Fighting for my life today, the hour is too late; fulfilling the promise of three updates may be impossible. So, tomorrow will bring four updates—twelve thousand characters calling for monthly votes, where are those monthly votes?

.................. The fame of the Red House in Dongjiang District was as renowned as the brilliance of the Imperial City in Chongqing or the opulence of the "Heaven on Earth" establishment in the Capital—known by everyone, whispered by all.

Its origins traced back to the early nineties, starting merely as a modest street-side hair salon. As times changed, the salon transformed into a head-washing parlor, then into a massage establishment, and after the turn of the millennium, it transitioned into a full-scale bathhouse.

The surface business evolved, but the core operation never changed. In the beginning, there was a sign; later, even the sign was dispensed with, as everyone already knew its location.

It wasn't until the Red House moved to its current location that it truly exploded into prominence, remaining hugely popular for five consecutive years. The adage, "The tree that stands out in the forest is soon felled by the wind," seemed to have no effect on it.

Countless reports were filed against it, countless raids were conducted, yet it continued to thrive, its average annual downtime not exceeding three days. Its powerful backing was evident.

…… It was dinner time, yet the Red House cafeteria was eerily quiet, with only a sparse few patrons eating. The reason was simple: this was the peak operating hour.

Devoting every ounce of energy to making money for the boss was paramount. Hungry?

Eat after the shift. With a deafening boom, dust and debris erupted as a massive hole suddenly appeared in one wall of the cafeteria.

A figure, resembling some kind of Terminator, emerged from the swirling cloud of pulverized matter, freezing everyone present in their tracks. The onlookers couldn't make sense of what had happened.

All seven floors were sealed, and some patrons didn't even know there was space beyond that wall, making them wonder if Martians had crash-landed. This was hardly surprising.

Having dwelled too long in this sunless purgatory, even the healthiest individual would become abnormal. The reason every woman in the Red House possessed skin as white as snow was that from the moment they arrived, they never saw the sun again.

"Quickly!" Wang Zhuo immediately turned to help Gan Lin, not even sparing a glance at the cafeteria situation. Before crashing through the wall, he had already surveyed the area with his X-ray vision: there were only two bouncers playing cards and gambling, their bodies already depleted by vice and alcohol, incapable of putting up a fight.

These were mere enforcers tasked with preventing fights among the women in the cafeteria, completely unaware of Wang Zhuo's intrusion. By the time Wang Zhuo escorted Gan Lin and another woman out, the remaining patrons were still stunned, unable to process the chaos.

"Follow me." Wang Zhuo sprinted ahead. The trio flashed past the two bouncers like a gust of wind, heading toward the dormitory area.

"Where did they come from?" "I don't know, but they have guns!" "Hurry, go see what’s behind that hole in the wall." The girls chattered amongst themselves, some following Wang Zhuo’s group from a distance to catch a glimpse, others moving to inspect the aftermath of the wall breach. The two bouncers finally snapped out of their daze.

Something was definitely wrong here. "Chase them?" "How?

They have guns!" …… To maintain ventilation, the dormitory section had no doors, resembling the cramped berths of a hard sleeper train car. Along the way, Gan Lin saw many scantily clad women applying heavy makeup, some completely naked and moving with shameless abandon, others swaying drunkenly, mumbling nonsense as they approached.

Witnessing this scene, Gan Lin and the other woman finally understood their predicament. A chill ran down their spines as they imagined themselves ending up the same way, filled with utter horror.

"This way!" Passing the dormitories, they reached a corridor. Wang Zhuo led the two directly toward the stairs, knowing this building better than anyone inside, perceiving the real-time location and impending encounters of every person with his X-ray vision.

"Who’s there? Stop!" Arriving at the stairwell, three enforcers, alerted by the muffled sound echoing from the cafeteria, were rushing upstairs.

Seeing the trio, they immediately adopted fighting stances. "Get lost!" Wang Zhuo roared, launching a "Cannon Fist" strike.

The nearest enforcer saw only a blur of his fist before his face felt the hammer blow, sending his body soaring backward as if carried by clouds. The other two immediately advanced.

Wang Zhuo intentionally absorbed a punch to land a crushing sweep kick that felled one, then pointed his gun at the remaining enforcer. In that half-second of stunned hesitation, he landed an uppercut to the man's jaw.

The woman who had been trailing close behind Gan Lin had stopped short upon seeing the obstruction ahead. In a flash, the three intimidating enforcers were all down, leaving her mouth agape in astonishment.

Wang Zhuo had displayed astonishing potential under pressure. In a normal fight, he might have defeated these three, but certainly not with such swift and elegant efficiency.

In contrast, the three had just ascended the stairs, putting them at a disadvantage from the start, while Wang Zhuo, already aware of their positions, was poised to strike—they were reacting only upon sight. With one side prepared for mortal combat and the other utterly blindsided, the outcome was obvious.

One of the three had his nose broken by Wang Zhuo, struggling to breathe; another suffered a fractured jawbone from the hook, his chin visibly askew—both completely incapacitated. Only the enforcer struck behind the ear by the sweep kick managed to sit up slowly from the ground.

He watched the receding figures of Wang Zhuo and the two women fleeing, then struggled toward the corridor to salvage the walkie-talkie Wang Zhuo had stomped flat, hoping it might still be usable. The three fled downstairs like the wind.

