Chapter 120: The Top-Tier Barrier

"Run if you want, but if something goes wrong, you'll be the first to die!"

Seeing that he couldn't be persuaded, the man simply gave up, his footsteps fading into the distance.

Xiao Ye and Chi Long, hearing this from their position, quickly pulled the door handle open. Then, they shouted at the figures preparing to leave, "Where do you think you're going?"

Caught off guard, the two men were instantly startled by the sudden appearance of Xiao Ye and Chi Long. One of them scrambled to pull a firearm from his waistband, but Xiao Ye clamped his wrist in a vice-like grip, rendering him immobile. The other man, witnessing the scene, turned and bolted, only to be tackled to the ground by Chi Long, who had pounced from behind.

"Speak! Where is your boss now?" Xiao Ye asked, looking down at the man under Chi Long after subduing the first one.

"Impossible. I won't say a word. Give up!" The man retorted, his expression resolute.

"Stubborn, aren't you? If you don't talk, you die!" Chi Long warned, pinning the man down.

The man remained defiant, but the one Xiao Ye had just knocked to the floor spoke up first. "I'll talk! I'll talk! Please, don't kill me. We're just errand runners. You two are big men with big hearts—please, don't kill me!"

The man under Chi Long looked at him in disbelief, his expression dimming as he lowered his head with a sigh. Xiao Ye looked surprised, then walked over to the man who had spoken.

"Our senior staff are all on the top floor of the hotel. There are a few people on the lower levels, but most of them have already fled."

Before he could finish, the man under Chi Long interrupted, "Shut up! I'm so disappointed in you!"

"You talk! We've worked our hearts out for him for so long, and look at how he treats us. A man like that doesn't deserve to be a boss!" The man said indignantly, pausing before continuing, "Listen, brothers, we really are just low-level lackeys. We don't know anything about the other leaders. Their head honcho is on the top floor—go ahead, just please don't kill us!"

Chi Long shot an inquiring glance at Xiao Ye, asking whether they should just finish these two off. Their true identities were unclear, and the man under him could potentially become a future liability. It would be better to cut the weeds and pull the roots—end it all now.

Chi Long nodded. He looked down at the man pinned to the floor, smiled, and said, "Alright, since you're so loyal, we'll make an exception and spare your lives."

Xiao Ye released his captive at the same time. Both men looked at them in disbelief, and the man who had spoken first scrambled up, showering them with thanks. "Thank you, big brother! We will never forget your kindness!" With that, he dragged his companion toward the emergency stairwell.

However, before they had taken more than a few steps, the sound of gunfire tore through the air. The bullets pierced their bodies, blooming with crimson flowers of blood before they could even react. They slumped over, staring back at Xiao Ye with wide, incredulous eyes, as if asking why he had betrayed them.

Xiao Ye didn't say a word, instead leading Chi Long toward the top floor.

They soon reached the fifth floor. To proceed further, they had to use the hotel's internal elevators. The hallway was guarded by only a few men, none of whom were heavily armed. Just like the others, they quickly offered to surrender, but Xiao Ye and Chi Long eliminated them without hesitation before boarding the elevator.

"The elevator is an enclosed space; we could easily be turned into a sieve. We'll take the adjacent elevator, but first, we'll load these bodies into the other one and send it to the top floor to draw their fire," Xiao Ye said.

They moved the corpses into the elevator, pressed the button for the top floor, and then set off themselves.

...

In the penthouse, Tiger was monitoring Xiao Ye's every move. He never imagined his own men would attempt to surrender.

"I treated you all so well, and you betray me at the critical moment!" Tiger trembled with rage, his speech slurred and incoherent.

The men around him felt a degree of sympathy for his situation, but whether it was right or wrong, the point was moot; there was nowhere left to retreat. Xiao Ye was closing in.

After a long moment, Tiger steadied himself, took a glass of wine, and addressed his remaining men. "Brothers, we may not make it out of this alive today, but if we fight with all our might, we shall have no regrets. We'll be brothers again in the afterlife!"

He filled his glass, downed it in one gulp, and smashed the cup. The others followed suit. It had to be said that, in this moment, there was a touch of tragic heroism to their actions.

Because the fifth-floor security cameras were destroyed, Tiger and his men hadn't seen them boarding the elevator. It was only when the elevator reached the upper floors that the alarm was raised.

"Everyone, get ready! The moment those doors open, open fire!"

The elevator continued its ascent. When it reached the top, the bell chimed, and everyone tensed. As the doors slid open, they unleashed a hail of bullets into the cabin. But after a moment of firing, they realized no one was inside.

Just as they were bewildered, the second elevator began to rise. They scrambled to reload, and when those doors opened, they opened fire again—only to discover that the elevator was filled with the corpses of their comrades from the fifth floor.

Tiger was deeply puzzled. "What on earth are they doing? Search the place! The only way to the top floor is through the elevators!"

He sent a few men to check the bodies. But before Tiger could even process the situation, the glass behind him shattered with a deafening crash, and several figures, moving too fast to be clearly seen, surged into the room.