Release that Man

Due to the uniqueness of Madam Grace’s identity, she had been sent to the special sickroom once she was hospitalized. There were normally two types of special sickrooms. One was for inmates or fugitives, the other was for members of the public who had a large target on their back and had a chance of turning into a criminal. No matter which type, they would be isolated from normal citizens. Their rooms would not be reachable by corridors or elevators, eliminating the possibility of citizen wandering there accidentally.

When Anthony burst into Madam Grace’s room, he was followed by a group of guards who tried to stop him from entering, but they were not harsh on him considering his identity. In the commotion, Anthony finally entered the room with a bang. He saw the empty room and swiftly quieted down.

One guard quickly came to and asked Anthony, “What happened here?”

“How should I know?” Anthony flung the man away with annoyance and looked around the room. “Didn’t you notice something was wrong when there was no one standing guard outside the door?”

Then he seemed to have noticed something. He squatted down and pulled back the bedsheet. He pulled the sheet back to reveal a fainted guard.

Finding the fainted guard was the opening, and the others all rushed forward. They watched as the golden-haired boy reached in deeper, and then… one, two, three, four… he pulled out five people in total. After making the rollcall, they realized that something was wrong. “There are supposed to be thirteen guards! Where are the remaining seven?”

Anthony stood up while rubbing his hands. He puffed up his cheeks angrily. “Don’t you people know to go and search the other room? How could they possibly squeeze twelve people inside one small room?”

He had rushed over because he had noticed that something was off on the security camera footage. On Anthony’s screen, after Madam Grace’s people left, the Han family father and son had sat down to have a talk. Then the two on screen had maintained that posture for a long time. Due to the fact that Han Chu had a silent and reserved personality and did not like to raise his head to look at others when he talked, Anthony did not think anything was wrong. That was until five minutes later. When he noticed that Father Han was able to suffer his son’s impertinence for so long, he realized that things were probably not as safe as he thought. Then what happened next was expected. When Anthony arrived, the security guards on this floor had already been cleared. The bunch of idiots who were trying to stop him did not notice any issues. They shouted many statements about confidentiality and safety, intending to stop him from entering the room.

“Go and ask around the nurse’s station.” Anthony raised his head. “Ask and see whether anyone came here twenty minutes ago with a medical cart or cleaning cart. In any case, it has to be big enough to carry an entire person.”

“Oh… wait.” Someone nodded and was about to turn, but he realized that something was not right, so he turned around. “Can’t you just check that on the camera footage?”

Anthony felt nothing but despair about this group of people’s intellect. “If the footage inside the room can be changed, do you think they won’t do anything to alter the other footage?”

…

The room was properly cleaned so that it was devoid of any sign of a struggle. Even though Anthony was known as the best hacker, there was a limit to his ability. For example, certain experts who had surrendered to the government might like to keep a low profile, or rather expert who specialized in a single type of electronic manipulation might be better than him. Since the camera had been hacked and edited from the beginning, even if Anthony recovered everything after the fact, the camera that had not been working at the time of the crime would not have any valuable footage left in it.

The remaining seven guards and Cedrick’s people who left the room earlier were found. They were all unconscious and stuffed in different rooms on the same floor. Everyone was still alive, so this proved that the other party did not wish to make a big deal out of this.

According to those who had woken up, they had either been ambushed from behind or did not get a good look of their ambusher’s face. They were wearing a mask or moved too fast. The information gathered was not enough to start an investigation. There were two who had gone missing—one was Madam Grace, and the other was Han Chu. Even Father Han had eventually been found inside the toilet cubicle, and that was because of the phone ringtone that sounded from inside the toilet.

“We do not wish to make any enemies.” The robotic voice that had been mechanically altered came out from the phone. “If all of you promise to retreat from this incident, we will guarantee to return Mr. Han safely.”

Anthony clapped his hands to stop the rest from preparing to trace the phone signal. “Don’t you think you people are being a bit insincere? How about this? We’ll let you keep Madam Grace, but you give us back Han.”

“That unfortunately can’t happen, you all listen to his orders, no?” The person on the other line opened video chat. The fainted Han Chu appeared on-screen. “Look, he is completely unharmed. We only used a tranquilizer gun. If that is not a show of sincerity, I don’t know what is.”

Anthony gritted his teeth. Oh yes, they were sincere alright. The camera was zoomed in. Other than Han Chu, it only showed the seat of a car. The edge of the shirt of the person who sat next to Han Chu, the scenery outside the window, there was none of that.

“By the way, we are not good guys in your eyes, but Madam Grace is not one of the good guys, is she?” The person closed the video cam and turned back to voice only. “In that case, why are you standing with one side? Wouldn’t it be better to stand on the sidelines and watch us kill each other?”

Anthony felt like the person had a point, but as reasonable as the person was, he could not agree with them. “If you think that way, why don’t you try to persuade Han after he wakes up? As you said, we listen to his orders.”

“Looks like we are unable to reach a consensus.” The person sounded regretful. “Then, this shall be the end of today’s communication. I hope you will consider this man in my custody before you make a move.”

Before Anthony could say anything, the call was ended.

Father Han had woken up halfway through the phone call and basically gleaned all the useful information. Now that the call had been ended, he rubbed his temples and lifted his head to nod at Anthony, who was looking his way. “They probably only want your people to stay out of this business.”

Father Han represented the government. Of course, he would not be threatened by something like that. Cedrick was on a route of vengeance; more words were wasted. Combined with the benefit of the forces behind him, even if he was willing to retreat, the people behind him would not.

Han Chu, this middle-man that got himself hired, represented the important link that joined the few forces together. If he retreated, on the surface, they did not have much to lose, but it might cause the temporary truce between the government and other forces to crumble overnight. That would give the other party the opening that they needed to take them down one by one.

“I can’t make a decision like that.” Anthony pouted. He tossed back the phone and picked up his own communication device. “In any case, I have to contact Xiao Shuang.”