent's wrist, while his right hand simultaneously reached out to seize their collar. Using the strength of his core, he executed a clean and swift over-the-shoulder throw!

"Thud!" came a muffled sound.

The enforcer didn't even understand what had happened before he was slammed heavily onto the concrete floor, passing out without a whimper.

"Brother Peng's skills are as good as ever!" Xiao Dao exclaimed, his figure agile, not retreating but advancing directly into the crowd!

He transformed his palm into a blade, precisely evading the incoming baton strikes. Each of his hand strikes accurately hit the opponent's carotid artery or the area below the Adam's apple.

"Ugh ah...!"

"Cough...!"

The struck individuals instantly turned a purplish-red color, their eyes bulging, their hands clutching their necks tightly. They gasped for air like fish out of water, unable to breathe, collapsing painfully to the ground and instantly losing their combat ability.

It was hard to imagine the bloody scene that would unfold if Xiao Dao had held a dagger in his hand.

Engineer Lei watched, his blood boiling, his long-dormant combat memories fully awakened. He let out a loud laugh: "I'm coming too!"

Facing a collapsible baton that attacked him from the side, he executed a swift side flying kick, precisely striking the opponent's chest.

"Ah ah ah ah!"

The attacker felt as if he had been hit by a motorcycle, flying backward and crashing heavily into a nearby concrete support pillar, then sliding limply to the ground.

Engineer Lei seized the opportunity, snatched a collapsible baton, and swung it backhand!

He possessed immense strength; the baton whistled through the air in his hand, each impact accompanied by the crisp sound of breaking bones and screams, truly like a tiger entering a flock of sheep!

The arrogance on He Jun's face had long vanished, replaced by extreme solemnity and shock!

These four people... they were simply not human! They were monsters! Every one of their movements was efficient and deadly, completely the tactics of killing enemies on a battlefield!

He urgently shouted into his earpiece: "Get people here quickly, hurry, these guys are tough!"

However, only a 'zzzt-zzzt' sound of static interference came through the earpiece, with no other response. His heart instantly sank to the bottom.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to get distracted during a fight?"

A voice sounded behind him. He Jun's pupils suddenly contracted, and all the hairs on his body stood on end!

He abruptly rolled forward in a clumsy manner, simultaneously reaching for a gleaming dagger from his lower back. He turned, holding it horizontally across his chest, and, still shaken, sharply demanded: "You... who exactly are you?!"

"Hehe... why waste words! You'll find out after I give you a good beating!"

The same words, but this time they came from the blacksmith's mouth. He had, at some unknown point, effortlessly dealt with the two people next to him and was now clenching his sand-bowl-sized fists, grinning menacingly at He Jun.

The situation had completely reversed in just one or two minutes!

...Inside the office building, Shen Wei clutched the communicator tightly, but only a piercing "zzzzzz" sound came through, followed by a complete loss of signal, leaving only a busy tone.

"Damn it! The signal's jammed!"

Shen Wei's heart skipped a beat, and a very bad premonition suddenly arose. What exactly happened at that unfinished building?

"Quick! Restore communications!" Shen Wei roared at the young hacker beside him.

The technician, sweating profusely, his fingers flying across the keyboard, tried to bypass the interference. A few seconds later, communications actually briefly recovered for an instant!

However, what came through was not He Jun's report, but several short screams, dull thuds, and the sound of heavy objects falling!

Shen Wei's face instantly turned incredibly grim; the other party was clearly prepared! This was a trap!

Who exactly was it?!

Was it someone Zhu Fang hired to double-cross them? Or old enemies? Or... that Jiang Datie who won the lottery? No, a car mechanic couldn't possibly have that kind of power! Who was behind this?!

Suddenly, the communicator in his hand crackled with static again, and a low voice came through:

"Hello? Shen Wei?"

Shen Wei's heart pounded. He roared into the communicator: "Who the hell are you?! What turf are you on?! You think you're a dragon crossing the river, daring to provoke me, a local snake?! If you've got guts, state your name!"

The voice replied without any emotional fluctuation: "Don't lump me in with people like you. We are not on the same path."

"Very good!"

Shen Wei trembled with rage, his face contorted. "No matter who you are! I'll make you realize the consequences of provoking me, Shen Wei, in Jiang City! You just wait! I'll personally bring people over right away, drag you out, and tear you to pieces!"

He abruptly looked at the hacker beside him.

The hacker, sweating profusely, stared at the screen and said in a low voice: "Brother Wei, although the signal is intermittent, the last captured source transmission location has been locked! It's at that abandoned factory in the west of the city, the specific coordinates are..."

Shen Wei, through the communicator, gritted his teeth and threatened: "You wait! I'll be there right away!"

On the other end of the communicator, the other party seemed to chuckle, with a hint of mockery: "I'm looking forward to it. But I estimate... you won't have that chance."

With that, the communication was completely cut off again.

With a loud "bang!", Shen Wei furiously smashed the expensive communicator onto the floor, sending parts scattering!

He suddenly stood up, kicking over the glass coffee table in front of him!

The expensive cigars, foreign wine bottles, crystal ashtrays... shattered on the floor with a crash, leaving a complete mess.

"Damn it! Who the hell is it?!" he roared in anger.

This feeling of being in the dark while the enemy was known, not even knowing who his opponent was, made him feel like he was about to explode.

Although the employees outside the office couldn't see the situation inside through the one-way glass, the loud commotion was clearly audible, and everyone was silent with fear.

The technician looked at the mess on the floor, carefully got up, walked to the office door, and whispered outside: "...Go find someone to clean this up."

Soon, a man in a cleaner's uniform, wearing a hat and mask, pushed a cleaning cart in and silently began to clear the debris from the floor.

