Chapter 88: The Official Boat

The red assault boat gradually slowed down when it was about fifty or sixty meters from the building.

Seeing this, Jiang Yan quickly crossed the office area and walked to the edge of the glass curtain wall. Using a slanted triangular steel frame as cover, she took out a pair of binoculars from her space and looked down.

The room was dimly lit, with sun-blocking film on the windows, and she was on the third floor. From the assault boat below, it would be nearly impossible to spot her.

Still, Jiang Yan made sure to keep her body hidden behind the steel frame as much as possible.

On the large eight-person assault boat sat three men and one woman, all wearing one-piece waterproof suits, waterproof backpacks, and goggles.

At the bow sat a man of about twenty-six or twenty-seven, with a straight posture and sharp, cold features.

He held a black submachine gun, and his waterproof backpack was a special model—one of those large tactical dry bags designed to hold a submachine gun.

In the middle of the boat sat a man and a woman, both seemingly in their twenties, each holding a fire axe.

The man had a black mole above his left eyebrow and looked exhausted, complaining loudly with a disgruntled expression. The woman listened with a slight frown, clearly impatient but not interrupting him.

Judging by her still-damp hair, she must have been in the water earlier—some strands were stuck together.

At the stern, steering the boat, was a baby-faced man who looked the youngest. He was busy at the helm, and Jiang Yan couldn’t see any weapons on him.

All the men had buzz cuts, while the woman wore her hair short, just to her ears.

Looking at the four of them, fully equipped, Jiang Yan frowned slightly.

Judging by their appearance, they were definitely officials.

But from their bearing and weaponry, the man with the gun was probably regular military.

There was a large coil of brightly colored rescue rope in the boat, with several pulleys and metal clips attached—clearly meant for transporting heavy objects from high places.

Jiang Yan guessed the four of them were likely an official team sent out to search for supplies.

After all, ordinary people would be out searching for supplies today, so it was only natural for the authorities to do the same.

Or maybe, ever since the rain started, official teams had never stopped searching and rescuing, whether by sea, land, or air.

It’s just that ordinary people were trapped at home by the storm and didn’t know about it.

She was a bit curious, though: since the authorities were sending people out to search for supplies, were they also sending out rescue boats to help civilians?

She’d spent almost the whole day underwater and really had no idea what was happening on the surface.

As Jiang Yan was speculating, the assault boat carrying the four had already pulled up beside the glass curtain wall.

“Sister Qi, someone’s probably been here recently,” the man with the gun said, holding onto the window ledge and peering into the office area for a moment. After scanning the surroundings warily, he turned to the short-haired woman. “And it can’t have been long.”

Qi Mengnan was surprised. “Huh? We’re supposed to be the advance team for supply runs. This building’s so remote—no one should have beaten us here.”

The baby-faced man switched off the assault boat’s engine and moved up to the bow, glancing into the dark, flooded interior with confusion. He looked at the man with the gun and asked, “Brother Song Qian, there’s nothing unusual in there. How can you tell someone’s just been here?”

Jiang Yan: “Song Qian, the Money Delivery Guy…”

“There are some supplies floating in the water that haven’t sunk yet, and there are faint water marks high up on the plaster walls inside. That means the water only rushed in recently, so this opening must have been made not long ago.

Of course, it could just be that the glass happened to break, but let’s all be careful when we go in,” Song Qian said. After another wary glance around, he took off his tactical dry bag, put the submachine gun inside, and pulled a small, sharp knife from his leg.

“Based on what we know about the tenants in this building, there should be plenty of supplies to find. Even if someone’s already been here, they couldn’t have taken everything at once. We shouldn’t go home empty-handed.”

The baby-faced man said this as he took a life ring from the boat and handed it to Qi Mengnan and the man with the mole.

The man with the mole glanced at Song Qian and snorted, “Come on, Song Qian, you’re being paranoid. Don’t make a fuss, okay? And there aren’t any other boats around.

What, did someone swim all the way here and then inside? There’s nothing else around for ages—you’d have to be a champion swimmer to make it here!”

Song Qian ignored him and simply jumped into the water with a splash.

“Sister Qi, Zhao Ziyi, you two stay here. I’ll go in and check. Once I’m sure it’s safe, you can come in.”

Watching his tall figure wade away, the man with the mole, still feeling ignored, muttered under his breath, “Hmph, does he think this is some foreign battlefield? What’s there to check? Ridiculous.”

“Enough, Liu Junsheng, give it a rest,” Qi Mengnan said. “Song Qian’s here on orders to escort us. Whether there’s danger or not, it’s right for him to check first.

Did you forget? Just the other day, another team went out for supplies, and before the base’s transport boat could pick them up, they got robbed. That’s why we were assigned a soldier with live weapons.

And you’d better watch your mouth while we’re out here. Song Qian’s acting on orders from above—if you have a problem with him, you have a problem with the higher-ups.”

With that, Qi Mengnan put on the life ring and jumped into the water with a splash.

Liu Junsheng turned away, grumbling, “Damn it! Before the apocalypse, we were up at the crack of dawn every day being bossed around, and now it’s still the same.

And the worst part is, it’s always idiots who don’t know anything! Damn it, my underwear’s been wet since early this morning and still isn’t dry!”

Zhao Ziyi was taken aback. “Wait, Liu, did your waterproof pants leak?”

“Hell no!” Liu Junsheng shot him a glare.

Zhao Ziyi: “Then why’d you say they’re not dry?”

“I sweat a lot, okay?!” Liu Junsheng snapped.

Zhao Ziyi: “…”

By now, Qi Mengnan had already returned, so Zhao Ziyi quickly changed the subject and asked, “Sister Qi, should we widen the opening and bring the boat inside?”

Qi Mengnan looked down at the faint outlines of cubicles in the water and said, “It’s all office space in there. The water might not be deep enough, and the boat could get stuck. Just find a spot to tie it up at the edge.

Song Qian already found that private dental clinic upstairs. He and I will go search first. Once you’ve secured the boat, come up right away.”

“Okay.”

Zhao Ziyi nodded, picked up a nylon rope, and said to Liu Junsheng, “Liu, give me a hand, will you?”"