Mutated Tao

Li Huowang panted heavily, his breath causing the bulletproof glass to repeatedly fog up and then quickly dissipate.

The air in the culvert was stagnant. Li Huowang felt increasingly irritated, especially after walking for so long with nothing to show for it.

“That smell in the air is getting stronger. Qing Wanglai, what was that thing you mentioned earlier?”

Qing Wanglai didn’t answer Li Huowang’s question. He gripped his gun and stood behind Li Huowang as if he were a human shield.

“Shh... We’re almost there...” Zhao Shuangdian walked past Li Huowang, deliberately lowering her voice as she spoke.

Her fingers rapidly moved across the keys of her laptop as if she were playing the piano. Only she could understand whatever was displayed on her screen.

After walking through the chilly tunnel for about twenty more minutes, Zhao Shuangdian abruptly extended her hand and snatched Zhao Lei’s crossbow. She aimed the weapon into the darkness ahead.

The sound of metal tore through the air. There was no immediate movement, but Li Huowang knew something had died in the dark.

They approached slowly and illuminated the area with their flashlights, revealing a man lying beside the tunnel with a bolt through his neck. A large iron door protruded from the wall beside him.

This man had been guarding the door, but Zhao Shuangdian had taken him out before he could raise the alarm.

“Shh...” Li Huowang stepped forward and pulled the door open a crack.

Bright light poured out from the crack, making it hard for him to keep his eyes open after being in the dark for so long. Once his eyes adjusted, he was stunned by the sight of an empty factory within.

There was a factory beneath this desolate desert. This was something he hadn’t expected.

The area had been completely hollowed out, creating a space approximately the size of half a soccer field. Various items were scattered haphazardly throughout, with bags of raw materials, jars, and freezers being the most numerous among them.

In the distance, there was a railway track with several minecarts parked on it, suggesting it had been used for transporting goods.

Li Huowang couldn’t tell what this factory produced. However, he felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen a similar scene on television before.

He quickly pieced everything together. This place had been used to produce drugs, and these people were drug lords. It explained why the sentry outside was armed with an anti-material rifle.

The factory seemed to be closed. Black-masked workers frantically loaded goods onto the minecarts while armed men paced nervously and shouted orders.

It was evident that the earlier disturbance had alarmed them.

Li Huowang quickly counted the people and was startled to see at least one or two hundred of them. He knew that his group was no match for such a large number.

The others had also seen what was happening through the crack of the door. Without hesitation, Zhao Shuangdian said, “See that generator? That’s their power source. On my count, fire at it.”

Her tone was calm. It was as if she had anticipated this, even though the enemy outnumbered them ten to one.

“What’s the point of charging in? We’re sending ourselves to our deaths. Didn’t you see their firepower?” Li Huowang whispered. He knew that they were outmatched in every way.

When Zhao Shuangdian mentioned a counter-attack, he initially thought the two sides would be somewhat evenly matched. But now, it was clear that the enemy far outclassed them.

With their current group, they could not win against so many Simings. To have a chance, they needed to bring reinforcements from the Simings in the Baiyu Capital.

“Remember what I said earlier? Let me ask you again.” Zhao Shuangdian’s chilling voice emerged from behind. “Are you refusing to follow my orders, Li Huowang?”

Li Huowang stared intently at Zhao Shuangdian, carefully studying her expression. He could tell that she was being sincere and not joking around.

Does she have some hidden trump card I don’t know about? It made sense. While she may not value his life, she couldn’t be reckless with her own.

Even more surprisingly, Qing Wanglai hadn’t objected to such a crazy order.

“Fine, if you’re willing to die, I’ll be happy to dig the graves,” Li Huowang muttered. He stepped aside to allow more guns to point through the door.

“4, 3, 2, 1!” A rapid burst of gunfire filled the air, causing the once vibrant light behind the door to dim instantly. Li Huowang quickly kicked the door open and charged in.

In the pitch-black darkness, Li Huowang couldn’t tell friends from foes. Still, he knew that his allies were all behind him, which meant that anyone in front of him had to be an enemy.

Whenever he ran into someone in the dark, he decisively stabbed them in the heart.

Gunfire suddenly broke out from his left, and a series of bullets painfully struck his vest.

“Take action! What are you standing around for?!” Li Huowang shouted.

The gunfire intensified, surrounding him from all sides. He felt like he was in the middle of a storm of bullets.

At the moment, the darkness had become Li Huowang’s shield, offering him some protection from the barrage of bullets flying all around.

Just as Li Huowang was wreaking havoc, a sharp pain exploded in his back, sending him stumbling to the ground.

He struggled to his feet and looked around at the chaotic scene. The darkness that protected him also concealed the enemy, and he had no idea what had hit him.

He gingerly touched his back and found a slight depression. It felt like he had been hit with a blunt weapon, which his bulletproof vest had been powerless to stop.

He cautiously touched his back and discovered a slight depression. It felt as if he had been struck by a blunt weapon, which his bulletproof vest failed to stop.

Since he couldn’t see anything, he decided not to bother. If he couldn’t see the enemy, they couldn’t see him either.

He crouched down and slashed at any legs he encountered. Every time they screamed and fell, he’d follow up with a knife to silence them.

He wasn’t attacked with any blunt weapons again, suggesting his strategy was working.

The battle had descended into chaos—everyone was killing blindly, unable to see or know who they were killing.

The sharp sound of glass shattering echoed. Moments later, Li Huowang’s mind felt hazy.

It wasn’t just him. He could hear the sounds of people collapsing around him. Fortunately, his helmet slowed the effects.

He reached out and touched a broken test tube. He immediately realized that Qing Wanglai had thrown in some anesthetic gas.

He had thrown it in without waiting for Li Huowang to move out of the way, aiming to knock out as many people as possible.

“Damn!” Li Huowang fought to stay conscious. Li Huowang ripped off his helmet and drove his military knife into his shoulder blade, using the pain to stay awake.

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