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Chapter 326: Chapter 324 Inside the Factory

“`

The end of the broken rebar was extremely sharp, and, after aiming it at the crack of the door, Bi Fang thrust it forcefully. The door trembled slightly and the rebar easily caught in the crevice.

Bi Fang shook it left and right a bit, pushing the rebar deeper, then with a sudden lever to the right, the elevator door burst open!

“Huo!”

A cold wind hit his face.

Bi Fang looked down into the pitch-black elevator shaft and abruptly stopped in his tracks, quite alarmed. He had used too much force and, as the ground was covered in dust, his feet slipped, nearly causing him to fall down the shaft.

Cold air scurried up and down the deep and dark elevator shaft. The elevator wasn’t there, leaving only a few hoisting ropes dangling in the void, with no clue which floor they might have stopped on.

[“How are we supposed to get down? The elevator can’t be used during a power outage.”]

[“Nonsense, Old Fang was just looking for the elevator, he must have some way to go down.”]

[“Slide down the hoisting ropes?”]

[“Swing, oh swing, my wild abandon.”]

[“Leap with passion, you deserve to own it!”]

Bi Fang touched the hoisting ropes with his hand, which came away coated in lubricating oil. After a moment of consideration, he said, “Going straight down is definitely not going to work, the hoisting ropes are covered in lubricating oil, you can’t hold onto them. We need to increase their friction; otherwise, we won’t be able to stop, and it’ll be just like falling down, which could be even worse if we lose our grip.”

There were many methods to increase friction. Bi Fang initially wanted to tear off a piece of cloth, wrap it around the ropes, and slide down holding the fabric, but after a moment of thought, he started looking around.

“A factory that has first-aid kits even in the restrooms should be very standard, so the fire safety measures should also be in place. If we can find it, then we won’t need to tear our clothes, just take a piece of the fire hose down, which is much rougher and more useful than fabric.”

Indeed, his guess was correct. After bypassing a corridor, the red fire hose cabinet suddenly appeared before everyone, with the hose coiled into a circle and hung in the middle.

The fire hose cabinet wasn’t locked, nor would anyone lock it, but Bi Fang didn’t choose to open it. Instead, he took out the rebar, stepped back half a step, shielded his face with his right hand, and swung the rebar to shatter the glass. This time it wasn’t tempered glass. With a “crack,” shards of glass flew.

“This time I didn’t bring a dagger, and I don’t have any sharp tools on me. The traditional fire hoses have a rubber lining and the outer surface is wrapped with flax fabric, which is wear- and cut-resistant. That’s why I chose to break the glass, to artificially create a sharp tool. It’s brittle, sure, but it’s sufficient for cutting a hose, see, this piece is good.”

Picking through the pile of broken glass, Bi Fang picked up a crescent-shaped shard whose sharp edge twinkled coldly. He opened the fire hose cabinet, dragged the hose out, and threw it onto the ground.

The hose was long, and Bi Fang pulled out a section to wrap around the piece of glass, then reached out with the shard to cut into a length of the hose, truly achieving “taken from the hose, used on the hose.”

The glass began to rub against the hose with great speed, but progress did not meet the audience’s expectations, and after half a minute, only a single coil of thread was severed.

The man himself had much more patience; after all, it was glass, not a real knife, and with a layer of hose to get through, it wasn’t easy to apply force.

“Although the glass is very sharp, the hose isn’t a pushover either. Don’t rush, if we take our time, we’ll get through. At least it’s not completely ineffective, right?”

Bi Fang said with a laugh as he cut open a small portion of the hose.

Hearing him say this, the audience also became patient. Now there was an opening; the rest would be easier. They cut down along the opening, and quickly a section of the hose was detached.

Grasping the fire hose, Bi Fang returned to the elevator entrance, looking down at the height of over ten meters, he cautiously reached for the hoisting rope.

The hoisting rope was quite far away, and Bi Fang could hardly reach it without leaning out, balancing the upper half of his body’s weight on the ropes to manage the reach.

Having adjusted his position, Bi Fang started to wrap the fire hose around the hoisting ropes, three full turns, then tied a firm knot.

