November 15th, 11 am.
Inside a residential building in City S, a seventeen-year-old boy was slowly waking up from his coma.
He took several seconds to get used to the light in the room, and he finally got a good look at his surroundings.
The first thing that entered his eyes were three figures …
They were three men in dark jackets, jeans, and ski masks. At that moment, they were sitting around a table, smoking and playing cards.
Seeing the boy wake up, the three of them glanced at him casually, but they did not give him much of a reaction.
As for the youth … he immediately fell into a state of panic.
Because he immediately realized … that he was tied to a chair. Not only were his hands tied, but his waist and legs were also tied to the chair. He was in a state where he could not move at all. In addition … his mouth was also taped up and he could not speak.
Where am I? How did I get here? The boy was shocked. Who are these people? Have I been kidnapped?
Soon, following a wave of dizziness, fragments of memory flashed across his mind …
Yes! I'm in that toilet!
The boy's name was Ma Junxiao. One year ago, he had been a normal high school student who was not very good at studying, liked to play games, looked average, and was extremely tall. But now, he was a superstar professional player and one of the top players from the biggest gaming studio in the industry. His ID was Sky Swallowing Phantom Dawn.
Recently, due to the competition, Phantom Dawn had been working the 'night shift'. Of course, most of the time, he was sleeping inside the gaming hub.
In the day, he did not need to stay at the company. As long as he stayed online for more than three hours a day, he could work from home.
But at night … he still had to go to the headquarters to clock in at around 10 am to prepare for the competition and then lie inside the company's equipment for the competition.
At 7 am, like usual, Phantom Dawn left the company building. He bought breakfast on the way home and took the subway home.
Even though 7 am was the morning rush hour, and it was common knowledge that the subway in City S could squeeze people into juice, Phantom Dawn did not 'go to work' at that time but 'got off work'. The route that he took was the opposite of the crowded one. On average, there were only seven or eight people in each carriage.
Therefore, when he got on the train, there was an empty seat for him.
However, after two stops, Phantom Dawn suddenly felt uncomfortable. Perhaps it was because the breakfast he bought today was not clean … A wave of severe abdominal pain came without warning.
Fortunately, the transit time was not long, and there was a toilet before he exited the station. Therefore, he quickly rushed out of the carriage at the next station and went straight to the public toilet in the subway station.
This trip … took nearly two hours.
Two hours later, Phantom Dawn, whose legs were weak, walked out from the toilet cubicle.
In fact, in the last twenty minutes … his diarrhea had basically subsided. Otherwise, he might have called an ambulance. However, he had to spend another twenty minutes massaging his legs before he could regain the ability to stand.
After he exited the toilet, Phantom Dawn walked to the sink. He took a long breath, washed his hands, and then lowered his head to wash his face.
But as soon as he lowered his head … he lost consciousness.
He could not remember the last part of his memory, but he was not dumb. Based on the situation before him, he had either been knocked out from behind or had his mouth and nose covered with anesthesia.
"My neck and neck do not feel any pain, but my head is a bit dizzy …" After he calmed down, Phantom Dawn started to think. "I'm eighty percent sure that I was knocked out by something like ether …" His eyes scanned the three people. "These three … based on their size, they look like adults. It will be easy for them to carry me away."
With that in mind, he looked around.
At this moment, the place he was in seemed to be an unfinished house. There was almost no furniture in the empty room, but thick curtains were hung by the windows. The walls and ceiling were simply painted white, and the floor was made of concrete.
As far as his eyes could see, the only furniture he could see was a simple foldable table, a few chairs, and a fluorescent light in the corner of the ceiling. The light was on, which meant that there was at least electricity in the house. Based on Phantom Dawn's analysis, there should be water as well, or else these people would not have gone outside to use the public toilet when they were holding him hostage, right?
