Free Web NovelChapter 76: The Cold Harvest
Inside the dim, frozen expanse of the central distribution hub, the heavy groan of straining metal finally ceased. Xiao Li, his face tight with exertion, carefully wedged a thick, structural iron support beam that Old Wang just spotted under the warped edge of the rolling shutter.
He tested the weight, ensuring the beam was anchored perfectly into the concrete floor, before slowly releasing his grip. The heavy metal shutter settled onto the iron with a dull, heavy thud, securing the narrow two-foot gap.
Xiao Li exhaled a thick cloud of white vapor, letting his ’Earth Hardening’ skin armor recede. The stone-like texture melted away from his forearms, leaving his skin pale and slick with sweat despite the super cold temperature.
"The exit is secure," Old Wang whispered, already dropping to one knee near the gap. He checked the bolt of his rifle and braced his shoulder against the concrete frame, his eyes locked onto the swirling white void of the courtyard outside. "I’ll anchor the gate and monitor the storm. If anyone or anything tries to squeeze under this shutter, they’ll take a bullet before their boots hit the floor. Move fast, Lin Qing. This storm won’t hide us forever."
Lin Qing nodded sharply, clicking her flashlight onto its lowest, most focused beam setting. "Keep your eyes peeled, Old Wang. Xiao Li, with me. Remember—watch your footing, and no heavy impacts."
The two of them turned away from the exit, venturing into the surreal, haunting depths of Building C-4. The interior was a spectacular, unstable nightmare.
The beam of Lin Qing’s flashlight cut through the gloom, refracting off the massive, crystalline spires of the blue ice cavern that dominated the center of the warehouse. The air was thick with the sharp, artificial tang of frozen chemical refrigerants—a silent, toxic reminder of Han Ye’s warning.
As they navigated the perimeter of the ice fall, Lin Qing kept her eyes glued to the translucent floor sheets beneath her boots. Through the thick, glassy ice, she could clearly see the massive, cracked municipal gas mains snaking through the concrete foundations like trapped, black serpents.
The frost had sealed the ruptures for now, but the structure was incredibly brittle. A single hard drop, a careless stomp, or a sudden shift in weight could fracture the ice and ignite the pressurized pocket.
They reached the far northern corner of the hub, where a set of heavy, reinforced concrete stairs led down into the subterranean belly of the facility. The air down here grew instantly dry, stale, and fiercely cold—a natural vault that had completely insulated the cargo from the moisture of the collapsing roof above.
At the bottom of the stairs sat rows of heavy, industrial-grade storage racks, stacked with pristine, military-contracted electronics.
Lin Qing didn’t let greed dictate their movements. She knew they were operating on a razor-thin timeline, but hauling dead weight back up the mountain would be a fatal mistake. She unzipped her pack, pulling out a compact digital multimeter and a specialized handheld terminal tester.
"Xiao Li, clear the frost casing off that first pallet. Gently," she ordered.
Xiao Li used the heel of his gloved hand to wipe away the brittle ice crust from the top crate, revealing the heavy, matte-black casing of a commercial-scale solar inverter block.
Lin Qing stepped in, her fingers moving with meticulous, practiced efficiency. She popped the terminal caps, clamping the red and black leads of her testing unit onto the main power cells. She watched the digital screen flicker to life, its amber backlight casting a glow over her focused features. She checked the cell degradation metrics, verified the internal resistance thresholds, and scanned for any micro-fractures in the delicate solder joints caused by the extreme drop in temperature.
In her past life, Lin Qing had taken up multiple hobbies to pass time whenever she was free. Tinkering with machines and electronics had been one of them. The skills and knowledge she had acquired were really coming in handy in this life.
The screen flashed a steady, solid green. ’Charge output: 94%. Optimal.’
"This one is functional," Lin Qing murmured, her voice tight but decisive. "No cell degradation. Clear to move."
She moved down the row, systematically inspecting the massive photovoltaic circuitry boards and high-capacity inverter batteries. She rejected two units that showed internal short-circuits from early grid surges, refusing to let Xiao Li waste a single ounce of energy on useless metal. Only when a unit registered a flawless diagnostics profile did she give the nod.
