The curtains were only opened about half a meter, and nothing could be seen inside from the outside.

Qin Yongchen looked down coldly at the police gathered below and asked, “Who is in charge here?”

Lu Junchi stepped forward and said, “Qin Yongchen, don’t continue to harm innocent people inside.”

Qin Yongchen laughed and said, “Since you know my name, you should know what has happened to me.”

Lu Junchi asked, “What do you want?”

Qin Yongchen said, “Help me contact my ex-girlfriend and let me talk to her. Also, I want a car with a full tank of gas, a good car.”

Both of these things were not difficult to do, but if Qin Yongchen continued to insist on killing people even after they were done, it would put the police in a more passive position.

Lu Junchi stared firmly at the criminal in front of him and said, “We need time to prepare for what you asked for, but before that, we need to go in and see if the hostages are safe, and provide them with necessary medical care and assistance.”

“Anyone can come in, but it must be someone I designate,” Qin Yongchen said, scanning the surroundings. He instinctively wanted to make a choice that would benefit him.

The people downstairs were all police officers, and an ambulance was parked nearby. Should he let the nurse from the ambulance come over? Or…

His eyes suddenly fell on a man. He was thin, fair-skinned, and stood behind the captain. He seemed out of place in this noisy environment, and he was clearly not a police officer.

Qin Yongchen suddenly remembered something, and a thought gradually formed in his mind.

He pointed with his finger and said, “You can let that young man in and treat those people.”

“He can’t go,” Lu Junchi glanced at Su Hui. He wouldn’t allow Su Hui to enter alone and put himself in danger. He tried to negotiate with Qin Yongchen, “Can I go in? You have hostages, and I won’t do anything else. I just want to confirm the safety of the hostages.”

“You’re negotiating with me!” Qin Yongchen shouted. The baby might have been hurt, and immediately cried, the crying sound pierced the night sky and made everyone’s heart ache.

Su Hui pulled Lu Junchi, “Let me go in and see what’s going on…”

Lu Junchi didn’t answer him. Su Hui’s vision wouldn’t be of much help inside and would only put him in danger.

Qin Yongchen looked at them from the balcony with a gloomy face. Suddenly he changed his mind, “He can go in alone, or you two can go in together… Twenty minutes, I’ll only give you twenty minutes to prepare. If you don’t meet my demands after twenty minutes, I’ll start killing the hostages!”

After saying this, Qin Yongchen took the baby and went inside, pulling the curtains slightly, leaving a gap where the light could be seen.

Qiao Ze was a little nervous. It was his first time encountering a situation where he was completely at a standoff with a criminal. “Captain Lu, what should we do now?”

“Contact the SWAT team and negotiation experts, and ask them to send people over as soon as possible. Let’s prepare according to his words for now.” Su Hui had already taken the medical kit and Lu Junchi pulled him, “We’ll go in together.”

Qiao Ze reminded, “Captain Lu, this might be a trap…” Then he realized that if he could see it, Captain Lu must have known about it long ago.

There were three robbers and three hostages, including a baby. It was impossible to subdue all three robbers at the same time. They would become new hostages.

Captain Lu handed his walkie-talkie and gun to Qiao Ze and said, “Anyway, we have to go in and check the situation. Rescuing the hostages is the top priority.”

Standing here and confronting the criminals would not solve the problem. Snipers were not suitable for complex residential areas, and there was a high risk of injuring the hostages in a sudden attack. The safest way to resolve the situation was to approach the robbers.

Qiao Ze asked, “What about the weapons?”

Captain Lu whispered, “Hide the gun in the medical box compartment.”

The medical box was an iron box specially made by the police, and there was no flaw in its appearance. Only law enforcement personnel could know how to open the compartment where the gun was hidden. The criminals would never find out.

Qiao Ze asked again, “What about the on-site command?”

Lu Junchi replied, “The SWAT team led by Captain Cheng will be here soon.” He turned around and looked at Qiao Ze, who looked nervous, and reassured him, “Don’t worry.”

Prepared, Lu Junchi and Su Hui went upstairs along the corridor. The building had long been evacuated and was empty inside.

Lu Junchi reminded, “The blast radius of a normal grenade is not as large as people imagine, about three to five meters. If there is danger, you must stay away.”

Su Hui nodded, “I know.”

Lu Junchi said again, “I still don’t understand why he suddenly suggested that the two of us come in together?”

Su Hui gave a bitter smile and said, “Maybe he didn’t want to confront you. Maybe he thought that bringing in the commanding officer as a hostage could restrain us from taking action, and make him more proactive.” There was a conclusion that Su Hui did not say, perhaps he chose them for another purpose and did not want them to leave alive.

Su Hui and Lu Junchi quickly arrived at the door. He knocked on the door, and they could hear someone walking up to the door, looking at them through the peephole. Lu Junchi raised his hands and said, “We didn’t bring any weapons.”

After a moment, the door opened, and Zhang Xiaocai opened the door, let them into the room, and searched them all over. He also opened the medicine cabinet to check that they did not have any communicators or weapons. Zhang Xiaocai’s hand was shaking, and he didn’t search very carefully. He turned to look at Qin Yongchen, as if seeking his opinion.

Qin Yongchen said, “Let them in.”

Only then did Lu Junchi see the situation inside the room. Qin Yongchen was sitting on the sofa, and the child was next to him. He firmly held the grenade in his palm, and Lu Junchi couldn’t see the model clearly.

