48 Hours a Day

Chapter 1014: Last Man

The sudden alarm started the prelude to the battle, breaking the calm of the twelfth floor. Most of the residents on this floor were asleep, but now they were awakened from their dreams by the alarm. After realizing that there was a fire, many didn’t even bother dressing up, running out of their rooms as quickly as they could. As a result, the situation in the hallway turned extremely chaotic. To make matters worse, two groups of people that came out of nowhere were shooting at each other.

Bullets flew everywhere in the corridor, accompanied by the billowing smoke. The innocent residents didn’t know whether they should return to their room or exit the building.

On the other hand, the two special operations team members were clearly well prepared. They had already pushed the tables and refrigerators to the door as their line of defense before 0, and the others arrived here. Those items were used as their covers. When they wanted to pull the trigger, they would lean forward. As for the rest of the time, they would hide behind their cover, placing great importance on protecting the vital part of their exoskeleton.

Although the emergency response team members had the advantage in marksmanship and firepower, they still had a hard time getting rid of their enemies.

But even so, 0 still believed that it was only a matter of time before winning the battle, and he wasn’t worried about the two opponents in front of him. On the contrary, he was more concerned about Zhang Heng, who had not shown up until now. He was also concerned about the last special operation team member.

If he was right, then the package should be with the last special operations team member. It would make no sense for his two teammates to engage in such a fierce battle with them otherwise. And he had not shown up until now. 0 believed that the other party wouldn’t be holding his breath for much longer.

As the fire burned ever larger, many residents started to cough and choke. Even though bullets still rained in the corridor, some still decided to escape through the safe passage. A few stronger men attempted to push the door, but their attempt was all but futile. Since it required considerable strength to push the door, it would undoubtedly increase oxygen consumption. This made a lot of them inhale a good amount of smoke.

Seeing the men collapsing while holding onto their throats, the remaining ones became more and more frightened. Finally, some of them could no longer bear the heatwave and began to rush toward another safer door.

A woman about forty years old had not fallen asleep at such a late hour. Wearing a pair of high heels and her office suit, she looked like the rather capable sort and should be some company executive. She came to the second level on a business trip. Before the explosion happened, she was working on writing a report. She did not expect to encounter such an unfortunate event.

As she ran forward, she raised her hands, expecting that the people on both sides would cease firing after seeing civilians running past them. However, the reality was cruel, and the members from both parties were not exactly polite and kind.

None of them paid any attention to her.

No.5, No.2, and No.7 received an order that they were not supposed to let anyone live to see tomorrow on this floor. And the two special operations team members were tasked to bring the memory encoder back to the first level. Therefore, in the end, no one ceased fire.

A stray bullet hit the poor woman in her thigh. She then staggered a few steps, trying to stand straight, but the next moment, more bullets hit her chest. And finally, she fell to the ground and stopped breathing.

This brutal scene diminished the hopes of those thinking of escape. The fire, however, only grew larger, causing those who were trapped on the floor to be more anxious and frightened. On the other hand, the special operation team members were in an increasingly worse state. They were like sitting ducks in the center of the fire. Their exoskeleton could withstand bullets, but it certainly didn’t protect them against a blazing inferno. Moreover, since the exoskeleton was made of an alloy, it was the perfect conductor for heat.

Eventually, their exoskeleton’s temperature was higher than that of the corridor. Both of them were now sweating profusely as if they were fished out of the water.

What was more deadly than the heatwave, however, was the dense smoke that came along with the combustion. The exoskeleton did not have an air filtration system, so the two were also breathing in the poisonous air like the residents in the corridor.

Thanks to the excellent fire protection system in the city, and in order to save costs, most hotels on the second level did not have a gas mask placed in each room. Just as the battle was taking a bad turn for the two special operations teams, 0 received a call from a sergeant, saying that he had discovered the whereabouts of the last person of the special operations team.

The latter finally had to show up because he could not stand the heatwave. He crawled out of his room’s window and proceeded to crawl downstairs with the edge of the window. However, as soon as he opened the window, he was spotted by the federal police.

This was undoubtedly good news for 0. If he deduced it right, the package was with the man outside the window. What made 0 feel a little uneasy was that, as of now, Zhang Heng’s whereabouts hadn’t yet been found.

Considering the moves Zhang Heng pulled earlier, he was way too quiet now, leaving 0 to wonder what Zhang Heng was thinking.

In fact, when he reached the twelfth floor, 0 was expecting Zhang Heng to join forces with the three special operations team members. No matter the conflict between Zhang Heng and Mr. G, Zhang Heng was still one of the couriers involved in this transaction. It was plausible that both parties would join forces due to the critical situation.

However, it seemed Zhang Heng didn’t pull such a move. Seeing that the special operations team members were about to lose the battle, 0 still did not know where Zhang Heng was. However, this time, 0 also learned his lesson. He no longer focused on what Zhang Heng was going to do; instead, he turned to find the optimal strategy from various situations.

The fire in the corridor was getting fiercer, and at the same time, the two special operations team members were almost at their limit. 0 estimated that his men would be able to take them down within five minutes. However, the man who stood outside the window was their top priority of this mission. If Zhang Heng got his hands on the package first, it would be pointless for them to fight the two special operation team members in front of them.

In the end, 0 made a decision and said to the three people around him, “You guys stay here. If that guy appears, don’t think about how to kill him. Just make sure he can’t step through the door. Can you guys do it? ”

“Of course. We’ve actually wanted to meet that guy a long time ago to see if he is that powerful,” No. 7 said.

“Don’t make any rash moves. After I leave, switch to a defensive formation. If we can delay him, we will win the battle.” 0 then paused for a while before continuing, “This fire will solve all problems for us.”