“The coarse fabric of the fire hose will protect my hands and forearms, as well as increase friction. Alright… huh, I didn’t feel it when climbing up the hose, but now looking down, it seems so high, at least twenty meters.”

“`

Bi Fang took a deep breath and looked down into the pitch-black elevator shaft, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. He knew he shouldn’t look down, but he couldn’t help it.

“The key to sliding down a rope is to use the strength of your legs as much as possible, rather than your hands. A common mistake is to rely on arm strength habitually instead of the legs, because humans’ hands are far more flexible than their legs. Over time, it becomes more natural to solve problems with one’s hands, but as the old saying goes, ‘The arm is never stronger than the thigh.'”

With one burst of effort, then a decline, and finally exhaustion, Bi Fang briefly explained. Then, he tensed his thighs, bent them slightly, and with a leap, he latched onto the rope.

Immediately, he wrapped his legs around the rope, pressing his whole body against it to increase friction, hugging the rope tightly. The next second, he felt his body suddenly drop and begin to slide down rapidly.

Fortunately, the speed was within the anticipated range!

A sweat broke out in Bi Fang’s mind, but he was somewhat delighted, “During operation, the elevator cables are regularly inspected for wear, but these old cables have been discarded, so I wasn’t too sure if they were still secure. Now, it seems, they are quite sturdy.”

However, that bit of delight soon vanished. A large amount of lubricating oil had been stripped off by the “rubbing” against the water pipe skin, accumulating more and more, and the speed of descent was showing signs of becoming uncontrollable.

Even the audience, observing Bi Fang’s facial expressions, realized something was wrong, especially when they saw the thick layer of black grease on his hands.

Having descended only five or six meters and already facing this situation, Bi Fang quickly looked for a solution. As he watched the scenery falling by, he steeled his heart, released the grip of his thighs on the rope, and stepped onto a column on the wall of the elevator shaft.

Without the control of his legs, the speed of descent was as fast as free-falling, making onlookers break out in a cold sweat.

The first step missed, the second made contact but wasn’t firm, and it wasn’t until the third column that Bi Fang’s firm step finally slowed him down.

When he had managed to reduce his speed, Bi Fang gasped for air, “No good, this is too tiring, let me shake out my hands for a bit. I’ve only descended halfway, and my hands are very tired. It’s also a torment to the mind. You have to concentrate, remind yourself that falling from here means certain death. And you have to strenuously hold onto the rope.

Just now, I almost couldn’t hold on any longer due to the excess oil. Fortunately, there was no mishap, but I descended quite a distance. Later, I will still need to find a way to get through the elevator car.”

The entrance was more than ten meters away, completely unreachable now.

After evenly sliding down another seven or eight meters, Bi Fang finally saw the elevator. He released his hands and landed heavily on top of the elevator with a ‘thud’.

“There must be a way out at the top of the elevator. The top usually has a safety exit… No good, it’s too sturdy here, I can’t get through this gap.”

Bi Fang fumbled in the dark for a long time and couldn’t find an opening at the top of the elevator. With no other choice, he moved around to the back of the elevator box to have a look.

There was a small gap between the back of the elevator box and the wall surface, not completely flush, but through it, a sliver of light could be seen.

“Estimating the height of the entire building, the elevator seems to have stopped at the first floor. If we can get down there, maybe we can get out directly.”

After a rough estimation, Bi Fang decided to descend through this gap.

The gap was very narrow, approximately only 25 centimeters wide. It was extremely tight, but just enough for Bi Fang to pass through the elevator.

When he reached the bottom, he could even see the ground through the light.

Without hesitation, Bi Fang relaxed his muscles and dropped straight onto the ground, arriving in the space between the low elevator and the ground, with the elevator hanging right above his head.

As luck would have it, the elevator seemed to be jammed between floors, with a similarly small sliver of light shining through.

“Phew, now we’ve made it underneath the elevator. Above my head is over a ton of steel, which could easily crush me to death. Even though it’s been hanging here for a month, I still can’t relax. Fortunately, the situation isn’t bad. The gap is very narrow, but it’s still possible to get through.”

After stuffing his backpack into the gap, Bi Fang took off his jacket, left with only a layer of lining on his body, and squeezed out through the gap, sticking close to the door panel.

The light spilled onto Bi Fang’s face, making him squint slightly.