"Just be careful. Do not wait until trouble is in your face before you think about solving it."
Work like dragging a corpse out of an elevator would never be handed to the women. While Lan Jin and Ling Jiang chatted, the body inside was already cleared. Even the blood around the cab was wiped spotless by Huang Jinghe with his water ability.
When Huang Jinghe worked, he was meticulous and efficient.
Once the elevator was handled and confirmed to function normally, Captain Zhang glanced at it and said, "It is small. Six to eight people at a time. There are twelve of us. We will split into two teams. Any objections?"
Since this was not some arbitrary decision, no one objected.
Captain Zhang divided the teams. He, Lao Shi, the team member Zhang Ye, Pei Xin, Xi Yu, and Ling Jiang formed one team.
Ling Jiang's role was critical. If danger appeared above, Ling Jiang could seal it instantly with ice and isolate the threat.
The remaining six formed the second team. This team had Lan Jin. As long as they did not get close to multi-legged bugs, Lan Jin could electrocute enemies quickly and cleanly. Going up a trip later would not put them at a disadvantage.
After the split, Captain Zhang's six entered first.
Seeing the elevator rise to the fourth floor safely and then return smoothly, everyone relaxed. If there had been something waiting in the room, the elevator would not have dropped so fast. That meant the upstairs should be relatively safe.
Soon, the second group took the elevator up.
But upon reaching the fourth floor, they found things were not as optimistic as they had hoped.
First, there was the good habit of closing doors when you leave. This elevator was installed in a restroom. Because the restroom door had been shut, there were no mutants inside.
Outside the restroom, however, the corridor crawled with mutants. The sound of the elevator going up and down gave them a direction. They surged toward the restroom like a tide.
It was a blessing that Ling Jiang had been in the first batch. As soon as Ling Jiang stepped out, she sealed the door from the inside with ice. Otherwise, with that many creatures pouring in, it would have been ugly.
But that also meant they were sealed in again.
The restroom was small. With more than ten people crammed together, even turning around was hard. Forget about organizing a breakout.
Just as Lan Jin was about to ask for a status update, the elevator that should have stayed parked on the fourth floor suddenly closed and started to descend.
If someone had called it from below, that would be normal. With no one there, it was a problem.
Captain Zhang said at once, "Six per trip. Two trips are enough. Is someone else down there? Why did it go back?"
Lao Gao answered, anxious, "No one's below. We were the last trip. There is no one down there. No, the outer door needs to be shut."
Everyone knew the door had to be shut, but people were packed shoulder to shoulder. There was no space to move, much less close a door.
Shen Zhiyu had a flash of inspiration. He hoisted his sister onto his shoulder. With one body lifted, space opened instantly.
Lao Gao followed suit. He scooped Lan Jin and Ling Jiang onto his shoulders.
Seeing it was still tight, Huang Jinghe did the same, hefting Pei Xin and Xi Yu onto his shoulders.
Xi Yu muttered, "Why are you carrying me too?"
It felt odd for a man to be carried like that when the others were women. But this was not the time to fuss.
With five people lifted, the restroom had room to breathe. Lao Shi, already near the door, flickered into place and shut the panel just as the elevator doors were about to open.
Ling Jiang froze it solid a heartbeat later.
A chorus of roars erupted from the elevator. Unsurprisingly, it was the mutants.
One step later and they might have been in real trouble.
But where had all those mutants sprung from?
…
Failing to catch anyone, the mutants did not give up. They pounded the elevator doors and the invisible barrier outside the cab, as if they could break through by sheer force. No matter how they struck, Ling Jiang's thick ice held them back.
The elevator was unusable now. Mutants crowded outside the restroom. How long could they hold on like this?
"We have to find a way out," Ling Jiang said.
Captain Zhang said, "Lan Jin, can you shock the ones outside through the door?"
"The door is wood. Wood does not conduct. The handle is metal though. The handle conducts," Lan Jin said. "But the ice outside is so thick. Even if I try, I cannot get a current through."
Lao Gao said, "I can fix that. We just expose the handle, right? The real problem is we do not know how many mutants are in this villa. Even if we shock the ones outside this door, are we going to shock our way through floor by floor? Are we supposed to step on their bodies to get out?"
The image alone was nauseating.
Lan Jin spoke first. "Unless someone carries me, I will not go. I will never step on those disgusting things. I would rather die."
She had refused before. Now she refused even more.
The moment Lan Jin finished, something skittered in the ventilation duct overhead.
Ling Jiang immediately sealed the ceiling. Nothing else could be allowed a chance. Even so, the restroom no longer felt safe.
…
If the main door would not do, then the window.
Shen Zhiyan said, "Check the window first. If there is no other way, we climb down from the fourth floor."
Because Lao Shi had just closed the invisible door, Lao Shi was nearest to the window. Lao Shi went over, knocked twice, waited, and confirmed nothing clung to the exterior wall. Then Lao Shi unlatched the glass.
While opening it, he turned sideways, waited again, and confirmed nothing was crawling in. Only then did he lean out to the metal grating.
Yes, the window had anti-theft bars. They were welded on. That was why they had not chosen this escape from the start.
But removing them was not especially troublesome. Someone strong could rip the welded grid straight off with a section of wall. The method existed. They just had not gone this far yet.