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墨書 Inktalez
"This is pointless; the passage is blocked." Brother Feng made a helpless expression, stamping his foot a couple of times. The concrete slab beneath him seemed to loosen even more. "Wait, wait, wait, don't be impulsive," Jiang He quickly stopped Brother Feng, fearing he might cause more trouble. During their conversation, others began to descend as well. Song Yao wasn't as agile as the Soldiers, but her physique was much stronger. When she leaped to the 106th floor, she lost her balance and fell sideways, startling Jiang He.
Song Yao didn't care about any injuries; she got up and ran towards Jiang He, hugging him tightly. Jiang He's heart warmed at the gesture as he patted her back gently, whispering, "I'm fine; you didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Song Yao circled around him to confirm he was uninjured before sticking out her tongue and quietly saying, "I landed on my butt; it hurts so much."
Brother Feng rolled his eyes, interrupting their inappropriate sweetness. "Save the mushy stuff for later. What are we going to do? Get inside or what?"
"Going in won't help," Jiang He pointed at the floors and explained, "Each floor has a security door leading both up and down. Even if we go in, we can't go up or down. If the roof collapses again, we'll be trapped inside."
Brother Feng thought about it and realized Jiang He had a point. He moved closer to the gap to observe while the other guys jumped down one by one. The half-collapsed staircase above them swayed precariously, prompting them to change direction quickly.
"Damn it! I wish we had parachutes," Brother Feng cursed under his breath, clearly frustrated with the lack of good solutions. However, his comment sparked an idea in Jiang He. He quickly gathered everyone together and asked, "Aren't you guys trained to climb? Can we scale this building?"
Brother Feng spat in annoyance and pointed outside. "We have climbing training, but at least give me a rope! At this height, if we slip, we're done for."
Brother Feng paused and glanced at Jiang He again before turning back to ponder by the gap. Jiang He knew he understood his suggestion and smirked as he approached him. "So what do you think? Is it feasible?"
"Not really," Brother Feng frowned and shook his head. "It's not easy; let me think."
Song Yao was puzzled and joined a few Soldiers to peek outside. After just one look, they quickly withdrew their heads. Song Yao curiously asked, "What are you two discussing? You can't seriously be thinking of climbing down with Zombies below us."
Jiang He clicked his tongue and explained, "Staying here isn't an option; going down is our only choice." In fact, he had considered this plan when he first came here but was interrupted by Zombies along the way. They had been stuck in the building for over ten days; occasionally observing Zombies from above had only given them a broad view without any thoughts about the building itself. Now that they were trapped with no way up or down, Jiang He paid more attention.
He recalled an earlier introduction about China Tower; its external structure resembled a hammer—wide at both ends and narrow in the middle—meaning there was a curve from their position downward. The moment Jiang He saw that curve, he remembered a classic scene from the movie Who Am I?, where Jackie Chan jumped off a slanted building in Rotterdam and slid down 27 floors.
The slope of China Zun Tower wasn't as steep as in the film, but its external glass frame protruded enough to prevent slipping off completely. Brother Feng understood Jiang He's idea but hesitated; this wasn't a movie set—if something went wrong, it would be disastrous.
Jiang He chuckled as he approached Brother Feng and patted him on the shoulder. "You soldiers are so rigid."
"Huh?" Brother Feng was taken aback, unsure of what Jiang He meant by that joke.
Without further ado, Jiang He reached out for Song Yao's handgun and fired a shot into the air. The gunshot echoed through the wind and snow as the lower glass window shattered, revealing the dark interior of the staircase.
Brother Feng's eyes lit up as he slapped his thigh in approval. "Great idea!" With that said, he grabbed his rifle and fired several rounds downward. Song Yao and the others quickly grasped Jiang He's plan; while amazed, they also felt anxious.
The rifle's range was limited and affected by wind and snow; Brother Feng didn't waste bullets as he extended his aim several meters along the broken glass that Jiang He had shattered before slinging his rifle over his shoulder and preparing to descend.
"Wait! We need to discuss this," Jiang He urgently pulled him back. "There might be Zombies on that floor; if they attack us halfway through, we're done for! Plus, I didn't mean we should climb all the way down from here."
"What do you mean then?" Brother Feng asked suspiciously.
"We can enter from a lower level," Jiang He pointed below them. "Listen; it's quiet down there now. We can return to the stairwell from the 104th floor—I suspect American Guy might have led people down already."
With no other options available, they decided to take a risk on Jiang He's idea and agreed to check things out downstairs since they couldn't stay here any longer. After all that had happened with Jones's group, they couldn't afford to linger any longer—whether they could break through or not was another matter entirely.
This time Brother Feng took point; without ropes available, they simply tied their rifles together for support while three Soldiers held onto them carefully lowering Brother Feng down slowly. Being toughened by military training, Brother Feng didn’t look at the void below him but tightened his grip on the rifle strap as he descended until he managed to step onto the window frame securely.
