9: Don't kick it, hell is behind that door!

Bomb!

Chen Mo's hoarse roar was like a heavy hammer, striking hard against Li Hu's ankle, which was about to kick out.

Time, it seemed, was frozen at this moment.

Li Hu's foot, encased in a combat boot, hovered less than ten centimeters from the iron door.

Cold sweat instantly seeped from his forehead, trickling down his cheek.

"What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic!"

The next second, the still-shaken Li Hu exploded in anger.

He abruptly pulled back his foot and turned to roar at Chen Mo.

"Bomb? You were scared half to death just looking at a photo, and now you're fantasizing about bombs again?"

"Are you so scared of death that you've gone mad, and you want to drag all of us down with you as burial sacrifices?"

His voice was filled with humiliated rage and the lingering fear of being exposed.

"Silence!"

Zhao Dahai's low growl silenced all other sounds.

He didn't look at Li Hu.

His sharp eyes, like two scalpels, were fixed on Chen Mo's face.

"Chen Mo, give me a reason."

His voice was flat, so flat that not a hint of emotion could be detected.

But Su Qingxue knew this was the prelude to Captain Zhao's true anger.

If Chen Mo's reason couldn't convince him.

The consequences would be unimaginable.

"Heartbeat."

Chen Mo met Zhao Dahai's gaze, two words escaping his pale lips.

His body still trembled from the after-effects of PTSD, but his eyes were terrifyingly calm.

"What?" Zhao Dahai frowned.

"The heartbeat of the person inside."

Chen Mo's voice was not loud.

Yet, in the dead silent air, it struck at everyone's heart.

"From the moment we surrounded this place, his heartbeat showed no panic; it remained steady, as if he were admiring a work of art."

"The moment Li Hu was about to break down the door, his heart rate suddenly soared!"

"That wasn't the fear of being discovered, nor the tension of imminent capture."

Chen Mo paused.

In a factual tone, he uttered the words that sent shivers down everyone's spines.

"That was the uncontrollable... ecstasy and excitement of a hunter seeing his prey step into a trap!"

"He isn't afraid of us going in."

"He's looking forward to us going in!"

"Looking forward to... us violently initiating the prelude to this massacre for him!"

His words had no evidence, no physical proof.

It was all psychological profiling.

All vague speculation.

Li Hu listened, dumbfounded, then scoffed.

"Heartbeat? How do you know his heartbeat? Are you a god, able to hear heartbeats from a thousand miles away?"

"I think you're just making up stories! Captain Zhao, don't believe his nonsense, let's charge in!"

Zhao Dahai didn't move.

He still stared intently at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo's analysis sounded utterly absurd.

Yet... it perfectly matched the 'artist's' twisted psychology.

A madman who treats murder as art, setting a magnificent trap, waiting for the police to sacrifice their blood for his work.

This was too logical.

"Qingxue."

Zhao Dahai slowly spoke.

"Yes!"

"Use a powerful flashlight to check the door lock and the door crack."

"Yes!"

Su Qingxue immediately stepped forward, carefully shining a powerful flashlight from the side onto the rusty iron door.

The beam of light, like a sharp sword, cut through the darkness of the door crack.

Just inside the door hinge, a metal wire, thinner than a strand of hair and almost fused with the rust, appeared in the halo of light.

One end of the wire was connected to the door hinge.

The other end disappeared into the darkness behind the door.

As soon as the door was pushed open by an external force by more than five degrees, this wire would be instantly pulled!

"Captain..."

Su Qingxue's voice was as dry as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper.

"There's... there's a tripwire."

Boom!

Li Hu's mind felt like it had been detonated by a real bomb.

He froze in place, the color instantly draining from his face.

He looked down at where his toes had been hovering just moments ago.

Cold sweat poured down his back like a waterfall, soaking his combat uniform.

Only ten centimeters.

No, perhaps only one second.

He would have been a pile of charred flesh by now.

He spun around, looking at the Coward he had mocked all along.

That pale face still held the same calm expression.

Fear, reverence, shame... countless emotions intertwined in Li Hu's eyes.

