A derelict commercial street.
Xu Chao pulled Qin Xun aside and glanced at He Laowu, who was trembling a short distance away. "Did you deliberately let He Laowu tip them off?"
"Yes. I deliberately gave him a chance to tip them off. That fatty isn't stupid. He knows that if he successfully escorts us out of the city, I'll definitely kill him once we're outside."
"If he wants to live, he has to stop us from leaving, so he'd definitely use a few coded words to tip off the District Chief. Even if he didn't use a code or tip him off, the District Chief would still get suspicious."
"He Laowu hardly ever leaves Zone 108, so the fact that he's leaving this late is suspicious in itself."
Xu Chao grinned wickedly. "The District Chief isn't stupid. He'll definitely figure out that we're forcing He Laowu to take us out of the city, so he'll secretly send a large number of guards to wait for us at the city gate, letting us walk right into their trap!"
"Once a large number of the Guard Team are sent to the city gate, security elsewhere will be weaker. Then we can find an exit with weak defenses and break through."
"As long as the defenses aren't too strong, Dazhuang and I can handle them."
Xu Chao's expression turned serious again. "But we have to hurry. Once we don't show up at the gate, they'll realize what's going on and immediately send everyone they can spare to reinforce the other exits."
"Let's gamble on it. I don't know if we can get out. Best case, we escape. Worst case, we all die. Somewhere in between, we neither get out nor get caught, and can continue lying low."
Qin Xun didn't dare imagine things would go too well.
He couldn't guarantee things would unfold according to his plan.
After all, their opponents weren't fools either.
They had brains and ideas of their own.
No one could say what might happen along the way.
For this plan to succeed, they would need to rely mostly on luck!
Luck, an elusive, intangible thing...
Simply put, they were gambling with their lives!
"There's still one problem. How do we get He Laowu to obediently drive to the city gate?"
"That's easy."
Xu Chao walked over to He Laowu and looked down at him.
Before He Laowu could understand what was happening, Xu Chao tapped him on the chest.
"Lift your shirt and take a look."
Puzzled, He Laowu undid his shirt buttons. A tiny blue light glimmered on his chest, over his heart.
He rubbed at it desperately, but couldn't wipe it away.
"That's my Psionic Power. It's basically a miniature bomb, and I can control it however I want. Now get in your car and drive to the city gate. On the way, no shouting or calling out! If you make any move, I'll sense it and detonate it immediately!"
He Laowu looked confused. "What do you mean? You're not coming with me?"
Qin Xun crouched in front of He Laowu and searched him. After making sure he had no other communication devices, Qin Xun patted him on the shoulder. "It takes twenty minutes to drive from here to the city gate, but you need to drive slower. Try to make it take half an hour!"
He Laowu realized he'd been played.
He also guessed that Qin Xun and the others planned to escape the city through another exit.
The District Chief would certainly understand what he had meant by that phone call.
By now, he must have sent a large number of the Guard Team to the city gate.
The guards at the other exits would surely be less vigilant than usual!
He was furious with himself for letting that brat Qin Xun make a fool of him!
But he was also terrified. After all, there was a small bomb on his chest now!
"What if this thing blows up when I reach the city gate?"
He Laowu pointed at the blinking blue light on his chest, his voice trembling.
"This miniature bomb has a limited range. Once we've escaped the city from another direction, I won't be able to sense it anymore, and it'll disappear on its own." Xu Chao smiled coldly. "But if we get caught on the way and can't leave the city, I'll still be able to sense it. I'll detonate it immediately and blow you to death!"
He Laowu jolted in fright.
He didn't know whether Xu Chao was telling the truth.
But with something like this, it was better to believe it was real than take the risk!
He didn't want to gamble with his life.
What worried him was that the man might be lying, and would still detonate the thing once they were out of the city!
"There's not much time left. Hurry up and drive to the city gate!"
Qin Xun badly wanted to stab He Laowu to death, but He Laowu couldn't die yet.
To avoid being killed now, He Laowu had no choice but to obey. Trembling, he got into the car, started it, turned it around, and drove toward the city gate.
"Let's hope everything goes smoothly. If we can't get out, we'll have to keep lying low, but they'll definitely find us within two days at most." Watching the car leave, Xu Chao didn't dare assume they could break out for certain.
