Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 106: Chapter 100: The Climbing Zombie’s Sneak Attack

"Impossible, right? Let’s not even talk about whether they can open the vault. Even if they could, why would they hang out in there for no reason?" Yu Dong felt it was unlikely.

The information from the 3rd and 12th floors proved the three survivors had been gone for at least three days.

"What kind of sane person sleeps in a bank vault for fun... Fucking psychos!" Zhao Youcai cursed.

"But once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how incredible..."

Before Zhao Wenjie could finish, Zhao Youcai cut him off. "You might as well say the three of them were so desperate for women they started hallucinating and jumped off the twelfth floor."

At this point, Yu Dong also relaxed his tense muscles.

"We’ve checked upstairs and down. No people, no zombies. Whether they’re in the vault or not, we have to start breaking in. Let’s take a break first."

The intense, nerve-wracking sweep of the building had left them all exhausted.

The group sat on the floor and began to size up their target: the vault door.

On the outside, there was blast-proof glass and security cameras. Behind the glass was a door with a keypad lock. It looked incredibly secure, and this was just the outer gate.

Everyone rested for a while and drank some water.

Zhou walked over and simply yanked it open.

"Electronic gizmos. Can’t rely on them."

Everyone: "..."

Only after they walked inside did they see the real vault door.

A gigantic metal door!

The beams of their flashlights cast a cold, silvery glare back onto their faces. The unique smell of metal hung in the air. Zhou sniffed.

"We can open it."

Yu Dong: "???"

"Wait, Zhou, that nose of yours... how can you tell?"

Zhou: "Oh, I was smelling to see if it’s one of those alloys resistant to ultra-high temperatures. I’ve made some in my lab before."

"That kind of alloy... do banks use it a lot?" Yu Dong asked cautiously.

"Probably... not much. Its production cost isn’t much different from gold."

"Insane!"

Yu Dong felt that when Zhou was in his element with chemistry, he became quite suave, and even a little humorous!

’As a man,’ Yu Dong thought, ’a guy whose head is full of knowledge like that... is so damn attractive!’

’Even the fat on Zhou’s belly is starting to look a little sexy.’

Zhou carefully inspected the vault door, running his hands over the massive dial of the lock again and again before nodding confidently.

"There’s no one inside."

"Oh? Is it because an individual can’t open this kind of mechanical lock from the inside? Or did you sense the vibrations of the lock mechanism through the surface to determine when it was last opened? Or would the airtight seal of the vault cause anyone inside to suffocate?"

Zhao Wenjie was already running through all the brilliant scenarios he had read in novels.

Zhou rubbed two fingers together.

"The lock is covered in dust... at least two months since anyone touched it."

Zhao Wenjie: "..."

"Let’s get it open, Brother Zhou."

Zhou pulled a large case from his big backpack. Inside was some sort of dark red paste.

"Zhou, why is everything you make a paste? Is chemistry really this crude?" Huang Zhiqiang couldn’t help but ask.

For days now, it seemed like every chemical Zhou mixed ended up as a paste.

"The water raises the ignition point, which makes it safer to carry. Otherwise, friction from just walking around could heat it up... This is aluminum powder and iron oxide. The resulting thermite reaction can instantly reach 3000 degrees Celsius!"

"Holy shit! If that got on you, wouldn’t you get all black and blue?"

Huang Zhiqiang immediately backed away from the paste.

Zhou turned the huge dial, pressing his ear against the door to pinpoint the location of the lock mechanism.

Then he began to slather the paste over that spot, covering it completely.

Finally, he took a simple, homemade ceramic mold, placed it on the ground, and fit it over the thick layer of dark red paste, securing it with a stand.

He pulled a strip of magnesium from his bag.

"Helmets on! Stand back!"

Everyone quickly retreated several steps, moving away from the vault entrance to get behind the blast-proof glass.

Zhou lit the magnesium strip and stuck it into the mold... The fuse was lit.

Zhou turned and ran for his life!

After getting out, he watched from behind the blast-proof glass as the dark red paste ignited, erupting in a violent flame!

In an instant, an orange-red fire exploded!

It was so bright it illuminated the entire basement.

Huang Zhiqiang: "Holy shit! Am I seeing the sun?"

The violent flames sent sparks sputtering onto the floor and walls, leaving little holes everywhere.

In front of those sparks, the metal was as fragile as paper.

But those were just sparks. The true force of the reaction was focused on the lock mechanism. Molten metal streamed down the door, pooling on the floor before solidifying into a dark metallic mass.

The scorching flames burned for quite a while before dying out, leaving the room pockmarked with craters and a puddle of metal on the floor.

’Yu Dong never thought he would use the word ’puddle’ to describe something as hard as metal.’