"Wait for my signal," Brother Feng shouted before jumping inside. Moments later came rapid gunfire from within.
"We should go help," Jiang He said anxiously; if there weren't many Zombies below it would be fine—but if an entire floor was filled with them, Brother Feng alone wouldn't hold up against them.
The other Soldiers shared similar sentiments; thus they didn’t wait any longer but secured their rifle straps onto what looked like stable rebar before descending one after another with Soldier leading followed by Jiang He.
When it came time for Jiang He and Song Yao to go down together they hesitated for a moment—despite having received injections earlier their fear of heights remained intact. Especially since neither of them had Soldier-like strength; it looked manageable until they tried it themselves.
The window frame below was less than a meter from the edge of their gap—the upper frame lacked glass but instead had reflective panels attached alongside load-bearing walls on one side.
Jiang He lay flat on the ground gripping Song Yao's arm while she held onto the rifle strap with another Soldier ready below to catch her—after some hesitation they finally steeled themselves and dropped down together.
The Soldier caught Song Yao’s ankle securely pulling her inside without incident while Jiang He silently regretted suggesting this plan—trying not to look at how high up they were as he tightened his grip on the strap praying it wouldn’t fail at such a critical moment.
Fortunately for him too he landed safely without any mishaps like those seen in movies where things go wrong during crucial moments.
However landing didn’t guarantee safety; Soldiers were busy assisting him while Song Yao rushed off to help Brother Feng fend off Zombies.
With guns drawn they dashed into the interior of 104th floor which belonged to RCA territory—though lacking laboratories here it featured a “回” shaped corridor with an open center surrounded by railings allowing access via escalators above or below.
Jiang He hadn’t expected such conditions downstairs initially thinking it would resemble an expansive workplace like 108th floor—but now it appeared less like an office space without storefronts resembling administrative buildings instead.
Brother Feng had already begun clearing out Zombies near one escalator—due to terrain constraints there weren’t many present on this level—and soon enough Jiang He joined him helping eliminate remaining threats around escalators swiftly clearing them out entirely while looking downward noticing three levels opened up suggesting they formed part of one larger area.
Jiang He wasn’t knowledgeable about architecture but couldn’t help wondering how these three levels could support themselves without load-bearing walls above considering there were still Four Stories above them—just as he pondered this Brother Feng led everyone rushing towards stairwell where numerous Zombies gathered below responding loudly from escalators above drawing closer towards them.
As expected upper collapses hadn’t caused significant damage below nor affected remaining RCA members much either—the corridor was stained with blood littered with bodies sprawled everywhere upon closer inspection revealed most were Zombies occupying over half while some belonged to RCA including familiar faces like Captain Dong who previously held high hopes for him lying lifelessly on stairs with his abdomen nearly hollowed out.
"Weren't they supposed to break through? How could there still be time for Zombies to feast on people?" Song Yao questioned breathlessly unable to stop herself mid-stride.
"They must have been dragged in during combat," Brother Feng replied leading them down two more levels stopping at 101st floor stairway entrance.
"Shh," Brother Feng raised his hand signaling everyone else quieting down turning back saying: “They’re fighting below.”
Jiang He’s group gasped trying hard not panting heavily listening closely indeed hearing faint sounds of struggle echoing from lower levels confirming suspicions about ongoing battles happening beneath them.
"I wondered why there wasn’t any noise earlier—it turns out they haven’t fired their weapons yet," Jiang He realized suddenly understanding why earlier silence existed beneath concrete slabs overhead without any commotion whatsoever.
"It seems like they're saving bullets for breaking through outside perimeter," Song Yao added recalling something suddenly asking: “Did anyone lock safety door on 104th floor?”
Running last behind everyone else hearing her question made Jiang He's heart sink regrettably exclaiming: “Damn! I forgot! I’ll go lock 103rd floor!”
He started moving upward when Brother Feng called after him: “Come back! We need to push downward—you don’t have keys anyway so locking anything is pointless!”
It felt like being trapped between pursuing enemies ahead while facing relentless pursuers behind forcing them into desperate measures instead of waiting patiently now turned into life-or-death struggle pushing forward relentlessly despite obstacles faced ahead!
Jones’ combat prowess exceeded anything Jiang He imagined—they moved swiftly following behind without hindrance catching up after twenty floors finally reaching frontline troops where gunfire erupted once again filling air around them densely packed with sounds echoing throughout stairwell corridors!
As soon as they burst into 80th-floor stairwell everyone froze shocked seeing reality unfold before their eyes—it wasn’t merely breaking through anymore—it felt like lives were being sacrificed pushing forward amidst chaos!
Bodies piled high within stairwell corridors filled every inch visible yet still not enough indicating severity faced ahead—at first glance estimated remaining personnel dwindled significantly likely reduced from over hundred individuals now barely fifty left standing!
Given current rate of attrition forget breaking through CBD altogether—they’d be lucky just making it past fifty floors downward!
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