Zuo Zhenyu frowned when he heard the voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"Get out of here, quickly!"
If it were any other time, Zuo Yiming would have obediently listened given his father's attitude, but this time, he decided to strike hard.
"Father, Luo Ling's sister is here."
Hearing this, Zuo Zhenyu turned his head to look at Luo Ling.
Luo Ling nodded.
Just as Zuo Zhenyu was about to say something, he waved his hand at Zuo Yiming and the others. "Forget it. You three, go stand aside for now."
Turning back, he continued to study the terrain with the police official in charge.
"The robbers are currently located in Villa No.32 of Lakeside Mansion. The layout of the villa has been found."
"Additionally, the target's renovation details have also been accessed through the Light Brain database."
"Zuo Jiangjun, our police have now received reports of eleven kidnapping cases, and all the victims share a prominent characteristic."
"Oh? What is that characteristic?" Zuo Zhenyu asked.
Nearby, Lu Lin, Zuo Yiming, and Luo Ling sat in a corner, listening attentively.
"The kidnapped individuals are all relatives of outstanding examinees from the College Entrance Exams of the last two years."
"These include: the parents of Zhao Yutong, Tongyuan's top scorer last year and an Ice System Double Star Skills Awakener; the father and younger sister of Chen Feng, last year's second top scorer and a Flame System Double Star Skills Awakener; the sister and girlfriend of Doflamingo, last year's third top scorer, a Gold System Awakener whose initial refinement reached 0.99%; the parents of Ashina Duer, a Wind System Awakener from Youai Middle School taking this year's exam; the grandparents and two aunts of Gao Wei from Tongyuan Martial Arts School, also taking this year's exam; and the sister of Luo Ling, a Thunder System Double Star Skills Awakener from Golden Sword High School…"
As the police official spoke, he glanced at the three who were listening in nearby.
Although Luo Ling had somewhat anticipated it, she still felt a wave of dizziness upon hearing the actual police report.
Her sister wasn't uncontactable for some other reason; she had truly been kidnapped.
She felt foolish for having thought on the way here that her family had no money or power, so even if there were robbers, they wouldn't choose her sister.
Unexpectedly, they had targeted the relatives of outstanding students from the College Entrance Exams of the past two years.
"Luo Ling, don't worry," Zuo Yiming whispered comfortingly beside her. "My father will rescue everyone."
At this moment, Luo Ling could no longer maintain her strong, stubborn facade. Her face turned pale, and if Zuo Yiming hadn't been supporting her, she might have fainted.
"Do you know the kidnappers' demands?" Zuo Zhenyu asked, rubbing his temples. "Why would the infamous Black Shark Society come all the way to Tongyuan to kidnap so many students' relatives?"
Tongyuan was a relatively remote small city on Blue Star; how could it attract a group from the Black Shark Society?
Fortunately, no one knew about it yet. Otherwise, if the matter broke out, it might cause shock and garner attention throughout Blue Star.
So many relatives of examinees were involved. This implicated the students themselves, their universities, their regions and races, the planets of their household registration, and various connections like classmates, friends, and teachers.
If it wasn't handled properly, Zuo Zhenyu's own position being at risk would be a small matter; the image of the entire region, and even the federation's image, might be greatly affected and questioned.
"Zuo Jiangjun, we still don't know the robbers' demands yet," the police official replied.
"After kidnapping so many people, the robbers have only blocked the Star Energy Network signal in the villa, foiled our previous two rescue attempts, and demolished Villa No.31 of Lakeside Mansion."
"Hmm," Zuo Zhenyu responded, quickly analyzing the current situation.
The current situation was indeed beyond the capacity of the Tongyuan police. The fact that these robbers from the Black Shark Society hadn't yet revealed their demands, in Zuo Zhenyu's view, was precisely a sign that their demands were significant.
They were waiting.
Waiting for this malicious kidnapping case to ferment, waiting for more of the public to pay attention to it, waiting for higher-level federation officials to inquire about the matter. Only when the situation escalated could their demands possibly be met.
But Zuo Zhenyu knew.
The federation would never compromise with criminals, especially not with criminals from the Black Shark Society.
"Alright, have your police negotiators continue to create a diversion. I'll dispatch an elite team to try…"
"Zhang Ju, Zuo Jiangjun, there's movement at Villa No.32!"
Just then, a police officer monitoring the surveillance shouted.
"What?!"
Zuo Zhenyu and Zhang Ju immediately stood up and went to the monitoring area.
The video showed a woman in a floral dress walking out of the villa, holding a tray made from a cardboard box.
A white flag was tucked into the back of her dress collar.
"Zoom in!" Zuo Zhenyu ordered. "See what she's holding."
"Yes!"
The screen zoomed in. When Zuo Zhenyu and Zhang Ju saw what was on the tray, they both couldn't help but gasp.
On the tray lay severed fingers.
There were male and female fingers, some tender, some coarse.
Row upon row of severed fingers lay on the tray, a horrifying sight.
Blood stained the cardboard, leaving behind terrifying blackish-red marks.
"These sons of bitches!" Zuo Zhenyu cursed.
Since arriving, he hadn't even seen the robbers' faces, yet he had already received two blatant provocations from them.
One disagreement, and they bombed a villa. Not a sound from them, yet dozens of hostages' fingers were cut off.
This was a display of force.
This was a provocation.
A provocation testing the limits of everyone present.
"Sis?!" Luo Ling suddenly cried out in sorrow.
The woman in the video was indeed Luo Ling's sister, Luo Yu.
The moment she saw her sister's figure, Luo Ling could no longer bear it. The mental pressure and pain reached their limit, and her body went limp, collapsing to the ground.
"Luo Ling!" Zuo Yiming and Lu Lin exclaimed, quickly helping her aside.
Zuo Zhenyu didn't have the mind to scold the three for peeking at the video. He watched as Luo Yu in the video walked to the villa's main gate and placed the cardboard box with dozens of severed fingers on the ground.
She surreptitiously glanced back towards the villa.
"Quick, prepare for extraction!" Zuo Zhenyu commanded. "She's going to make a run for it!"
The experienced Zuo Zhenyu almost instantly understood Luo Yu's intentions from her subtle movement.
But it was too late.
Before Zhang Ju could relay the order, Luo Yu, in the video, executed a roll on the ground and quickly got back on her feet.
She was near the gate.
Zuo Zhenyu's heart pounded.
Although Luo Yu's movements weren't flawless, the robbers, caught off guard, might not react in time.
In other words, Luo Yu had a good chance of escaping.
The robbers inside the villa clearly hadn't expected Luo Yu to pull such a stunt.
After all, Luo Yu had appeared very cooperative while inside the villa.
It was precisely because of this that the robbers had let her out.
They hadn't expected this seemingly weak and submissive girl to be so decisive.
Luo Yu took one step.
Safe.
Luo Yu took two steps.
The robber assigned to watch her raised his gun and aimed.
Luo Yu took three steps.
The City Defense Army soldiers surrounding the villa also quickly used their Biological Chips to scan for potential robber locations and protect Luo Yu.
A flicker of hope appeared in Luo Yu's eyes.
Almost there... Almost there...
It was only a distance of two or three meters, a few seconds that would normally pass unnoticed. Yet now, it felt like an insurmountable chasm.
BANG!
The gunshot rang out.
Luo Yu's body pitched forward, collapsing to the ground uncontrollably.