Free Web NovelChapter 284: Chapter 224 Despair, Hope_2
Cao Yi, standing beside him, was taken aback by his crazed state and hurriedly shouted at the entrance where the flames were being suppressed:
"Hao Chengbin, stop him!"
The two men at the door didn’t hear, focused only on whether the raging fire in front of them was rising.
Liu Jianfeng, who was near the door, rushed to intercept him but was violently shoved away by Fang Huai, falling to the ground.
There was no one else to stop him.
But there was no need for anyone to stop him.
The moment Fang Huai leaped over Hao Chengbin and Zhao Jinchen, he touched their water guns, causing them to tilt off course. The fire dragon then burst through the gap in the curtain of water, coming straight at him. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
The intense heat made Fang Huai instinctively raise his arm to block it, and his arm, even in the emergency rescue suit, immediately felt the sear, and his hair was charred in an instant.
"What the fuck are you doing?! Are you insane?"
Hao Chengbin yanked him back and tossed him behind him, then quickly raised the water gun, adjusting it to a semi-solid stream. The strong spray shredded the fire dragon into pieces.
However, the direct stream of water once again ignited some oil mist as it entered the fire scene, causing the fragments of fire dragon to merge again and fight against the water curtain sprayed by Zhao Jinchen’s water gun, forming an even larger red curtain.
Hao Chengbin quickly switched to a fog pattern, not daring to spray any deeper into the fire.
Fang Huai, thrown to the ground by Hao Chengbin, watched as the great fireball struggled outward.
It was as if the fireball was mocking him.
"Damn it."
Fang Huai cursed, stood up, and went back to fetch another set of fire-fighting suits from the truck.
By now, everyone had gathered around.
Cao Yi firmly held him down, calling to the others, "Get Fang Huai onto the truck!"
Everyone immediately came over and grabbed Fang Huai, trying to drag him onto the truck.
But Fang Huai clung to Cao Yi, yelling, "Cao Yi! Let him come back! He’s going to die!"
Nobody could understand the turmoil in Fang Huai’s heart.
Little Black’s parting words made Fang Huai feel as if a sudden shadow had passed over, covering all his hopes.
The system, the system!
The system had already warned him!
A bizarre task to "become friends with Little White" that he hadn’t noticed at all until just before Little Black asked him to take care of Little White, it felt as if the strings of his heart had been tightly pulled together.
"What bullshit are you spouting! Who won’t die in a fire scene? He’ll die, you’ll die, I’ll die! That’s fate! The fate of firefighters! Get back on the truck!" Cao Yi’s heart was also clenched by Fang Huai’s words.
Not that it wasn’t possible, but he didn’t want to think about it, nor did he dare to.
Thinking too much leads to hesitation, to regret.
Right now, since the man had already gone in, all they could do was hope that Little Black would send good news.
Fang Huai was pulled up onto Car 1, where Cao Yi ordered several new recruits to block the door, preventing him from coming down. He could only roll down the window and stare intently upstairs.
By this time, he dared not make any more noise, nor command anyone, knowing that his mind was in chaos. He was afraid that Little Black would die because of his own mistake.
Down on the ground, Cao Yi too was continuously calling on his two-way radio, trying to find out the situation upstairs.
Everyone was anxiously waiting.
Suddenly, there was a loud "bang" from above.
Fang Huai’s hand gripped the window frame tightly.
"Little Black! Little Black! What’s happening?! Are you alright?" Cao Yi shouted.
A moment of silence.
Little Black’s voice came through: "Instructor, there are people alive upstairs! Two little girls!"
Everyone was immediately invigorated.
Fang Huai also sat up straight. Taking advantage of the moment when the people by the door were distracted, he vaulted out the window, got off the truck, stood next to Cao Yi, and looked upstairs with renewed hope in his heart.
Han Yong quickly stepped forward to grab him.
"Instructor Cao, tell him to come down right now!" Fang Huai urged excitedly.
Cao Yi glanced at him, nodded, and picked up the two-way radio, "Don’t worry about those who are already lost! Bring the two little girls down! Once you come down, we’ll launch a full-scale assault!"
No sooner had he finished speaking.
"Bang."
Again, the sound of collapse echoed from above.
The fire on the second floor, like a newly released monster, surged violently, turning the entire second floor into a sea of red flames.
"Little Black! Little Black!" Cao Yi shouted.
This time, there was no reply.
Everyone’s heart sank as they started calling out loudly:
"Little Black!"