The access ways in such entertainment venues were always winding and twisting; newcomers rarely navigated them without getting lost. Yet, Wang Zhuo proceeded as if he had designed the layout, never hesitating at any fork or turn, his pace unbroken.

Gan Lin assumed he was blindly scrambling, but what choice did she have but to follow? The rescued woman, however, remained bewildered, thinking Wang Zhuo was familiar with the premises.

Reaching a wide corridor carpeted in crimson, Wang Zhuo suddenly halted, spreading his arms wide to block the two women. Due to inertia, Gan Lin and the other crashed into him.

Gan Lin, who rarely exercised, was already gasping for breath, but the woman near her in height seemed surprisingly vigorous and steadied her from behind. The corridor lighting was dim.

On either side, there was a row of numbered guest rooms. The sound of televisions blared from within, but these were not the typical programs of hotel guests—instead, a symphony of erotic sounds rose: English "Oh yes," Japanese "Yamete," and interspersed with live, gasping moans.

The path ahead appeared clear, but Wang Zhuo knew a fully armed group was rapidly approaching from the opposite end. If they continued forward, they would collide head-on in less than fifteen seconds.

"Don't speak," Wang Zhuo cautioned them softly after a moment of thought. Then, gripping his pistol with both hands, he aimed deliberately toward the far end of the corridor and fired suddenly.

The deafening gunshot echoed down the entire hallway, the reverberation lingering, as the surveillance camera dangling from the ceiling at the corridor's end exploded, scattering fragments onto the floor. Wang Zhuo remained still, then suddenly hooked his arms around the two women behind him and shoved them into a nearby room.

The gunshot startled countless couples. Many jumped out of bed, not even bothering to dress, wrapping a towel hastily around themselves before sticking their heads out to see what the commotion was.

The corridor was empty of people, but two rows of heads peered out from the gaps in the doors, looking left and right. A series of hurried footsteps approached, followed quickly by more than a dozen armed enforcers rounding the corner.

The leader held a walkie-talkie in his left hand and a Type 54 pistol replica in his right. He kicked viciously at the shattered surveillance camera fragments on the floor.

"Damn it, the people aren't in the corridor!" he shouted into the walkie-talkie, "What about the other cameras? Have you seen them?" A rapid reply came back: "Not yet." "Brother Zheng, they must have fled in another direction," one bare-chested enforcer remarked.

"There are no cameras in Sector D or E." Zheng considered this for two seconds, then loudly addressed the heads poking out from the doorways: "Did anyone see who shot that?" The faces peering from the cracks shook their heads. Some thought, We didn't see that, but we certainly saw the gun in your hand.

"Pursue!" Wang Zheng waved his hand, leading his impressive contingent past the rooms and charging toward Sectors D and E. Inside one room, Wang Zhuo, who had been intently monitoring the outside, urgently whispered, "We can move now, quickly!" Gan Lin hurried out of the bathroom, her face flushed, without looking back.

When the gunshot rang out, the occupants of this specific room were the first to rush to the door. Wang Zhuo, anticipating this, had already pressed his muzzle against the stomach of the man who opened it, shoving him back as the trio quickly slipped inside and locked the door.

Thus, the onlookers in the other rooms saw nothing. Inside this room, a naked woman was demonstrating a smoking trick.

The person who opened the door was a balding middle-aged man wearing scholarly glasses, a large bath towel tied around his waist, his protruding belly looking as if he were nine and a half months pregnant with twins. Upon entering, Wang Zhuo immediately secured control of the situation with his gun, warning them that he had just killed someone.

This instantly silenced the couple, who meekly allowed Wang Zhuo to bind them tightly and gag them with towels. When the trio entered, the woman was just performing the smoking trick.

Gan Lin was so horrified she hid in the bathroom. Surprisingly, the other rescued woman remained calmer and helped Wang Zhuo restrain the couple.

The corridor returned to its previous empty state, although the residual noise hadn't fully settled. The greatest immediate danger had been averted.

"Can you still run?" Wang Zhuo asked Gan Lin with concern. This determined girl had previously devoted all her energy to studying, neglecting physical conditioning; her stamina was poor.

Gan Lin managed a wry smile and nodded. The other woman stated firmly, "I'll hold her hand; we definitely can!" Wang Zhuo nodded at her.

He hadn't expected this tearful woman to become a liability; instead, she provided crucial assistance. The next time the trio appeared on the surveillance footage, they were already in the Fish Tank Area.

Wang Zheng and Xue Guangtou, who had been pursuing through the wall hole, were arguing heatedly in Sector E. Upon hearing the report from the walkie-talkie, they immediately erupted into curses.

It took the fastest runner two full minutes to reach the Fish Tank Area from their location. In that time, the escapees could already be at the main lobby—how could they possibly be caught now?

When Wang Zheng rushed over, he had brought almost all available manpower, never considering the possibility of finding the area empty. Now, the lobby defenses were threadbare; there was no way the few receptionists, hired for their looks, could stop three armed fugitives.

"Lock the main doors! Quickly, lock the front hall doors!" The security guard in the monitoring room was stunned.

This was the Red House, the place that never closed for even three days a year; their main doors were never locked!