218: Chapter 219 Remnants of Destiny Kidnap the Female Lead

Jiangcheng's autumn night, the evening breeze carried the sweet scent of osmanthus, blowing through the courtyard of Song Family Manor.

Zhou Yurou, Qin Xue, Song Zhiwei, and Lin Wanyi were gathered around a round table on the terrace, with exquisite tea snacks and red wine laid out. The atmosphere was warm and cozy—this was their agreed-upon 'post-war gathering,' celebrating Zhang Fan's major victory at the Geneva summit and temporarily shedding the tension of the past few days.

'I really didn't expect the Western Alliance to collapse so quickly,' Qin Xue said, holding a glass of red wine with a smile on her face. 'Now the whole world is scrambling to cooperate with Singularity, and my orders are backed up until the year after next.'

Song Zhiwei gently swirled her wine glass, a flash of pride in her eyes. 'The most satisfying part is Mark Anderson. I heard he has already been dismissed by the board of directors, and Aivda is in complete chaos right now. This is the consequence of a monopoly; they thought they could choke others, but in the end, they only trapped themselves.'

Zhou Yurou focused on cutting the cake, her tone steady. 'However, we still can't let our guard down. Tianming Group has lost its chips in technology and capital, so they might resort to extreme measures. Gu Jingshen has already strengthened security, and we have dedicated personnel following us whenever we go out.'

Lin Wanyi nodded. She had just returned from an overseas intelligence mission and had the best understanding of Tianming's ruthlessness. 'That's right. My informants in Southeast Asia said that Tianming has recently recruited a group of top-tier mercenaries, and their capital movements are very frequent. They are likely planning something, so we must be extra careful.'

No sooner had she finished speaking than a few slight, unusual noises came from outside the courtyard. Lin Wanyi was instantly alert and stood up abruptly. 'Not good! Something's wrong!'

Before her voice had faded, over a dozen mercenaries wearing black combat gear and masks vaulted over the surrounding wall. They held suppressed rifles, their movements as swift as leopards. The leader raised his hand to signal, and the mercenaries immediately formed an encirclement, their gun barrels pointed directly at the four women on the terrace.

'Don't move!' the lead mercenary said in a hoarse voice, shouting in stiff Chinese. 'Come with us, or don't blame the bullets for being blind!'

Qin Xue subconsciously wanted to reach for the emergency alarm at her waist, but the mercenaries acutely noticed it, and the gun barrel immediately aimed at her. 'Behave! Don't try any tricks!'

Zhou Yurou quickly calmed down, her gaze sweeping over the surrounding mercenaries—they were well-equipped and moved professionally; they were clearly battle-hardened veterans. She slowly raised her hands, her tone calm. 'Who are you? What do you want?'

'Who we are doesn't matter,' the lead mercenary sneered. 'What matters is that Zhang Fan owes our boss a debt, and now it's time to pay it back. Come with us, don't make us use force!'

Lin Wanyi quietly observed the surrounding environment, trying to find a breakthrough, but found that the mercenaries had blocked all escape routes. She lowered her voice and signaled to the other three, indicating that they should not resist—fighting head-on now was undoubtedly like throwing an egg against a rock; they could only comply for now and look for an opportunity to save themselves.

The four were taken by the mercenaries into black off-road vehicles, their eyes blindfolded and their hands and feet bound. The vehicle drove for about two hours and finally stopped at an abandoned factory. They were pushed out of the car and their blindfolds were removed, only to find themselves in an empty warehouse covered in surveillance cameras, with two guards holding rifles standing in the corner.

'What exactly do you want?' Song Zhiwei suppressed the anxiety in her heart and asked firmly.

The lead mercenary took out a mobile phone, played a video, and handed it to Song Zhiwei. In the video, the 'Bishop's' face appeared on the screen, his eyes sinister. 'Tell Zhang Fan, if he wants you to go back alive, he must obediently hand over all core technologies of Singularity Technology—including the complete design blueprints of the Photon Chip, the formula for 'brave peace and health', and the core algorithms of AI healthcare. Also, tell him to come here alone to keep the appointment. He is not allowed to bring anyone, otherwise, I will kill you!'

The video finished playing, and the mercenary took back the phone. 'You have ten minutes to make him choose. Ten minutes later, I want to hear his answer, otherwise, we will start by cutting off a finger!'

Meanwhile, Zhang Fan was holding an emergency meeting at the Singularity headquarters to deploy the promotion plan for the eastern technology standard. Suddenly, Gu Jingshen rushed into the conference room with a panicked expression, holding an encrypted phone. 'Boss! It's bad! President Zhou and the others have been kidnapped!'

