Chapter 222

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In the dark wastelands of the Badlands, devoid of the dazzling lights and bustling crowds of the neon city, all that existed was the silent solitude and the chilly moonlight. The dilapidated buildings, eroded by wind and sand, had become desolate and decayed, and the few places with lights on were certainly not benign. The abandoned cement factory, after being remodeled by the Maelstrom gang, had essentially become a small military fortress.

Panam sat in the van and, seeing that the night had deepened and it was time to act, woke up Scorpion, who was resting in the front seat: "Scorpion, perk up, it's time to get to work, connect with Mitch over the remote link." Scorpion adjusted the hood covering his face and got ready, replying from the back: "I'm all set." He looked at the black charred corpse lying stiffly in the back of the van: "Are we just leaving him in the van like this?" Panam, putting on her wireless headset and opening the van door, reassured him, "Don't worry, we're in the middle of nowhere, nobody's going to steal him."

Under the cover of darkness, they got out of the van and approached the abandoned cement factory. Through the wireless headset, Mitch instructed: "Panam, the front gate of the cement plant is heavily guarded. You and Scorpion should sneak in from the right side where there are blind spots in the surveillance, with containers piled up there; Scorpion will stay there to cover you and keep watch for Panam." Following Mitch's direction, Panam looked to the right side of the plant and indeed spotted a cluster of containers haphazardly piled together, convenient for climbing and hiding. At this point, most of the Maelstrom gang members were indulging inside the plant, and apart from the cameras set up around, the only real guards were at the main gate. As long as they moved within the blind spots of the cameras, the likelihood of being spotted was very low.

They smoothly reached the container area on the right side and climbed up. Scorpion climbed a bit higher, found a concealed corner with a good view, and looked around — he could see both the van and the main entrance as well as the activity inside the plant. Seeing the heavy firepower set up in the Maelstrom plant, with elevated gun turrets, heavy machine gun stands, guard rooms, and various modified off-road vehicles parked in the factory, he commented: "Maelstrom certainly has deep resources; snatching a piece of their pie would really pay off." Mitch laughed when he heard this: "You're right. All that Maelstrom has amassed is through plunder. If they were made to produce themselves, they might not even grow a single hair."

Scorpion found a good vantage point and then stated: "Panam, I have a clear view here, no unusual activity in the plant area, you can move; just be extra careful." Panam, receiving the cue, found a spot where the wall was almost level with the ground, leaped over it with a swift jump, landing inside the plant and rolling into a hidden corner. Seeing almost no patrols in the plant area, she guessed that the Maelstrom gang, accustomed to swaggering brazenly, hardly feared anyone, and even fewer dared to intrude on their base. After looking around and confirming there was no activity, Panam proceeded with the next step.

Over the headset, Mitch continued: "Panam, well done. Now you need to sneak into the second floor of the main factory to the control room. Find their surveillance area, locate Saul through the monitors, and then disable the surveillance alarm system, otherwise rescuing Saul might trigger the alarms." Panam whispered back, "No problem, I've done this more than a few times." She continued to move stealthily toward the main factory area and approached a wall-mounted ladder on the exterior wall, climbing upwards. Soon, Panam reached a high platform made of corrugated metal on the second floor. Blocking her path was a steel sliding gate, requiring a bypass of the security system to enter. She took out a networked hacking device given to her by Mitch and placed it at the access control: "Mitch, open the door." Mitch responded, "One moment." Seconds later, the steel gate slid open automatically, and Panam quickly slipped inside.

She decided to wait and see if the three of them would split up or doze off. At this moment, Scorpion, perched on the shipping container outside the factory, was keenly observing the movements inside the area, which were mostly uneventful. This place was just a hideout of the Maelstrom gang, usually not hosting a large assembly of members, with lax and casual security measures. He felt there was a good chance of stealthily rescuing Saul.

Suddenly, Scorpion noticed some noise. He decisively hid in a darker spot, pulled his hat brim down, and carefully peered out, realizing the noise was coming from the direction of a van, which made him inexplicably nervous. Not wanting to disturb Panam, who was sneaking about, he could only contact Mitch through a private line, whispering, "Mitch, Mitch, the body seems to have started moving again!"

