Chapter 148: The Fake Surrender Plan
After reading through Xu Hao's chat history, Zhang Yi felt a sense of calm. There were no surprises; everything Xu Hao said matched what Zhang Yi had anticipated. He never believed that someone like Xu Hao, who was opportunistic and self-serving, would be loyal to anyone but himself. Xu Hao was merely hedging his bets between Zhang Yi and Wang Siming, choosing whichever side benefited him the most.
Xu Hao, panicked, knelt before Zhang Yi, trying to justify his actions. "Brother Zhang, you injected me with poison. I can't harm you. If anything happens to you, I’m dead too. Yes, I spoke ill of you before, but I never acted against you. Now, I'm fully on your side!"
Zhang Yi remained silent, stroking his chin in thought. From the chat logs, he gathered several important pieces of information.
Firstly, Xu Hao had revealed Zhang Yi’s weaponry to Wang Siming, but only mentioned the handgun. He hadn’t disclosed Zhang Yi’s assault rifles, sniper rifles, or grenades. This suggested that Xu Hao had considered betraying Wang Siming to join Zhang Yi earlier than expected.
Secondly, Wang Siming's primary interest was Zhang Yi’s vast supplies and the snowmobile. Xu Hao had described Zhang Yi's safe house as a treasure trove of resources, enough to last a couple of years. This showed Wang Siming's shelter was indeed running low on supplies, likely because he lost interest and cleared out most of the stored food.
After processing all this, Zhang Yi had a basic plan forming in his mind. He threw the phone onto the table and asked Xu Hao, "Tell me more about the specifics of Wang Siming's shelter, especially the weapons and defense systems. Don't leave anything out."
Relieved by Zhang Yi’s calm demeanor, Xu Hao detailed everything he knew. "After the shelter was built, Wang Siming invited many people from our circle to visit. He’s always been ostentatious, eager to show off. The shelter has five floors—two above ground and three below. The ground floors look like a regular villa. The underground floors house a sports arena, waterbed room, entertainment rooms, storage, and a control room."
Zhang Yi nodded, urging Xu Hao to continue. "What about the defense systems?"
"But there are gas and flame traps. There are devices that can release tear gas and sleeping gas, and the entrance has a high-temperature flame thrower. During a demonstration, Wang Siming showed us how it could roast a chicken in a second. It can turn the passage into a giant oven, reaching temperatures of 1800 degrees Celsius. Even steel would melt."
Zhang Yi listened carefully, not missing a word. He began mentally mapping out the shelter’s layout and defensive systems. Then, he took a piece of paper and started sketching.
Ensuring his safety was paramount. No matter how enticing the shelter was, if the danger exceeded 3%, Zhang Yi would abandon the plan. His current safe house was risk-free and provided a decent quality of life. However, staying there indefinitely wasn’t viable, as rumors about his supplies would inevitably spread, attracting trouble.
"Now, Wang Siming’s primary targets are my snowmobile and supplies. If he can’t get those, killing me serves no purpose. We have no personal grudge. So, I’ll hide the snowmobile when we go. The worst-case scenario is being captured, but he won’t kill me outright," Zhang Yi reasoned aloud.
Concluding his thoughts, Zhang Yi turned to Xu Hao. "Your plan is to pretend to cooperate with Wang Siming and lure me there. He won't kill me but will use gas to capture me. Once he opens the door, we can attack him together, right?"
Xu Hao nodded eagerly. "Exactly! Once we’re inside, I’ll pretend to capture you, then take the chance to kill him!"
A hint of joy flashed in Xu Hao’s eyes.
Zhang Yi realized that Xu Hao didn’t know about his gas masks. In Xu Hao’s mind, he would use Zhang Yi as bait, then kill Wang Siming himself. It was a classic "fake surrender" strategy