Zhang Fan's heart sank to the bottom in an instant. He stood up abruptly and snatched the phone. On the screen was the video sent by the mercenaries—in the video, Zhou Yurou, Qin Xue, Song Zhiwei, and Lin Wanyi were tied to chairs, their faces pale but their eyes determined, without a trace of fear. When he heard the 'Bishop's' threat, Zhang Fan's eyes instantly turned cold, and a terrifying murderous aura emanated from him, making the temperature in the entire conference room drop by several degrees.

'Tianming Group...' Zhang Fan's voice was low and hoarse, carrying repressed anger. 'You are truly courting death!'

He immediately pressed the internal line and roared into the receiver: 'Notify all forces that can be mobilized! Gu Jingshen, gather your special forces immediately, blockade all entrances and exits of Jiangcheng, and investigate suspicious locations such as abandoned factories and warehouses; activate the full security network of Song Zhiwei's family, use all connections to find the kidnappers' trail; contact the Dragon King and have his overseas forces immediately investigate the whereabouts of the Tianming mercenary group; in addition, order the Technology Department to fully track the signal source of the kidnappers' mobile phone. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you must find them!'

'Yes! Boss!' Gu Jingshen immediately turned to act, his face filled with the same anger—he had long expected that Tianming would resort to extreme measures, but he didn't expect them to act so quickly and accurately find the heroines' gathering place.

Others in the conference room also stood up with solemn expressions. Qin Xue's husband, Gu Jingshen, immediately said: 'President Zhang, I will immediately contact friends in the real estate industry in Jiangcheng. They are very familiar with all the abandoned factories in the city and will definitely be able to help!'

'And me,' Wang Jingdong pushed up his glasses. 'I will contact the police, apply for city-wide assistance, and prepare legal documents. Once we find Tianming's base, we will bring them to justice on charges of 'kidnapping and extortion' and 'endangering national security'!'

Zhang Fan didn't speak, just stared fixedly at the video on the phone, his fingers tightly clenched, his knuckles turning white. The system in his mind had already started, Causality Deduction was running rapidly, analyzing the possible hiding places of the kidnappers: [Deduction result: The kidnappers' signal source points to the abandoned 'Hongxing Machinery Factory' in the western suburbs of Jiangcheng. The mercenary group has about 20 people, equipped with automatic weapons, and there are bomb traps in the warehouse.]

'Found them!' Zhang Fan's eyes sharpened, and he immediately shouted into the phone, 'Gu Jingshen, target is the Hongxing Machinery Factory in the western suburbs of Jiangcheng! Get the equipment ready, we depart in five minutes! Remember, try to capture them alive. I want the 'Bishop' to pay the most painful price!'

Hanging up the phone, Zhang Fan walked quickly towards the office door, the murderous aura on his body almost tangible. He knew this was the last madness of Tianming Group. They had nowhere to turn and were capable of anything. Zhou Yurou, Qin Xue, Song Zhiwei, and Lin Wanyi were each the most important people in his life, and he would never let them suffer any harm.

'Tianming, you picked the wrong person to mess with,' Zhang Fan said softly, a bloodthirsty light flashing in his eyes. 'Today, not only will I rescue them, but I will also completely eradicate your remaining forces and make you disappear from this world forever!'

Five minutes later, Zhang Fan boarded an armored vehicle and led Gu Jingshen's special forces, speeding towards the western suburbs of Jiangcheng. In the night, the lights of the convoy pierced through the darkness like a sharp sword, pointing directly at the kidnappers' hideout. A life-and-death rescue mission centered on family, love, and revenge officially began.

Meanwhile, in the warehouse of the abandoned factory, Zhou Yurou, Qin Xue, Song Zhiwei, and Lin Wanyi looked at each other, seeing determination in each other's eyes. They were not panicked; instead, they were communicating quietly—Zhou Yurou used her eyes to signal the ventilation duct in the corner of the warehouse, Qin Xue quietly untied the restraints on her wrists (they weren't tied tightly), Song Zhiwei was observing the guard's shift rotation pattern, and Lin Wanyi was looking for things that could be used as weapons.

They knew Zhang Fan would definitely come to save them. But before the rescue arrived, what they needed to do was protect themselves and buy as much time as possible for Zhang Fan, or even... cause some trouble for the kidnappers. A self-rescue operation belonging to the heroines was also quietly unfolding.