The Kidnapped Children

At the same time, the mastermind behind the kidnapping also watched the news. He snickered, seeing the worried and anxious parents. They would never know that he was the one behind the kidnappings, since he was a renowned figure in society. Not even the police suspected him.

Sitting on the sofa, the man twirled the wine, excited to start his experiments. He was only trying to make the world a better place. The children should be thankful that he was going to give them superpowers. The human body was too weak. A simple virus could take their lives. He had to change it. Once he's done with his experiments, it will be a new era. And he will be the master of this planet.

Two days after meeting up with Nikolai and Winter, Valentin used his reward 'Locate' to find the children. He wanted to make sure that the assassins rested enough before they went to save the children.

[You have used your reward. The kidnapped children are inside the TrustMed building.]

Winter and Nikolai's intuition was right; the mastermind was indeed Dr. Milo, the CEO of the pharmaceutical company.

[Ding! You have received a new mission!

Mission: Please infiltrate the pharmaceutical company to find the exact location of the kidnapped children.]

'Why didn't you give me the exact location?' Valentin asked the system. Why did the system issue a separate mission? The system could've just given him the exact location.

[The system has been updated, and it wants to use a new feature. You will know about it when you arrive at the company.]

Valentin sighed. Since he didn't have the exact location, he had to go find it himself. It's not like he had a choice. If he didn't complete the mission, his bank account would be frozen. The judge decided to accomplish the mission alone, letting the assassins rest for a bit longer.

The TrustMed was a big and tall company decorated with big modern windows. The door opened automatically as Valentin entered the building. How was he going to bypass the security?

[No need to worry! The system will provide you with a special item!]

Suddenly, an employee card appeared around the judge's neck. It was proof that he was an employee at the company. No one will notice that he wasn't from their company since they had a lot of employees.

Valentin scanned his employee card and successfully infiltrated the company. He guessed that the children would be hidden in a secluded place or near the CEO's office. With so many people in the company, normally, the kidnapped children won't go unnoticed. But they had a spatial user, so it was a different story.

Suddenly, the system's blue screen appeared in front of his eyes. It looked like a map of the building, showing each floor level. Valentin could see the little icon that represented his location.

[Tada! This is the system's new feature. It'll help you find the missing children. When your icon is red, it means that you are far away from your target. As you get closer to the target, it will become green.]

Now, his icon was orange, meaning that he was not far away from the children. As Valentin took the elevator to go to the higher floors, his icon became redder. It seemed like the children weren't near the CEO's office.

'Weird, ' Valentin thought. He looked more closely at the map and realized that there was a basement level that he hadn't gone to yet. But it wasn't accessible with the elevator.

The judge rushed back to the ground floor and tried to find the entry for the staircases. Maybe he would be able to get to the basement level by the stairs. As he thought, the staircase did lead to the basement level, but the door was locked. He knew he was at the right place since the icon was green.

'Can you open the door for me?" Valentin asked the system.

With a click, the door opened with the system's help. The basement was pitch black. With the light coming from the staircases, Valentin could see the white lines on the ground. It seemed that it was an abandoned parking lot.

Hearing muffled voices, Valentin carefully followed the sounds. Slowly adjusting to the darkness, Valentin saw the metallic cages. The kids were closed in them as if they were animals. The cages were spread out in the entire parking lot. Just how many kids did they kidnap?

The muffled voices resonated louder when the kids noticed the stranger. Was it the kidnapper or someone coming to save them?

'Can't I just get them out of here right now?' Valentin asked the system. He was afraid that the children couldn't hold on much longer. From their pale complexion, dried lips and skinny bones, Valentin guessed that they hadn't eaten much after they got captured.

[You won't be able to do that alone. The enemy is stronger than you think. Besides, the mastermind behind the kidnapping is watching you right now.]

Spotting the hidden cameras, Valentin laughed helplessly. Dr. Milo was going to be hard to deal with. The judge had never encountered such an enemy in his past life. It seems like the children had to wait for a bit longer.

Valentin crouched in front of a cage. Seeing the stranger, the kids retreated backwards against the cold metal.

"Don't be scared, I'm not with the kidnappers," Valentin reassured them.

Noticing that the man wasn't in a white robe, the kids approached closer.

"Are you here to save us?" a kid asked. His voice was dry from the lack of drinking water.

"Yes, can you hold on a bit longer? I have to go tell my friends that you guys have been hiding here," Valentin replied softly. It was heartbreaking to see the kids in such a state.

The kids nodded; they had been waiting for a long time. They could wait a bit longer. At least, someone had found them.

"Can you stay with us?" one of the kids asked courageously, holding on to the man's black pants. He was scared that the man wouldn't return to get them. 

Seeing the scared kids, Valentin agreed to the little boy's request. It would be better for the kids' mental state if there were an adult near them.

Valentin got the kids out of the cages and told them to stay close to him. Free from the scary metal cage, the kids rushed into Valentin's embrace, trying to find some sense of security. The judge counted the kids one by one to make sure that none of them would get out of his sight. There were a total of 100 children. No wonder such many parents were rushing to the police station. It was a huge kidnapping case.

Dr. Milo had never been caught because he was using orphan kids for his experiments, which is why the police were never involved. But now he was bold enough to kidnap kids under the police's eyes.

Valentin hid in a dark corner, hidden from the cameras, with the kids glued to him. Since he promised the kids to stay with them, he couldn't head back to the farm. There was no time for him and the assassins to worry about getting their phone calls tracked. They had to act fast before Dr. Milo noticed that Valentin had found the children.