A scream ahead immediately caught Qin Bingran's attention. This was a murder case, after all! She drew her electric baton and instructed the officers beside her, "Brothers, get ready. Let's charge in!" She took the lead, rushing forward with her team.
As the police appeared in force, the onlookers quickly retreated. "Quick, clear the way for the officers!" "Make way, make way!" An elder in the crowd shouted as he noticed Qin Bingran and her group. Everyone parted to let them pass. "Thanks, old man!" Qin Bingran said gratefully to the elder who was helping to maintain order. "Follow me, everyone. Priority is to ensure the safety of those inside."
Upon entering, she saw a young woman with twin ponytails, holding a tablet and munching on sunflower seeds. She sat at the counter, intently watching the feed on her device and narrating. "Charge! Throw a left hook, a right hook, go on!" The girl, caught up in the intensity of the scene, gesticulated as if fighting.
Qin Bingran couldn't hold back any longer. She walked over to the girl and glanced at the tablet. It was a live feed of the upstairs situation, and the image quality was astonishingly clear—Blu-ray, 1080p. "Is this surveillance system really that advanced?" Qin Bingran asked, then immediately regretted her words, covering her mouth.
The sudden female voice startled the twin-tailed netizen, who looked up at Qin Bingran. Her eyes lit up upon seeing the beautiful female police officer. "Sister," she exclaimed excitedly, "I spent a fortune on this Blu-ray surveillance!"
"Hold on, hold on! I'm trying to talk about something important!" Qin Bingran interrupted, finding the netizen's focus somewhat misplaced. The netizen looked confused. "Sister, didn't you ask about the surveillance?" Qin Bingran was speechless. Fortunately, her quick thinking allowed her to quickly ascertain the situation at the Sunny Internet Cafe. Pointing to the tablet and the sounds of crying from upstairs, she turned to her team. "They're on the second floor, and they're armed! There are many of them. Subdue them first!"
The officers checked the surveillance feed on the twin-tailed netizen's tablet. Under the gaze of so many people, the usually gregarious netizen lost her composure and looked embarrassed. Just then, one of the officers pointed at someone in the feed and called out to Qin Bingran. "Captain, come here a moment. Look at this person. Isn't that Li Qingfeng, whom you know?"
"Who?" Hearing the shout, Qin Bingran rushed over, blocking the officer. She saw Li Qingfeng being surrounded by a group of men in black, his bloodied appearance causing her heart to ache. "Let's go save him!" she urged, panicking.
The twin-tailed netizen watched the police rushing in with a sense of urgency. She wanted to stop them, but Qin Bingran was too anxious to listen. As she saw the officers charging forward, the netizen's words caught in her throat. She ultimately remained silent, realizing they had misunderstood the situation. The ones who were actually being harmed were not Li Qingfeng but the men in black. They had no idea that Li Qingfeng was the one instilling fear in them. One man had single-handedly fought off over fifty.
"Wait, he beat them all by himself!"
By then, the twin-tailed netizen, who had been observing from the sidelines, was truly frightened. "This guy is inhuman!" she thought, relieved she hadn't offended him. She refocused on the tablet, watching the police enter the scene.
Qin Bingran pushed through the outer ring of attackers and shouted, "This is the Municipal Police Department investigating! Everyone, get down on the ground!" "Anyone who resists will face multiple charges!" Her commanding words straightened the officers' backs, and they looked at her with admiration.
With that, the attackers finally relaxed. They all fell to the ground, wailing to the officers. "Big brothers, we were wrong! Please save us. We confess, we're guilty! We'll go to the police station!" The security guards from the Golden Bathhouse were no longer aggressive; they were crying and pleading. Seeing their distress, the officers, who had come to clean up the mess, fell silent, looking at them with suspicion. "What's going on?" one officer asked, confused.
Qin Bingran approached to hear their statements, ensuring nothing unfavorable to Li Qingfeng would be said. "Officer, that guy is inhuman! Do you know he beat nearly fifty of us by himself?" "It's unbelievable, I'm questioning my own life!" "I can't stand it anymore, Sunny Avenue is too dangerous, I want to go back to Erxian Bridge!" "I'm scared, officer..."
Listening to their panicked words, Qin Bingran's brow furrowed with doubt. This was not what she expected. Wasn't Li Qingfeng the one being ambushed? Now, it seemed he was the one doing the ambushing. "Officer, please save us! We were wrong!" One of the men from the Golden Bathhouse even grabbed Qin Bingran's leg and started weeping. Hearing his heart-wrenching cries and seeing the tears stream down his face, Qin Bingran realized she had arrived at the wrong moment. She should have waited a bit longer. His words suggested that Li Qingfeng was not at a disadvantage; quite the opposite, he was in control.