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墨書 Inktalez
A person opened the door to the café, and that person was none other than Jiang He. What shocked Jiang He the most was that he heard a faint voice coming through his earpiece. It was this voice that compelled Jiang He to expose himself and come to the Prison Island café.
In the background, he clearly heard a phrase: "Enjoy your coffee."
Meanwhile, on the second floor, Guan Deng finally spoke two words: "Right here."
"You mean the Criminal Consultant is in this café?" Old Shao could hardly believe his ears.
Guan Deng nodded and pointed to a red dot on the computer screen.
The location of this red dot was right inside the Prison Island café.
Since only the task force members were on the second floor, it was evident where the Criminal Consultant was.
Upon realizing this, Old Shao did not rush into action. Instead, he addressed the others: "From now on, listen carefully to what I say. Xu Yiman, evacuate everyone from this café immediately. Yuan Jun, you will command everyone now. The task is simple: contact the police at every square and arrest anyone wearing a mask. Guan Deng, you are responsible for leading the experts to remove every collar from those arrested and hand them over to the riot team for processing."
"Do you understand?" Old Shao said calmly as he sat in a chair.
"Understood," everyone nodded.
"Act immediately," Old Shao instructed. "By the way, set up a perimeter outside the café; no one is allowed within ten meters of this restaurant."
Almost everyone knew that Old Shao intended to face the Criminal Consultant alone.
A few people wanted to say something to Old Shao but hesitated and found themselves unable to speak. Old Shao put the collar into his pocket and sat back down. He closed his eyes and gently rubbed his temples, resembling an elderly man focused on wellness. In the darkness, he reached for his teacup and took a sip of tea while listening to the footsteps descending from upstairs.
Meanwhile, on the first floor, Jiang He had already removed the criminal mask from his face and taken off the black robe he had been wearing, folding it neatly and placing it on a table. He pulled over a chair from nearby and sat down next to it. Across from him sat a young man smiling at him while holding a cup of coffee.
The young man took off his headphones and placed them on the table. Jiang He also removed his earpiece and set it down on top of his mask. The two sat there in silence, neither speaking. Xu Yiman and others had already rushed down from the second floor and were evacuating customers from the first floor. There weren't many customers, so it wasn't a difficult task.
Jiang He sat across from the young man, both of them gazing at each other as if oblivious to their surroundings, seemingly deaf to the sounds around them.
Jiang He scrutinized the young man. Judging by his age, he appeared to be only in his mid-twenties. His frame was relatively slender, and his skin was pale. However, the red veins in his eyes and the dark circles around them told Jiang He that this person seemed to be perpetually sleep-deprived, always starting his activities at night.
The young man was also examining Jiang He—his messy hair, gaunt body, dark circles, and bloodshot eyes. The young man could tell that Jiang He had not had a good night's sleep in a long time.
The young man spoke first, "Sometimes, fundamentally speaking, we are actually the same kind of people at our core. Our values align; it's just that we have some differences in methodology."
In the small café on the first floor, soon only this young man and the members of the project team remained.
Xu Yiman, Yuan Jun, Guan Deng, and even an expert from the demolition team all watched Jiang He converse with the young man. Yet they could not reconcile this young man with the cold-blooded Criminal Consultant they knew. To them, he looked more like a college student.
Xu Yiman patted Jiang He on the shoulder but said nothing.
Yuan Jun quietly reminded Jiang He to be careful.
Guan Deng took a small cactus out of his backpack and placed it in front of Jiang He.
They all knew they had other matters to attend to and couldn’t linger for too long.
"Why don't you come with us?" Xu Yiman said as she took Rouge's hand. "I'm sorry, but something unpleasant might happen here shortly."
Rouge glanced at Jiang He and the young man but said nothing. She simply brought each of them a cup of coffee and set it down in front of them.
"I don't believe we are the same kind of people," Jiang He stated firmly.
