200: Chapter 200 She Dares to Die Together

A helicopter landed on the Mandarin Oriental helipad.

Before the rotors had fully stopped, another Hong Kong Police helicopter was already flying over from the direction of The Landmark Mandarin Oriental.

A third one was landing on the rooftop opposite.

Three helicopters rotating.

Boarding.

Takeoff.

Landing.

Disembarking.

Returning again.

The Hong Kong Police had finally ramped up their transport capacity.

Li Li swept a glance at the hostages lining up by the helipad.

Women in front, men in back.

Zhou Hui was at the very back.

Good.

There is still fairness in the world.

He released the control stick, and just as he was preparing to get off the aircraft, the pilot standing nearby hurried over.

Just over thirty.

Wearing the Hong Kong government air squad uniform, the ID number still on the chest.

The other party stood at attention and saluted.

"Mr. Li, thank you for your hard work."

"I will pilot this aircraft from here on out. You can take this trip to the other side. Leave the rest to us."

Li Li glanced at him.

A professional pilot.

Steady hands.

Mental state is also okay.

Can take over.

He didn't truly love flying planes.

Tonight, he had already flown a boeing 777, an F18, and a civilian helicopter.

If he kept flying, the Hong Kong government wouldn't pay him overtime.

"Fine."

Li Li nodded and turned to board the aircraft.

His foot had just stepped onto the gangway.

He stopped.

Three sentences popped into his mind.

Yin Ruoying had asked him before the elevator doors closed.

"While you were upstairs... did you see Su Wantang?"

Zhou Hui had lowered his voice in the banquet hall.

"She should... already be dead."

And that pervert with the Japanese accent, standing in the corridor, laughing softly.

"I have prepared a big gift for you."

"Remember to check it."

"If the gift isn't good, remember to tell me when you come down."

Li Li pulled his foot back.

Not right.

That lunatic wouldn't leave a message for no reason.

Zhou Hui couldn't be trusted even more.

That guy had been pinned down by terrorists for half an hour; his brain had long since gone offline.

He didn't even realize he had been lined up last, yet they expected him to determine if Su Wantang was dead or not?

Li Li turned around.

"Do you have a spare radio?"

The pilot was stunned for a moment, then immediately unclipped a walkie-talkie from his waist.

"The channel is set; just press and talk."

Li Li took it and clipped it to his waist.

"Don't wait for me, fly as normal."

The pilot looked at him.

"You're not leaving?"

"I have some business."

Li Li had already turned and ran back.

The wind pressure on the helipad hadn't dissipated yet.

He pushed open the fire door and walked through the corridor.

There was still blood on the carpet.

The banquet hall doors were wide open.

It was empty inside.

Mobile phones, high heels, wallets, half-finished glasses of red wine were all strewn on the floor.

A moment ago, over a hundred people had been lying all over the floor, but now only the chairs were left askew.

It was unnaturally quiet.

Li Li passed through the banquet hall and arrived at the secret door in the back.

The door was closed.

There was no light under the door crack.

He placed his hand on the doorknob.

He paused for a second.

Pushed it open.

The private room was pitch black.

There was the smell of candle wax and the smell of blood in the air.

Li Li felt for the switch on the wall.

Click.

The lights turned on.

The room wasn't big.

The walls were plastered with messy symbols; dried blood stains were on the floor, leaving a drag mark where the previous corpse had been dragged away.

But none of that was the point.

Directly opposite was a chair.

A woman was sitting on the chair.

Her cold tea-brown wavy hair was messy, with half of it sticking to the side of her face.

The snake-shaped cartilage earring was still there.

Her makeup was heavily smudged.

Those fox eyes were frighteningly red.

Su Wantang.

Alive.

She was holding a wooden box with both hands.

The box was twenty centimeters square, with a transparent glass lid on top.

Under the glass was a small silver ball.

The small ball was rolling inside.

The perimeter was covered with metal electrode pads.

Every time the ball got a bit closer to the edge, Su Wantang's hands would tremble.

Seeing Li Li, her tears fell instantly.

This didn't look like acting.

"Li Li..."

Her voice was terribly hoarse.

"Come here... I beg you, come here..."

Li Li didn't rush to get close.

He looked at the room first.

Windows sealed shut.

Tables overturned.

Candles on the floor.

Two ropes were connected under the chair armrests.

Both of Su Wantang's wrists were tied; the ropes had over a meter of slack, and the other ends were connected into the base of the chair.

A LED screen was hanging in front of her chest.

Red numbers were jumping.

22:17.

22:16.

22:15.

Li Li walked over.

Three steps.

Stopped in front of her.

He looked down at the box.

The silver ball rolled half a circle under the glass lid and stopped slightly to the left of the center.

About three centimeters from the nearest electrode pad.

"What is this thing?"

Su Wantang bit her lip, forcing her voice to stay down.

"That Japanese person said..."

Her throat moved.

"If the ball touches the electrode pads on the side, the floor below will explode."

Li Li nodded.

"Continue."

"If my hands leave the box, it will also explode."

"Anything else?"

"The ropes tying my hands cannot be cut or untied."

Su Wantang stared at him.

"He said that as long as one of the conditions is triggered, the explosives below will detonate."

Li Li nodded for the third time.

Physical tilt trigger.

Pressure release trigger.

Rope anti-tamper trigger.

And a countdown.

This thing wasn't just a simple bomb.

It was a torture device.

Others make bombs to detonate.

That pervert with the Japanese accent made a bomb to make someone sit here and wait for death.

Can't move.

Can't put it down.

Can't pull.

Can only hold the box and watch the numbers tick down bit by bit.

Li Li bent down and looked under the chair.

The wiring was hidden very messily.

But it was messy with a purpose.

Black wires, red wires, yellow wires were tangled together.