"This is not good … After these people saw that I had woken up, they were as calm as ever …" Looking around, Phantom Dawn thought to himself. "Based on what I've seen in the movies, those who would have this kind of reaction are either criminals or criminals, or both …" Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "Speaking of which … why did they kidnap me in the first place? I am not a young girl, so they wouldn't kidnap me, right? "
Indeed, that was impossible … because if they really wanted to kidnap him, he would not have 'woken up naturally' but would have woken up in some other way.
"Robbery … That doesn't sound right …" Phantom Dawn continued to think. "My parents are both normal salaried workers. Even though my current salary is not bad, it is not so high that they would kidnap me, right?"
Indeed, the 'ransom' reasoning … did not make sense either.
In terms of difficulty, kidnapping a child was obviously easier than kidnapping a high schooler, and in terms of profit, if they really wanted to kidnap an adult … they should have chosen someone from a rich family, like Jin Fugui …
No matter how he thought about it, kidnapping Phantom Dawn was a difficult and low-reward job. Obviously, the three people who had targeted Phantom Dawn … had other motives.
"Wait a minute … Could it be …" Several seconds later, a more reliable thought crossed Phantom Dawn's mind. "Could it be related to my competition at midnight?"
He finally got it.
But … even though he knew that, he did not have the ability to escape from danger.
At that moment, there were still … twelve hours and fifty-three minutes until the competition at midnight on the 16th.
…
At the same time, back at the main office of Regulation.
"Hmm … I still can't get through …" Meng Jingchan listened to the message that came from his phone. "The number you have dialed is not available." His face was filled with confusion.
Brother Zen was someone who did not like to bring work home with him, so he did not leave the company in the morning like the rest of Team 1. Instead, he switched to non-sleeping mode and completed the day's online requirement before he prepared to leave.
"This is troublesome …" This was the fifth time Meng Jingchan had called Phantom Dawn's number in the past forty minutes, but he could not get through.
Coincidentally, when Phantom Dawn came to the company last night, he had forgotten to bring the key to his locker, so he had borrowed Brother Zen's locker. But this morning, when the kid returned home, he had forgotten to leave the key at the front desk, and he had taken it with him.
As for Brother Zen … his car keys, house keys, wallet, and other miscellaneous items were all inside his jacket, and his jacket was inside the locker.
Of course, the company definitely had a backup key to the locker, but because it involved personal privacy and other issues, the administrative process of applying for this thing was very troublesome (there was a period when it was very casual, but after a few theft and violation of personal privacy incidents, the administrative process was very strict), and it could take half a day.
At that moment, Brother Zen had nothing but a phone with him, so naturally, he had to call Phantom Dawn's number to interrogate him.
But … he could not get through.
"Hmm … Why don't we ask Team Leader what the kid's home phone number is …" Brother Zen had not considered the worst possible scenario. The first thing that came to his mind was whether the kid had thrown his phone somewhere with a bad signal or lost it.
…
Afternoon, 4: 49 pm.
There were still seven hours and eleven minutes until the competition on the 16th.
Wu … Wu …
After hearing the vibration, Feng Bujue, who was browsing the web, glanced at the phone on the table and saw an unfamiliar number.
"Is this some kind of scam or scam?" Brother Jue grumbled as he picked up the phone to answer it.
Even though he knew this was probably a prank call, he would still answer it. Basically … when Feng Bujue picked up this kind of call, he only needed to listen for five seconds to get the gist of the situation. Then he would hang up without a word and add the number to his blocked list.
Brother Jue picked up the phone and said, "Hello, who is this?"
"Er … Hello, is this Feng Bujue?" A familiar voice came from the other side of the phone.
Brother Jue quickly searched for the source of the voice in his mind. "Hot pot?"
"Hey, hey … Even if you don't know my name, you can call me by my in-game nickname, right?" Brother Zen was not angry, but he was a bit annoyed. "What do you mean by hot pot?"
"How did you get my number?" Feng Bujue did not answer the question but tossed out a question that he was more interested in.
"I am currently at the police station. The police told me." Meng Jingchan's answer was quite surprising.