"Zhou Yong!!" freewebnovёl.ƈom
Fang Huai, even fiercer, snatched Cao Yi’s two-way radio, shouting with all his might, "Zhou Yong! Respond if you can hear me!"
"Little Black! Please respond!!"
"The fire-fighting suits! Bring me the fire-fighting suits!" Cao Yi turned and shouted at Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang quickly took a fire-fighting suit case from the truck and placed it in front of Cao Yi, but didn’t let go, saying:
"Instructor Cao, I’ll go."
Cao Yi shook his head, "This time, the Commander is up!"
"Instructor Cao, don’t go again! I’ll do it this time! I’ll back up Squad Leader Zhou! You guys really can’t handle it!"
Fang Huai tried to speak in the calmest tone possible, yet his hand was already firmly gripping the handle of the silver case holding the fire-fighting suits.
Just then.
"Bang!"
"Clang!"
The glass on the second floor was shattered.
The figures of two girls appeared at the window’s edge.
Everyone’s breath seemed to stop.
But soon, the girls disappeared again.
Three seconds later, a figure with flames attached to it leaped out from the window on the second floor, engulfed in blazing red light!
Fang Huai immediately put down the case in his hands and, like an arrow released from its bow, dashed in that direction!
"Little Black!!"
...
So many electrical appliances.
Zhou Yong turned on his headlamp and, upon re-entering from the first floor, took the time to observe the conditions along the way.
He found some motors whose outer casings were burning into a gel-like substance.
And two oil pumps.
Tsk tsk, too dangerous.
Fire was everywhere.
Feeling some flames rushing towards him and remembering what Fang Huai had said, that the suit wouldn’t last much longer, Zhou Yong didn’t delay any further and quickly reached the far end of the first floor.
Dense smoke was billowing from above his head.
There might be carbon monoxide, along with toxic gases produced by the combustion of some colloids.
Zhou Yong once again tentatively stepped on the first two steps that were already glowing with firelight.
One step down and they broke apart.
He simply struck the stairs with the pry bar ladder in his hand.
Many charred boards scattered at the sound.
The remaining few frames also seemed unreliable.
But this time, he had brought the pry bar ladder with him.
He positioned the pry bar ladder on a few points that seemed more solid and carefully climbed upwards along the ladder.
Upon reaching the corner, he found a relatively safe spot to stand with his legs apart, picked up the pry bar ladder, and repeated the tactic, hitting the unstable stairs with force.
Several more boards fell to the ground.
Setting up the pry bar ladder, he advanced upstairs.
The fire was intense.
The mezzanine was probably the origin of the fire, and the scenes around him were slightly shaking.
Steam was coming up now.
Run fast.
The people outside were already very careful, but steam was still surging up in the stairwell.
Moreover, a sudden stream of water had sprayed in, creating countless amounts of steam inside the building.
He wanted to grab his two-way radio to ask them to stop the water, but he also knew that the water outside could not be stopped.
Zhou Yong dared not be cautious any longer. Relying on the pry bar ladder, he continuously climbed up this narrow stairway that pierced the skies.
He was quite fortunate. After passing the mezzanine, all the way up to the second floor, the stairs had held up and had not collapsed entirely.
As soon as he climbed onto the second floor, Zhou Yong immediately ran to the window at the edge of the platform and took a couple of breaths.
He carefully observed his surroundings and found that there was a significant difference from the first entry. Many things were smoldering around him, and black smoke had billowed up. He didn’t dare to take off his suit to test the temperature, but even with the naked eye, he knew that an explosive fire was not far off.
A tightness clenched Zhou Yong’s heart, and he dared not rest any longer, immediately picking up the pry bar ladder and moving to the stairs leading up to the third floor. He tapped the stairs with the pry bar ladder.
Good, it was usable.
He carefully climbed up to the third floor.
The large amount of smoke that had accumulated here immediately weighed on his heart.
But at least the bed was just as he had imagined, beside a very narrow window gap against the wall.
He quickly ran to the bed and found a woman half-covered by a blanket. It seemed there was also a child under the blanket.
He slightly opened his face shield and felt a wave of hot, stuffy air hit him, and the pungent smell, immediately removing his gloves to check the woman’s breath and neck.
In this dry and stifling environment, the woman’s body surprisingly emitted a hint of coolness.
This chill went straight to his heart.
At that moment.
"Cough."
A light cough from under the blanket reignited his hope.
