Chapter 162: Another Encounter with Song Qian

“A lot of armed soldiers?” Jiang Yan raised her eyebrows and stood up. “Roughly how many?”

The young man’s voice was a little excited. “At least a hundred, all together! Heaven is watching over us—this time, we’re definitely saved!!!”

Jiang Yan was secretly a little shocked.

A hundred soldiers—what a scene.

Last time, when that luxury cruise ship came to Qianshui Bay to pick up able-bodied workers for the base, there were only about a dozen soldiers.

Looks like this time, they’ve run into the regular army itself.

“You all wait here. I’ll go take a look.” Sun Jingtao said, getting up quickly and heading in the direction the young man had come from.

Word that an official ship had arrived got everyone who’d been rescued excited—they all crowded to the windows.

Some even came down from upstairs, packing the hallway full.

Their throats were badly damaged, and they were short on food and clothing, so they couldn’t shout very loudly.

But nothing could hide the excitement and joy on their faces.

After all, this was a high-rise building, and there weren’t many windows that could be opened, and the gaps were small.

So people simply tore off their white bath towels, grabbed white pillows, and, ignoring the pain in their wrists, started waving them frantically out the windows.

“Please, everyone, make way!” Sun Jingtao shouted twice, and only then did the crowd blocking the door let him through.

Soon, Sun Jingtao came back, looking grim.

Jiang Yan and Ye Qing exchanged a glance, puzzled by his expression.

Sun Jingtao came closer and said in a low voice, “Three ships, a big show of force, coming toward this hotel building in an encircling formation.”

“Encircling… here to wipe out bandits?” Jiang Yan smiled, suddenly understanding why Sun Jingtao looked more worried than happy.

This building had been hiding so many brazen bandits, and so many people had been imprisoned and turned into human specimens. Now that they’d wiped out all the bad guys, the official ships showed up.

That speed and reaction… impressive.

“I don’t think so,” Sun Jingtao shook his head and continued,

“If they were here to wipe out bandits and rescue people, they wouldn’t make such a big show. Usually, a small team would go in first, take care of the bandits and control the main leaders, and only then would the larger backup force arrive.

Because if you don’t control the leaders first, the prisoners could become hostages or worse, which would put the official side at a big disadvantage.”

He’d rescued hostages from criminals many times before, and never once had everyone just charged in, openly showing their identity from the start.

Plus, he’d heard privately that there were some pretty serious factional struggles among the higher-ups.

So, naturally, his sense of crisis was heightened.

Thinking of this, Sun Jingtao glanced at Jiang Yan and Ye Qing and said, “Let’s just wait and see for now. Everyone, be careful.”

Seeing how preoccupied he looked, Ye Qing suggested, “Brother Tao, we have an inflatable boat. Why don’t we just leave now? The official ships are here, so these people are saved, and there’s really nothing else we need to do.”

They hadn’t been that interested in joining the official base anyway.

Leaving now wouldn’t be a big deal.

“They’ve already blocked all the blind spots—we can’t get out. And the fact that we rescued people is already known; those from Qianshui Bay all recognize us.

It’s fine. Let’s just wait and see. Maybe I’m overthinking it and the official ships are just passing by.” Sun Jingtao finished with a wry smile.

“Maybe it’s just all the bizarre things we’ve been through lately, or maybe it’s my professional instincts acting up, but I feel like my sense of danger is way too strong—like a startled bird.”

“It’s good to be cautious,” Jiang Yan reassured him.

Ye Qing looked at the two of them. “Then let’s just wait here. If nothing happens, we can leave after the ships go.”

Sun Jingtao nodded.

“I’m fine with that,” Jiang Yan said, not bothered.

Her philosophy had always been to meet soldiers with generals and water with earth—deal with whatever comes.

As for the idea that the ships just happened to be passing by, she didn’t really buy it.

After all, these buildings weren’t like the well-established, densely populated neighborhoods of Qianshui Bay.

They hadn’t even been officially handed over yet.

Without detailed intel, who would think to come specifically to a place like this?

And not just one ship—three, all loaded with armed soldiers.

Still, she hoped she was just overthinking it.

“Oh, right, Brother Tao, Jiang Yan, I set up a private radio frequency. Here, take these. It’ll be easier for us to keep in touch if we need to.”

Ye Qing unzipped his backpack and pulled out two walkie-talkies—the military kind used by Golden Shield Security.

He must have picked them up from someone else.

“Nice one, Xiao Ye,” Sun Jingtao praised, taking one.

Jiang Yan did the same.

Just as they finished stowing the walkie-talkies, the three ships docked outside the building.

They formed an inverted ‘A’ shape, with two ships close together and the third farther away.

The light inside dimmed as the ships blocked it.

The ships were huge, very similar to the sightseeing cruise that had come to Qianshui Bay before to pick people up for the base.

But this time, the top deck was packed with armed soldiers.

And there were no tourist site names on the sides.

The gangways were quickly lowered, and the sound of soldiers running in unison—thump, thump, thump, thump!—echoed out.

Within seconds, a line of armed soldiers rushed into the building through several entrances.

Some came to their floor.

The soldiers split into two groups: most of them thundered upstairs, while a few stayed behind.

The people who’d been crowding the hallway, confused as they were, quickly made way for the soldiers.

“Excuse me, are you here to rescue us?” someone timidly raised a hand and asked the nearest soldier.

But the soldier didn’t even blink, gripping his gun and looking as stern as a statue.

The questioner looked awkward for a second.

The place fell silent—no one dared ask again, or even make a sound.

Jiang Yan and her companions stood quietly at the back of the crowd, observing.

The soldiers seemed to be searching the building.

Thump, thump, thump, thump—the heavy sound of boots came from the gangway not far away.

A woman with a neat, ear-length haircut and a very capable air walked in, followed by a tall, imposing soldier.

Although it was much brighter outside, the light inside was still quite dim.

She swept her gaze over the crowd for a while before her eyes adjusted.

Jiang Yan glanced at the two and was startled.

Aren’t these the same Qi Mengnan and Song Qian she’d met last time, when she’d gone out to “shop” at sea?

Why were they here too…

Just as she was thinking this, Qi Mengnan pointed at a few people and said,

“You, you, you, and you—please come with me.”"