"No," the young man replied, his emotions rising. "We live on the same planet; we inhabit the same world. Both you and I want this world to improve, but we have chosen different paths. You have chosen a very slow route that may not yield results, while I have opted for a relatively quicker one."
"I don't understand what you mean," Jiang He said honestly. "Is the path you've chosen to eliminate everyone in the square with a bomb?"
The young man did not respond, as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs; it was Old Shao finally descending from the second floor. The wooden floor creaked underfoot, reminiscent of walking on snow in winter. Today was New Year's Eve, but since winter began, Dragon City had yet to see any snowfall.
"When young people talk, they always prefer to get straight to the point. As an older person, I like to discuss some less important matters before getting to the main topic," Old Shao said as he continued down the stairs.
Jiang He suddenly realized that Old Shao's words were meant to buy time. They all knew there was a bomb in the square, but finding and defusing it would take a long time. During this period, they needed to keep the Criminal Consultant, who might have a remote control, calm.
Seeing Old Shao come down, Jiang He moved a chair for him and placed it on the other side of the table. Old Shao sat down directly and set his tea cup on the table. At that moment, the three of them gathered around a square table, resembling three familiar friends having afternoon tea rather than police and terrorists sitting together.
"Shao Shilin," the young man said. "When I was just a child, my master and my senior brother often spoke of you. Especially after my senior brother Wu Zui died, my master's lifelong efforts were nearly destroyed by your actions."
"He was an even more radical anti-social terrorist than you or your master," Old Shao nodded. "But that was twenty years ago; back then, you must have still been a child in split-crotch pants."
The young man laughed heartily and replied, "That's true. However, after Wu Zui's death, my master had no choice but to pass all his skills onto me, whether he wanted to or not. Before he died, my master often mentioned you; he said that if it weren't for you, his experiments would have already begun."
"But I still regret not having dragged your master into prison from the start," Old Shao said. "But that's all ancient history now. Today we won't talk about your master or your senior brother; let's talk about you, Criminal Consultant."
"Me?" The young man chuckled. "Of course, I will speak freely and openly."
Old Shao took a sip of tea. "You've always been a confident person to the point of arrogance. The fact that you dare sit here means you've at least considered many ways to escape. You've been killing people with one goal: to select followers in Dragon City who will listen to you. You know your power is far from strong enough, but with followers, your strength would increase exponentially. You may be a capable leader, but for now, we are still in this café."
"If I don't want you to find me, you won't," the Criminal Consultant replied. "Such strong interference signals can only come from one place—upstairs or downstairs. If you can't find me, then you're quite an uninteresting opponent. In fact, I agree with my master on one thing: killing is the lowest form of means; the highest form is planting a seed in someone else's heart."
"Your goal has indeed been achieved," Old Shao said. "You have so many loyal followers."
"That's right," the young man replied. "I have merely planted a seed in their hearts called Justice. Ideas are a far more terrifying weapon than nuclear bombs. They spread rapidly, almost like a virus. Once you control someone's thoughts, they will do whatever you ask of them."
"What do you want them to do?" Old Shao asked.
"Where are the bombs?" Jiang He inquired.
"One at a time," the young man said, taking a sip of his coffee. "In truth, these aren't the two questions I want to answer directly. If all the world's problems could be solved by others, wouldn't that make the world terribly dull? These two questions are for you to answer yourselves; whether you can find the answers is up to you."
The young man glanced at his watch and said, "In just a few minutes, it will be nine o'clock on New Year's Eve, with three hours left until the new year. Three hours is enough time for us to play a little game."
"You really love games," Old Shao remarked.
"Yes," the young man nodded. "But in this game, losing might lead to a rather gruesome end."
"Before we start the game, I have one question," Old Shao said.
The young man shrugged.
"What is your name?" Old Shao asked.
"Shi Xu," the young man replied.
It sounded like a real name, and that was precisely why Old Shao grew increasingly worried.
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