Dongdu City center, Commercial District pedestrian street.
Neon Lights light signs flash alternately, reflecting a colorful halo on the smooth asphalt road.
The traffic lights at the intersection switched to green, and groups of pedestrians carrying shopping bags crossed the zebra crossing.
The shops along the street played pop music with a strong rhythm, and there was a long queue at the door of the milk tea shop.
At the weekend joint, there are crowds of people and a heat wave.
The huge LCD screen located above the intersection was originally playing a perfume advertisement for a popular actress.
Suddenly, the screen freezes.
With a brief burst of electrical noise, the perfume advertisement disappeared and was replaced by East Capital TV Station's live news room.
Before the passers-by on the street could react, the screen in the live broadcast room switched again.
A man wearing dark casual Suit and Gold-rimmed Glasses appeared in the center of the screen.
He straightened his collar, with a smile on his lips, and said to the camera:
"Good evening, fellow citizens of Eastern Capital, and friends watching in front of the screen."
"I'm sorry to bother you in this way at this time."
The gentle voice came out through the surrounding stereo speakers, directly drowning out the noisy music and voices on the pedestrian street.
Pedestrians on the road stopped one after another, raised their heads, and looked at the big screen in mid-air.
"Let me introduce to you, this is Western Mountains Golden City Resort."
"National Singing Rising Star Competition's program recording site."
The man moved half a step to the left, and the camera zoomed out.
On the screen, dozens of young men and women wearing Work Badge, Stage Crew and costumes were squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands.
Some were sobbing softly, some were trembling, and their eyes were full of frightened fear.
The camera then lowered down to show a close-up of a fat man lying in a pool of blood for a few seconds.
The blood hole on his thigh was bleeding out, and his body twitched from time to time.
Apparently he had just offended the kidnapper and was shot.
At the same time, several black gun barrels equipped with Silencer were passing by the edge of the screen.
Half a minute later, the man's face reappeared directly in front of the camera.
He pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, and his tone was as casual as placing an order at Dining Room:
"Don't be nervous, it's just a simple transaction."
"We have ambushed about one hundred kilograms of C4 explosives in Load-bearing Pillar and various important locations in the building."
"As long as East City Group and the police prepare 50 million old banknotes with non-consecutive numbers and send them to the designated location within two hours, I guarantee that everyone here can go home safe and sound."
"But if anyone wants to be clever..."
He spread his hands and waved politely toward the camera:
"Then I can only invite everyone to watch a gorgeous fireworks."
"See you later, friends."
As the voice fell, the screen instantly cut off.
The male and female East Capital TV Station Host reappeared on the screen and began to broadcast breaking news.
The male anchor looked solemn and spoke very fast:
"This station has just received emergency news. Western Mountains Golden City Resort A major armed hijacking incident occurred at around 6:30 tonight."
"Many Television Station staff and contestants were trapped inside the building by kidnappers. Except for one injured person, there are no other casualties reported."
The female anchor then answered:
"At present, the police have completely blocked the road to Resort. Please keep the general public away from this area. We will continue to follow up with you on the latest situation on the scene..."
There was an uproar at the intersection.
Pedestrians stared wide-eyed, whispering to each other, and the discussion boiled like boiling water.
Jiangbei Police Department, criminal investigation Battalion office area.
The incandescent lights overhead were dazzling, and the phones in various departments were ringing one after another.
The police officers were either guarding the computer, typing on the keyboard, or reaching out to scold the suspect while conducting interrogations.
The printer in the corner rustled, spitting out sheets of A4 paper smelling of ink.
Zhou Yongnian is sitting on a leather chair in an independent office, with a bucket of freshly brewed Old Altar Pickled Cabbage Noodles in front of him.
He peeled off a ham sausage, bit the casing with his teeth and tore it open, then threw most of the ham sausage into the soup that had just been poured into the boiling water.
The heat was rising, causing the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes to relax slightly.
Recently, in order to track down a gang that was traveling across provinces to commit crimes, he and his team stayed up for three whole nights.
I didn't go home for several days, and my wife complained several times on the phone.
Even when his daughter Xiumei successfully entered the top 20 in the national singing competition, he couldn't spare the time to go to the scene to cheer her up.
Zhou Yongnian Use a plastic fork to pick up a roll of noodles and stir it into the soup.
I feel somewhat indebted in my heart.
My daughter has been frail and sick since she was a child, and has suffered a lot from being a boss like him.
