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Chapter 333: 331 The Abandoned Steel Mill
Chapter 333: 331 The Abandoned Steel Mill
Chapter 333: Chapter 331 The Abandoned Steel Mill
Bi Fang sprinted for dozens of meters, then leaned against a large tree, covering his ears.
A drone flew high into the sky as the online audience watched intently at the sponge, so small it was almost invisible. Less than half a minute passed before a yellow-brown dot suddenly brightened.
It’s on!
The fire trailed quickly along the fuse, climbing like a small snake, coiling and twisting as it opened its flame-filled maw, biting down fiercely!
A loud boom momentarily deafened everyone; a visible white shockwave spread out, and the gushing flames resembled an oversized blowtorch, the scorching wind softening steel and shattering glass into pieces.
The black cement ground within a few meters abruptly turned white and then cracked and deformed.
Gazing down from above, the online audience’s eyes widened, their hearts skipping a beat within the explosion’s roar, incredulous at the scene before them. The cement should have been greyish-white, turned black due to rainwater soaking it, but now it turned white in an instant…
In the blinding light of the fire, the iron gate twisted and was thrown into the air by the blast, soaring several meters high before plunging back down to the ground with force.
Even Bi Fang, leaning against the tree, felt a slight push from behind, a testament to the strength of the shockwave.
Thick mist condensed into droplets, lightly raining down and dampening the ground once more. Yet before it could soak in, the residual high temperatures evaporated the moisture again.
Blown by the wind, it dissipated into nothingness.
The drone changed angles, moving in front of Bi Fang.
Feeling a bit dizzy, he did not rush to make an appearance, instead taking out a water bottle and drinking it to ease his discomfort.
The audience could only see Bi Fang sitting calmly on the ground, drinking water while tendrils of smoke billowed behind him, as if all was unrelated to him.
After ten minutes, once he confirmed there was no secondary explosion, Bi Fang dusted the ash off his shoulders, stepped out from behind the tree, and looked at the thick smoke coming from the side door without surprise.
Bi Fang took a couple of steps forward to the gate, stepping on the cracked pavement and said, “Acetylene burns with thick smoke because of its high carbon content and the temperature is very high. As you can see, the cement here has turned white, meaning the moisture has been evaporated, truly a terrifying temperature.”
Hearing Bi Fang’s calm analysis, the audience, shocked by the explosive power, were astonished; only a heart like his could witness such an explosion directly.
This was far more shocking than a grenade explosion in movies. The ground turned from black to white, cracked every inch, and the iron gate was lifted several meters high by the shockwave, beginning to deform in the air before crashing down.
[“Terrifying? I think you’re more terrifying than the explosion.”]
[“Master Fang is so calm.”]
[“Of course, just the crises we’ve seen are life-threatening enough, let alone the unseen ones. He’s too awesome. I’m shocked.”]
[“With Tai Shan collapsing in front of him, his color remains unchanged; elk play around him, yet his gaze never wavers. Master Fang wouldn’t be Master Fang if he wasn’t badass. I’m the ruthless 666 machine!”]
[“After all, it’s acetylene. Isn’t the explosion temperature much higher than a regular bomb?”]
“Yes, acetylene can reach 3600 degrees in oxygen combustion, and even in air, it’s over 2000 degrees, far exceeding the high temperatures of regular bomb explosions. And the melting point of iron is only about 1500 degrees; if the gate wasn’t blown apart, it might have turned into a puddle of iron by now.”
“When you encounter such an explosion, don’t rush in, because you don’t know what’s behind the door. If there are also flammable and explosive materials, it could be dangerous. Even if you’re sure there’s none of that stuff, you still need to be careful with fire extinguishers.”
Fire extinguishers?
Cao Lifeng, just finished getting his food and on his way back to the dorm, glanced at the fire extinguisher without much thought. What’s there to be cautious about with something meant for putting out fires?
“Many people only know that fire extinguishers can put out fires, but the extinguisher itself is a high-pressure tank. The internal pressure is about ten times that of the atmosphere. Under normal circumstances, the thick tank walls effectively prevent explosions, but the bodies of expired fire extinguishers may corrode from external contaminants and thin out.”
Furthermore, with the carbon dioxide, flame-retardant dry powder, foaming agents, and other components in the fire extinguisher, exposure to high temperatures could potentially cause a chemical reaction, leading to increased internal pressure. At that time, even a slight knock could trigger an explosion, and the power of such an explosion would be extremely frightening.
In 2007, a worker at a wholesale market warehouse in Shenyue was killed on the spot when an expired dry powder fire extinguisher he was using suddenly exploded.
In 2012, at shop No. 405 in the Yantan furniture market in Lanzhou City, when Mr. Lin, the shop owner, heard abnormal noises coming from the scrapped dry powder fire extinguisher at the door, he went over to have a look. Suddenly, the fire extinguisher exploded, seriously injuring Mr. Lin…”
Hiss!
Cao Lifeng inhaled sharply, feeling as if the temperature around him had risen. He stared at the extinguisher in the corner without showing his alarm and shifted his steps discreetly, circumventing it and heading upstairs in the corridor on the other side.
“Alright, there are many more similar cases, but I won’t go into detail,” Master Fang said, and during that time, the thick smoke and flames at the door had already dissipated. He pulled out a towel, dampened it with water, covered his mouth and nose with it, and spoke in a muffled voice.
“Let’s go inside and have a look. Still, everyone should be careful before entering. Although the combustion of acetylene produces carbon dioxide and steam, there’s still a lot of dust from the explosion, so be cautious. The safest method is to keep a wet towel over your mouth and nose. In any case, it’s best to be careful.”
Once prepared, Bi Fang put on his backpack and approached the site of the explosion. The scene was even more shocking.
The iron boxes used as ballast were blown away, and the tarpaulin inside had long been burnt to charcoal, merging with the molten iron boxes surrounding it.
He pinched a piece from the wall, and it crumbled into yellow ash with the slightest touch.
Stepping inside, the online friends’ gaze was instantly drawn to a patch of red on the wall—the fire extinguisher. It was far enough away not to be affected by the explosion.
Yet, the rust in their hands still sent a shudder through the online friends who knew about the potential for the fire extinguisher to explode.
In ordinary days, there would naturally be someone responsible for inspection and maintenance, but in the chaos of Yemen, where life itself couldn’t be guaranteed, who would care about such small matters of fire safety?
Even Bi Fang was careful to avoid it, and the moment he bypassed the fire extinguisher and entered the interior of the factory, he felt it was all worth it.
Standing by the railing and looking down from this height of several tens of meters, he felt a sense of ambition and aspiration looking at the vastness of the factory.
The factory’s interior was fully equipped, and except for the absence of people, it was almost identical to how it would normally be!
This indicated that the place had never been looted, or perhaps there had been no time to evacuate the equipment due to an emergency. Anyway, compared to the previously emptied factory, this one was undoubtedly much better.
Looking at the spacious factory, the online friends couldn’t help but marvel.
It’s huge.
[Unbelievable, isn’t this place too big?]
[The bigger, the better, right? It means stronger security. Could there be something good in the kitchen?]
[Yeah, the bigger it is, the more likely we’ll find something good, didn’t Old Fang say so?]
“Not only the wilderness can give a sense of vastness and dread; this place is so big it’s terrifying. This is an abandoned factory of colossal size. I estimate it to be at least as big as four football fields and as tall as a great cathedral.
The workers have long since departed, but other creatures have begun to take up residence. Let’s go, I want to see what good things we can find here,” Bi Fang said as he ran along the railing, waving at the drone.
He could no longer contain his desire to explore!