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墨書 Inktalez
"What?"
After K asked the question, in the dimly lit room, Lucia and K both looked at Zhang Qiu.
"Prince Banan, our purpose here is to find him. No matter how we proceed from here, we cannot stray from this point."
"That's right, Zhang Qiu. We need to see Prince Banan as soon as possible."
"We must meet him, but the current situation doesn't look optimistic."
As soon as K finished speaking, the chandelier on the ceiling suddenly lit up, flickering like a dying patient's last gasp before going out again. K walked over to the bed and turned off the powerful flashlight that Zhang Qiu had been using for illumination. Then he went to the window and opened the curtains slightly, seeing a few faint lights in the distance.
The room fell back into darkness. Lucia tightened her grip on Zhang Qiu and asked K, "Why did you turn off the flashlight?"
"There’s a widespread power outage; the entire street is in darkness. The light we emit can easily attract attention, so turning off the flashlight can help avoid unnecessary trouble."
After K pulled the curtains shut again, he walked toward the door, his hard-soled shoes making a thudding sound on the floor.
"Where are you going?" Lucia asked.
"I'm going back to my room to get my things. For the time being, I'll stay in the same room with you. It's late at night; you can continue sleeping, and if anything happens, I'll wake you up immediately."
K returned to his room to grab his luggage while Zhang Qiu and Lucia couldn't see each other in the darkness but could sense each other's presence through their exhaled breath and body heat. At that moment, no one felt like sleeping.
The night was deathly silent; outside, thunder rumbled and heavy rain poured down. K came back into the room carrying his desert camouflage backpack and casually placed it in the corner.
"I can't sleep. If you can sleep, go ahead," Zhang Qiu said in the dark. He had some understanding of special forces life; no matter what kind of environment they were in, they could find a way to rest. This was something Zhang Qiu couldn't do.
"Alright, I'll rest. Wake me up in an hour; I'll take over for you."
K didn't even get on the bed; he took the sponge cushion from the chair and laid it on the floor, leaning against the desert camouflage backpack he brought. The room fell silent once again, and from Lucia's occasional movements, Zhang Qiu realized she was still awake. K might have already fallen asleep; people like them didn't snore when they slept.
It was unclear how much time had passed—maybe an hour, maybe less—when a few strong beams of light suddenly shone into the room. Zhang Qiu instinctively squinted, while Lucia was startled and jumped into Zhang Qiu's arms. Before Zhang Qiu could call out to K, K had already opened his eyes, and in the next moment, he was standing by the window.
Zhang Qiu gently patted Lucia's back and whispered, "Don't be afraid; I'll go take a look."
Zhang Qiu got off the bed and quickly moved to the window in his slippers. Through the gap between the two curtains, he saw two open-top Jeeps parked below the hotel. The headlights of the Jeep were on, casting bright white beams that illuminated the hotel as if it were daytime. Several individuals dressed in camouflage uniforms stood around the Jeep, one of whom was smoking a cigarette with a glowing red tip flickering in and out.
"Are they soldiers?"
Zhang Qiu asked K for confirmation. K observed the people downstairs and shook his head. "They might be soldiers based on their attire, but it's also possible they are just civilians wearing military uniforms."
"They have guns!" Lucia exclaimed as she looked down. After Zhang Qiu approached the window, Lucia also got off the bed.
"Hurry, put on your clothes and shoes, only take what's necessary; we need to be ready to evacuate at any moment."
K walked toward the wall and picked up his desert camouflage bag to throw over his shoulder. Zhang Qiu looked at his suitcase and realized how wise it was for K to bring just a backpack.
Zhang Qiu emptied everything from his suitcase, stuffing all necessary documents into his pockets while discarding several outer garments. As he hesitated over whether to keep items like underwear or base layers, K turned back and said, "Throw everything away except what you're wearing; travel light."
Zhang Qiu tossed a pair of underwear and a base layer onto the bed. After removing his clothes, there wasn't much left in the suitcase. In the end, Zhang Qiu only took a flashlight, a collapsible umbrella, and a copy of "A Brief History of Ukrainian Tractors" that was on the bedside table.
Lucia was distressed about her suitcase; her clothes were already piled on the bed along with shoes, hats, scarves, and a bunch of makeup bottles. K brought over a garbage bag and said, "Put the scarves and makeup in there; throw everything else away."
Lucia looked at Zhang Qiu for help, who nodded and said, "Just throw it away."
Lucia nodded reluctantly as she packed up her scarves and makeup. To avoid feeling too sentimental about it all, she closed the lid of her suitcase. Deep down, Lucia understood that in such circumstances, she could no longer live as if she were on vacation.
It seemed that the strong light outside had an effect, as people began to move in the hallway, accompanied by English and a language that Zhang Qiu could not understand. Zhang Qiu said, "Let's go out and take a look."
K grabbed the doorknob but did not stop Zhang Qiu; instead, he said, "Stay calm, I'll go first."
