138: Chapter 138 This acting deserves an Oscar!

Boom!

A string in Lei Dapao's mind snapped instantly.

It's true!

It's actually true!

This great philanthropist who called the shots in Jiangcheng was really that cold-blooded drug lord!

"Fuck his grandmother!"

Lei Dapao slammed a fist onto the desk, causing a crack to split through the solid wood table.

"All units, listen up!"

"Notify the SWAT Team, the Bomb Squad, and the Armed Police Detachment!"

"Get every single person who's still breathing out there for me!"

"Target: Jiangcheng International Hotel!"

"Surround the place completely! Don't let a single fly out!"

After roaring his orders, Lei Dapao grabbed his sidearm and rushed out, shouting into his earpiece as he ran: "Qin Yumo! Take a team and head there first. Slip in undercover! Remember, do not alert the target. He's a drug kingpin; he's definitely packing heat!"

Sirens wailed throughout the Municipal Bureau courtyard as dozens of police cars, flashing red and blue lights, surged out the gate like a long steel dragon.

...

In the livestream room.

Su Yun watched the screen fill with "WTF" comments, but his expression grew increasingly solemn.

Because on the system panel, Chen Jin's life countdown had less than an hour left.

The ticking red numbers made his heart race with anxiety.

"The police are already on their way."

Su Yun spoke to the camera, his voice terrifyingly low.

"But it might be too late."

"Chen Jin didn't go there to negotiate; he went there to give his life."

"He is currently on the second basement floor of the Jiangcheng International Hotel."

"He disguised himself as an air conditioning repairman, fooled the security, and snuck into the equipment room."

"That position is directly beneath the banquet hall."

Su Yun's fingers tapped rapidly on the table, each sound seemingly striking the viewers' heartstrings.

"The explosives strapped to him aren't ordinary homemade ones."

"They are industrial detonators he stole from the mines, combined with homemade ammonium nitrate explosives."

"A full twenty kilograms."

"He has tied the explosives to the thickest load-bearing pillar in the basement."

"The moment he presses that remote in his hand..."

"Bang!"

Su Yun made an explosion gesture.

"The entire banquet hall will collapse."

"Zhao Tai won't escape, and neither will the hundreds of people attending the banquet."

"Chen Jin himself will be reduced to ash."

The viewers in the livestream room panicked completely.

"Twenty kilograms? That's enough to blow the whole hotel to the sky!"

"Hundreds of people? They're all innocent!"

"Chen Jin is being too extreme! Every debt has its debtor; just kill Zhao Tai, don't hurt the innocent!"

"You lot are talking big from the comfort of your homes! The man has endured for fifteen years; he's going there for mutual destruction! You expect a martyr to be reasonable with you?"

"Master Su, think of something! How much longer until the police arrive?"

Su Yun shook his head.

"It's too late."

"The banquet is about to reach its climax; Zhao Tai is going on stage to give a speech."

"That is the signal for Chen Jin to act."

"As soon as Zhao Tai shows his face, Chen Jin will press the button."

Su Yun took a deep breath, his eyes scanning rapidly through the bullet chat list.

He was looking for someone.

Looking for someone who could help him stall for time at this critical juncture.

Suddenly, a comment with a golden border caught his attention.

[Jiangcheng Kuoshao]: Holy crap! I'm at the banquet right now! I was wondering why the AC was acting weird today; turns out someone's causing trouble downstairs? Master Su, save me! I don't want to die!

Su Yun's eyes lit up.

It's you!

"Friend named Jiangcheng Kuoshao, don't panic."

Su Yun immediately sent a connection invitation.

"Accept the connection! Fast!"

A few seconds later, the screen flickered, and the connection was established.

The footage was shaky; clearly, the person holding the phone was trembling violently.

The background was a Jinbi Huihuang hall. Crystal chandeliers were dizzying, and men and women in formal attire were chatting and laughing with champagne in hand.

None of them knew that Death was crouching right beneath their feet.

The camera turned, focusing on a chubby face.

It was a young man in his early twenties, his face deathly pale and his forehead drenched in cold sweat.

"M-Master Su..."

The young man's voice was shaking, and the sound of his teeth chattering was clearly audible.

"What should I do now? Should I run?"

"I want to go home to my mom..."

Su Yun shouted sternly, "Don't run!"

"If you run now, you'll only cause a panic!"

"Once things get chaotic, an old fox like Zhao Tai will notice immediately. If he escapes, Chen Jin's fifteen years of endurance will have been for nothing!"

"Moreover, if you run out now, you'll run straight into the arriving police, blocking the way. No one will survive!"

