Yu He, close to Qin Beiting, also heard the words in the earphones, and her scalp tingled.
The Huang family had gone mad! They had hired terrorists and planted a time bomb!
Qin Beiting's heart tightened as he heard this. "Where is the bomb?" he asked. If it were any other time, he wouldn't be so anxious, but with Yu He here, he worried about her getting caught in it.
"The entrance to the broadcast room and the west window are blocked. The firepower is too heavy for our people to get through and check," Lu Yiming said.
Qin Beiting's brow furrowed. Not finding the bomb's location was troublesome. They had to evacuate quickly before it exploded!
"Arrange for people to evacuate those outside," he instructed through his earpiece. "Based on my positioning, find an exit and get Yu He out first."
Yu He's heart trembled at this. She forcefully tore open the hem of her skirt, ripped off a strip of cloth, and tied it around Qin Beiting's bleeding left arm wound to stop the bleeding.
"Let me see," Lu Yiming said. "There's a smaller, safer window on the south side, right next to your location, at nine o'clock. I'll immediately have rescue personnel in place. I'll cover you as you move there."
"Alright!" Qin Beiting replied, then looked at Yu He. Yu He nodded, indicating she understood the plan and could move.
Qin Beiting cautiously peeked out. Seeing that it was temporarily safe, he pulled Yu He out from under the table. They moved close to the machines towards the door. The door was already askew from an explosion, with several bullet holes in it.
Qin Beiting reached the doorstep first, observed that no one was outside, and shot at the lock on the adjacent door. Once unlocked, he beckoned for Yu He to go first.
As Yu He stepped through, gunshots rang out behind her. She quickened her pace, pushed open the door to the next room, and took cover behind a wall. The door was instantly riddled with bullets, and gunfire continued.
Qin Beiting couldn't get through and retreated to the original doorway, hiding by the wall. Fearing a suicide bomber, he could only fire at non-vital areas of the enemy. The mercenary, shot in the knee, knelt on the ground but continued to spray bullets, calling for his accomplices.
Seeing he couldn't get through, Qin Beiting took advantage of a brief lull to call Yu He.
"Baby, are you alright?"
Yu He, hiding behind the wall, had her arm grazed by a bullet despite her quick escape. She clutched her wound. "I'm fine."
"Did you see the window?" Qin Beiting asked again.
Yu He looked up. Behind the machines, she saw a small window on the right wall. "Yes."
"I'll cover the door for you. Stick to the wall and get over there," Qin Beiting said, using a mirror to check the number of bullets in the mercenary's gun outside.
Yu He understood his meaning. The firepower was too intense, and he couldn't get through. He wanted her to leave first. But if she left, what about him?
"I'll wait for you," Yu He said.
"No need, you go first. I'll be there soon," Qin Beiting refused immediately. There was still a bomb here, and it could explode at any moment.
Seeing no response from the other end of the phone, Qin Beiting, afraid she would stubbornly wait for him, urgently whispered, "Baby, did you hear me! Hurry up and go!"
Yu He was intently listening to Li Sichen's words through the earphone. "Little girl, there's a time bomb in the server room at the very back of the broadcast room. It's been activated with a five-minute countdown."
Yu He scanned the surroundings. The server room – wasn't this the server room! "Ting Ge, the bomb is in this room," she said into the phone.
Qin Beiting's breath hitched.
"My master said the bomb has a five-minute countdown, and it's already started," Yu He added.
Qin Beiting's brow furrowed, his heart pounding with anxiety. "Don't worry about it, get to the window quickly, climb up, tie the rope around yourself, and jump down. Someone will catch you."
With less than five minutes left, she could get down, but Qin Beiting definitely couldn't get out.
"Wait, let me look for it. Where is the bomb?" Yu He said, ignoring the wound on her hand. She began to move cautiously, searching for the bomb.
"Stop looking, get out of there!" Qin Beiting roared. The thought of a ticking bomb next to her made him regret letting her go ahead earlier.
There was no response from the phone. Time crawled by. Qin Beiting wished he could rush over and pull her away, but the gunfire outside persisted, and more people had arrived. He couldn't get to her.
After a long while, Yu He's voice finally came from the phone. "Ting Ge, I found the bomb!" She was lying on the ground, looking at the bomb installed under the server. The display was counting down.
"Only two minutes and thirty seconds left, twenty-nine seconds..."
Qin Beiting's heart tightened. "Don't worry about it, get to the window quickly."
Yu He glanced at the window behind her, her heart racing. "Then what about you?"
"You go out first, and I'll go out through the window on this side," Qin Beiting said reassuringly.
Yu He wasn't foolish. The window on his side was guarded by mercenaries. To get out, he would have to kill them, but killing them would trigger the bomb, making it even more dangerous.
"I'll take a picture for you to see," she said, ignoring his objections. She laboriously moved the server, flipped the bomb over, exposed the wires, and took several photos to send him.
Qin Beiting opened them. It was a new, complex, heavy-duty bomb. Although there were nine different colored wires, cutting any one of them would cause an explosion. Moreover, its destructive power was different from the suicide bombers outside; it could bring down the entire building. The thought of the consequences made his blood freeze and his body go cold.
"Do you see? Which color wire should I cut?" Yu He found a pair of scissors, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of her throat.
Qin Beiting looked at the stopwatch on his watch. The countdown showed only 30 seconds left; there was no time. He hung up the phone and switched to video call, looking at the girl in the mask on the screen, and smiled. "Cut the white one." She liked white.
Yu He looked at the man's inappropriate smile on the screen and suddenly understood. This time bomb couldn't be disarmed! Her heart beat uncontrollably, her mind blank. At that moment, she truly felt how close death was.
"Don't be afraid. Even if we die, I'll be with you," Qin Beiting said again.
Yu He's eyes welled up. "Okay." She put down her phone, picked up the scissors, looked at the bomb's wires, and chose the black one. She liked white, but Qin Beiting liked black...
—
Meanwhile, in the banquet halls on every floor, guests, upon hearing about the bomb, scrambled towards the elevators and stairwells. But there were too many people, and both were overcrowded.
"Please don't crowd, evacuate in an orderly manner to prevent stampedes. Please let the elderly and children go first... Don't push!" The servers tried to maintain order, but they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of people, fearing for their lives, and the scene descended into chaos.
Outside the Emperor One Hotel, police rescue vehicles had arrived and cordoned off the entire building. At the main entrance, VIPs were constantly fleeing without regard for their image.
The Huang family, who had left early, stood in a coffee shop across the street, watching the countdown on the remote control in her hand reach ten seconds. A sinister smile grew on her face. Let it explode, and it would all be over! All the evidence would turn to dust with this explosion.
00:09
00:08
...
00:03
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"Boom—" an explosion sounded...