After a while, Zhou opened the door to let the area ventilate. Feeling the residual warmth inside, he nodded.

"You can come in now."

After Zhou removed his contraption, the spot that had been a plate of alloy protecting the lock mechanism... was now a deep crater.

There was just a large, burned-through hole and a small amount of metal that hadn’t been completely penetrated.

"Throw the water."

SPLASH!

The water they had prepared beforehand was thrown onto it, releasing a massive cloud of white steam.

Once the vault door had cooled down, Zhou reached inside and gave a powerful wrench!

The lock on the metal door... was open.

Everyone looked at Zhou as if he were a god!

Zhao Youcai smacked his lips.

"Teacher Zhou, I admit I might have spoken a little too loudly before... We’re cool, right?"

Zhou burst out laughing. "Cut it out and get in there! We did it!"

"Yeah... we did it."

Yu Dong pushed open the vault door. Seeing the stacks of gold bars and the wall full of safety deposit boxes inside, he finally broke into a heartfelt smile.

Zhao Youcai walked over, caressing the gold bars one by one. There were hundreds of them. His expression was dazed.

"We... we really made it, Dongzi! We made it! We... we have capital now!"

As he spoke, Zhao Youcai’s voice choked up. He tilted his head back and wiped his eyes, refusing to let the tears of excitement fall.

Huang Zhiqiang’s face was bathed in a golden glow.

"It’s so beautiful... Gold truly is the most beautiful thing in the world."

He had actually agreed with the others early on, because he also wanted these gold bars... He felt that he wouldn’t be able to hold his head high around Qiao Ping’s family otherwise.

With gold in his hands, he’d have some confidence.

Yu Dong counted them. There were exactly 120 gold bars!

"Everything is perfect! One hundred and twenty gold bars for the six of us, that’s twenty bars each. I hefted one, they’re 1000 grams apiece. Once the army clears out the zombies and order is restored... we can do anything we want."

Liu Ye’ye stood behind him, watching him with a happy expression. She whispered in a voice only she could hear:

"Then we’ll have forty bars..."

Zhao Wenjie didn’t go closer either, but his face had clearly relaxed a great deal.

’Yang Yi, ten gold bars. This is my final gift to you. Consider it payment for the most precious thing you gave me... Now my conscience is clear.’

Having truly let go, Zhao Wenjie felt a weight lift from his entire being.

’He wasn’t a fool. After spending so much time together, he had come to see Yang Yi’s many flaws; she was far from the perfect person he’d imagined. But what was done was done. The girl had given herself to him, so he had to be responsible.’

’His father had told him that a man must take responsibility and not disappoint a woman who trusts him.’

’So he had just been getting by, enduring all of Yang Yi’s strange words and actions.’

’Today, he was finally letting go. He was going to start his new life!’

’He looked at the other five members of the team, recalling the little moments from their month of training, the days when Yu Dong would supervise his meals...’

A warmth spread through Zhao Wenjie’s heart.

’Because... even that hellish training was easier than being with Yang Yi. This team made him feel that the future was bright!’

’Dad, I have something more worthy of protecting now...’

In that moment, Zhao Wenjie underwent a spiritual transformation.

After distributing the 120 gold bars into everyone’s tactical backpacks, Yu Dong looked at the row of safety deposit boxes on the wall with a curious expression.

"For these to be stored with gold bars, whatever’s inside... must be pretty valuable, right?"

Zhao Youcai said, "Sister Ping said this kind of safety deposit box is a service only the super-rich use. They probably hold their most precious possessions."

"Teacher Zhou, if you would?" Yu Dong said to Zhou with a grin.

Zhou accepted without hesitation. "Alright! Let’s keep going!"

Yu Dong, Huang Zhiqiang, and Zhao Youcai gathered around Zhou, full of excitement.

Even though they couldn’t be of much help, they were just happy to be there!

They were like scrubs getting carried by a pro gamer, their only job to provide moral support over voice chat.

But Zhao Wenjie wasn’t very interested in what was inside. He had used ten gold bars to buy his freedom and was already more than satisfied.

Letting go of the past and being reborn—that was his greatest reward from this whole venture!

This state of mental emptiness allowed him to...

"Hm?!"

In that vacant state, Zhao Wenjie heard an unusual sound and whipped his head around!

A sickly green zombie had somehow crept silently along the wall and was now pouncing toward Liu Ye’ye, its mouth wide open!

It was incredibly fast!

Like a cheetah hunting its prey!

"Look out!"

Zhao Wenjie cried out, shoving Liu Ye’ye out of the way with his own body!

Then he raised the small wooden shield to his chest.

THUD!!!

The green zombie, carrying immense momentum, tackled Zhao Wenjie to the ground. Its sharp claws raked at his body as its gaping maw lunged for his head!

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