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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nTan Guiren stared blankly at Huo Shaoheng’s extended hand and seemed to be completely out of it. Incredible disbelief and the crazed joy of escaping alive intertwined, she cried out quietly and nearly stumbled as she crawled from the wall to lunge out of the cage door.

nBang!

nA deafening sound emitted from the window and startled all the people on the fifth and sixth floors from their slumber.

n“Someone is attacking us! Hurry up and kill those motherf*ckers!” The planks nailed on the window had been kicked to pieces, sawdust floating in the air.

nThe two children also woke from their deep sleep. Rubbing their eyes, they sat up and saw the tall and powerful Huo Shaoheng carrying a gun and wearing a helmet and sunglasses. Like a god of death, he stood at the door. The children were so frightened that they began to cry loudly. Their sobbing was especially piercing in the quiet night, and the sound echoed even more quickly with the planks kicked off the building windows.

nTan Guiren fell to the ground with a scream. She rushed over to latch onto Huo Shaoheng’s leg and cried, “Help me! Please help me!”

nHuo Shaoheng picked her up from the ground and aimed his gun with the other hand to shoot the shouting man who had jumped in from the broken window. The man who’d been knocked down happened to be Brother Hong, who had come up from the fourth floor.

n“Run!” Huo Shaoheng grabbed Tan Guiren’s arm and turned to dash out.

nHowever, Tan Guiren stopped him with all her strength and sobbed, “Please, save those two children… They’re innocent… They’ve been locked up here for a long time…”

nHuo Shaoheng turned around and realized, in the light spilling through the broken window, that they were two Huaxia children. He pressed his lips together and whispered, “You go downstairs first.” As he spoke, he pulled Tan Guiren by the arm to run outside.

nAt the same time, loud footsteps were coming from the hallway, so Huo Shaoheng knew it must be the kidnappers coming from upstairs. The Special Operations Forces personnel were dealing with them upstairs, so they shouldn’t be a serious problem. Pulling Tan Guiren’s arm forcefully, he quickly strode toward the stairwell. Tan Guiren desperately resisted and glared at Huo Shaoheng’s back.

n“How can you leave them to die?!” said Tan Guiren. “Those kids are innocent! They’ll die if you don’t rescue them!” Huo Shaoheng’s grasp was so strong that Tan Guiren thought her arm was about to get ripped off.

n“My objective is to rescue you from here. That doesn’t include those kids.” Huo Shaoheng was unperturbed and replied quietly as they reached the stairwell.

nBut Tan Guiren latched onto the stairway railing tightly and no longer resisted Huo Shaoheng. Instead, she stubbornly refused to go downstairs with him and begged softly, “Since my dad sent you, I know you’re a good person. I’m really begging you to save them! They are also Huaxia children! They are our people. How can you see them perish at a young age like that? Those criminals are not human!”

nHuo Shaoheng ignored her and glanced at his watch. His subordinates were reporting the results of the battle on his Bluetooth headset.

n“12 targets on the fourth floor. One escaped, and the rest were eliminated. Over.”

n“16 targets on the fifth floor. All were eliminated. Over.”

n“15 targets on the sixth floor. All were eliminated. Over.”

nIt appeared most of the criminals in the building had been killed. Huo Shaoheng nodded and grabbed Tan Guiren’s arm forcefully as he informed them, “Message received. All personnel are to retreat. All personnel are to retreat.”

n“Hahahaha… Want to run? It’s too late!” A sly laugh sounded from the room they’d just escaped from.

nClutching the wound on his shoulder, Brother Hong walked out from behind the door. He raised his arm to shoot once toward the stairwell, nearly hitting Tan Guiren. The girl was so terrified that she quickly hid behind Huo Shaoheng.

nHe didn’t even look before shooting back and managing to hit Brother Hong’s wrist. With a terrible scream, Brother Hong rolled on the floor and couldn’t even hold the gun in his hand. Brother Hong lay on the ground with both his shoulder and wrist shot, his laugh full of despair and grief.

