Zoey put down her ski mask, covering her mouth and nose, and quickly followed Jack into the smoke-filled factory.
From the outside, the factory seemed to be about a thousand square meters in area and less than ten meters high.
Once inside, Jack saw that the first floor was filled with various equipment, including printing presses, drying equipment, and boxes of packed counterfeit money. There were also many round pools filled with chemical agents, emitting a pungent odor.
A makeshift second floor had been constructed along the walls using steel frames. Near the center was a small office that overlooked the entire factory.
Jack pointed upward to Zoey, who nodded in understanding. She quietly ascended the steel stairs to the second floor while Jack stayed below, and they began searching the area simultaneously.
The factory was noisy with shouting, coughing, and even crying, but the hysterical wailing of young Kleiner was no longer heard, indicating that Jack's stun grenade had been quite effective.
Retcher and Braxton, who had entered from the other end, were already engaged in a fierce firefight with the enemies. Due to the silencers on their weapons, Jack could only hear the enemies' gunfire, even from sixty or seventy meters away.
Every few seconds, the gunfire would suddenly stop, indicating that his side was making progress.
Navigating around some debris, Jack halted as the space ahead opened up, revealing three circular pools, each three to four meters in diameter and arranged in a triangular formation about four or five meters apart.
This area was perfect for an ambush. Jack had no doubt that taking a few more steps forward would expose him to concentrated enemy fire.
He felt for his waist and found he had only one stun grenade left. It wasn't worth wasting it now. Jack looked up at Zoey, who was already prone and crawling along the steel frame.
"One target at three o'clock, two more at ten o'clock."
Zoey's report came through his earpiece. Jack acknowledged with a tap on his earpiece, then quickly pushed over a nearby cardboard box and moved to the left.
Two enemies wielding Uzi submachine guns emerged from behind the left pool, only to see the scattered counterfeit money from the fallen box.
Two quick shots followed, and the two men fell to the ground, brains splattered.
Simultaneously, a soft sound came from upstairs as a body dropped near the right pool, similarly dispatched.
Just as Jack was about to advance, a chilling sensation of being watched washed over him. Along with intense killing intent, he felt a cold, sticky disgust, as if a triangular snake head was slowly rising from the swamp below, watching him like a bird perched on a branch.
"Zoey, fall back. The enemy has a VSS." Jack retracted his left foot and retrieved his last stun grenade from his bulletproof vest pocket. He pulled the pin and showed it to Zoey, who quickly closed her eyes and covered her ears.
Having not learned from the first stun grenade, they were about to get hit with another.
"Boom!" A blinding flash and a deafening noise accompanied a scream. Jack, also affected by the blast, darted towards the target like a nimble leopard.
Little Kleiner, crouched behind a row of shelves with his VSS, screamed in agony. Hit by two stun grenades within ten minutes, the pressure in his chest made him feel nauseous.
Before his vision could recover, a figure appeared before him. His chest tightened, and he felt like he was flying before being slammed heavily onto the ground.
Blood spurted from his mouth as he struggled to open his eyes, staring at the handsome face before him.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Who the fuck cares?"
Though Jack wasn't as tall as the nearly two-meter-tall giants, subduing this guy, who was barely over 1.7 meters, was like catching a chicken.
With Kleiner's ribs creaking under his foot, Jack didn't hesitate and shot him in the crotch with his FK 7.5.
"Ahhh!" The factory echoed with Kleiner's screams. His upper body pinned, his legs flailed like a frog's.
"I heard you like torture? Well, I know a thing or two about that."
Not caring if Kleiner understood, Jack pinned his left arm and shot his hand.
Just then, Fenley and Roscoe entered, pistols drawn. They glanced at the screaming Kleiner under Jack's foot with eyes that held no pity.
"Have you found Tealer and Kleiner?" Roscoe asked.
"And my old friend," Fenley added.
"Not yet. Just caught this one. Tealer and Kleiner should be nearby. Retcher and Braxton should find them soon."
"We've already found them. Can you hurry?" Braxton's voice came through the earpiece.
Without another glance at Kleiner, the two hurried inside. Jack signaled Zoey to follow them from above to avoid any surprises.
"Save me, Roscoe, don't go!"
Kleiner's voice grew faint. Seeing he was near death, Jack slapped him, reviving him with healing magic.
"Don't die yet. We're just getting started."
Removing his earpiece, Jack tried to mimic classic villain expressions from films but realized he looked like a eunuch, much like Chen Kun's portrayal of Rain.
Forget acting. He wasn't a true sadist. This was just for the victims' sake. Justice demanded this scum pay for his crimes. The original show had this beast die too easily in a fire. Morrison, the corrupt police chief, didn't deserve his family's fate, especially not the innocent Stevensons.
In Jack's eyes, Kleiner was worse than cannibals because he was educated and lived in a civilized society. Such a person must face severe consequences for his actions.
"What did you do to me?" Kleiner, seeing his wounds healing, was terrified.
"God saw your disbelief, so he sent me to punish you."
Jack's lie was smooth, though he regretted not applying a continuous buff. Pulling Kleiner back from the brink drained his energy.
But it didn't matter. It was good practice. Jack aimed and shattered Kleiner's right hand.
Kleiner's screams echoed again. Jack methodically shot his forearms, upper arms, and finally his crotch again.
Seeing Kleiner finally pass out from pain, Jack shot him in both thighs before injecting him with adrenaline.
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