Chapter 562: Chapter 573 Cunning Villain
Li Xinyue clutched Li Yifei’s arm tightly, burying her head in his shoulder, and said tremblingly, "It’s too terrifying... they... they really kill people."
Li Yifei gently patted her on the back and said, "Then you should leave. This place isn’t suitable for you."
"No!" Li Xinyue suddenly gripped Li Yifei’s arm tighter, raised her head, and said, "I want to stay here."
"What are you going to do here? I’m afraid there might be more killings soon."
"Then I’m not leaving. Such major news, I have to keep filming. Besides... with you here, I’m not afraid." Although Li Xinyue’s face was still pallid, her intense gaze displayed her resolute heart.
Li Yifei actually admired Li Xinyue’s courage and said with a smile, "Alright then, stay here."
Li Xinyue gave a strained smile and asked, "You will protect me, right?"
"With so many police officers around, do you still need my protection?"
Li Xinyue leaned toward Li Yifei’s embrace and said, "I only feel safe with you here."
Li Yifei quickly straightened his arms to support her shoulder, to prevent her from really leaning into his arms, and said, "There are so many police officers here."
Only then did Li Xinyue remember where they were; she stuck out her tongue and stood up straight. Thankfully, the police officers nearby were all distracted by the murdered hostage and no one noticed them. Otherwise, two police officers, a man and a woman, hugging each other would definitely have drawn everyone’s attention.
At that time, Li Yifei was not in the mood for joking with Li Xinyue. Now that the criminals had started killing hostages, if Lin Qiong had bad luck and was chosen by the criminals, that would be dangerous. The best course of action now was to prevent them from killing more hostages.
The hostage they had seized was shot in the head and was dead beyond doubt. This outraged all the police and special forces. Each one of them was grinding their teeth in anger at the criminals.
It was not that the police lacked a sense of justice, but they hadn’t encountered such a situation before. Faced with this scenario, their sense of justice was fully ignited. Many officers began to volunteer for action.
"Director, let us go in. We will definitely capture all the criminals."
"Director, let us take the lead. We will surely complete the mission."
At this time, Ning Changzheng himself wished to capture all the criminals, but under these circumstances, a direct approach would undoubtedly lead to more hostages being injured or killed. The most prudent strategy was to temporarily agree to the criminals’ demands.
"Prepare the vehicles!" Ning Changzheng took a deep breath and issued the order.
Immediately, someone excitedly said, "Director, these criminals are so ferocious; we can’t let them get away."
Ning Changzheng clenched his fists and said, "We are not letting them go. By agreeing to their conditions, they will have fewer hostages, which means even if there is a confrontation, it won’t result in more casualties. Our priority now is to ensure the safety of the hostages."
While arranging for the vehicles, they also planned how to intercept these few cars. All the police officers quickly sprang into action.
Li Yifei agreed with such arrangements. In situations like this, unless there was certainty, charging in recklessly was not a wise choice. This plan offered some leeway.
However, those criminals were all seasoned. Ning Changzheng might protect the hostages with such a strategy, but catching those criminals would probably be difficult.
Li Yifei had come here mainly because of Lin Qiong. As long as Lin Qiong was safe, he didn’t want to interfere with Ning Changzheng and his team’s handling of the case.
For the safety of the hostages, the police were highly efficient. Soon, two police vans stopped in front of the museum entry.
A criminal, using the vehicle for cover, came to the entrance and shouted outside, "Clear the road for us now. If it’s not done within two minutes, we will kill a hostage."
Ning Changzheng’s face twitched as he waved his hand, and the caution tape across the road was quickly removed.
"Director Ning is indeed decisive. Rest assured, we are after money; as long as you don’t forcefully confront us, we won’t kill any more hostages," the criminal then added before signaling with his hand. Two people then came out from inside the museum and directly got into the driver’s seats of the vehicles.
Following closely, seven more thugs walked out, each holding a hostage. There were not eight, but ten thugs in total, as Lin Qiong had not seen the two that were initially hidden.
Among the seven hostages, there were five women and surprisingly, children. It was clear that the kidnappers preferred women and children as hostages, believing them to be easier to manage than men. Among these hostages was Lin Qiong herself.
With hostages in hand, although several sniper rifles were set up on the rooftop, the officers dared not take the shot. They simply didn’t have enough snipers, and even if they could hit their targets, they couldn’t kill all the thugs at once. The remaining kidnappers would certainly kill the hostages in retaliation.