But for them, trapped in their current predicament, any possible solution was worth a try.
It was better than running around the zone like headless flies.
"Can that thing you put on He Laowu really explode?" Qin Xun looked at Xu Chao.
"Haha, I was bluffing. But I really can sense where he is." Xu Chao looked around. "Come on. Let's see if we can find an exit with weak defenses and break through within twenty minutes!"
"Wait!" Dazhuang frowned. "I keep feeling like something's not quite right..."
"What's not right?" Xu Chao asked.
"They'll know we're trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain, and they might figure it out in advance," Qin Xun said.
"Figure it out in advance?" Xu Chao scratched his head, completely bewildered.
"I have another plan."
Ten minutes later.
He Laowu's car had entered an area covered by surveillance cameras.
He drove with his whole body trembling, occasionally looking down at the blue light on his chest.
The whole way, he didn't dare make any rash moves!
He didn't dare stop the car or call for help!
He really was afraid his chest would suddenly explode!
Now, he could only pray that the man hadn't lied to him, and that he would be safe once they got out.
He wasn't worried about what the District Chief would do to him after those people escaped.
He paid the District Chief a large sum every month, and would pay him even more in the future.
The District Chief probably wouldn't do much to him. At most, he would give him a thorough scolding.
What worried him more was whether this thing would blow up!
The zone administration building, the surveillance room.
Black Crow, a middle-aged man wearing a black coat, watched the crystal-clear image on the monitor.
The young man in black standing beside him asked in confusion, "Why is there only that fatty driving? Where are the others?"
Black Crow let out a series of cold chuckles. "Luring the tiger away from the mountain. They're a little smarter than I thought."
"Luring the tiger away from the mountain? I see. They never planned to leave through the city gate!" The young man finally understood.
"They deliberately let He Laowu call and tip us off to mislead us into sending a large number of guards to the city gate. Then they could find a weak point and break through while security at the other exits was lax."
Black Crow paused after speaking, then laughed again. "Interesting... I like opponents like that."
The young man said, "What do we do now, then? Send the Guard Team to the other exits?"
"Can't you see? They deliberately let us see that they wanted to lure the tiger away from the mountain." Black Crow looked at the young man.
The young man was a little baffled. "Huh? What do you mean? What do you mean they deliberately let us see that they wanted to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"
"Their real way out of the city is still the city gate!"
The young man stood there, stunned. He felt as though his head was about to explode!
For a moment, he couldn't untangle it.
The middle-aged man glanced at the young man's bewildered expression and wasn't surprised in the slightest.
He had known for a long time that this subordinate of his wasn't very bright.
So he rarely sent him out on assignments, often keeping him close to avoid having him mess things up.
Black Crow leaned toward the monitor, watching the black sedan driving down the street.
"It's still a case of luring the tiger away from the mountain, except the forces they really want to draw away are the ones near the city gate."
"Whoever came up with this has some brains."
"He must be gambling, betting that he can succeed."
"I like gamblers like that."
"Because I'm a gambler too!"
District Chief Zhong Tianshou, who had just gone out to make a call and issue orders, pushed the door open and came back in.
"Everything's been arranged. As soon as they reach the city gate, they won't escape even if they have wings!"
"Redeploy the forces." Black Crow looked at the District Chief. "Tell the patrols and Guard Team members still searching to stop. Send everyone we can mobilize to the various exits and guard them heavily!"
The District Chief was puzzled. "Guard every exit heavily?"
"Yes. Strengthen the defenses openly. There's no need to hide it from them. Let them know they can't break out! Make them choose to stay in hiding!"
"Why?" The District Chief didn't understand.
"I thought it over again. Since we know they're still in the zone, there's no need to rush. We just have to seal off every exit. Once the fifty demon hounds arrive tomorrow, we can conduct a thorough search for them. That's how you catch a turtle in a jar!"
Although he had deduced that they still intended to leave through the city gate,
Black Crow couldn't guarantee he was a hundred percent right.
After all, it was all just his speculation, with no concrete evidence.
So the best approach was to block every exit and make sure they couldn't break through!
As long as they were still in the zone, catching them was only a matter of time.