Ultimately, only the blankness of having escaped death remained.

Zhao Dahai's body also swayed imperceptibly.

He slowly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the last trace of doubt vanished.

In its place was a volcanic eruption of anger and lingering fear.

He didn't reprimand Li Hu, nor did he praise Chen Mo.

Instead, he gave an order through his walkie-talkie in an extremely calm voice.

"Calling Headquarters! Calling Headquarters!"

"Explosives found in Factory Building No. 3 of the abandoned steel mill in the Eastern Suburbs. Suspect is armed. Requesting Bomb Squad and SWAT Officer support!"

"Repeat! Requesting Bomb Squad and SWAT Officer support!"

The order was given.

The atmosphere at the scene instantly escalated from an assault and arrest to a Level 1 anti-terrorist alert.

"Everyone, fall back! Establish a cordon!" Zhao Dahai roared.

Just as everyone was carefully retreating.

Zzzzt... a harsh electrical crackle suddenly emanated from the factory building.

Immediately after.

A voice, distorted by a voice changer, gender-ambiguous, and with a morbid laugh.

Through an old loudspeaker on the factory's exterior wall.

Resounded throughout the entire area.

"Hehehehe..."

"Welcome, officers, to my humble studio."

"I had originally prepared a warm welcoming gift for you, but unfortunately..."

"It was discovered by one of you... an interesting little mouse."

The owner of the voice had clearly seen everything that happened outside through surveillance.

Zhao Dahai and Su Qingxue's faces instantly turned extremely grim.

Their every move was under the other party's surveillance!

"Who are you! You are surrounded! Come out and surrender immediately!" Zhao Dahai roared into the loudspeaker.

"Surrender?"

The voice from the loudspeaker laughed even more happily.

"No, no, Captain Zhao, you've got it wrong."

"The game has only just begun."

"My latest work is not yet complete. I need a little more time."

"So, how about we play a little game?"

As soon as the words fell.

A window on the second floor of the factory, sealed with wooden boards, was pushed open from the inside with a clang.

A young girl, tied to a chair with her mouth taped shut, was pushed to the window.

Her face was stained with tears, her eyes filled with despair and terror, as she struggled desperately.

"It's the missing university student, Wang Qian!" Su Qingxue cried out.

She was the butcher of the rainy night's sixth target!

She was still alive!

"Do you see her?"

The voice from the loudspeaker was filled with pleasure.

"Such beautiful material, what a pity, she's about to wither."

"Beneath her is a pressure bomb. In thirty minutes, if you can't come in and 'save' her, she will, along with my unfinished work, become a brilliant firework."

"Of course, you can also choose to storm in."

"But I promise you, here, there are no bombs that can't be disarmed, only... hostages who can't be saved in time."

"So, countdown... begins."

Zzzzt.

The loudspeaker fell silent.

The entire world seemed to be left with only the girl's helpless whimpers and everyone's heavy heartbeats.

This was a dead end.

A thorough, insane game with human lives as stakes.

"Bastard!"

Li Hu's eyes were bloodshot with rage, and he raised his gun, about to charge forward.

"Come back!"

Zhao Dahai yanked him back.

"Do you want to get the hostage killed!"

For the first time, Zhao Dahai's face showed helplessness and agitation.

He wasn't facing an ordinary criminal.

But a high-IQ madman, meticulous, cruel, and utterly without bottom lines!

The EOD team and SWAT Officers would take at least twenty minutes to arrive.

They only had ten minutes left.

Ten minutes to disarm the booby trap on the door, rush into the complex factory building, find, and rescue the hostage.

This was an impossible mission!

Just as everyone was at their wits' end, sinking into despair.

The usually silent Chen Mo suddenly spoke.

His voice still held a slight tremor, but every word he uttered was incredibly clear.

"Captain Zhao, he lied."

"What?"

Everyone's gaze once again focused on this Coward.

Chen Mo raised his head.

Meeting their confused gazes, he slowly said:

"The hostage isn't on the second floor."

"That girl is just... an exhibit he's using to attract our attention."

"The real 'operating room' is underground."

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