Zuo Zhenyu furrowed his brows at the sound.
"What are you doing here."
"Leave quickly!"
Usually, if Zuo Yiming saw his father like this, he would obediently listen, but this time, Zuo Yiming decided to take bold action.
"Father."
"Luo Ling's sister is right here."
Zuo Zhenyu turned to look at Luo Ling upon hearing this.
Luo Ling nodded.
Zuo Zhenyu was about to say something, but then decided against it, waved his hand at Zuo Yiming and the others and said, "Forget it, you all go to the side first."
He then turned around and continued to study the terrain with the police official.
"The robbers are currently located at Lakeside Mansion, Block 32, and the villa's layout has been found."
"Additionally, the target's decoration situation has been retrieved through the light-brain database."
"Zuo Jiangjun, our police have already received eleven reports, and all the abductees share one significant trait."
"Oh, what trait is that."
Zuo Zhenyu asked.
Nearby, Lu Lin, Zuo Yiming, and Luo Ling sat in a corner, listening intently.
"The abductees are all relatives of high-achieving students from last and this year's college entrance exams."
"Last year, the parents of Tongyuan's Ice System Twin Stars Technique Awakener, Zhao Yutong, the father and sister of last year's college entrance exam second place, Flame System Twin Stars Skill Awakener, Chen Feng, the sister and girlfriend of last year's third place whose initial tempering degree reached 0.99%, Gold System Awakener, Doflamingo, the parents of this year's participating Wind System Awakener from Youai Middle School, Ashina Duer, the grandparents and two aunts of Tongyuan Martial Arts School's Gao Wei, who participated in this year's college entrance exam, and the sister of Golden Sword High School's Thunder System Twin Stars Skill Awakener, Luo Ling..."
The police officer spoke while glancing at the three people eavesdropping nearby.
Although Luo Ling was already somewhat prepared, she still felt a wave of dizziness upon hearing the police briefing.
Her sister was really abducted, not just unreachable for other reasons.
While on her way, she had thought about how her family didn't have money or power, and if any robbers wanted to abduct someone, they wouldn't choose her sister.
Unexpectedly, the targets chosen were the relatives of high-achieving students from the past two years' college entrance exams.
"Luo Ling, don't worry."
"My father will rescue everyone."
Zuo Yiming softly comforted her.
At this moment, Luo Ling could no longer maintain her previous strong and stubborn demeanor, her face turned pale, and if it weren't for Zuo Yiming supporting her, she might have fainted.
"Do we know the robbers' demands."
"Why would the reputable Black Shark Society come to Tongyuan and abduct so many relatives of students."
Zuo Zhenyu rubbed his temples and asked.
Tongyuan is a relatively remote small city on Blue Star, how could it attract members of the Black Shark Society.
Fortunately, no one knows about this yet; otherwise, if this incident erupts, it would surely cause shock and attention across Blue Star.
So many abducted relatives involve students, the universities where students are enrolled, the regions and races students belong to, the planets of students' domiciles, and various relationships related to students including classmates, friends, and teachers.
If not handled properly, losing his own position would be a small matter for Zuo Zhenyu, but the image of the entire region and even the federation could be greatly impacted and questioned.
"Zuo Jiangjun, the robbers' demands are still unknown."
"After abducting many people, the robbers merely blocked the Star Energy Network signals within the villa, thwarted our previous two rescue operations, and damaged Lakeside Mansion Villa 31."
"Alright."
Zuo Zhenyu responded, quickly analyzing the current situation in his mind.
The situation at hand cannot be handled by Tongyuan police; the robbers from the Black Shark Society haven't revealed their demands for a long time, which Zuo Zhenyu sees as evidence of their significant demands.
They are waiting.
Waiting for this heinous kidnapping case to ferment, waiting for more citizens to pay attention to it, waiting for higher-level federation personnel to intervene, only when the situation escalates could their demands possibly be satisfied.
But Zuo Zhenyu knows.
The federation will never compromise with evildoers, especially not with those from the Black Shark Society.
"Alright, could you please have the police send negotiation experts to draw attention, while I'll dispatch an elite team to attempt..."
"Zhang Ju, Zuo Jiangjun, there's movement at Villa No.32!"
Just then, the police officer monitoring the surveillance shouted.
"What?!"
Zuo Zhenyu and Zhang Ju immediately got up and went to the surveillance area.
The video showed a woman in a floral dress holding a tray made of a cardboard box, walking out from inside the villa.
The back collar of the woman's dress had a white flag inserted.
"Enlarge it!"
"See what's she carrying in her hands?"
Zuo Zhenyu said.
"Yes!"
The screen zoomed in, and when Zuo Zhenyu and Zhang Ju saw what was on the tray, they couldn't help but let out a gasp.
On the tray lay severed hands.
There were both men's and women's hands, some were tender and some rough.
The hands were laid on the tray, shocking to behold.
Blood stained the cardboard, leaving terrifying black and red marks.
"These mother*less bastards!"
Zuo Zhenyu cursed angrily.
Since arriving here, he hadn't even seen the robbers' faces but had received their intimidating signals twice.
Without a word, they destroyed a villa.
Silently cut off the hands of dozens of hostages.
This was provocation.
This was a challenge.
A challenge to the tolerance of everyone present.
"Sister?!"
Luo Ling suddenly cried out.
The woman in the video was Luo Ling's sister, Luo Yu.
At the sight of her sister, Luo Ling could no longer bear it, the mental pressure and agony reaching its peak, she slumped to the ground.
"Luo Ling!"
Zuo Yiming and Lu Lin exclaimed and hurriedly helped Luo Ling aside.
At this time, Zuo Zhenyu couldn't concern himself with reprimanding the three for watching the video, only to see Luo Yu in the video, walking to the villa's main gate and placing the cardboard with countless severed hands on the ground.
She covertly glanced at the direction of the villa.
"Quick, prepare to respond."
"She's going to escape!"
Experienced Zuo Zhenyu almost instantly understood Luo Yu's intention from her movements.
But.
It was late.
Before Zhang Ju could give the order.
Luo Yu in the video rolled on the ground, then quickly got up.
She was by the door.
Zuo Zhenyu's heart leapt.
Luo Yu's movements were not quite standard, but caught off guard, the robbers might not react in time.
That is to say, Luo Yu's hope of escape... is high.
The robbers in the villa clearly didn't expect Luo Yu to have this move.
In the villa, Luo Yu had always acted cooperatively.
Because of this, the robbers let Luo Yu out.
No one expected that a seemingly delicate and obedient girl would be so decisive.
Luo Yu took a step.
Safe.
Luo Yu took two steps.
Her watching robbers raised their gun to aim.
Luo Yu took three steps.
The soldiers of the City Defense Army encircling the villa quickly used biological chips to search for possible locations of robbers to protect Luo Yu.
Luo Yu's eyes showed a glimmer of hope.
Almost... almost...
Though separated by only three or four meters, an amount of time usually passed within seconds unheeded.
At this moment, it seemed an insurmountable gap.
Bam!
The gunshot rang out.
Luo Yu's body uncontrollably fell to the ground.