Moreover, the kidnappers were using the hostages to shield themselves, making it impossible to take a shot without hitting a vital spot.
The hostages could no longer even cry at this point; they were trembling, legs weak from fear. These were armed kidnappers who had already killed hostages, and they didn’t know if they would be the next victims.
Lin Qiong was now a hostage, which was what she had hoped for, but now she had no choice but to act like the others, not daring to resist.
Rescuing hostages was Li Yifei’s forte. From his professional perspective, these kidnappers were not weak; they were truly skilled. Unless they were willing to risk the hostages’ safety, a frontal rescue was an impossible mission.
As the second-in-command of Flying Hawk, a frontal hostage rescue would only be attempted in the direst of circumstances, risking other hostages’ lives to save one. In this situation, although Lin Qiong was the most important person to Li Yifei, he had returned to the life of an ordinary person in the city and could not disregard the safety of others’ lives. Besides, if there was any chance to save the hostages, why wouldn’t he do everything possible?
So, Li Yifei could only wait for an opportunity.
The kidnappers had already gotten into the cars by this point. One of them rolled down a window, pulled down his mask to uncover his nose, made a gun with his hands in front of his mouth, and suddenly blew, making a "bang" sound. Immediately, two vans zoomed off.
The police officers also hurriedly got into their cars to give chase. One officer had just pulled open his car door when someone suddenly pushed him out of the way. Before he could figure out what happened, his police car had already sped off.
"Who? Who took my car?" The officer was left bewildered, wondering who had driven his car away. But with chaos already unfolding at the museum entrance, it was anyone’s guess who took the car; all he could tell was it was someone in a police uniform.
"Boom!" Just then, a loud explosion suddenly erupted from inside the museum. The ground shook, sending bricks and stones flying into the air, then crashing back down onto several cars. Following this were flames and thick smoke billowing from the museum.
The kidnappers had planted bombs inside the museum, which they detonated upon their departure.
"Quick, go rescue the hostages!" Director Ning was about to get into his car when the blast nearly knocked him off his feet. Seeing what had happened, he was outraged and quickly issued orders. Most of the police officers immediately rushed toward the museum.
Although the bomb had not exploded directly among the hostages inside the museum, it was still close enough to affect them all. Thankfully, none were killed, but there were many serious injuries, and cries of agony filled the air.
This explosion had significantly split the police forces, and now only three cars were left chasing the two vans.
Li Yifei and Li Xinyue were in the last of these three vehicles, having commandeered one of the police cars earlier.
"Brother Li, these criminals are ruthless," Li Xinyue said, clenching her fists, her brows tightly furrowed.
Li Yifei didn’t reply, focusing intently on driving and keeping his eyes on the vans ahead. The kidnappers’ driving skills were surprisingly good; despite the heavy traffic, their speed did not drop below eighty miles per hour and was still increasing. The two police cars ahead were struggling to keep up, and soon, Li Yifei had overtaken them, the only one able to follow the leading van.
Excited, Li Xinyue exclaimed, "Brother Li, you must catch them. These kidnappers are so despicable. If they get away, they will harm even more people. And we don’t even know how many died in that explosion."
Li Yifei nodded, saying, "Don’t worry, they won’t get away," as he maneuvered the wheel and passed several more cars.
Although the criminals were driving fast, the cars were tracked by satellite positioning, and there were cameras along the roads. The traffic control center had already been notified and was monitoring the two vans. Therefore, Li Yifei’s car radio was constantly reporting the position of the vans, ensuring they wouldn’t lose them. Additional police cars joined the pursuit, but aside from keeping up for a while, there was little they could do. The kidnappers had hostages and guns, and most of the SWAT team was at the museum, leaving mainly traffic police in the chase, limiting their effectiveness.
"We’ve lost satellite tracking on the leading car; we cannot pinpoint their exact location anymore," the command center reported suddenly.
Li Yifei knew the other side must have sophisticated electronic jamming equipment. These weren’t ordinary criminals; they were akin to mercenaries. This only made Li Yifei more suspicious of their origins. Regardless of who they were, they had abducted Lin Qiong, and Li Yifei was determined to deal with them.
Without satellite positioning, relying solely on road condition photos and location reports provided by the traffic officers, updates were no longer timely. Soon, except for Li Yifei’s car, the rest of the police vehicles had been left behind.
Although Mile City was not a major metropolis, it was still a sizable city with considerable traffic flow. During rush hours, traffic jams were common. Without the satellite system, the only chance to keep up with the van was if someone like Li Yifei was following closely behind.