The technician returned to his computer, trying to continue tracking, and at the same time reported to Shen Wei: "Boss, don't worry, I already have a lead. Through technical means, I found that in that factory area, besides our people, there were four active signal sources! Just give me a little more time, and I'll know their iden..."

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, his fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard, when he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Why was the boss so quiet?

He subconsciously turned his head and was horrified to find that his boss, Shen Wei, had his eyes closed and was slumped softly on the cleaner's shoulder!

And the cleaner was effortlessly tossing Shen Wei into the covered trash bin of the cleaning cart!

The cleaner looked up, revealing an ordinary face under the baseball cap. Those calm eyes smiled slightly at him.

A chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He suddenly remembered the mocking voice of the other party just before the call was cut off: "I'm looking forward to it, but I estimate... you won't have that chance."

It turned out... the other party wasn't referring to revenge... but that the other party... had already infiltrated their stronghold, quietly arriving behind them!

The technician's mouth hung open, his terrified scream still caught in his throat, when a precise hand chop fell, striking him hard on the side of his neck, and his consciousness faded.

Shan Bao calmly glanced at the technician lying on the floor, took out some tape, tied him up, and threw him behind the office desk.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he pushed the cleaning cart and calmly walked out of the office area.

Outside the door, no one knew... "They're all inside! Get in there quickly!"

"Oh no! The door's locked from the inside!"

"Damn it! Don't let them escape! Everyone, let's break it open together!"

"Bang, bang, bang!!!"

Outside the unfinished building, more and more reinforcements arrived. A dozen cars were haphazardly parked around, and dozens of Weisheng Security's enforcers surrounded the exit, making it airtight.

Everyone shouted, frantically slamming their bodies against the rusty corrugated iron gate.

Before long, accompanied by a screeching sound of twisting metal, the lock was finally smashed off, and the heavy gate was violently pushed open.

However, when the people outside saw the scene inside, all the shouting and curses ceased abruptly, replaced by gasps of cold air and a deathly silence.

Inside the vast abandoned space, their companions who had rushed in earlier were now lying scattered on the floor, all unconscious, with collapsible batons strewn everywhere, the scene a complete mess.

And Jiang Datie, who should have been trapped in the middle, was long gone.

"Something... something big has happened!" someone said in a trembling voice.

Panic instantly spread, and everyone frantically called the company headquarters to report the situation.

At Weisheng Security Company headquarters, the switchboard and managers' phones were instantly overwhelmed.

The manager in charge of liaison was drenched in sweat, listening to the incoherent reports over the phone, his face pale. Without a word, he rushed into Shen Wei's office, intending to ask for his boss's instructions.

He found the office empty!

Only a mess of broken glass on the floor and a smashed communicator remained.

"Bo... Boss?! The boss is gone?!" The manager's scream echoed throughout the entire floor.

The continuous bad news plunged the entire Weisheng Security Company into unprecedented panic and chaos. Leaderless, everyone was in disarray.

As Shen Wei's nominal wife, Zhu Fang also received a call, and her eyes narrowed.

Her first reaction was to think Shen Wei was staging it himself, but then she thought that shouldn't be the case.

Zhu Fang frowned deeply and said, "It seems there's a problem."

...Shen Wei groggily opened his eyes, feeling a splitting headache and blurred vision.

He shook his head vigorously, and the scene before him gradually became clear.

It was already dark outside. He found himself in a spacious factory workshop, his hands tied behind his back with zip ties, bound tightly to a heavy metal chair.

He struggled to get up but suddenly felt something strange on his chest.

He looked down, his pupils instantly dilated, and cold sweat immediately broke out.

Firmly attached to his chest was a strange vest, on which was a timer with constantly flashing red numbers, and red and blue wires intricately intertwined!

A bomb?!

Shen Wei's heart almost leaped out of his chest, and immense fear instantly enveloped him!

Just then, with a "snap," several spotlights on the workshop ceiling suddenly lit up, and the dazzling light made him involuntarily shut his eyes tightly.

When he opened his eyes again, five people had appeared before him at some unknown time.

One of them was Jiang Datie, the car mechanic who had won the huge lottery prize.

Engineer Lei, with a playful smile on his face, patted the device on Shen Wei's chest: "Don't move around, and don't get agitated. This is a specially designed pressure-sensitive device. If you leave this chair for more than three seconds, it will 'boom' and explode. So, for your own life, it's best to behave."

Shen Wei understood his predicament, and extreme fear instead ignited a trace of a ruthless ambition within him.

He forced himself to stay calm, suppressing his trembling voice, trying to regain control: "Alright, friends, your methods are ruthless enough! I, Shen Wei, admit defeat this time! But you'd better think carefully about the consequences! If you mess with me in Jiang City, this matter will definitely not end well! Let me go now, and there might still be room for negotiation!"

Shan Bao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, scoffed and said to Brother Peng: "Brother Peng, is he trying to scare us? Saying it won't end well? It makes me so scared! How about we just get it over with and send him on his way now? This place is remote anyway, dig a hole and bury him, and no one will know."

"Let me play with him first. I just happen to need a target."

Xiao Dao's dagger spun nimbly between his fingers. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, the dagger flew from his hand, precisely embedding itself in an inconspicuous red mark on the distant wall, sinking deep into the wood!

Only then did he slowly walk over to pull out the dagger, then, pulling out a red apple from who knows where, he casually walked up to the stiff Shen Wei.

Under Shen Wei's terrified and bewildered gaze, Xiao Dao steadily placed the apple on top of his head.

"You... what are you trying to do?!" Shen Wei's voice began to tremble.