The female victim Dong Jiaying was lying on the floor of the living room, with blood on her body. One room was half-closed, and Lu Junchi could see the male victim Zhou Ye lying on the ground, with the female robber, Mi Shu, sitting opposite him.

The room was quiet for a while. Lu Junchi and Su Hui first went to Dong Jiaying. They could tell that she had been stabbed four times, so Lu Junchi gave her a simple dressing. Dong Jiaying had been conscious all along and had heard the previous shouting outside the window. Her eyes were already swollen from crying, and she held the hands of the two unfamiliar police officers and asked, “What about my husband… how is he?”

Lu Junchi held her hand and said, “He’s okay. We’ll go see him right away.” Then he reassured her, “You’ve done very well, you’ll be safe soon.”

After confirming Dong Jiaying’s condition, Su Hui stayed with her while Lu Junchi went to the inner room. Zhou Ye was still alive, but his condition was more serious than Dong Jiaying’s, and he was already somewhat confused. There was a shortage of doctors and medicine, so Lu Junchi could only do some simple treatment for him, using a tourniquet to temporarily stop the bleeding.

These two hostages couldn’t hold on for too long.

Su Hui turned around and looked at the two robbers. Qin Yongchen still had a gloomy face and held the child, while Zhang Xiaocai sat on a chair next to the dining table at the door.

The robbers didn’t speak, nor did they open their mouths.

Time passed by, and in the blink of an eye, ten minutes had passed. With only twenty minutes left until the deadline, Mi Shu, who had been sitting on the ground, suddenly stood up and walked outside, saying, “Brother Qin, they won’t talk, and the police won’t let us go. Even if we have a car, we won’t be able to escape!”

Qin Yongchen looked up at Mi Shu and said, “I asked for the car, but I didn’t plan on using it.”

Mi Shu looked at him, trembling, and suddenly realized, “You…you never planned on getting out of here alive, did you? You never intended to let them go either?!”

Lu Junchi heard their conversation and walked out of the room.

Qin Yongchen’s hand tightened, and he raised his hand, holding onto the grenade tightly.

Lu Junchi finally saw what was in Qin Yongchen’s hand, and his expression immediately turned serious. “HG85…” He had underestimated the level of danger in this situation. The power of that grenade was enough to kill everyone in the room. How did these robbers get their hands on it?

Qin Yongchen smiled and placed his thumb on the safety catch. “You guys came, but you won’t be leaving.”

Mi Shu suddenly burst into tears. “So you just wanted to talk to that woman?! You haven’t forgotten about her until now!”

Qin Yongchen replied, “I just want to ask her something…” He couldn’t die without knowing the answer.

“Brother Qin! You can’t do this!” Zhang Xiaocai finally understood what Qin Yongchen’s two demands meant. The request for a car was just a smokescreen. He only wanted to talk to his ex-girlfriend one last time before taking them all to their deaths.This realization made Zhang Xiaocai break out in a cold sweat.

Seeing that his companions didn’t support his decision, Qian Yongchen’s smile gradually faded, “What? Don’t you want to accompany me? Aren’t the three of us family?”

Family?!

Hearing this, Mi Shu and Zhang Xiaocai’s faces changed…

They had spent several months on a crazy journey together, suffering from loneliness and injuries, and had referred to each other as family.

If they were family, they should stick together through thick and thin, share the good times and bad times.

Anyone who betrayed their family was despicable and deserved to be punished, deserved to die.

That had been their unwavering belief and the promise they had made to each other.

But now, they were going to be pulled down to hell by this belief, by this lunatic!

The situation inside the house could not be conveyed to the police outside. Lu Junchi frowned as he thought about how to defuse this crisis.

Su Hui knelt beside Dong Jiaying, the only person who remained calm in this tense situation, looking at the three people in front of him with interest…

The relationship between them had already been broken when Qian Yongchen revealed his true intentions.

At this moment, seven or eight police cars were still parked in the yard. The SWAT team captain, Cheng Ge, got out of the car and walked to the side of the chief criminal investigator, Qi Zhengyang, who had arrived earlier. “What’s the situation inside now? How many hostages are there?”

“Three people. Ah, no… including Captain Lu and Consultant Su, there are five people. Four adults and a baby.” Qiao Ze was so anxious that he rubbed his hands together. If everything went smoothly, Lu Junchi and Su Hui should have come out by now, but there was no movement inside.

Cheng Ge said nervously, “Everyone and all vehicles should withdraw to a safe distance of 15 meters. Snipers get ready, assault team get ready, and contact the central hospital.” Then he thought for a moment and patted his deputy on the shoulder. “What about the negotiator? How much longer until they arrive?”

“Five minutes. In addition, the robber has made a demand. He wants to talk to his ex-girlfriend within 20 minutes. He also wants a car, which has been prepared. We’ve talked to his ex-girlfriend on the phone, but she refused to speak to him. We’re still trying to negotiate…”

“Talking to his ex-girlfriend could further agitate the robber,” Cheng Ge pointed out. At this time, they couldn’t just satisfy the robber’s demands, as he might then ask for more. However, they also couldn’t be unprepared.

“What should we do if the robber asks about it?”

“Tell him the truth and see how he reacts.”

Qi Zhengyang asked, “There are still five minutes before the 20-minute deadline. What should we do now?”

Cheng Ge turned to him and gave him one word: “Wait.”

Wait until 20 minutes have passed.

The best way now is to control the robber from the inside.

If their own people are inside, he must give them this opportunity.