Chapter 30: Safety

The broadcast van was much larger than a typical car, and if it had been a private vehicle, Commissioner Gordon would have already switched to a safer rescue plan, like Harvey's suggestion of the roller rescue plan.

With forty minutes left before the explosion, there was no need to worry about the fuel. The only danger now was whether the assassin would realize that there was only one person left in the car.

Iseline was about to make a call when she noticed that Liu A'dou had turned off his phone. Tears welled up in her eyes as she dropped the phone, and it fell out of the car, shattering into pieces on the road. Iseline stared at the departing broadcast van, suddenly feeling like something had been lost inside her, an empty feeling she couldn't explain. She realized that Liu A'dou had been lying to her all along. When she thought about it, the assassin was skilled enough to tell the difference between a real voice and one coming from the phone's speaker. How could she have been so gullible, believing that man's lies?

"Hey, the car turned," Iseline said, noticing the vehicle ahead had left the ring road and was heading out of the city.

"That road?!" The traffic officer, familiar with the roads, quickly noticed something was wrong. That road didn't lead anywhere—it ended at a cliff overlooking the ocean.

Indeed, Liu A'dou was driving the car towards the cliff. If the explosion happened there, it wouldn't affect him up on the cliff.

The assassin's call hadn't ended, and he seemed to take pleasure in the despair of the beautiful woman. His voice was too pleasing—there was no more beautiful sound in the world. The despair and sadness were so delicious, and the assassin couldn't help but indulge in it.

"Why? Because you are my targets. That's all. In Gotham, there are some people you can't mess with. Those who don't follow the rules must face the consequences." The assassin said with delight. "Remember this in your next life."

Liu A'dou thought to himself, Don't let him find the assassin, or I'll make sure to deal with him. He turned the phone around, restoring his own voice and said, "Iseline, ask him who he is?"

He then held the phone to the microphone, using Iseline's voice to ask, "Who exactly are you?"

Liu A'dou was acting both parts, making the situation lively.

"Heh, do you think I'll tell you? Too bad, I'm no fool. You've got thirty minutes, then you'll meet death. You want to get my identity? Dream on. Hahahaha, I'll make sure you both die with regret and bitterness."

Liu A'dou looked up and saw the warning sign for a cliff ahead: "Cliff ahead, drive carefully." The edge of the abyss was right in front of them. A cold smile appeared on his face as he suddenly switched to a third voice—a young one: "I'll find you and throw you into prison to stay with your employer." This voice was ordinary, but Liu A'dou had analyzed the criminal's altered voice and had restored the assassin's real voice.

The assassin paused, recognizing the voice wasn't that of the two targets, but it sounded somewhat familiar. Who was it? The assassin didn't realize it was his own voice. This was natural—he wouldn't react fast enough to recognize his own voice suddenly coming through the phone.

Wait. Now wasn't the time for this. There was a third person involved—they were secretly trying to rescue the hostages. Die!!

The assassin decisively pressed the remote.

Boom—

The million-dollar broadcast equipment and the van exploded into a ball of fire.

"Oh my God!" The rescuers closed their eyes. The black smoke rising from the distance was a grim sign—the hostages' chances of survival were slim.

"A'dou??!!—" Iseline's body went limp, her heart skipped a beat, and she collapsed back in her seat, unresponsive to Harvey Dent's calls. She had always seen Liu A'dou as the only family she had, and now, suddenly, he was gone.

"Doctor!" Harvey Dent shouted. He, too, needed medical attention. His right hand had been painfully pinned by Iseline earlier, and it was now throbbing, possibly broken.

A straight tire mark was left in front of the cliff, and Commissioner Gordon walked to the edge of the cliff, his face full of regret. He didn't know Liu A'dou well, but from today's act of selflessness in saving others, it was clear that he was a brave and upright young man. The commissioner felt sorrow. Could it be that Gotham City could only accommodate criminals, but not upright young people?

Black smoke rose from the base of the cliff, accompanied by a faint cry of "help, help."

Gordon froze, then leaned forward to look down at the cliff, only to see a person hanging from a protruding rock on the cliff's edge, looking up and crying for help.

"My God!" It was the young reporter, and he hadn't died?

Of course, Liu A'dou hadn't died. He had jumped out of the car, but in order to get the car to race forward before the explosion, he couldn't jump out too early. By the time he did, the car was already too close to the cliff. After jumping, he rolled and fell, but luckily, his agility allowed him to catch a protruding rock on the cliff before he could be killed or pulled into the blast.

"Pull me up! My hand is going numb!" Liu A'dou exaggeratedly shouted.

"Hang in there, young man," Gordon immediately called to the fire department to get a rope ready.

Once the rescue team realized that the hostage was safe, they immediately cheered, but they moved swiftly to pull Liu A'dou up. Someone draped a blanket over him, which seemed to be a tradition—whether someone was lightly injured or just shocked, they would be covered with a gray blanket, bringing warmth to those rescued.

Well, Liu A'dou felt much warmer.

"Is Iseline okay?" He craned his neck, scanning the crowd.

"She's fine." Harvey Dent, with his right hand still hanging, said. The doctor had checked him out—he had a fracture. But Harvey, worried about the hostage, insisted on delaying his treatment. Harvey was the only one injured in the entire bombing incident, which was surprising.

"Then what about you, Prosecutor? Are you okay?" Liu A'dou asked, looking at Harvey's appearance with a puzzled expression.

"Call me Harvey, it's just a fracture, nothing serious." Harvey shrugged his shoulders, but the movement caused him pain, and his face stiffened.

The doctor walked over with an annoyed expression and pulled Harvey into the ambulance.

Liu A'dou was also checked out, but it was just a scrape on his elbow. Everyone thought it was a miracle, but Liu A'dou knew that such a trap was of no use.

Iseline had fainted, and Liu A'dou stayed by her side and accompanied her to the hospital.

The dark space closed in, eventually swallowing her. In the dream, her mother, father, and Liu A'dou all left her one by one, and she was alone, groping in the darkness. It felt like monsters and demons were lurking all around, ready to pounce and tear her apart. The dream was so real that Iseline felt as though her whole body was filled with lead.

Finally, the nightmare broke with the first light of dawn, and Iseline was drenched in sweat. Liu A'dou gently wiped her face with a wet towel, looking at her with pity. The nightmare must have been terrifying, and the fear lingered on Iseline's sleeping face, impossible to shake off.

Liu A'dou felt a little guilty, but in order to avoid suspicion, he had no choice but to deceive her into sleeping first.

Iseline opened her eyes and returned to the sad reality, but then she noticed Liu A'dou—who she had thought was "dead"—was sitting next to her, looking at her.

"Don't be surprised. I told you I wouldn't be hurt. I jumped out of the car before the explosion." Liu A'dou said casually.

The nightmare hadn't come true. It hadn't come true. Overcome with joy, Iseline hugged Liu A'dou tightly. "Liu, don't leave me."

"I won't leave you." Liu A'dou patted Iseline's back, reassuring her.

To protect Iseline and Liu A'dou, before the police could arrest the assassin, Gordon made a request. He asked that they receive 24-hour protection from the police and stay in a safe house used for protected witnesses. The police would release fake news, claiming the hostages were dead, in order to deceive and mislead the assassin.