Chapter 16: Unexpected
Chaoyang: “…Uncle, leaving something this big for a kid like me to plan—isn’t that a bit too much?”
“Tsk, call me Big Brother.”
Chaoyang: “…”
At your age, pretending to be young?
Adults really have no shame.
But his life was still in their hands…
So Chaoyang sensibly corrected himself: “Big Brother Bald, this is really difficult. Not to mention whether the armory is guarded—even if it’s not, there’ll definitely be a horde of zombies inside…”
“That’s for you to figure out.”
Bald Man cut him off without hesitation. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his gaze carried a dangerous edge.
“Kid, do you know why you’re sitting at this table eating with us right now?”
The others looked at him and Mibao with malicious grins.
“If you had no value, you’d already be locked up with those ‘piglets,’ starving.” Bald Man sneered.
The “piglets” he referred to were the innocent people imprisoned in that other room.
The atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavy, everyone’s eyes falling on the two little ones.
“Kid, can you do it, or not?”
Bald Man asked again with a smiling face.
Chaoyang was silent for a moment before looking straight at him: “I’ll need a map of the armory, and a rough idea of what’s inside.”
“No problem.” Bald Man made an OK gesture. “I’ll send people to scout the inside tomorrow, and you’ll get the map tonight.”
Chaoyang nodded.
That more or less settled the matter.
But as they were leaving, Bald Man didn’t forget to throw in a final threat.
“Kid, you’d better do this properly. Don’t even think about playing tricks on me.”
Bald Man’s eyes glinted with a sinister chill as he stared at Chaoyang.
“Don’t forget, your little sister is still in our hands!”
As soon as he said that, both he and Chaoyang glanced over at Mibao, who was happily gnawing on a chicken drumstick.
“…Since you ate my chicken leg, what should you call me?” Monkey asked with an expectant look.
Mibao blinked her eyes: “Big Brother Skinny?”
“That’s more like it!” Monkey straightened his back proudly. “Here, take this bread roll too. But don’t share it with that stinky brat.”
Mibao nodded obediently: “Okay!”
Not far away, Bald Man: “…”
They were supposed to be threatening people—could they not make it look so heartwarming?
This really killed the intimidation factor!
…
…
By now it was already late at night. Inside the abandoned factory, everyone was asleep except for the patrolling guards.
Chaolu crouched carefully in the grass, her stomach growling with hunger.
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to keep her attention on the patrollers.
She waited there deep into the night, until at last an opportunity arose—and she slipped into the factory through a side door.
She wasn’t familiar with the layout, so she moved with extreme caution.
As for where Chaoyang and Mibao were being held…
Chaolu took out a UV flashlight and began searching the ground and walls.
Though she hadn’t spent much time with her younger half-brother Chaoyang, she already knew he was very smart.
She remembered that Chaoyang carried an invisible pen—the kind that left no trace to the naked eye, but under UV light would glow.
It was the sort of toy kids loved, and one of Chaoyang’s favorites.
After all, with such a twisted father, he wanted at least some privacy.
After searching around, Chaolu finally found a trace of fluorescent markings at a corner, so she prepared to turn in.
“Haa~ so sleepy…”
But just at that moment, a man came out of a room yawning.
He was so desperate to pee that he couldn’t wait to go outside—he simply stopped at the corner of the wall to relieve himself.
“Zzz—”
While urinating, the man even hummed a little tune, but he was so drowsy that his eyes were nearly closed.
Because of that, he didn’t notice Chaolu, who was curled up in the corner.
Though some drops splashed on her, making her feel utterly disgusted and ready to retch, Chaolu forced herself to stay absolutely still.
After a while, the man finished his business and strolled back leisurely.
Chaolu waited a bit longer, making sure there was no more movement, before quickly moving away from the stinking corner and dry heaving.
Adults are really so gross…
How could they just pee anywhere?
Even if there’s no toilet here, couldn’t he at least have gone a bit farther outside?!
Chaolu silently cursed the man in her heart before tiptoeing further in.
Because the doors here all had small glass windows, she became even more cautious while using her UV flashlight.
And as expected…
This should be where the criminals lived.
Which meant…
Her cheap little brother’s location shouldn’t be too far away either.
Sure enough, after searching for more than ten minutes, she finally found a faint trace of fluorescent markings on the floor by one door.
Chaolu’s eyes lit up. She quickly rose on tiptoe and peered through the glass window on the door.
Unfortunately, it was too dark inside—she really couldn’t see clearly.
But trusting Chaoyang, Chaolu switched her UV flashlight to normal white light and shone it inside.
With that one beam… she discovered that the one sleeping inside the room was a big bald man.
Chaolu: “…”
Damn Chaoyang, what kind of marking was this supposed to be?!
Terrified, she quickly turned off the light, but it was already too late.
“Who’s there!?”
Bald Man was highly sensitive to light. He immediately sat up, then rushed straight toward the door.
Chaolu cursed inwardly—bad!—and bolted without a second thought!
But Bald Man’s shout had already roused the others in the surrounding rooms. His underlings scrambled up from their beds and opened their doors. Then—
“What just ran past?”
One half-asleep thug rubbed his eyes.
“A rat? But that rat was way too big!”
Out in the hallway, Bald Man snapped furiously, “Rat, my ass! That was a person! Catch them! Damn it, who knows where the hell they came from!”
Hearing this, the underlings were all shocked. Someone else in this abandoned factory?
But hadn’t they swept the whole place inside and out this afternoon? Other than zombies, they hadn’t seen a single living soul!
Still, the evidence was right there. Though confused, everyone immediately rushed off in pursuit!
Some turned on the lights, some chased after the figure, while others were slower to wake—stumbling out bleary-eyed, still clueless.
The whole place descended into utter chaos.
The commotion was so loud that Chaoyang and Mibao, locked up in a different hallway, were also awakened.
“Is it morning already…” Mibao rubbed her eyes drowsily and sat up. “Good morning?”
“Good morning.” Chaoyang replied offhandedly, then walked to the door.
But with his height, he couldn’t see outside through the little window. He could only press his ear against the door to listen.
As he listened… he realized something was wrong.
Those criminals… it sounded like they were chasing someone?
But how could there possibly be anyone else barging in here…
“Wait—don’t tell me it’s…”
Chaoyang’s expression instantly changed.