218: Prelude to the Return

Just then, a knocking sound suddenly came from outside the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

It was very rhythmic.

"Open the door! Police! What was that sound inside just now?!"

The SWAT Officer outside had clearly heard the commotion of the coffee table shattering.

A glimmer of hope flashed in the eyes of the Man in Gray, and he opened his mouth to shout.

Pfft.

The half-burnt cigarette butt in Chen Mo's hand was shoved directly into his mouth, burning him until his whole body convulsed.

"Don't shout."

Chen Mo leaned into his ear and whispered, "The police can't save you. If they come in, they will only see two corpses."

He stood up and walked to the door.

The SWAT Officer outside was still shouting, "If you don't open the door, we're going to break it down!"

Chen Mo did not open the door.

He simply placed his hand against the door panel.

Listening.

There were two people outside.

One was holding a battering ram, heart rate 120, nervous.

The other had a hand on their holster, heart rate 90, alert.

"What are you trying to do?"

Su Qingxue climbed in from the balcony, soaked to the bone, looking like a drowned cat.

She glanced at the half-dead Man in Gray on the floor and frowned, "If we kill the police, we really won't have any way out."

"Who said I was going to kill the police?"

Chen Mo turned his head and pointed at the Man in Gray on the floor, "There is a ready-made scapegoat here."

He grabbed the collar of the Man in Gray and dragged him to the door.

"Cooperate a little."

Chen Mo shoved the glock pistol into the uninjured left hand of the Man in Gray, then gripped his hand and aimed it at the main door.

Bang!

The gun went off.

The bullet pierced through the door panel and struck the wall in the hallway.

"Attacking an officer! Attacking an officer!!"

The scene outside turned into chaos instantly, "Requesting backup! The suspect has a gun!!"

"Go."

Chen Mo dropped the Man in Gray and turned to sprint toward the kitchen.

"You are creating chaos!" Su Qingxue followed behind him, "The SWAT Officers will surround this place immediately!"

"Chaos is a ladder."

Chen Mo kicked open the kitchen window.

Outside, the rain was pouring down.

The sound of police sirens below tore through the night sky.

Countless red and blue lights flickered through the curtain of rain.

"Ninth Master, time to pick up the guests!" Chen Mo shouted into his headset.

"Coming, coming! You life-stealing devil!"

A roar of an engine came through the earpiece.

A dilapidated garbage truck suddenly charged through the police cordon as if out of control, barreling into the residential complex garden and stopping right under Building Four.

The hopper on the roof of the truck slowly rose, aligning perfectly with the fourth-floor window.

"Jump!"

Chen Mo didn't hesitate in the slightest; he grabbed Su Qingxue, who hadn't reacted yet, and leapt out.

The wind whistled.

The sensation of weightlessness nearly made Su Qingxue's heart stop.

Bang!

The two of them landed heavily in a pile of foul-smelling household waste.

"Ugh..." Su Qingxue nearly threw up, "This is your extraction plan?!"

"Environmentally friendly, low carbon."

Chen Mo climbed up and brushed off the rotten vegetable leaves from his body, "Drive!"

The garbage truck let out a beast-like roar, smashed through the fence, and sped away.

Behind them, flashes of light flickered inside the window of Room 404.

The Man in Gray who had been left behind was now facing the SWAT squad that had just broken through the door.

Holding a gun in his hand, he had no way to explain himself.

...

Half an hour later.

North of the city, at an abandoned car repair shop.

The garbage truck was parked over the repair pit, still dripping dirty water.

Ninth Master stroked the dented front of the truck with heartache, "This was a junker I bought for five thousand yuan; I hadn't even warmed it up yet..."

Chen Mo ignored him.

He sat on a tire, using the light from the truck's headlights to count the money in a cookie tin.

"Two bills are missing."

Chen Mo frowned, "They must have fallen into the trash pile."

"Big Brother! Two million! Why the hell do you care about two hundred yuan?!"