Now he has finally made his mark, stood on a starry stage, and become a household name.
Thinking of the envious congratulations from his neighbors, as a father, he felt relieved from the bottom of his heart.
Speaking of which, all this is thanks to Fang Cheng.
Zhou Yongnian That young and handsome face came to mind.
He is calm and capable, and he and Xiumei are childhood sweethearts who grew up together. He is simply the best candidate to be a son-in-law.
He raised the corners of his mouth, smiled and shook his head.
Then he lowered his head to the bucket and took a big gulp of the fragrant noodle soup.
Bang!
The office door was pushed open.
"Boss, no, something big has happened!"
The subordinate A Zhong rushed in in a hurry, his forehead was covered with sweat, and he even forgot to knock on the door.
Zhou Yongnian frowned, swallowed the noodles in his mouth, and slapped his fork on the table:
"What are you doing? Is the sky falling?"
A Zhong gasped and pointed at the hanging Television on the wall. He couldn't hold back a complete sentence for a long time:
"I... I can't tell... Boss, look at News Channel!"
As he spoke, he grabbed the remote control on the table and pressed the power button.
The TV screen lights up.
A Zhong pressed the remote control several times and quickly switched to the Dongdu City news station.
At this moment, two anchors were talking very fast about the incident where Golden City Resort was kidnapped by armed thugs.
The screen switched from time to time, playing the live video of the hostage-taking.
The camera panned over a group of staff and players squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands.
Zhou Yongnian's eyes moved along the lens.
Suddenly, his sight stopped.
Next to Prop Box in the corner of the hall, a girl wearing a light-colored T-shirt huddled.
Although he only glanced at it, he recognized it at a glance.
"Xiumei!"
Zhou Yongnian's cheeks bulged and he clenched his right fist suddenly.
The plastic fork folds into two pieces in the hand.
He knew that his daughter had been participating in the Training Camp singing competition in the Western Mountains these days.
Now he was actually being held at his head with a gun by a group of extremely vicious thugs.
There are also 100 kilograms of high explosives buried nearby, which may detonate at any time.
How could he sit still?
Zhou Yongnian decisively pushed away the chair, strode to the coat rack, and pulled off the police uniform belt.
With two clicks, the gun was quickly clasped at his waist.
"Boss, where are you going?"
A Zhong was stunned in place.
"Prepare a car and go to the Western Mountains!"
Zhou Yongnian grabbed Car Key and ran straight to the door.
"But, Western Mountains is in the jurisdiction of West Pass District Police Department. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to handle cases across districts..."
"Stop talking nonsense, I will call Police Department on the way and apply for special approval to join this project."
Zhou Yongnian walked out without looking back.
He walked through the busy hall, and the police officers around him stopped what they were doing and looked at the captain with a look of anger on his face in astonishment.
A Zhong followed closely behind and waved to the people in the hall:
"You guys are busy with your own business, while the captain and I go out to handle the case!"
Two minutes later.
A jeep sounded its siren and its tires screeched on the road.
The car body suddenly made a sharp turn, rushed out of the Police Department gate, and plunged into the turbulent traffic.
Western Mountains At night, there are shadows of trees and everything is silent.
A gust of wind whistled past, picking up dead branches and leaves on the ground.
Night Owl hugged Gray's stand-up collar Trench Coat and squatted on the rock next to Cliff.
Around the Dense Forest, a dozen heavily armed Man in Black were hiding in the dark, performing security missions.
In front of him, there was a laptop that was emitting fluorescent light in the dark.
On the screen, the man wearing Gold-rimmed Glasses had just announced the conditions for releasing the hostages.
The screen switched back to the news Studio.
Night Owl stared at the computer screen, his slender eyes narrowed.
The expression on his face was frozen, and besides being surprised, he was also a little angry.
"What the hell are these guys doing?"
"Night Owl, didn't you send them to plan the bombing? Why did you start live broadcasting?
In Mental Channel, the questioning voices of Roger and Hai Zhu came.
Just now, they shared the view through Night Owl's Mental Link and saw this live broadcast clearly.
Night Owl took a deep breath and whispered to himself:
"They want to escape our control..."
"What do you mean?"
Roger asked.
Night Owl explained in the channel:
"Red Devil Mercenary Group doesn't trust us. They want to find a way out for themselves, so they deliberately add drama and expose their whereabouts to the outside world to attract more people's attention to what happened to Golden City Resort."
