With Yao Shunyu there, Jiang Cheng wasn't too worried about anything going wrong, so he picked out a room for himself nearby. After everything they'd been through, he was starting to run out of steam.
The Fatty slept in the room next door, while Yao Shunyu and Li Bai took two rooms across the hall. Jiang Cheng was so exhausted he didn't even take a hot shower. His head had barely touched the pillow for a minute before he was out cold.
Before long, a muffled boom jolted him awake. The entire building shook with it. The bed seemed to drop beneath him, nearly tossing him off its warm surface.
Once he'd recovered, he heard hurried footsteps and doors opening outside. He opened his own door to find the Fatty, Yao Shunyu, and Li Bai gathered there. A short-haired woman came hurrying over. Jiang Cheng had seen her with the Middle-aged man; she seemed to be his adjutant.
"What happened? What happened?" The Fatty had practically stripped down and was still groggy with sleep. The sudden noise had made him think there'd been an earthquake.
"It's the Welfare Home! There's been a massive explosion beneath it!" The woman's voice trembled. "The blast was enormous. The entire Welfare Home... the whole place collapsed. There's a huge crater there now. The commander has already taken people over, but from the scene, there's almost no chance of any survivors."
"I see..."
Jiang Cheng put on a look of belated realization. He'd already warned the Middle-aged man to pull back the cordon around the Welfare Home, at least a hundred meters, though he'd claimed it was because there might be Crimson holdouts inside.
The situation was clear now. The researchers inside had detonated the explosives, destroying that hell on earth, all the records, and