"Oh …" Feng Bujue answered before adding, "You want me to bail you out after you've been caught for prostitution?"
"Big brother … I really need to call you big brother now," Meng Jingchan said. "How did you come to that conclusion?"
"It's very simple. From the way you were hot pot, it gave me the impression that you frequented low-end brothels." Feng Bujue replied in a lazy tone. "Then you said that you were at the police station, so you were probably caught in the middle of a prostitution crackdown. In your situation … if you inform your family, you basically have no way out. If you ask your unit leader to come and collect you, or ask your friends to bail you out … Not to mention that you won't be able to raise your head in front of others in the future, the news will leak out sooner or later. So, you thought of me.
At this point, Meng Jingchan was silent for a full thirty seconds.
"Brother Feng … your analysis is not bad, but your bias toward me is too strong …" Brother Zen said after a long silence.
"Fine, then tell me, what is it?" Feng Bujue asked.
"Hmm … It's like this …" Meng Jingchan said. "Phantom Dawn … he seems to have been kidnapped."
"Huh?" Feng Bujue was startled. "Have you called the police?"
"They called the police this afternoon." Meng Jingchan said. "Initially, they thought it was a missing person case. Furthermore, he was a young man, so the police did not pay much attention to it. But as you know, we have an important competition tonight. Therefore, our boss pulled some strings and 'pushed back' the progress of the investigation. One hour ago, the police obtained the surveillance footage …"
"Stop! Thank you!" Feng Bujue interrupted him. "Just tell me that the police have been called. That's enough. There's no need to waste time with me."
"Brother Feng …" Brother Zen said. "I'm calling you … because I need your help."
"You need my help?" Feng Bujue scoffed. "Ha … What kind of help can I possibly provide?" Then he said something very shameless. "Even though I am a literary giant and have the ability of a famous detective … it is more suitable for the police to handle this kind of case." He paused. "Don't worry. The police in our country are very good when they are serious. Their investigative ability and execution ability are …"
"Brother Feng." At this time, Meng Jingchan suddenly lowered his voice and said to Brother Zen in a very serious tone, "It's not that I don't trust their ability … but there's something going on here."
"Oh?" Feng Bujue caught something in the man's tone. "What do you mean by that?"
"It's not convenient to talk about it over the phone … Can you come to the police station?" Meng Jingchan replied.
"Hmm …" Feng Bujue thought about it for a few seconds. "Sure …" Before Brother Zen could respond, he asked, "Give me the address."
…
Thirty minutes later, a silver Porsche stopped at the entrance of a police station in S City.
Two men got out of the car. One was Feng Bujue, and the other was Wang Tanzhi.
Because they had contacted each other by phone, Meng Jingchan was waiting for them outside the reception hall.
"Hey … The two of you, come to the police station and drive a Porsche …" As soon as the three of them finished greeting each other, Brother Zen complained.
"You don't have to say anything. I understand. We have always been so low-key," Feng Bujue replied calmly.
In a sense, he was right … Compared with the other cars in Xiao Tan's house, this one was very low-key, whether in color or price …
"Ha ha … Okay … Okay …" Brother Zen really didn't know how to continue the conversation, so he simply changed the subject. "By the way, time is limited. Let's get down to business first …"
Then, he pulled Brother Zen and Xiao Tan to the side mysteriously. They stood in a corner outside the room where there was no one around.
"I … will only tell you this …" Meng Jingchan was obviously a clever person. He knew that what he was about to say would not reach the ears of Phantom Dawn's family or any of the police officers. "Actually, I have great faith in the police, but … before I called you, I accidentally overheard the deputy director talking on the phone in the toilet …" At this point, he looked around cautiously and lowered his voice. "The sound in the toilet was muffled, and I could hear the voice on the phone …" He paused for half a second and looked into the eyes of the two men. "I have no idea who was on the other end of the phone, but … I clearly heard him instructing the deputy director to try to delay the investigation … and he said that it had to be delayed until at least 2 am."
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