135: Chapter 135 A Close Call: The Kindergarten Hostage Incident
The ripples of panic had not yet fully subsided when a sharper alarm, like a poison-tipped icicle, pierced through the clamor of the command channel.
"Director Long! Emergency! A violent hostage situation has occurred at the 'Sunshine Flower' Kindergarten in the West District! At least three unidentified armed individuals have seized control of the campus, with approximately forty children and six faculty members trapped!" The voice coming through the communicator carried an irrepressible shock and anger. "The other party has made demands through the kindergarten's internal broadcast... they are demanding to speak with the 'Supreme Commander in charge of the city-wide search,' and claim... claim that this matter is related to the 'national traitor and classified technology leak currently being pursued'!"
"Those bastards!" Long Zhantian slammed his fist onto the command vehicle's workstation, the metal surface letting out a dull, heavy thud. His eyes instantly became bloodshot, not from fatigue, but from extreme fury. "They dare move against children?! How dare they?!"
Almost at the same time the alarm was received, relevant live surveillance footage and internal broadcast recordings were synced into fortress-1. The footage showed the main building's entrance of the kindergarten blocked from the inside, with curtains drawn, allowing only a faint glimpse of moving figures in the activity room. In the broadcast recording, a cold, mechanical voice processed through a voice changer repeated the demands, threatening to "take further measures" if no response was received within thirty minutes.
Sunshine Flower Kindergarten, located at the junction of the shantytown and the logistics park, was a medium-sized private kindergarten. Choosing this place was no accident—it was situated between the area where Ghost had previously incited panic and the direction of the logistics park he might flee toward, making its geographical location sensitive. Using children as hostages would maximize the impact on society's nerves, diverting and putting pressure on security forces. Furthermore, the rumors vaguely linking the event to a "national traitor" and "classified technology" were exceptionally malicious, attempting to exert pressure from public opinion and within the ranks to force the forces protecting Lin Mo to make a difficult choice, and perhaps even lure or force Lin Mo himself to react.
"Ghost's handiwork, or a Sleeper he activated," Lin Mo's voice sounded in the communication channel, colder than before but exceptionally steady. "This isn't just a terrorist attack; it's precise psychological warfare and strategic distraction. He's testing our bottom line and searching for our 'center of gravity.'"
"Engineer Lin, you mean..." Long Zhantian forced himself to calm down, but the veins on the back of the hand holding the communicator bulged.
"Their primary goal might not be me, but to completely paralyze or interfere with your command and operational systems, creating an absolute opportunity for his own escape or final move. It might even be an attempt to lure me or the forces protecting me into exposing ourselves," Lin Mo analyzed rapidly. "But the children are innocent; their absolute safety must be ensured. Director Long, I'm handing field command to you. Prioritize rescuing the hostages. On my end, I will remain silent for now."
"Understood!" Long Zhantian didn't hesitate. "I'll handle it. Dark Blade Groups One and Three, move to the kindergarten's perimeter immediately and establish a blockade! Negotiators, get in position! Retrieve the kindergarten's architectural blueprints! Notify the SWAT detachment to prepare a breach plan! Evacuate surrounding residents and suppress the news—especially those misleading rumors; not a single word is to get out!"
Orders were issued one after another, and professional forces began operating at high speed. Everyone at North Heaven Gate knew that when facing desperate criminals holding dozens of young children hostage, the risk of a breach was unbearably high, and negotiation was like bargaining with a tiger—the opponent's goal wasn't the negotiation terms themselves.
Time ticked away second by second, each one feeling like a dull knife cutting into their hearts.
Inside the kindergarten's activity room, the terrified sobs of children could be faintly heard, occasionally punctuated by the criminals' harsh shouting. Outside, parents who had rushed to the scene were held back by the police line, their cries, pleas, and angry roars blending into a heavy atmosphere. Long Zhantian personally approached the front line, his face grim as he stared at the eerily silent building, various plans rapidly evolving and being discarded in his mind.
Inside the mobile fortress, the screen in front of Lin Mo was displaying real-time thermal imaging and acoustic analysis maps of the kindergarten, sent back by the system via nearby high-altitude public surveillance cameras and urgently deployed micro-reconnaissance drones (disguised as birds).
He could "see" the dense cluster of weak heat sources in the activity room (the children huddled together), as well as three scattered, moving adult heat sources (the kidnappers). He could "hear" the faint sounds inside the room captured by laser listening devices: children crying, the heavy footsteps of the kidnappers, and occasional snippets of low-voiced conversation.
"I can't wait any longer," Lin Mo suddenly whispered to himself. His gaze locked onto the thermal imaging map. The three kidnappers were positioned strategically, controlling the entrance, one side of the windows, and the central area where the children were gathered. They covered each other, making a conventional surprise attack difficult to neutralize all of them simultaneously.
He pulled up a special interface—an encrypted panel directly connected to his personal quantum terminal that controlled the three "Fusion Core Drones" he had created earlier. The drones had been in a silent hovering standby mode in the airspace near fortress-1.
"Shanxiao, I have a way, but it requires taking a risk," Lin Mo connected to the internal vehicle comms.
"Engineer Lin, please give your instructions!" Shanxiao didn't hesitate.
"Move the fortress vehicle to the shadows of that construction site about five hundred meters southeast of the kindergarten. I'm going to release the hummingbird drones," Lin Mo ordered. "At the same time, I need you to contact Director Long at the scene via the encrypted channel and have him prepare for support and a breach. When I say 'now,' I need his people to break through the doors and windows simultaneously to neutralize the kidnappers."
