Chapter 115: Encounter in the Underworld

Pushing through three levels, Ye Fei and the security firm's men reached a stalemate on the fourteenth floor.

"Too many of them, and their firepower is too heavy. It seems I should fall back, link up with Li Guozhong and the others, and then come back up," Ye Fei pondered.

Just as Ye Fei prepared to withdraw, Li Guozhong and his team arrived.

"Ye Fei, we've reached the thirteenth floor. The firefight on the fourteenth seems intense. Should we head up?" Li Guozhong contacted him.

"You've reached the thirteenth? I'm on the fourteenth. The opposition has a large force, about twenty men. I'm currently pinned down. Perfect, come up from the other side and catch them off guard," Ye Fei instructed.

"Hahaha, boys, keep firing! Turn him into a beehive!" Baozi roared with laughter.

*Rat-tat-tat...*
*Rat-tat-tat...*

Li Guozhong’s team suddenly appeared, laying down suppressing fire from the other side and instantly neutralizing seven of the gunmen. Having scavenged weapons from the corpses along the way up, they were now fully equipped with high-caliber firepower.

Baozi and his men scrambled for cover, finally giving Ye Fei the opening he needed.

They had been here for some time now, and the Shenhai police were closing in. The faint wail of sirens began to echo—a large police force was clearly on its way.

"Fall back! We just need to keep them contained so they can't escape. Let's wait for the police to arrive and launch a full-scale assault," Ye Fei said. He realized that with only six men, a direct assault was no longer feasible; the enemy's munitions exceeded expectations, and if they were determined to hold their ground, it would be difficult to break them quickly.

Li Guozhong, sharing the same thought, agreed immediately. The six men retreated down the floors while maintaining a defensive formation.

No one noticed that Baozi, who had been shouting orders to kill just moments ago, had quietly vanished.

"Brother Hua—" Baozi appeared on the top floor, standing before Hua Lin.

Hua Lin stood up from his chair and looked through the top-floor glass at the flashing lights in the distance. He sighed, "I thought they would hold out longer, let us play a game of cat and mouse. I didn't expect them to buckle under the pressure so quickly. It seems someone from above is applying force."

"Brother Hua, should we leave now?" Sha Qiang asked.

"Let's go. Ye Fei, once the wind dies down, we'll play with him again," Hua Lin sneered.

In Hua Lin's office was a private elevator, known to few, that led directly from the top floor to the basement. Hua Lin led his core subordinates into the elevator and descended directly to the underground level.

The hired gunmen, meanwhile, remained unaware that their boss had abandoned them to save himself.

"I still feel like something is wrong," Ye Fei said in a low voice.

"What is it, Ye Fei? What did you find?" Li Guozhong asked. He, too, felt a lingering sense of unease; Hua Lin and his men had been far too composed.

Ye Fei replied, "I think Hua Lin and his men were too calm."

"Perhaps they know that regardless of what happens, they can't escape Shenhai," said one of the sturdy men in the squad.

"No, that's not it. They were able to build such a massive power base in Shenhai and procure so many weapons; there must be a reason. Someone, or a group with immense power, is protecting them. If they knew they were doomed, men like Hua Lin would be engaged in a final, frantic, reckless rampage. But they haven't even used their heavier weapons. This suggests they don't want to cause too much of a stir because they don't believe they’re going to die," Ye Fei said, frowning.

Xiao Yang smiled, "But he’s still here right now, trapped with nowhere to fly. How can he not die?"

"Perhaps they have a secret passage—"

"A secret passage—"

Ye Fei and Li Guozhong realized this simultaneously. It was the only logical explanation for Hua Lin's composure.

"Under these circumstances, there are only two ways out: by air or by land. Since air is impossible, it must be underground," Ye Fei said.

The six men hurried to the underground parking garage, but everything appeared normal.

"There must be a lower level. Everyone, keep looking," Ye Fei said.

However, if Hua Lin was this confident, the hidden level wouldn't be easy to find. Ye Fei and his team searched, but to no avail.

"Sha Qiang—" the silent member of the team suddenly whispered.

They watched as Hua Lin and his group emerged one by one from a concealed spot—the exit of a secret elevator. It was sheer bad luck for Hua Lin; the elevator had suffered a minor mechanical failure upon reaching the parking garage, unable to take them to the sub-basement, forcing them to emerge just as they were spotted.

"Ye Fei—" Hua Lin and his men caught sight of the six of them.

*Bang, bang—*
*Bang, bang—*

There was no need for words; both sides opened fire instantly, scrambling for cover.

"Brother Hua, you go first—" a man in a crisp suit said, providing cover as he ushered Hua Lin into a secret tunnel.

One side fought to buy time, the other to prevent an escape. Both sides fired relentlessly until, one by one, their ammunition ran dry. Baozi and Sha Qiang hadn't expected the secret elevator to fail and hadn't prepared for a prolonged firefight; they had only carried sidearms, so running out of bullets was no surprise.

When everyone stood face-to-face, ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat, the man in the suit suddenly pulled another gun from his person, aiming it at Li Guozhong and the others.

*Swish—*
*Thud—*

Ye Fei stepped out from the shadows, sneering, "Now, no one has any bullets left."

"Ye Fei, I've heard you're quite skilled. Let me have a go at you," Baozi said, rubbing his bald head and provoking Ye Fei.

"Hey, hey, if you want to fight Ye Fei, you'll have to go through me first," Xiao Yang jumped in, shouting at Baozi.

The sturdy man also stepped forward, pointing at Sha Qiang. "You, come out."

The silent member of the team stepped forward as well, selecting the man in the suit.

"My hand is injured. You sure know how to pick an opponent," the man in the suit remarked.

"To me, it doesn't matter if your hand is injured or not. You're going to die regardless," the silent man said.

Ye Fei looked at Li Guozhong and the others, laughing, "Six against six. Let's each pick one!"

"Haha, good," Li Guozhong laughed.

Everyone found an opponent. Ye Fei’s opponent was a woman—not by his choosing, but by hers. Yet, no one thought Ye Fei had the easy match; the woman appeared to be the most formidable of the six.

"Heh—ha—yah—"

The woman moved with incredible agility, seemingly trained in Muay Thai. Her hips and legs possessed explosive power, clearly specializing in kicks. Ye Fei dodged several times, the woman’s heels shattering several car windows behind him.

The woman retracted her leg, extended her hand, and gave Ye Fei a mocking thumbs-down gesture.

"Oh, I'm being looked down upon," Ye Fei chuckled. "Come on then! Let me show you that your training isn't quite up to snuff. A woman shouldn't be dabbling in this kind of violence."

"Ya—" The woman, seemingly enraged, threw a kick directly at Ye Fei’s face.

Ye Fei dodged and crouched slightly, causing the kick to miss. However, the woman had anticipated this; she didn't retract her leg but instead pressed down, pinning her foot onto Ye Fei’s shoulder.

She pressed down with all her might, but Ye Fei’s body remained immovable. Once her foot was planted, she couldn't push any further.

The move was within Ye Fei’s expectations. He stepped forward, sliding past her leg until she was essentially straddling his shoulder. Ye Fei pushed against her chest, stood up straight, and sent her tumbling off his shoulder, her back slamming heavily against the ground.