K opened the door, and the hallway remained dark, with the outside light not reaching here. People in pajamas or with bare upper bodies walked back and forth, asking each other questions. Zhang Qiu couldn't see their expressions clearly but guessed they were likely confused.
K led the way while Zhang Qiu followed at the back, protecting Lucia in between them. As they reached the staircase, a gunshot rang out from the first floor. Following that, screams erupted from below, and someone shouted in English, "Quiet! Everyone be quiet!"
Not only did the first floor not quiet down, but even the second floor began to panic. Someone immediately yelled, "You, you, and you, upstairs!"
"Yes!"
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed up to the second floor. There was chaos as people standing in the hallway hurried back to their rooms. Several beams of light from flashlights illuminated the walls. Zhang Qiu decisively said, "To the rooftop!"
Zhang Qiu immediately moved, grabbing Lucia's hand and running toward the door leading to the rooftop. The people going upstairs had already spotted them and shouted, "Don't move!"
Zhang Qiu activated the strobe function of his powerful flashlight. Taking advantage of the moment when that person covered their eyes, Zhang Qiu and Lucia reached the rooftop platform. Zhang Qiu was about to close the door when K stopped him.
"Aren't you going to close the door?"
"I'm not closing it. You two find a place to hide first; then just watch what I do."
Zhang Qiu didn't know K's plan, but he trusted him. Zhang Qiu pulled Lucia behind a large water tank on the rooftop and looked toward the door through an iron railing, but it was too dark to see clearly.
"What is he trying to do?" Lucia whispered.
"I’m not sure either, but I believe he has a plan. He’s a warrior—the best warrior."
In the hallway on the second floor of the Ematien Hotel, four armed personnel in camouflage uniforms searched around, holding guns in one hand and flashlights in the other. The white beams of light from their flashlights intersected and separated in the darkness. One of them said, "You control the second floor; I'll go to the rooftop to catch the leaks."
The sound of footsteps echoed from the staircase, and K's figure had already disappeared. Zhang Qiu and Lucia held their breath as the heavy rain soaked their clothes, water streaming down from their hair continuously.
A beam of white light emerged from the staircase, illuminating the ground as raindrops splashed up like snowflakes. Just as that person stepped out, a shadow spread its arms and descended like a giant bat, silently swooping toward the ground, extinguishing the flashlight.
The shadow stood up from the ground, dragging something with one hand toward where Zhang Qiu and Lucia were hiding. Zhang Qiu could clearly feel the tension radiating from Lucia's wrist. He dared not make a sound and gently pressed his hand on her hand. Zhang Qiu tightly gripped the powerful flashlight he had specifically chosen for its attack head; striking someone at close range would be quite impactful.
Just as Zhang Qiu was about to rise, a gun barrel was pointed in front of him. He raised his hand holding the flashlight high in the air, and the shadow spoke: "It's me."
Zhang Qiu let out a breath and lowered his hand, saying, "You scared me."
As he got closer, Zhang Qiu could see that K was holding a person.
"Is he dead?" Zhang Qiu asked.
"He passed out," K replied while dragging the person behind a water barrel. Turning back, he said, "Turn on the flashlight and set it to low light."
Zhang Qiu turned on the flashlight and shone it on the person. K crouched down and laid him flat. The man who had been knocked out was dressed in camouflage uniform, wearing a black wide-brimmed hat and a black scarf around his face. K swiftly pulled off the black scarf from his face, revealing a complexion that matched its color—dark enough to be striking.
Zhang Qiu whispered, "He won't suddenly wake up, will he?"
"Not within half an hour."
As K searched through the man's belongings, an AK-47 rifle was already slung over his shoulder. K also retrieved a dagger and a handgun from his waist, along with several rounds of ammunition and two fragmentation grenades. Aside from weapons and ammunition, K found nothing else of value. Finally, he stripped off the man's clothes and stuffed them into a camouflage bag before securely tying him next to the water barrel. The man's head hung limply, resembling a lifeless corpse.
"Is he a soldier?" Zhang Qiu wondered aloud based on his attire and weapons, feeling that he might indeed be military personnel.
"Maybe, but I can't be sure of his identity, so I didn't kill him."
"With this kind of weaponry, you still can't make a judgment?"
"On this land, some weapons are even better than those used by the military."
Zhang Qiu was speechless and finally reached out, saying, "Give me the handgun."
"Can you shoot?"
"I can."
"In our records, there is no mention of any firearms training you've received."
After hearing this, Zhang Qiu laughed and said, "It seems you value me quite a bit." With Bai Jingwei's status, obtaining his own records was a piece of cake. Zhang Qiu didn't dwell on this matter any longer; there were more important things to do. He continued, "Not only have I received handgun training, but I've also trained with submachine guns and automatic rifles."
For the first time, Zhang Qiu saw a look of surprise on K's face and felt a sense of satisfaction in mastering such special skills.
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