Along the factory walls, the battle had completely devolved into brutal hand-to-hand combat.
It was only then that the bandits discovered a horrifying truth.
Every single worker here was terrifyingly strong.
Their martial skills were crude. Their movements lacked finesse. At the beginning, many had hesitated, even trembled at the thought of real combat.
But once fists began flying, the bandits finally understood what those bulging forearms and thick shoulders truly meant.
These were men forged by labor.
Men who hauled steel, hammered iron, pushed carts, and worked twelve-hour shifts without complaint.
They were the kind of people who looked ordinary—until you angered them.
And once angered?
Their punches landed like iron hammers.
Their kicks felt like swinging beams.
"What the hell are these monsters?!"
"Are these people even human?!"
A bandit screamed inwardly, What demon-infested factory did we charge into?!
Still, there was no retreat.
"We've already breached the walls!" someone yelled desperately. "There's no turning back now! Whoever's more ruthless wins!"
Just then—
A thunderous roar erupted from the cement road to the west.
Hundreds of young men came charging forward, wielding hoes, picks, shovels, and iron rods.
At their head, someone shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Steel Mill brothers, hold on! Yuncheng Cement Factory No. 1 Militia is here to reinforce you!"
It turned out that the driver of Experimental Car No. 2, after racing toward Hedong City, had passed the Yuncheng Cement Factory No. 1.
He hadn't even stopped—just leaned out the window and shouted a few words to the gate guards:
"The Steel Mill is under bandit attack!"
Then he sped off toward Hedong.
That was all it took.
Bandits attacking a brother factory?
Unacceptable.
Within minutes, two to three hundred cement workers had mobilized. They grabbed flintlock muskets, rock-breaking tools, cement paddles, and anything heavy enough to kill.
As soon as they arrived, the Steel Mill opened its west gate.
The Cement Factory militia surged in like a flood, pressing hard toward the northeast.
The bandits' barely won advantage collapsed instantly.
He Zonghan went berserk.
"Kill! Kill them all!" he roared. "Fight to the death! Slaughter every last one of these bastards!"
The battle raged on.
Ten minutes later—
Another roar thundered down the official road.
"Steel Mill! Cement Factory brothers, hold on! Textile Factory Militia is here to reinforce you!"
"Textile Factory?"
"…The Textile Factory?!"
Qi Cheng and Chen Ergou turned their heads—
—and their scalps went numb.
An army of women was charging toward them.
A lot of women.
Strong women.
Each one wielding cleavers, clubs, rolling pins, iron bars, and kitchen knives.
Qi Cheng broke into a cold sweat. "The Textile Factory… really didn't need to come…"
At the front was a thick-waisted, broad-shouldered woman with hands like iron paddles and feet like millstones.
She brandished a massive cleaver and roared, "I've been butchering fish in the Textile Factory cafeteria for three years! My blade is colder than my heart! Where are the bandits?! This old woman will chop them down one by one!"
Qi Cheng was speechless.
"Charge!" the cafeteria matron bellowed.
The women echoed her cry and surged forward like an unstoppable tide.
The effect was immediate.
Up until now, many of the male militia had been cautious—some even timid.
The moment the women arrived, everything changed.
"Damn it—no way we can lose to women!"
"If we retreat now, how will we ever show our faces again?!"
A powerful buff activated instantly:
[Being Looked Down On by Women Is Worse Than Death]
Combat Power +32%
Bachelors received an additional buff:
[If I Fight Well, Textile Factory Workers Might Notice Me]
Combat Power +32%
Buffs stacked.
The results were horrifying.
Bandits screamed.
Bandits wailed.
Bandits were smashed, hacked, shoved, and beaten into the dirt.
Watching the situation spiral out of control, the three bandit leaders finally lost their composure.
"Why does this damn factory have endless reinforcements?!"
"Why are all the surrounding factories helping them?!"
"This makes no sense!"
"Enough! Let's go—we join the fight!"
The three leaders gathered their fiercest followers and charged forward together.
But just as they reached the wall—
Another roar echoed across the plains.
"Steel Mill! Cement Factory! Textile Factory brothers and sisters, hold on! Fertilizer Factory No. 1 Militia is here!"
"We're here too! Salt Production Factory No. 1 Militia!"
"Pig Farm No. 2 Militia reporting in!"
"…!"
The three bandit leaders froze.
The remaining bandits froze.
What kind of cursed hornet's nest had they kicked?!
This was bad.
Very bad.
The three leaders turned and ran—abandoning their men without a second thought.
At that exact moment—
A shrill whistle pierced the battlefield.
Experimental Car No. 2 was back.
It had delivered the message to Hedong—
—and returned immediately.
This time, Xing Honglang herself was inside.
She had seized the vehicle and rushed ahead alone, unwilling to wait for her five hundred city guards who were still running full tilt miles behind.
Xing Honglang roared, "Run over those three bastards!"
The driver went pale. "N-no! This is a valuable experimental vehicle!"
Xing Honglang snapped, "I don't care what it is! Don't let them escape! Ram them!"
The driver swallowed hard.
Arguing with Xing Honglang already took courage. Disobeying her?
Unthinkable.
He gritted his teeth and slammed the throttle.
The massive automobile thundered across the road. When the cement road ended, it didn't slow—Shanxi hadn't seen rain in over half a year. The earth was dry and hard as stone.
The iron behemoth charged forward, wheels kicking up clouds of sand and gravel.
The bandits stood frozen in terror as it tore through their ranks.
Xing Honglang stood tall, saber in hand, roaring:
"Die, you scoundrels!"
The car caught up to the fleeing leaders—
BANG!
It slammed into them from behind.
The sheer force sent all three flying through the air—
Almost thirty thousand feet high.
When they landed, they were nothing more than twisted, shattered corpses.
The car sped on before finally screeching to a halt.
The driver jumped out, took one look at the crumpled front—
—and wailed.
"The front's caved in! The windshield's shattered! Bai Gongzi will kill me—AHHH!"
Far away in Gao Family Village, Bai Gongzi sneezed.
"…I have a bad feeling," he muttered. "Is someone abusing my invention again?"
The five thousand bandits—now barely four thousand—had lost their leaders.
They knew it was over.
Weapons clattered to the ground.
Hands went up.
Xing Honglang jumped from the car, saber gleaming, and strode toward them.
The bandits trembled, some nearly wetting themselves.
After a long silence, her deep voice rang out:
"Drag them all back. Starve them for two days. Then throw them into the labor reform camp."
She turned to Qi Cheng and Chen Ergou.
"You two have rendered great service. I'll write to the Gao Family Village Committee immediately and request a special pardon for both of you."
Qi Cheng and Chen Ergou froze.
Then they looked at each other—
—and erupted in cheers.