The Bomb

"Simon, what's going on? What's happening right now?"

After only Simon and Meg were left in the car, Meg couldn't hold back her question.

"I'm not sure either! Stay in the car, I'll go check it out."

"No! Since Chuck is fine, let's just leave!" Meg said reluctantly.

Seeing Meg hesitate, Simon reassured her: "Don't worry, this is a public place. Nothing should happen here. If there's danger, I'll leave immediately."

"Really?"

"Really! I promise! If anything goes wrong, I'll leave right away," Simon promised.

"Okay then."

After calming Meg down with a few words, Simon got out of the car and ran toward the hotel's entrance.

As soon as Simon entered the hotel, he saw Chuck, Sarah, and Casey talking about something.

Before Simon could get closer, Chuck suddenly dashed forward, ignoring the large fountain in the middle of the hotel lobby.

Seeing Chuck's movement, Sarah and Casey quickly followed.

Simon, seeing this, didn't hesitate and followed them.

When Sarah and Casey saw Simon catching up, they just gave him a glance without saying anything more.

Soon, the four of them arrived at a banquet hall.

"Chuck, what are you looking for?" After entering the banquet hall, Simon immediately felt that the place was no ordinary hall.

On the podium, a high-ranking army general was giving a long speech, while the audience below consisted of well-dressed guests.

"Over there!" Chuck didn't answer Simon but pointed at a catering cart in the distance.

After saying that, Chuck rushed toward it.

Seeing Chuck run ahead, the others quickly followed.

When the four of them reached the catering cart, Casey and Sarah carefully opened the cover.

"Oh, shit!"

At that moment, Simon finally saw the true nature of the cart: a computer, a blinking controller, and a pile of C4 explosives with wires and fuses attached.

Simon estimated that the power of these explosives was enough to blow up the entire building.

However, there was some good news: the countdown on the computer still had five minutes left.

"Meg, get out of here! Drive away from this street, NOW!"

Although five minutes wasn't enough for Simon to run out of the building, it was enough for Meg to drive away from the street.

"What's going on?" Meg asked urgently on the phone.

"I'll tell you later! For now, just drive away," Simon urged.

"Alright, I got it."

After hanging up, Simon asked, "You guys should know how to disarm the bomb, right?"

"There's no detonator. It's probably triggered by the wires," Sarah said after checking.

"Why not just pull out the wires?" Casey suggested.

"No, that's clearly a trap," Sarah countered.

The two seemed stuck and, almost in sync, turned their gaze toward Chuck.

"Chuck, think of a way to fix the computer!" Sarah urged.

Chuck was in a daze, unable to think clearly: "I... I..."

Seeing Chuck like this, Sarah urged again, "Chuck, think!"

"I have an idea!" Simon suddenly spoke up.

"What?" Sarah, Casey, and Chuck all said at once.

Simon looked at Chuck and asked, "Chuck, do you remember Erin Demova?"

Chuck, who had been confused, suddenly rolled up his sleeves: "Yeah! That's a good idea."

As Chuck moved toward the computer, Casey grabbed his hand: "This isn't an Xbox, and you're not X-Men."

"I know! This is a Mitsubishi portable laptop; we sell them at our supermarket. It has a DOS rewrite system."

Seeing the others staring at him, Chuck reassured them, "I think I can handle it. I can do this!"

Seeing Chuck's determination, Sarah turned to Casey and said, "He's our last chance."

Casey hesitated for a moment but eventually let go of Chuck's hand.

"Alright, Bomb Man. Let me show you the power of the internet."

Chuck said, as he cautiously began to use the laptop's built-in browser to search for... adult websites.

Seeing Chuck's actions, Casey was speechless: "He's searching for porn videos."

Chuck shook his finger, "No! No!"

After saying this, Chuck found a viral video, pressed the enter key, and amidst a cacophony of strange sounds, the computer suddenly crashed.

Because the computer froze, the controller that was connected to the bomb also stopped blinking.

Seeing this, Sarah happily said, "You did it!"

"I did it! I disarmed a real bomb!" Chuck said in disbelief.

"What if you were wrong?" Simon asked coldly.

Chuck, still excited, froze up at those words and couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea.

Casey patted his shoulder: "Don't puke on the bomb."

As Sarah and Casey walked away, Simon patted Chuck on the shoulder: "Buddy, I don't know what you've been through, but I can feel it—your days ahead won't be dull."

Seeing that Chuck was about to explain, Simon quickly stopped him: "You don't need to tell me anything. I don't want to end up like you."

"Okay!" Chuck, realizing it was better to stay quiet, wisely closed his mouth.

"Now that it's all over, I should get going. Good luck, buddy."

After saying goodbye to Chuck, Simon walked outside and took out his phone to call Meg.

"Meg, it's over. Everything's safe, you can come back now."

"I'm right outside!" Meg's voice came from ahead of Simon.

Seeing Meg leaning against the car, Simon put away the phone and quickly walked over: "I told you to leave! Why are you still here?"

"I was worried about you!" Meg bit her lip, "I saw so many police officers, firefighters, and paramedics arriving. I was scared, you were in danger."

"That's exactly why I asked you to leave. Remember, next time I tell you to go, you need to leave without looking back. Got it?" Simon said seriously.

Simon secretly enjoyed this kind of dangerous and thrilling life.

If this continued, he might run into more dangerous situations in the future.

Therefore, to ensure Meg's safety, he had to make sure she stayed away from him when necessary.

"No! You're not getting rid of me," Meg refused.

"Listen, I'm not trying to get rid of you. But as long as you're safe, I have the motivation to keep going," Simon said softly.

"Remember, your safety is more important than anything," Simon said as he hugged Meg.

"I will!"