Ninth Master exclaimed, going crazy, "The police from the entire city are chasing us now! The news just reported that a 'sacrificed martyr' has come back to life to attack the police! You've been upgraded directly from a martyr to a terrorist!"

"That's good."

Chen Mo closed the lid and handed the money to Ninth Master, "Take it. Buy equipment."

"Buy what?"

"We are going to the 404 National Highway."

Chen Mo's gaze turned toward the dark north, "That is a mountainous area; there is no signal and no supplies. We need off-road vehicles, satellite phones, and guns."

"And this."

Su Qingxue walked over, holding the communicator she had swiped from the Man in Gray.

"This thing rang just now."

She pressed the play button.

A gloomy voice came out.

"...This is Headquarters. If you cannot find the hard drive, initiate Plan B. Blow up the entire building. Even if it destroys half the city block, you cannot let that thing see the light of day."

The air instantly froze.

The cigarette in Ninth Master's hand dropped to the ground.

"Blow... blow up the building?" Ninth Master stammered, "That's a residential building! There are hundreds of people living inside!"

"They don't care."

Chen Mo took the communicator, squeezed it hard with five fingers, and crushed it directly, "In their eyes, human lives are just numbers."

"What exactly is in that hard drive?" Su Qingxue asked.

"I don't know."

Chen Mo stood up, "But I know that since they are so afraid of that thing seeing the light of day, then it must be in our hands."

"In our hands?" Ninth Master patted down his whole body, "I only have a pack of betel nuts and two packs of cigarettes."

Chen Mo looked at the cookie tin.

He poured out all the money and then tore open the false bottom of the box with force.

A black SD card was stuck silently in the lining.

"This is..." Su Qingxue's pupils constricted slightly.

"A birthday gift from Old Zhang."

Chen Mo picked up the card, his eyes filled with complex emotions, "Three years ago, when I first joined the police force, he gave me this cookie tin. He said, 'To be a police officer, you must learn to hide your talents, and you must also learn to hide your trump card.'"

So, the trump card had been here all along.

Right under the bed where he slept every night.

"Can you read it?" Chen Mo handed the card to Ninth Master.

Ninth Master took the card and inserted it into the tablet, which was water-damaged but still barely able to turn on.

The screen flickered a few times.

A progress bar began to climb slowly.

"It's encrypted." Ninth Master's fingers tapped rapidly on the screen, "This type of encryption algorithm is very old, it looks like military-grade... wait."

The screen suddenly went black.

Then, a line of blood-red text popped up.

[Warning: Accessing this file requires biometric authentication]

[Please verify fingerprint: Chen Mo]

Chen Mo extended his finger and pressed it onto the screen.

Beep.

The screen lit up.

No documents, no videos.

Only one audio file.

The file name was: Heartbeat.mp3.

"A recording?" Ninth Master was somewhat disappointed, "This is the secret they wanted to blow up the building to cover up?"

Chen Mo didn't speak.

He clicked the play button.

Zzzzt—

The beginning was a long stretch of white noise.

Then, a sound rang out.

Thump— Thump— Thump—

It was a heartbeat.

But not a human heartbeat.

The frequency was extremely slow, yet extremely heavy; every beat was accompanied by a friction sound like gears meshing.

Chen Mo's complexion changed instantly.

He clutched his chest and began to gasp violently.

This sound...

It was exactly the same as the mechanical heart in his chest!

"No, that's not right."

Chen Mo gritted his teeth, staring fixedly at the screen, "This isn't a recording. This is... a live stream."

"A live stream?" Su Qingxue was stunned.

"This heartbeat is real-time."

Chen Mo pointed at the audio wave curve, "Its source is in that sanatorium at the end of the 404 National Highway. It is calling to me."

"It is saying: Come home."

Chen Mo raised his head and looked toward the pitch-black night sky.

Those ears that could hear the whispers of the dead were now catching that summons from afar in the pouring rain.

"Pack your things."

Chen Mo sheathed his knife back at his waist, his eyes as cold as eternal ice.

"Since it wants me to come home, then I will go back and take a look."

"Take a look at which deity stole my heart."