Chapter 66: The Oath of Loyalty

Chapter 66: The Oath of LoyaltyZhang Yi stood on his balcony, leaning against the window, ready to retreat at any moment if the situation turned dire.

Chen Zhenghao and his subordinates lay unconscious on the neighboring balcony, appearing lifeless.

However, Zhang Yi couldn't be sure they were truly unconscious.

What if they had set this up with Zhou Ke'er to lure him in? It was possible that once he crossed over, they would get up and attack him.

Additionally, the gap between the two balconies was around ten centimeters, with a slippery stainless steel railing made treacherous by the snow.

If Zhang Yi tried to climb over, Zhou Ke'er could push him, causing him to fall from the 24th floor.

Thus, Zhang Yi pointed his gun at the unconscious Chen Zhenghao and his men.

"Use these ropes to tie their hands behind their backs!"

"And I remember Chen Zhenghao has a gun. Hand it over."

Zhou Ke'er, exhausted from two days without food and from dragging ten people to the balcony, looked at Zhang Yi with frustration.

"You're too cautious!"

"Caution keeps you alive. I won't take unnecessary risks," Zhang Yi said coolly.

Reluctantly, Zhou Ke'er complied, tying their hands behind their backs with the ropes.

When she retrieved the gun from Chen Zhenghao’s pocket, Zhang Yi aimed his gun at her head.

"Remove the magazine and throw it to me."

Zhou Ke'er bit her lip, "How can I trust you? What if you go back on your word after I do all this?"

Zhang Yi replied, "You have no other choice but to trust me. Only by trusting me can you survive in this harsh environment."

After a moment’s thought, Zhou Ke'er realized she had no other options. She couldn't break her moral code and resort to cannibalism, so she would eventually starve to death.

Following Zhang Yi's instructions, she removed the magazine and threw it at his feet.

Zhang Yi glanced at it, confirming it was indeed Chen Zhenghao’s gun, and then said, "Go back inside."

Nervously, Zhou Ke'er returned to the room. She was on edge, knowing that if Chen Zhenghao woke up, Zhang Yi could retreat, but she would be left to die.

Yet, as Zhang Yi had pointed out, she had no choice.

Once Zhou Ke'er was back inside, Zhang Yi didn’t immediately cross over.

He picked up the gun from the ground, checking the magazine to find three bullets left.

He tossed the gun into his storage space and then returned to his room to fetch a water hose.

Spraying a hose was less noisy and conserved bullets, and it avoided attracting unnecessary attention.

Spraying from a three-meter distance, Zhang Yi watched the water, warm at first, quickly turn to ice as it landed on the unconscious bodies.

Inside, Zhou Ke'er watched in horror, hugging herself as the scene unfolded.

From a room temperature of over twenty degrees Celsius to an outside temperature of minus seventy, the almost hundred-degree difference caused the warm water to emit steam before freezing on contact.

The ice water woke them up, causing them to scream in terror as the cold water soaked through their clothes, freezing them solid.

"Ahh!!!"

One of Chen Zhenghao’s men, lips turning purple, screamed in horror.

Trying to get up, he slipped on the ice-covered balcony, unable to rise due to his bound hands.

Chen Zhenghao awoke with ice water on his face, realizing he had been drugged. But there was no time to think about who had betrayed him. The ice water left him feeling like he was being pierced by thousands of needles.

They struggled and shouted, but with their hands tied and the ground frozen solid, they couldn’t get up.

"Zhang Yi!!"

Chen Zhenghao spotted Zhang Yi spraying them from the adjacent balcony and roared in rage.

Zhang Yi finally stepped out of his room, opening the previously sealed window slightly. But it was too late for Chen Zhenghao to retaliate; his life was slipping away.

"You've caused enough trouble. It's time to die," Zhang Yi said coldly.

Chen Zhenghao and his men had killed nearly half the building’s residents, almost catching up to Zhang Yi’s body count.

Leaving them alive would mean a future showdown with Zhang Yi. Although Zhang Yi wasn’t afraid, he preferred to avoid unnecessary risks.

Nothing was safer than a dead enemy.

Chen Zhenghao and his men used their last bit of strength to struggle and curse, but they couldn’t get up. The cold water soaked through their clothes, turning them into solid ice blocks.

Within two minutes, their skin turned purple, their bodies convulsing violently.

After three minutes, they stopped moving, having become ten large ice blocks.

Five minutes later, the ice blocks became a solid mass, freezing them into a single chunk of ice.

To conserve water, Zhang Yi stopped spraying. Frozen like that, without modern medical intervention, they were as good as dead.

Zhang Yi returned to his room, locking the floor-to-ceiling window securely.

Changing out of his heavy winter gear, he called Zhou Ke'er.

"You passed the test. You can come over now."

In the neighboring room, Zhou Ke'er sighed in relief upon hearing Zhang Yi’s voice.

"Okay, I’ll come right over," she replied, trembling.

She grabbed her medical kit and fled the hellish room.

Zhang Yi unlocked the heavy security door’s multiple locks, then stepped back, aiming his gun at the entrance.

Watching the surveillance, he ensured Zhou Ke'er's state was stable before unlocking the final electronic lock via his phone app.

"You can come in now!"

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Outside, Zhou Ke'er pushed the heavy door with all her strength. As soon as it opened a crack, a wave of warmth enveloped her, making her eyes shine with joy.

This warmth was something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

She pushed the door harder and stepped inside, feeling like she had entered paradise.

The ice-cold feeling that had gripped her body began to melt away, replaced by a soothing warmth like a hot bath.

Soon, the six layers of clothing she wore became unbearably hot. Desperate, she hurriedly stripped off her layers, not caring that Zhang Yi was pointing a gun at her.