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墨書 Inktalez
Bending two sturdy iron bars is not a difficult task; all you need is a damp towel and a wooden stick. First, thread the wet towel through the two iron bars and tie it tightly in a knot. Then, place the wooden stick vertically between the two ends of the towel and begin to twist it like a valve.
At that moment, Gu Chen was doing just that, and before long, the two iron bars bent inward, creating a large enough gap for him to pass through. Meanwhile, the rubber camera in the workshop had captured nothing; there was still no one inside. Gu Chen first slipped one foot through, followed by his body.
He moved cautiously, afraid of making any noise.
Just then, the camera placed on the roof captured the scene of the Mask Man and Scarred Man walking out of the house, seemingly heading toward the workshop. If Gu Chen moved too slowly, he would surely be spotted by those two.
At this moment, Gu Chen had half of his body inside and half outside, with no room for resistance.
"Gu Chen, hurry up and get in; someone just walked by," Captain Shao said calmly.
Hearing Captain Shao's words, Gu Chen quickened his pace. As he rolled himself inside, he swiftly cut the towel he had stolen from the kitchen. He pulled the towel in with him, but the wooden stick fell onto the windowsill with a sharp "thud."
At that moment, Gu Chen had no time to reach back for the stick.
He hid behind the wall of the workshop, completely still.
The camera on the roof could no longer see the Mask Man or Scarred Man. Gu Chen hadn’t placed a rubber camera outside the window either, so he had no idea about their movements; he could only hope they wouldn’t notice the fallen stick on the windowsill or the opened iron bars of the window.
Time passed slowly; our hearts were in our throats as we waited in silence. After a while without any movement, Gu Chen dared not move at all. Ten minutes passed like this until Gu Chen cautiously peeked outside. There was no one around. We all breathed a sigh of relief, but just as Gu Chen turned his head away, a gun suddenly pressed against his temple.
The speed of it was just a blur on camera.
However, in the next second, a hand removed the camera from Gu Chen’s chest. At that same moment, a mask appeared in front of the camera—it was none other than the Mask Man. He aimed the camera at himself while one hand held a gun to Gu Chen’s head and his other hand casually adjusted his hair as if fixing his appearance.
Then, the Mask Man handed the camera to someone beside him while he yanked off Gu Chen’s earpiece.
Everyone present fell silent, not a single person spoke.
The Mask Man pulled a rubber camera from his pocket, and Mary exclaimed, "That's the camera that was leaning against the wall! I can't believe he had it hidden in his pocket."
The Mask Man put on an earpiece and gently said, "Hello, can you hear me, officer?"
At that moment, without Captain Shao's orders, no one dared to speak up first.
The Mask Man called out a couple more times, and seeing no response, shrugged his shoulders.
"Can't hear me? Then I guess I'll have to start shooting. I'm counting to three!" He waved his hand, signaling the people nearby to ensure the camera captured everything clearly.
"Three!" the Mask Man declared.
At that moment, the camera finally revealed the entire factory. A group of people had appeared on the second floor, and Liu Fei'er and Liu Yinyan were tied to two chairs. Their mouths were gagged, and they struggled continuously.
We could see that Liu Yinyan had two fingers severed from one hand, but after a simple bandaging, there was no blood flowing out at that moment. Liu Fei'er looked haggard, and one of her fingers had also been cut off.
"Two!" the Mask Man continued through the earpiece.
At this point, Captain Shao finally spoke up: "What do you want?"
Hearing Captain Shao's words, the Mask Man laughed heartily and said, "Captain Shao, you finally decided to speak!"
As he spoke, several people rushed down from the second floor and tied up Gu Chen as well. Although Gu Chen was exceptionally skilled, facing armed criminals left him with little confidence in turning the tables on the Mask Man. Moreover, for the safety of Liu Yinyan and Liu Fei'er, Gu Chen felt he had no choice but to comply.
Watching Gu Chen being tied to the railing of the workshop stairs, the Mask Man then said, "What I want will become clear to you all in time. This is just a little greeting for you. We have plenty of time ahead of us, and since you now know all our personnel, what comes next is up to you."
"What exactly do you want?" Captain Shao asked for the second time.
This time, the Mask Man did not make any cryptic demands but calmly said, "Alright, since you've asked me so many times, I will make one useful request."
The Mask Man glanced at the time and continued, "In a little while, someone will deliver a bag of cash. This was arranged with Liu Yinyan beforehand. At that time, you need to send an officer to bring the money inside."