"Drones? Engineer Lin, that might expose..." Shanxiao was startled.
"I can't worry about that now," Lin Mo's eyes were resolute. "The safety of the children is above all else. Besides, Ghost might be observing nearby. The faster and more unexpected our actions are, the more likely we are to disrupt his rhythm. Execute the order!"
"Yes!"
fortress-1 quietly changed direction and drove toward the designated position. Lin Mo's fingers moved rapidly across the virtual panel. Three matte-black hummingbird drones slid silently out of a concealed opening on the roof of the vehicle. Under the cover of the hazy night, like real nocturnal birds, they sped toward the kindergarten at an extremely low altitude with staggering silence.
Lin Mo held his breath, immersing most of his consciousness into the sensor data stream shared by the drones. On the 3D map, the kindergarten's structure, the real-time thermal positions of the kidnappers, and the children's gathering point were clearly presented.
The first drone silently attached itself to the exterior wall above the east window of the activity room, extending an extremely thin fiber probe through a tiny gap in the curtains to insert a high-precision camera and a directional acoustic wave emitter.
The second drone hovered outside the ventilation duct directly above the activity room, ready to release a non-lethal incapacitating gas at any moment (targeted at the kidnappers, with the dosage calculated for child safety).
The third drone circled the perimeter of the activity room, monitoring surrounding movements and serving as a communication relay.
Lin Mo's perspective seemed split into three parts, processing multiple information feeds simultaneously. He saw the three masked kidnappers in the activity room, holding modified firearms with tense and fierce expressions. He saw the children shivering in the corner with tear-stained faces, and the few teachers shielding them behind their backs.
Now!
"Director Long, get ready!" Lin Mo's voice came clearly into Long Zhantian's ear via Shanxiao's channel.
"All assault teams, standby!" Long Zhantian growled into his tactical headset in a low voice. All SWAT and Dark Blade members held their breath, fingers tightening on triggers or breaching tools.
Inside the activity room, the kidnapper by the east window seemed to sense a very slight noise outside and turned his head in confusion.
Right then—
Hum—!
A directional beam of infrasound, nearly undetectable to human hearing but sufficient to cause instantaneous intense interference and dizziness to the vestibular and nervous systems, was precisely emitted from the first drone's transmitter, covering the area where the three kidnappers were located!
"Ugh!" "What... is that!"
The three kidnappers' bodies shuddered simultaneously. They felt the world spinning, became nauseous, and instantly lost their sense of balance, nearly dropping the weapons in their hands!
Almost at the exact same moment!
Bang! Boom!
The front and back doors and windows of the activity room were violently breached at the same time! Smoke and flashbangs weren't used (to avoid harming the children), but the loud crash of the breach and the rushing figures created a second psychological shock!
"Don't move!" "Drop your weapons!"
The highly-trained SWAT and Dark Blade members descended like divine soldiers. While the kidnappers were still in a state of intense dizziness and imbalance caused by the infrasound, the team members had already pounced, cleanly neutralizing, disarming, and handcuffing them! The entire process was like a lightning strike—from breach to control, it took no more than five seconds!
The children were tightly protected by their teachers; though frightened, no one was injured.
"Clear!" "All targets controlled!" "The children are safe!"
Urgent and excited reports came through the communication channel.
Outside, the anxiously waiting parents erupted into cries of relief and applause.
Long Zhantian let out a long sigh of relief, feeling his back soaked with cold sweat. "Good job! Clear the scene, comfort the children and parents, and thoroughly investigate the suspects' identities and connections! Move!"
At North Heaven Gate, the moment the kindergarten crisis was resolved, a figure that seemed to blend into the darkness—Ghost—slowly lowered his high-magnification observation lens from the shadows of a logistics warehouse rooftop less than eight hundred meters from the kindergarten.
There was no expression on his face, but in those cold eyes, a heart-palpitating light flickered, as if he had finally caught his prey.
He had seen those drones that were nearly invisible in the night, with movement patterns far exceeding the norm.
He had seen the irrational, collective state of imbalance when the kidnappers were instantly neutralized (the infrasound was invisible, but he could deduce it).
Even more so, he had seen that before and after the crisis was resolved, the angles of certain external surveillance cameras showed extremely subtle signs of being unified and dispatched by a higher authority.
All of this pointed to one conclusion: there was a force far exceeding the level of the field command, equipped with cutting-edge technology and real-time precise intelligence support, directly intervening and resolving this crisis from behind the scenes.
And in this city, at this moment, the answer as to who had the capability, the motive, and would not hesitate to use unconventional means to quickly resolve such a crisis... was almost obvious.
"Found you." A cold-to-the-extreme curve finally tugged at the corner of Ghost's mouth. His gaze seemed to pierce through the night and the numerous obstacles, locking onto that construction site to the southeast.
"Patriot X... or, Mr. Lin Mo." He whispered to himself like a snake flicking its tongue. "You've finally... shown your hand."
He didn't stay any longer. His figure melted into the night as he sped toward the depths of the logistics park, the opposite direction of the construction site. He didn't choose to approach immediately; that would be suicide. He needed to get this indisputable intelligence, bought with great risk and the sacrifice of his companions (or pawns), out. At the same time, he had to plan his final strike—or his perfect exit.