Chapter 1828: Escape Route

Chapter 1828: Escape Route

Anderson swallowed, turned his face away, and fell silent.

Inside the tool cabinet, there was complete silence. Apart from

occasional stern shouts from the men in black outside, the entire

activity center seemed to be immersed in utter stillness.

Fair quietly hid inside the cabinet, feeling scared herself, tightly holding

onto Anderson's arm.

Anderson didn't push her away.

The two young children embraced each other, comforting each other's

fears.

As time passed, second by second, the sky outside gradually

darkened.

Anderson felt a sense of confusion, not knowing what the next steps

should be. He didn't even know if he could successfully escape today.

But as a man, he tightly held onto Fair, deciding not to dwell on past

matters with her. At least for today, in front of his eyes, he had to

protect her.

In the midst of darkness, he opened his familiar mini computer, skillfully

infiltrating the activity center's security system, connecting to all the

smart devices, and making preparations. However, he didn't act rashly.

He was waiting for his dad and mommy to send him a signal.

Outside the activity center,

Joyce, Luther, and the others were anxiously waiting for negotiations

and formulating their action plan.

Justin couldn't be of much help, so he canceled his own plans for the

day and stood aside, waiting.

Suddenly, Commander Zhao ran over, holding a wireless

communication phone in his hand. He covered the microphone and

lowered his voice as he said to Joyce, "Commander, our wireless

communication has been invaded. The other party wants to talk to you.

I suspect it's OGW's people.”

Joyce frowned, could it be Cloud?

Darrin stood in front, “The other party's level isn't qualified to directly

talk to the Commander. Let me take the call.”

Commander Zhao hesitated for a moment.

Luther nodded, indicating his approval.

So, Commander Zhao handed the phone to Darrin.

Sure enough, the person calling was Cloud.

Darrin got straight to the point, “It's you, Cloud.”

Cloud didn't deny it.

Darrin sneered, "We just received the letter you had someone send.

Why are you so impatient? What kind of play are you staging now?

Don't involve innocent people in our matters. Release them quickly.”

Cloud casually replied, "This is just a warning. You have three days to

hand over the blueprints. Otherwise, none of the hostages inside will

survive.”

"How long do you think you can control the people inside? It's not

realistic. Release half of the hostages first, show some sincerity. Then

we can discuss what comes next." Darrin gestured to Joyce, signaling

them to expedite their actions.

"Fine. Release half of the hostages first. But I'm curious about one

thing. Why were you all at the amusement park? Do you know anyone

among the hostages?" Cloud suddenly asked.

As it was on speakerphone, Luther also heard it. His face darkened.

Darrin was taken aback. How could he not have thought that Cloud was

so shrewd? The fact that they appeared so quickly at the amusement

park could only mean that they were already inside, and if they came to

the amusement park, they must have brought children with them. This

was bad. If Cloud found out that Anderson was inside, it would be even

more dangerous. He had underestimated this situation.

How should he respond? He was momentarily at a loss. But if he

hesitated, it would only increase Cloud's suspicion.

Just then,

Justin suddenly shouted next to them, "Joyce, please help me think of

a solution. We must rescue Fair."

Upon hearing this, Joyce immediately understood, "Justin, don't worry.

I'm working on a solution. Just be patient."

On the other end of the phone, Cloud didn't say anything further.

Darrin breathed a sigh of relief at this moment and replied, "We can't

carry the blueprints with us. Release half of the hostages within half an

hour. We'll be in touch.”

"No problem.” Cloud finished speaking and hung up the phone.

Darrin handed the phone back to Commander Zhao; he had just broken

out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, Justin had come up with a clever plan,

making Cloud think that Joyce's friend's daughter was in the activity

center. Otherwise, their cover would have been blown.

Justin let out a long breath. After all, no one knew Fair, so it didn't

matter if her nickname was mentioned.

Meanwhile, the person in charge of the construction finally designed an

escape route. It involved leaving through the ventilation ducts of the

women's restroom, passing through the upper part of the activity

center's lobby, and finally reaching the northwest corner's chimney.

They could have people lying in wait there to provide assistance.

The engineer handed the blueprints to Joyce.

After confirming it together with Luther, Joyce immediately sent them to

Anderson with amessage.

“This is the escape route to leave the activity center through the

ventilation ducts. Take a look and remember it. Within half an hour, the

criminals will release half of the hostages. It will cause some

commotion. Seize this opportunity to leave with Fair. We will send

people to meet you."

As long as Anderson didn't fall into the hands of the criminals, she had

the confidence to launch a strong attack.

At that moment,

Commander Zhao and the negotiation expert received the latest

instructions.

After a round of negotiations, both sides decided to release half of the

hostages in ten minutes.

Commander Zhao made an OK gesture to Joyce.

Joyce nodded.

She sent another message to Anderson, “In ten minutes, they will start

releasing the hostages. Get ready to take action. We will use a

loudspeaker to shout “begin’ as a signal from the outside. Once you

hear it, leave with Fair immediately. Don't cut off the power unless

there's an emergency. It might cause panic and alert inside. If there's

an urgent situation, cut off the power for three seconds and then turn it

back on. It will be our secret signal.”

Anderson quickly replied, "Understood."

After giving the instructions, Joyce took a deep breath, and Luther

helped her sit on a chair.

"You've been standing for too long. Your legs must be numb. Don't

worry, believe in Anderson."

Joyce nodded, watching the time tick away, minute by minute.

Inside the activity center,

Anderson opened the escape route map in the tool cabinet and looked

at it with Fair. The route was somewhat complex, but fortunately, he

had a good sense of direction. However, after reviewing it multiple

times, the route was still too convoluted and difficult to remember.

"Can you memorize it?" he asked Fair, knowing that she was a math

genius and extremely sensitive to numbers...

"Mm, the directions, the distances, I've memorized everything. No

problem at all," Fair nodded, beginning to recite, "West-southwest by

15 degrees, 6 meters, then east by 7 meters, followed by north-

northeast by 25 degrees, 15 meters..."

"Alright, stop reciting. We'll go when I say so," Anderson instructed.

"Okay," Fair clung tightly to Anderson, feeling increasingly nervous.

Sensing Fair's fear, Anderson finally spoke to reassure her, "Don't be

afraid, I'm here."

Fair nodded with determination.