Chapter 277: Killing My Own Team
"Trying to attack me while I'm asleep? How sneaky!" Zhang Yi muttered. Ling Feng planned to take advantage of Zhang Yi's deep sleep at dawn to launch an assault. Though unsure if it would work, it was worth a shot.
Zhang Yi noticed the movement and ran upstairs. Preparing a bundle of 500 kilograms of explosives took time and precision—one misstep could turn the dozen people on-site into ashes. The demolition team members were extremely careful, each carrying 50 kilograms of TNT to the target location, setting up the detonators, and configuring the timed explosions.
"Let's make sure our aim is precise!" Ling Feng joked to Shi Dayong, who was beside him. "If we miss, I'll have to go back to get more explosives!"
Shi Dayong laughed. "Relax, boss. I got first place in grenade throwing back in the military competitions!" The two seemed relaxed. They had found a way to deal with the shelter, holding Zhang Yi's life in their hands. To them, once the fortress was breached, Zhang Yi would be easy prey.
From his second-floor position, Zhang Yi used binoculars to observe the small hill. Hidden behind one-way glass, Ling Feng and his team could see nothing but darkness and had no way of detecting Zhang Yi's presence. However, Zhang Yi could clearly see their positions, about 2,400 meters away.
They knew Zhang Yi was a deadly sniper, so they kept a safe distance, unaware that his sniping was far more than just precise—it was enhanced by his Superhuman powers, boosting both range and power.
With the Dimensional Gate fully restored, Zhang Yi was ready to strike back. But he didn't act hastily; opening a window now would expose the shelter to further damage from an explosion. He waited for the enemy to make the first move.
Zhang Yi continued to watch the small hill, and Ling Feng, sensing something, glanced in Zhang Yi's direction as if their gazes met through the glass. "What an incredible intuition!" Zhang Yi thought, squinting slightly.Ling Feng smirked, folding his arms. "He's watching us!" Shi Dayong and Zheng Xuerong followed his gaze. Ling Feng's instincts were frighteningly accurate, even sensing a watchful presence from such a distance.
"What's he doing? Waiting to die? Or making a last desperate struggle?" Zheng Xuerong asked. Her icy blue eyes made her look like a mixed-race individual despite her Asian appearance.
"Who cares? He's probably scared, but what good does that do him?" Shi Dayong chuckled, hands in his pockets. "His Superhuman powers can't withstand TNT's blast. All he can do is watch us destroy his house."
Ling Feng added, "If possible, I'd actually like to recruit him into our team! His abilities show great potential." Though their encounter had been brief, Ling Feng was intrigued by Zhang Yi's capabilities.
Shi Dayong frowned. "What about our fallen comrades?"
Ling Feng responded coldly, "Dying in battle is a soldier's fate. Besides, our leader specifically wants him alive. The leader knows how valuable a powerful Superhuman is to our organization."
Hearing the leader's name, Shi Dayong immediately fell silent, unwilling to argue further. He watched as the demolition team assembled another massive bundle of explosives, hoping to damage the shelter as they did yesterday.
Shi Dayong transformed into a snow gorilla, and he and Ling Feng together hurled the explosives toward the shelter. Zhang Yi watched the giant bundle fly through the air, took a deep breath, and extended his right hand. The explosives hadn't even traveled halfway before Zhang Yi made his move. Waiting any longer would be too risky; he didn't want them getting too close.
"Dimensional Gate!" Zhang Yi called out dramatically, glad no one was around to witness his corny battle cry. A massive, invisible gate opened above the shelter, and though intangible, Zhang Yi could clearly sense its presence.
This time, he wasn't absorbing the explosives. He had learned that his Dimensional Space couldn't handle such a large-scale blast. Instead, he released the previously stored explosive energy from his space. The force erupted from the Dimensional Gate, creating a powerful shockwave that sent the incoming explosives flying back in the direction they came from.
Ling Feng and his team's smiles vanished instantly.
"Take cover!" Ling Feng shouted, diving to the ground. The 500-kilogram TNT bundle, propelled by the blast wave, flew back toward the small hill, rolling on the ground.
Thanks to TNT's stability, the impact didn't trigger an immediate explosion, but the timed detonator ensured it would go off within seconds. Moments later, an enormous fireball engulfed the area, melting all the snow within a kilometer radius. The heatwave reached the hilltop in an instant, flinging several soldiers who hadn't taken cover.
They were the lucky ones. Further down the hill, more soldiers had been lying in wait, ready to storm the shelter. They were just a few hundred meters from the blast site. The explosion's fire and shockwave swept outwards, incinerating everything in its path. Protective suits, body armor, weapons—all were reduced to ash in the intense heat. Flesh and blood charred in an instant.
The blazing fire swept across the landscape, wiping out nearly all the ambushed special forces team members. Zhang Yi watched from a distance, smiling at the unexpectedly effective outcome. He had only intended to deflect the explosives away from his shelter, but the resulting counterattack had decimated many of the enemy soldiers.
"Hot weapons are indeed powerful!" Zhang Yi marveled, laughing. "But I use them better than they do!"
Zhang Yi had only released a portion of the stored energy; the primary damage was caused by the TNT itself. The success of this experiment confirmed that he could continue using this method to counter their attacks. Unless the enemy was willing to lose more soldiers, this tactic would be off the table.
The explosion's heat raised the temperature on the small hill to unimaginable levels. At the base of the hill, a massive ice sheet suddenly cracked, and Zheng Xuerong staggered to her feet, visibly weakened. She had managed to create an ice shield in time, absorbing much of the heat and saving her comrades from death. However, maintaining the ice shield had drained her considerably.
Ling Feng broke through the ice, climbed the hill, and was stunned by the scene below. The others emerged to survey the aftermath of the explosion, all dumbfounded by the devastation before them.
What they had planned to do—detonate the explosives near the shelter—had failed spectacularly. Instead, the TNT had been blown back towards them, unleashing its destructive power upon their own forces.
This operation wasn't just a failure; it was a catastrophic loss. Many special forces soldiers died by their own explosives. What had seemed like a foolproof strategy had turned into their downfall.
Ling Feng stared at the charred remains of his comrades, trembling. These were his brothers, people who had survived the apocalypse together, only to die in the blink of an eye due to their own plan.
"No!" Ling Feng roared in anguish, his eyes filled with rage and grief. Shi Dayong dropped to his knees, smashing the ground in fury.
They had only themselves to blame; Zhang Yi had merely turned their own strategy against them in the most devastating way possible.
Author's Note