The van shook twice, and its doors burst open, releasing a dark figure that floated out from within. This time, Scorpion, concealed in darkness, watched carefully. Under the cold moonlight, a burnt corpse floated above the ground, moving steadily towards the main entrance of the cement factory.

"It's going in, going in!" Scorpion's fingers gripped the edge of the container so hard he nearly tore off a layer of skin. Mitch asked, "Going where?" Scorpion replied, "The factory! It's entering the factory!"

The figure floated towards the main entrance, its dark and bizarre appearance and floating posture immediately alerting the guards. "What the hell is that, stop right there, or I'll shoot!" one guard shouted. The dark figure didn't respond and continued to approach unhurriedly. As a guard tried to shine a flashlight to better see, his hand jerked back as if electrocuted, and then the light bulb exploded. Bang, bang, bang. One light bulb after another burst, plunging the main entrance into darkness. The guards were just about to open fire when their bodies seemed to be flattened by some immense force and then exploded into a shower of blood.

Scorpion, horrified by the bloody spectacle, was so shocked that he froze on the spot. "Scorpion, Scorpion, what in the world is happening?" Mitch asked urgently from the other end but got no reply.

The noise at the main entrance had drawn the attention of people inside the main factory hall. They put down their work and looked curiously outwards, seeing that the entrance had mysteriously darkened. "Maybe some prey has walked right into our trap," said a man with a scar on his face, looking delighted. They seemed eager for an encounter, perhaps to break the monotony.

"Could it be someone from the Aldecaldos? Their boss is held here; they're definitely coming to get their guy." "Ha, let them come. Saul's tougher than a rock. Catch a few more, rip them open in front of him, hang their intestines around his neck, and see how tough he talks then." Their sinister laughter filled the air.

As they laughed, the figure approached from the main door, growing clearer as it drew near. "Holy shit, even burnt to a crisp and still flying, must be all the people he killed coming back for vengeance..." Before he could finish, a splatter of blood covered everyone nearby. A bald member who had been laughing loudly didn't close his mouth in time, and an eyeball, complete with nerves and blood, landed right in it. His laughter ceased abruptly, frozen on his face.

In an instant, every single light in the cement factory blazed in intense white before exploding, plunging everything into darkness. Emergency green lights flickered on, their feeble glow barely piercing the darkness. The main factory hall was silent, no sounds audible.

"Ah!" With the first scream, the main hall erupted with the sounds of gunfire and blazing fire. At that time, Panam, hiding in the subsidiary factory, was fretting about how to approach the surveillance room. Suddenly, all lights went out, plunging everything into darkness, and she could only see faintly with the help of the emergency lights.

A power outage? She felt a surge of schadenfreude. As the three guards in the surveillance room switched on backup power, they seemed to receive some news and hurriedly left towards the main factory.

Hearing the screams and gunfire from the main factory, Panam wasn't sure what was happening, but guessed the Maelstrom gang might be having one of their psychotic episodes, perhaps even shooting each other. "The deadlier, the better..." She muttered a curse, and once sure no one was coming back, quickly entered the surveillance room and began searching for Saul's location. She quickly found him in a small basement room.

Following Mitch's instructions, she turned off several surveillance alerts, confirmed the escape route, and swiftly moved towards her target. Taking advantage of the blackout, Panam descended from the subsidiary factory to the basement and found Saul, already unconscious and tied to a chair. Saul was babbling nonsensically, as if injected with various unknown substances, causing bizarre hallucinations.

Panam administered two doses of medicine, which somewhat improved his condition. As Saul regained some consciousness and saw Panam, he didn't waste time and stumbled after her, evacuating through the ventilation ducts. The operation went inexplicably smoothly, and by the time they emerged, Scorpion had driven up to pick them up. Seeing the burnt corpse resting peacefully in the van, Panam pushed Saul inside and followed. The vehicle started immediately, speeding towards the Aldecaldos camp.