Once a core set of equipment was cleared, Xiao Li stepped forward. He closed his eyes, inhaling the freezing, stale air of the vault as he reactivated his power. The dull, rock-hard layer of stone armor rippled across his arms and shoulders, amplifying his physical frame to its absolute peak.
Because a single heavy vibration could rupture the gas lines on the main floor above, they couldn’t use carts or dragging straps. Xiao Li had to handle the massive, three-hundred-pound inverter blocks entirely manually.
Bracing his stone-clad forearms beneath the heavy casing, Xiao Li lifted the massive unit with a slow, controlled heave. His muscles strained beneath his tactical vest, but he didn’t let out a sound. He walked up the concrete stairs, his heavy, stone-armored boots testing the structural density of the ice with every agonizingly slow step. He carried the massive payload across the slick, treacherous main floor, moving like a slow-motion juggernaut, before gently sliding the equipment under the shutter to Old Wang’s staging area outside. The mental and physical strain of maintaining that level of absolute precision was immense, but he turned right back around to fetch the next unit without a word.
---
Meanwhile, fifteen kilometers up the winding mountain switchbacks, the world was a blinding, roaring void of white chaos.
The blizzard screamed through the jagged crags of the ridge line, reducing visibility to less than two meters. But the extreme weather didn’t bother Han Zheng. If anything, the chaotic whiteout was his sanctuary.
Moving like a silent apex predator through the knee-deep drifts, Han Zheng led the soldiers in a flawless, wide looping maneuver. His advanced auditory and sensory abilities allowed him to completely filter out the howling rhythm of the gale. He could isolate the distinct, artificial frequencies of the environment—the heavy, ragged breathing of men fighting the cold, the subtle rustle of tactical gear, and the faint, low-frequency hum of high-band shortwave radios.
Lin Tao’s trackers were good. They were moving in a disciplined, staggered file, tracking the fading, compressed tire marks of the transport trucks. But they didn’t realize the hunter had become the prey.
Han Zheng melted out of the blinding snow directly behind the rearguard scout. Before the man could even register a shift in the wind, Han Zheng’s massive, gloved hand clamped over his mouth, sealing his throat.
In the same fluid motion, Han Zheng drove his heavy combat dagger upward into the base of the skull. The scout went completely limp without a sound, and Han Zheng quietly lowered the body into the deep drift, letting the fresh snow instantly bury the evidence.
Left and right, the elite Vanguard soldiers executed the ambush with terrifying, synchronized military efficiency. Using cold steel and hunting knives, they neutralized the staggered line of trackers one by one in the dark, bleeding the tail dry from the back forward.
Finally, only the lead scout remained, huddled near a frozen outcrop of rock as he tried to peer through his goggles.
Han Zheng closed the distance like a shadow detached from the storm. He stepped into the light, his heavy combat boot striking the scout’s shoulder and sending him crashing heavily into the snowbank. Before the man could raise his firearm, Han Zheng’s boot pinned his chest to the frozen ground, the sheer physical pressure cracking the man’s ribs beneath his winter gear.
The scout gasped for air, his eyes widening in pure terror as he looked up into Han Zheng’s cold, merciless gaze.
But as Han Zheng raised his blade to finish the interrogation, the scout’s gloved hand twitched violently inside his pocket, his fingers smashing down onto the transmit button of a high-frequency tactical radio clipped to his collar.
A sharp, static-laced burst cut through the howling wind, and a gravelly, authoritative voice erupted from the speaker—a voice that didn’t belong to Lin Tao.
"Team One, report. Have you pinned the transport location? The main column has cleared the lower gates. We are moving to block the primary highway now. Do not let the convoy escape the basin."
Han Zheng’s eyes narrowed into slits of dangerous, freezing fury. He drove the blade down, instantly silencing the radio and the scout, but the damage was done.
The tracking tail wasn’t just a small reconnaissance team sent by a desperate Lin Tao to steal a few crates. The coordination, the high-frequency military bands, and the mention of a main column meant that someone had officially mobilized an entire force to blockade the mountain.
Han Zheng ripped the radio from the dead scout’s collar, turning sharply back toward his squad. The clock inside the warehouse had just run out. Lin Qing and the crew were about to be completely surrounded.
