Chapter Three

The outdoor camera line emitted a short beeping sound, and the probe turned imperceptibly in the wind and snow.

Sarah keenly caught this movement. She cleared her throat and struck what she considered an elegant angle toward the door.

"Jason, I know you're hiding in there." Sarah's voice traveled indoors through the camera, carrying a laughable tone of charity. "You should understand that in this weather, you can't hold out alone. Look, I brought a few strong friends to join your camp. As long as you're smart and make some concessions, obediently open the door and share the food, I can forgive your previous rudeness and let you continue being my boyfriend. This is your chance to perform—don't make me angry."

She actually thought that bringing a few thugs would let her manipulate me again.

I pressed the talk button.

"Sarah, it seems the severe cold hasn't just frozen your flesh, but shriveled your brain too. Right now in my eyes, you're worth less than a piece of moldy firewood. Take those idiots behind you and get lost."

Hearing this blunt humiliation, Sarah's face instantly twisted. She gasped sharply, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, shrieking hysterically at the men behind her: "Do it! Wreck this damn door! Drag him out!"

Those men had long since lost patience freezing in the wind and snow and didn't want to listen to her slow negotiations anymore.

The bald man spat a glob of ice-flecked saliva on the ground and cursed roughly: "Should've just smashed it from the start, wasting my time. Everyone move aside!"

The bald man strode forward and lit an acetylene cutting torch with force.

Blue flames at nearly three thousand degrees spewed out, burning fiercely on the old mine blast door outside. Sparks flew in the darkness as two others beside him raised pneumatic picks to pound brutally. The outer layer of the half-meter-thick armored door began making tooth-grinding friction sounds.

For a moment, curses mixed with mechanical roaring outside, with an air of not resting until the door was demolished.

The heavy iron door began showing slight vibrations under the assault of destructive tools.

Feeling this gradually intensifying pressure, I didn't reach for the rifle in the corner. Instead, the curve of my mouth deepened.

I stood up and opened the ventilation system.

Several old high-power exhaust fans began operating, mixing the accumulated warm air indoors with the rich aroma of alcohol and the enticing scent of roasted beef fat, transforming it into a strong hot wind that shot straight through the pipes onto the heads of those people outside the door.

The bald thug who had been wielding tools to smash the door suddenly froze mid-action.

In this snowfield where even breathing could freeze, this warm current full of survival resource aromas was like a heavy hammer smashing into their remaining rationality.

The bald man couldn't help but sniff twice. Then his Adam's apple rolled violently. The accomplice beside him with the pneumatic pick couldn't even hold his tool steady—it clattered to the snow.

And Sarah, who had been hysterical just moments ago, could no longer care about appearances.

The moment she smelled the roasting meat aroma, her eyes nearly bulged red with blood. Like a vicious dog guarding food, she crawled up from the snow and threw herself against the cold metal door, mouth open, greedily sucking the hot air seeping through the cracks, her nails scraping across the steel plate with grating sounds.

"Meat... they're roasting meat inside! And there's a fireplace!" The bald man's door-smashing venting turned into frenzied desire driven by meat lust. "Open the valve all the way! Everyone put your backs into it—whoever stops me from eating this meat today, I'll hack them apart!"

Under the fierce stimulation of food aromas, these men burst with potential. The cutting torch roared unbearably at its limit.

Accompanied by a piercing sound of tearing metal, the outermost protective steel plate was forcibly torn open under high temperature and reckless destruction, creating a breach.

Cold wind rushed through the breach, bringing with it more leaked roasting meat aroma.

The door's damage made Sarah and those men burst into fanatic cheers, their eyes flashing with triumphant light.

The outer barrier had been torn open. The arrogance and greed outside reached its peak.

"To think these street thugs could cut through the outer armor—I underestimated them."

My mother Helen had walked over at some point.

She opened the rusty iron cabinet door beside her and gripped the thick hand brake lever inside.

As her arm muscles tensed and she slammed it downward—

"Let me play with you all!"