Chapter 186: He Held Back a Big One

"Lie down!"

Before he could even finish shouting those two words, Zhang Su threw himself onto the center console as he kept the accelerator pressed—and in that instant, a violent explosion erupted beside his ear.

BOOM!

The explosion occurred along the dirt road, about thirty centimeters wide, on either side of the self-built road; clumps of soil were blasted several meters into the air, sections of concrete foundation shattered, and two vehicles on the road were flipped onto the fields by the shockwave.

The scene was chaos—dust swirling, smoke rising, cars lying on their sides in the fields, wheels spinning.

The Prado's two rear wheels were completely destroyed; the hubs were deformed, the body blackened in large patches, all windows shattered, the driver's door caved inward, and the driver's seat lay tilted downward into the field.

The minivan, slightly farther from the blast, fared a little better, but its windows were all shattered too, and it lay slumped against the dirt slope beside the self-built road, looking utterly battered.

The driver, Lu Yu, wore a dazed, twisted expression, shards of glass embedded in his face, blood trickling down his neck; the front-seat passenger, Zhao De, clutched his arm in pain, clearly badly shaken—the cockiness he'd shown just seconds ago was gone.

Inside the Tianmayu Safe Camp, everyone busy at work froze at the sound of the explosion.

"The car… exploded?"

"What?"

Zhang Su, lying below, reached out and shook Pang Dakun; no matter how loudly he shouted, he heard nothing but a continuous ringing in his ears. He shook his head violently, struggled to unbuckle his seatbelt, and crawled out through the front windshield first.

By now, the rescue team had arrived at the blast site—the concrete road had been blown apart. Zhong Xiaoshanyi stopped her electric scooter, grabbed her medical kit, and slid down the dirt slope, rushing straight to Zhang Su's side.

Shaky and leaning against the A-pillar to steady himself, Zhang Su felt the world spinning. He turned his head and saw Lu Yu and Zhao De struggling to crawl out of the minivan.

Several small electric scooters brought back from Niuziquan Town proved crucial—Zhong Xiaoshanyi led the charge with her medical kit.

"It exploded!"

"Tou'er, Little Pang, wake up!"

"Leave a few people to watch Guo Dachao and Yang Wenjie—don't all go down the mountain!"

"Fuck, hurry, hurry, hurry—go save them!"

Inside the Prado, Zhang Su felt his internal organs rattled to pieces, his ears ringing so loudly he heard nothing, everything before his eyes doubled, his head feeling like he'd ridden a roller coaster ten times in a row.

"Is Xiao Yu trying out another bomb again?"

"No, look over there—it's fine!"

"Can't be… maybe the experiment went wrong and it exploded…"

Yu Wen snapped to his senses—there were still outsiders in the camp—and immediately ordered people to stay behind and keep watch.

He knew they couldn't stay inside the vehicle—it might explode again. Beside him, Pang Dakun was unconscious, glass shards stuck in his face, blood dripping from his head.

In an instant, everyone in the camp sprang into action.

Soon, Zhang Ya ran out of the surveillance room, face pale with terror: "It exploded! Boss Zhang's car blew up down below!"

"Boss Zhang, how are you…?"

From the monitors, she only knew the car had been thrown into the field—she had no idea why it exploded.

Zhang Su couldn't hear Zhong Xiaoshanyi, but from her body language he guessed what she was saying, so he replied: "I'm fine. Get Tou'er out first—get us away from here!"

"Got it!" Zhong Xiaoshanyi, relieved to see no serious external injuries on Zhang Su, helped him backward while calling to the others: "Get Little Pang out of the car!"

Zhao De and Lu Yu had also crawled out of the vehicle and were now being helped up the dirt slope.

"Don't forget the guns and weapons!"

With help from Zhong Xiaoshanyi and Zheng Xinyu, Zhang Su climbed the slope, then suddenly remembered the guns were still in the car—he shouted to those nearby: "Grab the weapons!"

With many hands, they quickly rescued Zhang Su and the other three. As for the two vehicles—nothing valuable besides the weapons—so they left them in the field.

All four had injuries of varying severity; Pang Dakun was worst off—unconscious from the blast, glass shards embedded in his face and neck, bleeding heavily, but his vital signs remained stable.

"Fuck! It has to be the Beitaizi Camp—I'm going to kill them, aah!"

Zhao De's injuries were second only to Pang Dakun's—his right arm was fractured. Clearly, the explosives on the right side were heavier, which is why Pang Dakun and Zhao De, sitting on that side, got the worst of it.

"My leg just healed, and now my arm's broken—I, I, I—!"

Zhao De screamed wildly on the bed, his hair standing on end.

Today had started so happily—he'd recovered from his injuries and was finally leaving the camp to search for supplies, having been cooped up for too long. He'd set out in high spirits, and before even reaching the main road—he got blown up…

One moment he'd been testing bombs in the camp, the next—he'd tasted their flavor himself!

Never had he suffered such a humiliation.

Lying beside him, Lu Yu had a cigarette dangling from his lips, a white bandage over his face, a wrap around his head, his forehead looking like it bore the flag of a menses nation—comically absurd. His expression was icy, silent, a stark contrast to his usual personality.

The more silent he was, the more his rage showed—he didn't speak because his education was too limited; words couldn't express his fury.

Zhang Su was surrounded by the most people—everyone naturally cared most about the camp leader's safety.

Because he reacted fastest, he avoided the worst of the flying glass, and since the explosives on his left side were lighter, he had no significant skin wounds—his main problems were tinnitus and dizziness.

"Boss Zhang, can you hear us now?"

Zhong Xiaoshanyi shouted into Zhang Su's ear.

Zhang Su nodded. After more than half an hour, he could hear again, though it was still muffled—sounds right beside his ear felt as distant as if coming from across a mountain.

He wondered if his hearing, sharper than normal, meant the explosion affected him more severely.

"No serious damage. Rest well!"

Zhong Xiaoshanyi shouted into Zhang Su's ear, then told everyone to leave, keeping the room well-ventilated.

"You all go ahead—we're fine."

Zhang Su waved to the group—there was too much work at the base for everyone to stop.

"I'll go catch a chicken and stew it for you!"

Zheng Xinyu mimed grabbing a chicken by the neck, then followed the others out of the makeshift infirmary.

By noon, after eating, everyone's condition improved significantly—not just physically, but emotionally too. Even Pang Dakun, the worst off, had awakened, lying still with vacant eyes, recovering.

"Boss Zhang, what do we do about this?"

Lu Yu asked, his expression serious—he had the lightest injuries and was already mobile.

Zhang Su's hearing had recovered to about half of normal human levels. Hearing Lu Yu's words, he thought deeply: "Wang Xin Gui from the United Village told me someone from Beitaizi Camp can make homemade bombs. This has to be them—we have to find these bastards!"

The situation had reached the point of no return.

Zhang Su had assumed their long absence meant the enemy had retreated—but instead, they'd held back a massive strike, utterly shocking!

(End of Chapter)