The Beauty CEO's Personal Expert

Run? Ling Chen had never even thought about running. Even though they’d been cut off from the outside world, the base was still a fortress; it wouldn’t be easy for the enemy to break in. But if they left through the escape passage and went outside, they’d very likely run into an ambush by He Honggang’s people, and that would be even worse for them. At least here, he could concentrate their strength and ensure everyone’s safety.

"Fatty, don’t we have fifteen ventilation shafts? They only sealed fourteen—what about the last one?"

Hu Fei didn’t answer. His eyes were locked on the screen, his fingers flying across the keyboard. After a while, he frowned and said, "That ventilation shaft has already stopped running. And I checked the air concentration in the base—it’s dropping fast."

"How could that happen?"

"I don’t know. We’ve lost our ’eyes’ to the outside, we can’t get a read on anything out there. If possible, we’d better send someone out to scout the situation."

Ling Chen nodded, then picked up the walkie-talkie and contacted the others. A few minutes later, Zhu Qing walked in from outside. "How’s it look out there?" Ling Chen quickly went up to her and asked.

"I went out to take a look. They’re using machines to suck the air out of the base."

On hearing this, Ling Chen and Hu Fei’s faces both went dark. No wonder the enemy had left one ventilation shaft open—turns out it was to pump out their air, draining the base’s atmosphere as fast as possible. After thinking for a moment, Ling Chen asked, "Fatty, how long can we hold out?"

"At the current rate of consumption, half an hour to forty minutes at most. I still recommend everyone use the escape passage. Staying here is too dangerous."

"That won’t work." Zhu Qing cut in, "I just came in through the escape passage. They’ve already formed a perimeter; all the exits are covered by their people. Even if we manage to get out through the escape passage, we’ll still have to break through their encirclement. That would force us into a frontal fight with them, which puts us at a huge disadvantage. In my view, we should stick to Ling Chen’s original plan and hold the base. At least that way we still have a sliver of hope."

"Fatty." Ling Chen thought for a second, then suddenly asked, "We should have a decent amount of stockpiled supplies in the base, right?"

"Supplies?" Hu Fei froze for a moment, then asked blankly, "You mean..."

"Oxygen tanks. The lab should have a large reserve of oxygen tanks."

Hu Fei’s eyes lit up. He said urgently, "Hold on, I’ll check the warehouse inventory." After a short while, he said excitedly, "Got it. When Bai Zhangqiu set up the lab a while back, we bought a batch of oxygen tanks—around a hundred in total. As long as we ration them a bit, it won’t be a problem to hold out for several hours."

"Perfect." Ling Chen let out a silent breath of relief; the biggest problem was finally solved. "Fatty, in a bit arrange a few people to go seal off that last ventilation shaft. Don’t let them suck any more air out of the base." With that, he called Zhu Qing and walked straight out of the main control room.

"I contacted the Family Head earlier. He’ll gather people and rush to East Sea City to support us as fast as he can. If nothing goes wrong, they should be here in about two hours at most. With our current strength, holding for two hours shouldn’t be an issue."

"Don’t get careless." Ling Chen said, "He Honggang and his people aren’t easy to deal with. What I’m most worried about now is that Family Head Zhu will act rashly. Since we can’t contact them, if they make a move blindly, they could take heavy losses."

"Then what do we do?"

"Can you find a way to slip through their encirclement?"

"If it’s just me alone, it shouldn’t be a big problem."

"First get out of their signal-jamming zone and establish contact with Family Head Zhu. Have them lie in wait around the area. Once He Honggang and his people launch their attack, you all should hold your fire at first and get a clear picture of the situation. Then look for an opportunity to hit their reinforcements from the rear and ease the pressure on us. Remember—don’t get bogged down in a drawn-out fight. Just pin them down."

Zhu Qing nodded and said, "Got it. Don’t worry, I’ll get it done."

In the blink of an eye, more than an hour had passed. The air in the base had long since been exhausted, and everyone was breathing through oxygen tanks now. At the main gate, Ling Chen paced back and forth, eyes fixed on the door. It’d been this long—He Honggang should be making a move any moment. As he was thinking, Yang Chen, sitting in the corner, suddenly made a hand gesture, signaling everyone to stay quiet. After a while, he said, "I hear something. About twenty meters outside the door—footsteps, messy ones. Roughly a dozen people, closing in this way."

Is it starting? Ling Chen’s gaze hardened and he said in a deep voice, "Everyone, get ready." As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone took their positions, all eyes locked on the main gate. To repel the enemy’s assault, Ling Chen had set up three defensive lines. The first line was under his direct command, with over thirty people. Apart from the members of the Divine Arrow Team, the rest were the Eight Freaks and Yu Beifeng. In a defensive battle like this, the Divine Arrow Team’s firepower couldn’t be underestimated—especially with Zhang Zhongfeng here. As long as the enemy dared to charge in, the first volley of arrows alone would definitely inflict casualties.

Bang!

Just then, a dull thud came from outside the gate, as if someone had rammed into it. No way... Ling Chen frowned slightly, thinking to himself. The base’s main gate was forged from steel, a full twenty centimeters thick; there was no way they could just ram it open. But after that one muffled impact, there were no further sounds. Seeing that things had gone quiet outside, Ling Chen couldn’t help glancing at Yang Chen not far away. His hearing was the sharpest; maybe he’d picked up something.

"I hear something. Sounds like they’re drilling." Yang Chen said.

Drilling? Ling Chen’s heart tightened. He quickly walked up to the main gate and pressed his ear against the metal. Sure enough, just like Yang Chen said, those bastards were drilling. After more than ten minutes, the sounds outside finally stopped. Seeing this, Ling Chen quickly backed away, retreating all the way behind the first defensive line.

Boom!

All of a sudden, a deafening blast rang out, the ground seeming to shake beneath them. Looking closely, they saw the entire gate bulge inward like a domed shield. These lunatics... Ling Chen couldn’t help cursing to himself. He finally understood why they’d been drilling: they’d stuffed explosives into the holes and then detonated them. That way, the blast wave would be enough to wreck the entire gate.

Now, with the gate so warped, it could no longer hold firm. From outside came repeated thudding impacts. Ling Chen took a deep breath, raised his right arm, and made a hand signal to everyone. The Divine Arrow Team members at his side all sprang to their feet, bows drawn and arrows nocked, aiming straight at the gate.