Captain Shao's expression visibly relaxed. When dealing with kidnappers, having demands was the best situation. As long as there were demands, there would inevitably be a process of contact, and through that ongoing interaction, opportunities to rescue the hostage could be found.
"Okay! I agree to your request," Captain Shao replied calmly. "As long as you don't harm the hostage, we can meet your demands."
Mary pointed behind her and said to Captain Shao, "The SWAT team has arrived."
Captain Shao did not activate his communication device. "Alright, you can brief the SWAT team leader about the layout and situation inside the factory so they can position themselves accordingly. However, under no circumstances should they act without my orders. We can see several kidnappers, but what about those we can't see?"
The camera revealed six individuals: the Mask Man, who had called us earlier; Scarface, a man who looked intimidating; Old Zhang, the man known for drinking human blood; Jesse, the seemingly refined fake detective; and Vivian, a fiery mixed-race woman.
Notably absent from the camera feed was Moriko, the quiet Japanese woman.
Another important figure was also missing: Lai San.
Old Zhang and Lai San were in cahoots, yet Old Zhang was present while Lai San was nowhere to be seen. Where could he have gone?
Before long, the butler came into view.
It suddenly dawned on me that the butler had gone out with Liu Yinyan earlier. However, only Liu Yinyan had been kidnapped in the workshop; the butler had vanished without a trace. Now he appeared late because he was likely the one sent by the kidnappers to retrieve the money.
The butler had served Liu Yinyan for decades and always regarded her highly. If he was sent to collect the money, he certainly wouldn’t notify us—this was all part of the kidnappers' plan. If this was indeed orchestrated by the masked man, then he was truly terrifying.
When the butler returned, he had not expected that the police had already found this place.
"You... how did you find this place?" The butler gathered the bag in his hands, a hint of anxiety in his voice. "What’s the situation with Liu now? The kidnappers demanded ten million; they only want ten million. For Liu, that's just a drop in the bucket. You mustn't act recklessly."
Captain Shao glanced at the butler but offered no further explanation. Instead, he stated directly, "Give me the money; it's what the kidnappers want. Don't worry, we will ensure Liu Yinyan's safety. So, who will go?"
Time was tight; there was no room to waste here.
Liu and I spoke almost simultaneously: "I'll go!"
We exchanged glances, and before I could say anything more, Liu took the bag and said, "I should handle this. I'm a few years older than you and have more experience."
Everyone present understood that once someone stepped through that door, life and death became uncertain. I had thought about this for a long time—whether it was worth dying in the process of solving a case. But I couldn't answer that question. There are many people in this world who are not afraid of death; I am not one of them.
Faced with death, I fear for my life, yet sometimes death is not the most terrifying thing.
As I grew older, I came to realize that there are things in this world more important than life itself.
Mencius once said: "Life is what I desire; there are things I desire more than life itself, so I do not act recklessly to obtain it. Death is what I detest; there are things I detest more than death itself, so there are troubles I do not avoid."
So before Liu could react, I snatched the package from his hands and calmly opened the communication channel. "This is Wu Meng; Jesse knows me. I'm going in now."
"Wu Meng! Wu Meng!" The Mask Man called my name twice upon hearing me. "Alright, you can come in."
As soon as he finished speaking, an iron door slowly opened a crack, and a hand reached out to beckon me inside.
"Be careful," Captain Shao patted my shoulder and leaned closer to whisper in my ear. "Your safety and Gu Chen's are our top priority. Even if the kidnappers escape, it doesn't matter. We already know what they look like; whether it takes five or ten years, we will catch them. But once a life is lost, there is no second chance."
"Do you understand?" Captain Shao stood up straight again, looking at me seriously.
I nodded.
Liu Yi's face was filled with concern. "You have to be careful; nothing can happen to you."
"Don't worry," I replied with a smile. "Unless you win the lottery for fifty million, I won't have any problems."
Upon hearing this, Liu tried to be humorous. "Haha, then I can relax. I've been buying lottery tickets for four years and haven't won a single dime."
"Just don't die on me," Mary suddenly said coldly. "I'm waiting to bicker with you."
Guan Zengbin chimed in, "Yeah, people like you, who are such a rogue, are already extinct. You're maintaining the diversity of the human gene pool..."
Though they spoke like this, their eyes were filled with worry.
For some reason, warmth suddenly spread through my heart.
That orphan, I didn't know when it happened, but many people had already gathered around me.
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