The three emergency response team members did not take too long to reach an agreement to enter the castle together. No.3 was right. Zhang Heng gave up moving around and switched to defensive tactics. Since Zhang Heng abandoned his greatest advantage, they now had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack him. They had no reason not to seize this golden opportunity. At the same time, the three also realized that Zhang Heng had to have a reason for making such a decision.
Therefore, prior to entering the castle, the three did a lot of preparation work. When they noticed the smoke coming out of the castle, they quickly used their thermal detectors to look for Zhang Heng. At the same time, they were also paying attention to the traps that might be lying around in the castle.
Clearly, they had overthought the whole thing. Zhang Heng had only given up guerrilla warfare because he only had two bullets left in his rifle. He also wanted to end the battle as fast as possible.
Compared to sneak attacks in an open space, it was indeed more dangerous to fight inside the castle. However, it saved Zhang Heng a lot of time to look for the enemies. It was a perfect strategy since he wanted to get to the station as fast as possible.
…
After they prepared everything that they needed, all thirty people from Shengtang Morgan Group cautiously walked into the castle. They formed a total of five teams with six men in each. The distance between each team was about three meters. By doing that, they would be able to prevent themselves from dying at the same time if they stepped into a trap. Simultaneously, they could also support each other in times of need.
In addition to the one heat detector carried by No.2 in the emergency response team, the other two federal police squads were also equipped with heat detectors. And No.8, as the commander, redistributed those three heat detectors. The leading group was responsible for exploring the way got one, and the group following them on the right tasked with checking blind spots overseen by the previous group got another.
As for the last heat detector, it was given to No.2. He wasn’t given any special instructions by No.8, and he could check out the whole place freely. Although the heat detector could only detect a certain distance ahead, it could cover quite a big area when all three were used together.
When the first team walked into the castle, there were no gunshots. The castle was silent as if no one was there, and they saw nothing on the heat detector too. After that, the second team followed suit. They quickly worked with the first team to secure the place. With the fifth team entering the castle, all thirty people from Shengtang Morgan Group were now inside.
Whether it was the first or second group that walked into the castle or No.2 that followed behind them, none could locate Zhang Heng.
No. 8 and the two groups of federal police conducted a general search of the first floor. After confirming that it was safe, they moved to the second floor. Like the previous strategy, the first team took the lead, and the rest followed suit. As soon as the first team walked past the stairs, they heard a gunshot. A federal policeman walking at the front was shot. Fortunately, the three men that pretended to be emergency response team members were all wearing the latest generation bulletproof vests. One of them had taken off his vest and put it on the federal police who was walking at the front. The latter survived the gunshot thanks to that.
His companions around him took a risk and dragged him back. Immediately, everyone started returning fire and scattered for shelter. At the same time, the opposite side also started to shoot at them.
For a short while, loud gunshots echoed in the hallway. After shooting at each other for a while, the three emergency response team members noticed something was wrong. No.8 then gestured to the federal policeman standing at the front and asked if he had seen Zhang Heng. The federal policeman told him that there was too much smoke in the corridor, and his vision was obstructed. The moment he turned around, he was hit by a sniper rifle.
The heat detector in his hand, however, did react, indicating that there was a figure at the other end of the corridor. However, instead of feeling relieved after hearing what the federal police said, No.8 felt even more uneasy. He then signaled everyone to cease fire and retreat to the blind spot where Zhang Heng could not see them. However, the other party did not stop shooting at them.
At this time, the three emergency response team members realized that they had stepped into a trap. If ordinary people were under stress, they might not be able to stop firing. But for a master like Zhang Heng, it was impossible for him to do something like that. That was a rookie mistake. They might have fired at each other violently earlier, but so far, no one was hit except for the federal police with a bulletproof vest. The rest of the people were still alive and kicking.
No.8 didn’t belittle the capabilities of those federal police officers. When he compared them with Zhang Heng, however, he realized their skills were clearly not good enough to fight against Zhang Heng.
“Let’s see what’s going on,” said No.3.
No. 8 nodded. The three of them called the other three federal policemen to go with them to check the corridor again. This time, they got closer. And the three emergency response team members heard more details from the gunshots, including some sounds that did not align with the environment.
“Recording?” No. 3 asked.
After that, No.2 also found the humanoid target in the heat detector to be motionless. Later, No.8 sent two federal police officers to cautiously approach their target. They quickly discovered that it was an inflatable heat inducer standing at the end of the corridor. There was also a recording pen next to it.
No. 8 immediately thought of something, and his expression changed, “Everyone, come to me!”
After counting the number of people, cold sweat started to drip down from No. 8’s forehead. He did not expect that he would lose ten men on his side in such a short time. The two missing teams were standing at the back earlier. Since they checked the first floor and confirmed that Zhang Heng was there, and the battle mainly took place in the corridor, the three emergency response team members did not pay much attention to the situation at the back.
They did not expect that Zhang Heng would get rid of the people at the back by distracting them. When the federal police officer was shot, Zhang Heng was actually standing at the end of the corridor. He deceived everyone with the recordings and heat inducers. Everyone’s attention was then drawn to the gunshot that they heard in the corridor. While everyone was distracted, Zhang Heng figured out how to avoid the three heat detectors and quietly went to the first floor.
When No.8 led his men people back to the first floor, they saw the floor strewn with corpses. The fatal wounds on their bodies were all stab wounds, and they were killed by one blow without getting the chance to struggle or call for help.