"The cunning rabbit dies and the running dog is cooked."
Xiao Yuanwang's deep voice also joined in:
"They think that the bigger the trouble is, the more concerned we will be about the impact of Official Authorities. That way, as hunting dogs, they will be safer."
"That's right, they're just afraid that we'll get rid of them afterwards."
Night Owl gritted his teeth, a flash of Killing Intent flashed in his eyes.
"Cunning guy!"
Hai Zhu spat and cursed:
"When I first saw the guy wearing glasses, I thought he was unreliable."
"Ho ho."
Roger then sneered:
"Isn't that what we planned? You just said that we should simply let these guys die in Hell Gate and become nourishment for Formation."
Hai Zhu ignored his sarcasm and asked instead:
"What to do now?"
Night Owl thought for a moment and then made a decision:
"Let them go. Now that there is a live TV broadcast, I believe White Owl will be seduced soon. Our task is to wait patiently."
"Once White Owl shows up and reaches a stalemate with Red Devil Mercenary Group, we will immediately activate Hell Gate to kill them all."
"But, didn't you say before that it takes at least half an hour from startup to fully formed Hell Gate?"
Hai Zhu then asked:
"During this period, White Owl may have noticed Danger a long time ago and took care of those who hired Mercenary."
"That's why we need those who hired Mercenary to use hostages to threaten White Owl and hold him back for us."
Night Owl raised the corners of his mouth, and a cold light flashed in his eyes:
"Besides that, I also have a secret move that I can use. Even if White Owl can solve Red Devil Mercenary Group, I still have to stay where I am and wait for death."
"What dark chess?"
Hai Zhu asked.
Night Owl sold it out:
"We can't say it yet. If we say it, it won't work."
"Okay."
Hai Zhu responded impatiently:
"I just hope that the plan will be implemented as smoothly as you said and that you won't be slapped in the face."
"Amitabha, it's time for this Karma to come to an end."
Roger chanted a Buddhist chant in a low voice.
Xiao Yuanwang also let out a soft hum and said nothing more.
Mental Channel is quiet again.
Night Owl Look away from the computer screen.
He took two steps forward, stood at the edge of Cliff, and looked down the mountain.
Western Mountains The stretching ridges look like dormant giant beasts in the dark night.
Golden City Resort in the distance was almost completely engulfed in darkness.
Only the Auxiliary Building standing in the dark night shines with particularly dazzling lights.
The wind ruffled the hair on his forehead. He raised his hand to smooth it and whispered to himself:
"White Owl, the stage has been set, it's your turn, don't let me down..."
Auxiliary Building Three, Rehearsal Hall.
Hearing that one hundred kilograms of explosives were buried in the load-bearing columns and passages of the building, the crowd burst into uncontrollable exclamations.
Several girls whose psychological defenses collapsed held their heads and cried uncontrollably.
Many male contestants also had weak legs and slumped against the wall with pale faces.
Panic spread in the hall like a tide, and it threatened to turn into a riot in an instant.
Bang! Bang!
A Kun raised the muzzle of the gun and pointed at the ceiling and pulled the trigger twice.
The broken pieces of Plaster were smashed down.
"Shut the hell up!"
A Kun strode forward and kicked over the music stand next to him.
The iron frame hit the floor with a harsh clang.
"Whoever dares to make any more noise, I will send him down there to explore the way now!"
In an instant, a dead silence returned to the hall again.
Everyone immediately covered their mouths, leaving only a few desperately suppressed sobs.
"Sh--"
Pei Tianci put one Index Finger to his lips, with that gentle smile still on his face:
"Everyone, please stay quiet."
"I am actually a very reasonable person. As long as you cooperate well, I guarantee that you will all go back alive tonight."
"But if anyone makes any more noise..."
He pushed Gold-rimmed Glasses, and a bloodthirsty light flashed through the lens Backstep:
"I wouldn't mind having his head pop like a watermelon."
The crowd all lowered their heads and stared at the floor. No one dared to make a sound.
In front of Prop Box in the corner of the hall.
Old Wolf and Xiao Bei were mixed in with the crowd squatting with their heads in their hands, their brows furrowed.
The two looked at each other and communicated silently.
They originally thought that they would encounter at most a few Aberrant with Special Abilities tonight.
Unexpectedly, those who broke in were a group of desperadoes playing with explosives.