âCome on, letâs go over there and take a look!âUpon hearing the gunshot coming from outside, the three of them paled. In the next second, they opened the car door and leaped out of the vehicle.Winnie was worried that something might have happened to her grandmother, so she was the fastest of the trio.Xavier subconsciously tried to run after her, but ever since Yulissa had injected large amounts of venom into him, he was no longer as physically fit as before. In fact, he was even a little slower than Winnie and Josiah at the start.What he was most anxious about at that moment was Winnieâs rashness âthat she would be met with danger if she was first to reach the spot.Nevertheless, Winnie was much calmer than he thought she would be. Furthermore, police officers were up ahead, so she soon came to a halt.While Xavier continued running after them, Josiah stopped.Noticing that Xavier was slower than them, Josiah could not help but turn around and ask in concern, âAre you okay? How do you feel?âXavier nodded. âIâm fine.âDespite his words, he was panting a little.If he had no venom in him, he would have no problem running another thousand meters.When Winnie heard Xavier and Josiah talking, she whipped her head around.However, she did not notice anything amiss with Xavier. She only said in distress, âPlease help me ask whatâs going on there. The officer that was in your car earlier is just right there.ââAll right.â Xavier grabbed Winnieâs hand. âCome with me.âWith that, the two of them walked over to the police lieutenant from earlier.On their way there, Xavier abruptly turned to glance at Winnie, a pleading look manifesting in his solemn eyes.âDumbo, can you promise me one thing?
Situations like these are dangerous, so please donât be the first to rush off, okay?âWinnie froze when she saw the imploring look in his eyes.It took her a moment before she could tell him, âI know that youâre worried about me. Even if you donât believe in my capability to defend myself, you should have faith in the officers here. As long as Iâm behind them, I wonât be in any danger.ââWinnie.â Xavier tightened his grip on her hand. âI trust you, and I trust the officers here. But I donât trust Zyon, and I donât trust that accidents wonât happen. I instinctively fear any accidents happening to you, so promise me not to rush off that quickly next time, all right?âWinnie blinked in a daze at the towering man, realizing that he was slowly opening his heart to her.How could she reject him when he was this way?
She would rather lie to him than outright say no to him.Unable to hold herself back, she stepped forward to give him a hug.âI know what you mean. Everyone has areas they excel in, and the policeâs duty is to rescue and arrest people. Theyâve gone through rigorous training, and I have not. If I intervene, Iâll only be making things more troublesome for them. So donât worry about me next time because you have my promise.ââOkay.â As if a weight had finally been taken off his shoulders, Xavier sighed quietly and momentarily tightened his grip on Winnie.Soon, the two moved out of each otherâs arms and came to the lieutenant.âLieutenant Zielinski!â Xavier went over to greet him. âWhat happened just now? Who was injured?ââWeâre not sure yet. The suspect brought the hostages to hide in the rest stop up ahead. Theyâve sealed off all the windows, so we canât see anything. However, based on what we heard, weâre guessing that the one injured is the young female hostage. We donât know how her vitals are, and weâre trying to persuade him to let us send a physician into the rest stop to check on her.âAfter saying that, Zayn Zielinski lifted his walkie-talkie and ordered, âInitiate a negotiation with the kidnappers and try to convince them to let a doctor in. Prioritize the hostagesâ safety!â âGot it!â The police officer with a megaphone immediately turned the device on to communicate with the kidnappers at the rest stop.âZyon Fairchild, youâre being far too impulsive! We havenât prepared the cash yet, but if you give us a little more time, weâll get everything you asked for. However, you have to ensure that the hostages are safe. It wonât do you any good if you kill her! Zyon Fairchild, do you hear us? Weâre requesting to send a doctor to your place to treat the hostageâs wound. If the hostage bleeds too much, she might go into shock and die. Itâll be pointless for you to hold a corpse as a hostage!âHowever, no sound came from inside the rest stop even after half a minute went by; Zyon had not answered the police.Instead, a shriek rang out.Promptly, Zayn snatched the officerâs megaphone and shouted, âZyon Fairchild, weâre already preparing everything youâve asked for. Please stop hurting the hostage!âThis time, Zyon finally made a reply.He, too, was using a megaphone as he said arrogantly, âI just wanted to let you know that the stupid woman is still alive. I hope you remember that I have two hostages with me. Even if the young one dies, I still have the old one, so donât you dare think of scaring me! Keep dilly-dallying, and this dimwitâs going to stop talking for good soon! Also, I said that you only have ten minutes. If I donât get the money and the boat in ten minutes, I hope youâre ready to hold a funeral for this dumbass!âIn the rest stop, Zyon did not hesitate to turn off the megaphone after he was done spitting out the ruthless words.Frankly, the police were already wasting too much of his time, and he was about to get cabin fever from being cooped up in the small rest stop.He wanted to find out what was going on outside, but they had already covered up the windows with boxes.If they wanted to know what was happening outside, they would have to move the boxes away.Just as he stretched his arm toward the boxes, Jacintaâs yells stopped him.âWhat are you doing? Are you trying to die? Put your hand down!âZyon reflexively retracted his arm. âWhatâs going on? Is there something wrong with the boxes?âAs Jacinta bandaged Rachelâs wound, she said, âHave some sense. The moment you uncover the windows, the sniper outside is going to blow your brains out.ââOh.â Zyon inhaled sharply before giving Jacinta a thumbs up. âRight. I nearly did something dumb. The old is always the wise. Youâre amazing.âJacintaâs expression was cold. âI donât think I am, or else I wouldnât have ended up like this.
Weâre at the docks. Getting a boat and hundreds of thousands in cash arenât an issue. Theyâre only dragging this out because theyâre trying to find an opportunity for the snipers.ââWhat do we do then?â
Zyonâs subordinate could see the gravity of the issue as well. âThereâs no way we can escape like this.
Once we step out of this place, the bullets will come for us.ââWhat are you afraid of?â Zyon scratched his head with the muzzle of his gun. âDonât we have two hostages here? Weâll just grab one each, and if weâre fast, the snipers wonât be able to aim properly at us. If we drag the hostages around, they wonât have the guts to pull the trigger. After all, theyâre afraid of hitting the innocents!ââWhat about this one, then?â Zyonâs subordinate pointed at Rachel, whose leg had been hit by a bullet. âThis idiotâs leg is about to give out, which means sheâs going to be a burden if we bring her along. Thereâs no way weâll be able to run fast!ââF*ck you!â Zyon could not help but give his subordinate a kick. âDo you still want to live? If you do, run as fast as you can, or else the grim reaperâs going to get you!âMeanwhile, Jacinta was staring at the back door of the rest stop for a long time. With furrowed brows, she said, âItâs too risky for us to head out, but I have another idea.â