The young man was jolted by Su Yun's shout, tears welling in his eyes.

"Then, then I won't run. I'll listen to the Master..."

Su Yun's tone softened slightly, but it still carried an unquestionable authority.

"Hold your phone up."

"Use the rear camera."

"Point it toward the stage."

The young man tremblingly obeyed, turning the phone around.

In the frame, the stage was covered in red carpet, and the backdrop bore the large characters: "Zhao Tai Charity Foundation 15th Anniversary Celebration."

A middle-aged man in a well-tailored suit stood glowingly before the microphone.

The man was about fifty years old, wearing gold-rimmed glasses with his hair meticulously combed. He looked refined and scholarly, the very image of a gentleman businessman.

He wore a warm, pleasant smile as he waved to the guests below the stage.

"Zhao Tai."

Su Yun squeezed those two words through his teeth as he stared at the face on the screen.

This was the drug lord who had washed himself cleaner than a sheet of white paper.

This was the beast whose hands were stained with blood, yet who enjoyed flowers and applause.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and many people even stood up to cheer.

"Chairman Zhao is truly righteous!"

"Chairman Zhao is the pride of our Jiangcheng!"

Zhao Tai gestured for everyone to be quiet, then adjusted his glasses and spoke in a magnetic voice:

"Thank you all for gracing my humble abode."

"For these fifteen years, I, Zhao, have only done one thing, and that is to atone for my sins."

"Oh no, I mean, to do good deeds."

"Seeing the pure, smiling faces of those children, I feel that my life has been worth it."

The viewers in the livestream room were about to explode with rage seeing this.

"Pah! He's such a damn good actor!"

"He looks so dignified, but he's actually feeding on the blood of others!"

"This acting, Oscar owes him a Little Golden Man!"

"Where's Chen Jin? Why hasn't Chen Jin acted yet? Blow this bastard up!"

"No, no, no! The streamer said it would hurt innocents! And that rich kid is also at the scene!"

Su Yun stared at the screen, his brain working at high speed.

He saw an inconspicuous small door behind Zhao Tai, where two bodyguards in sunglasses were standing.

That was the passage to the VIP lounge.

It was also the escape route Zhao Tai had left for himself.

At the slightest sign of trouble, this old fox would definitely dive into that passage to escape immediately.

He had to block that path!

And he had to let Chen Jin know that the police had arrived, that Zhao Tai couldn't escape, and there was no need for mutual destruction!

But how could he convey that?

Chen Jin was on the second basement floor; he couldn't hear the commotion above, nor could he see the livestream.

Su Yun's gaze fixed intently on that rich kid.

He could only rely on him.

"Listen, Kuoshao."

Su Yun's voice reached the corner of the banquet hall through the phone. Though not loud, it was exceptionally clear under the tone Su Yun had deliberately projected.

"Now, slowly move toward the right side of the stage."

"Don't draw attention."

"Do you see that table with the champagne tower?"

"Walk over to it."

Kuoshao swallowed hard, his legs shaking, but he still forced himself to move over like a thief.

"Master, I'm here. Now what?"

Su Yun's gaze sharpened.

"Do you see the outlet under the tablecloth?"

"That is the power cord connecting the stage's sound system."

"Unplug it!"

Kuoshao was stunned.

"Huh? Unplug... unplug the power?"

"This is millions worth of sound equipment, and with so many people watching..."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Su Yun growled low.

"If you want to live, unplug it!"

"Only by cutting the sound and creating chaos to stop Zhao Tai from speaking will Chen Jin hold off on detonating!"

"This is your only chance!"

Once Kuoshao heard he could live, he didn't care about saving face anymore.

He gritted his teeth, steeled his heart, suddenly crouched down, grabbed that thick power cord, and pulled it out with all his might.

Zzzzt!

A piercing screech of electrical current rang through the entire hall.

Immediately following.

Zhao Tai, who had been in the middle of a soulful speech, suddenly had a sharp blast of noise erupt from his microphone, which then went completely silent.

The lights in the entire banquet hall also flickered a few times, and half the spotlights on the stage cut out directly.

The guests who had been applauding were all stunned, looking at each other in confusion.

The smile on Zhao Tai's face stiffened for a second, and a flash of hidden ruthlessness crossed his eyes, but he quickly masked it, tapped the microphone, and shrugged helplessly as if he were at a loss.

In the second that the entire room fell silent.

Su Yun shouted to the livestream with all his strength:

"Point the camera at the VIP lounge passage behind Zhao Tai!"

"Fast!"