Several were deliberately threaded through holes in the wooden board.

It was clearly meant to make things difficult for the bomb squad.

Su Wantang's voice trembled.

"Can you dismantle it?"

Li Li straightened up.

"No."

The color drained from Su Wantang's face.

"Aren't you good at many things?"

"Being good at many things doesn't mean I can dismantle a bomb."

Li Li patted his tactical vest.

"I am a Firefighter and an architect. Bomb disposal is not within my scope of service."

Su Wantang became anxious.

"Then find someone! Quickly, find someone!"

Li Li picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Okay."

He pressed the talk button.

"This is Li Li. Mandarin Oriental, 25th floor, back private room. Explosive device discovered. One hostage fixed to a chair. Countdown 22 minutes. Need bomb squad."

Static immediately came through the channel.

A few seconds later, Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin's voice squeezed in.

"Li Li, repeat that. What kind of device?"

"A death delivery left by a pervert."

Li Li glanced at the LED screen.

"There are now twenty-one minutes and fifty-something seconds left."

The channel went quiet for half a second.

Deputy Commissioner Li Wenbin cursed.

"The bomb squad can't get up there! The fire layer below hasn't been cleared yet. Helicopters can transport people, but the bomb disposal equipment is on the ground."

"How long at the fastest?"

"Over twenty-five minutes."

Li Li looked at the screen.

21:53.

21:52.

21:51.

He released the talk button.

"Did you hear that?"

Su Wantang's lips trembled.

"Over twenty-five minutes?"

"Yeah."

"I only have twenty-one minutes!"

"So it's quite troublesome."

Li Li clipped the walkie-talkie back to his waist.

Su Wantang stared at him.

"What do you mean?"

Li Li took a step back.

"It means the professionals won't make it in time."

"Then what about you?"

"I said just now, I can't dismantle it."

He turned around.

"I'll go outside and see if there are any tools, and while I'm at it, ask if there's a bomb disposal expert who can provide video guidance."

Su Wantang threw herself forward.

The ropes under the chair immediately tightened.

The box wobbled.

The silver ball rolled to the right.

Click.

The ball stopped two centimeters away from the electrode pad.

Su Wantang was too scared to move.

Li Li turned back.

"Don't wobble."

"Don't go!"

Her voice rose.

"Li Li, don't go!"

Li Li didn't turn back.

"If I don't go, should I stand here and watch your countdown hit zero?"

"If you dare take one step, I'll let go!"

Li Li's footsteps stopped.

The room went quiet.

Only the LED screen was still jumping.

21:47.

21:46.

21:45.

Su Wantang cried until her voice was hoarse.

"Do you think I don't dare?"

"If I die, don't think you'll live either."

"Don't think those people outside will live either."

She held the box with both hands, the backs of her hands covered in sweat.

The box tilted a bit more.

The silver ball rolled against the inner wall of the glass lid, moving toward the electrode pad.

Li Li turned around.

"Su Wantang."

She didn't make a sound.

"Threatening me now has very low returns."

Su Wantang was stunned.

"What?"

"If you let go, we both die together."

Li Li's tone was very flat.

"If you don't let go, I still have a chance to figure something out."

"Even an elementary school student knows which option to choose for this question."

Su Wantang was panting heavily.

"Will you save me?"

Li Li looked at the box.

"I will save this building."

Su Wantang froze.

This sentence was crueler than scolding her.

She understood.

To Li Li, she wasn't an ex-girlfriend.

Not an old flame.

Not a poor person left behind.

She was just a trigger sitting on a bomb.

Li Li was saving her because she couldn't be allowed to explode.

Su Wantang's tears fell even harder.

"Do you hate me?"

"No time right now."

"You must hate me."

"Wait until we survive, then you can interview me."

Li Li walked to her side and squatted down.

He didn't touch the box.

He first looked at the knot on her wrist.

The knot was simple.

But the end of the rope was connected to a small metal tube.

There was a spring plate pressed inside the tube opening.

As long as the rope loosened and the spring plate reset, it would trigger.

He looked under the chair again.

Pressure plate.

Mercury switch.

Simple circuit.

And a few modules he didn't recognize.

The system popped up blue text at this moment.

[Explosive device detected.]

[Preliminary judgment: Multiple triggers.]

[Suggestion: Run away quickly.]

Li Li replied in his mind.

Bullshit.

I'm not blind.

Su Wantang saw he hadn't moved for a long time and panicked even more.

"What did you see?"

"I see a despicable thing."

"Can you dismantle it?"

"Whether it can be dismantled or not, I first need you to stop shaking."

Su Wantang immediately bit her teeth together.

But the more she tried to stay steady, the more her hands shook.

The silver ball rolled again.

One and a half centimeters.

Li Li raised his hand and held it next to the box.

"Listen to me."

Su Wantang nodded while crying.

"Don't nod."

She stopped immediately.

Li Li lowered his voice.

"From now on, you only do one thing."

"Don't tense your wrists."

"Relax your shoulders."

"Keep the box level."

Su Wantang's voice was tight.

"I can't do it."

"If you can't, it explodes."

"Li Li!"

"Don't yell, yelling will make you shake."

Su Wantang forced her crying back.

The LED screen kept jumping.

21:18.

21:17.

21:16.

Li Li extended two fingers and gently pressed one side of the wooden box.

The ball stopped.

Su Wantang finally dared to breathe.

"Do you have a way?"

"Not for now."

She almost broke down again.

Li Li added.

"But I have hands."

"What do you mean?"

"First, I'll act as a human spirit level."

Su Wantang choked mid-cry.

At a time like this, she actually understood.

Li Li used both hands to firmly support the backs of Su Wantang's hands from the outside, using his own hands to control the balance of the ball.

Then he said something that shocked Su Wantang.

"Get up, we're going outside."