n“Brother! I avenged you! I lured their leader here! It doesn’t matter if you can’t escape! The United States will trade you back!”

nTan Guiren was completely controlled by Huo Shaoheng’s grip and stumbled down the stairs. She kept turning back to look at the upper floor as she ran, tears streaming down her face.

nHuo Shaoheng’s face was completely solemn as he arrived at the exit on the first floor and calmly directed his soldiers to retreat. Special Ops Team B quickly ran downstairs form the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. Huo Shaoheng did a headcount and saw that everyone was accounted for. He waved his hand when they all arrived, “Go.” He then shoved Tan Guiren at one of the personnel. “Take her.”

nThey surrounded Tan Guiren and quickly left the building to run toward the residential homes across the street to meet with Team A. They planned to retreat in an orderly manner according to the established route.

nSuddenly, a great explosion sounded from the six-story building they’d just left. Great streams of flames burst from the first-floor windows, the fire raging and climbing upward to devour anything it touched.

nOne Special Ops member turned around and shouted, “They are detonating the building!”

nTan Guiren turned back suddenly and screamed with anguish, “Little Quan! Huihui!”

nUsing all her strength, she broke from the grip of the Special Ops personnel holding her and madly rushed toward the building.

n“Come back!” Huo Shaoheng shouted, but it was too late. Tan Guiren had already run to the burning building and was inside.

n“What is she doing?” someone asked in confusion.

nZhao Liangze glanced at Huo Shaoheng from the corner of his eye to see the other man’s lip twitch uncontrollably. Luckily, Huo Shaoheng wore sunglasses; otherwise, his dark glare would have terrified the others.

n“You wait here.” Gritting his teeth, Huo Shaoheng also dashed inside.

nWhen he arrived in the building, he saw that the fire was not as intense as it appeared from the outside. He quickly climbed up to the third floor to see Brother Hong lying in the hallway, motionless. Huo Shaoheng couldn’t help shooting him again before walking into the room from earlier. Tan Guiren was striking the lock fiercely.

nHuo Shaoheng said coldly, “Move.”

nTan Guiren turned back with shock to see that the leader from earlier had arrived. She wiped her tears. “Please, save them!”

nHuo Shaoheng didn’t reply but aimed his gun at the lock to the children’s cage. With two shots, the lock was broken, and he yanked open the doors to carry one child out on each arm. They had already lost their breath from crying and were trembling in Huo Shaoheng’s arms.

nTan Guiren followed him over and consoled them. “Don’t cry! Sister will get you guys out…”

nThe two children finally regained their breath when they heard her voice. They stared wide-eyed at Tan Guiren and reached out to hold her hand. Tan Guiren also wanted to hug them, and in the struggle, Huo Shaoheng suddenly heard booming overhead that sounded out of place.

nThat is the sound of an armored helicopter! How could there be armored helicopters here?!

n“Hurry up, or we won’t make it!” Huo Shaoheng’s heart sank as he carried a child under each arm and pushed Tan Guiren toward the stairs. He ordered the personnel awaiting, “Retreat! All personnel, retreat!”

nThe roar of the helicopter grew louder. Not only that, but there were now police sirens so shrill that they pierced the silence of the night. Rumbling sounds of something grinding onto the ground could also be heard from all directions. Huo Shaoheng’s blood chilled as he realized that he had seemingly fallen into the trap… He didn’t have time to think anymore as he carried one child under each arm and pushed Tan Guiren downstairs. When they arrived at the first-floor exit, he saw that the building had already been surrounded. Not only was he facing armed police officers but also the most elite American Navy SEALs!

nThe people outside began shouting over a megaphone. “Criminals inside the building! You have been surrounded! Drop your weapons and surrender now!”

nSpotlights intersected and illuminated the normally pitch-black Bronx neighborhood as bright as day.

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