23. Rat people

"A Bing, aren't you ready yet? That Heretic Believer is getting more and more agitated; the hostage's neck is already bleeding. The situation is extremely critical."

"Captain, that guy is a professional. He's hidden his body well; I don't have a clear shot, no opportunity to snipe."

"Chen Yan, have you identified the Heretic Believer's identity? Contact his family as soon as possible, get them to the scene to persuade him."

"Captain, the suspect is an orphan."

"..."

Hearing the reports from his two team members, the captain of the public security team looked worried.

He was eager to rush in and save the woman being held hostage, but he saw no opportunity to act.

The Heretic Believer was crouched in a corner, using the hostage's body as a shield, revealing only a knife against the hostage's neck, with no opening exposed.

"Captain, what if we try using tear gas?"

A team member suggested quietly.

The captain of the public security team shook his head: "No use, the tear gas is too obvious. It could provoke the criminal before taking effect, causing extreme reactions."

Just as everyone felt helpless,

Suddenly!

A piercing sound of something cutting through the air erupted!

"Buzz!"

Instantly, a stone the size of an egg whizzed past at a speed invisible to the naked eye, right in front of the captain, and struck the Heretic Believer's hand precisely.

"Aah—!"

The Heretic Believer let out a scream of pain.

The stone had hit his knife-holding hand.

Moreover, the angle it struck was extremely tricky, and the force of the impact made his knife-wielding hand twist outward, moving the knife away from the hostage's neck and quickly causing it to fall to the ground.

At the same time, the hostage, Teacher Strawberry, managed to break free, and her strong will to survive made her desperately flee toward the public security officers.

The public security officers reacted quickly, one moving forward to receive Teacher Strawberry, while the others rushed to control the Heretic Believer.

From beginning to end, the officers did not understand what had happened; they only knew that all of a sudden, the Heretic Believer clutched his hand and screamed, and then the hostage escaped the danger on her own.

Only Shen Qinghan, who had witnessed everything, was so astonished that she opened her mouth wide in shock.

"Xiao Chen, you..."

"Let's go, we'll talk when we get back."

Lin Zichen had no intention of staying longer; seeing that Teacher Strawberry was rescued, he got back on his bicycle to take Shen Qinghan away.

However, before he could pedal away, the captain of the public security team ran over and blocked his path, breathing heavily and said:

"Student, wait a second, don't rush off just yet. Was it you who threw the stone just now?"

As he spoke, the captain of the public security team held out a stone that he had in his hand in front of Lin Zichen.

The Heretic Believer's hand was injured, and there was a bloodstained stone not far from his feet. Combining the direction from which the stone had come, the captain guessed that it was Lin Zichen who had thrown it.

Although it was hard to believe, there was indeed no more reasonable explanation at the moment.

"It wasn't me who threw it."

Lin Zichen, not wanting to be bothered by the aftermath, nonchalantly dropped such a remark.

Afterward, he veered the bike and rode away from the captain of the public security team.

The captain was momentarily stunned, then realizing what had happened, he looked after his retreating figure and shouted:

"Student!"

"Student, wait a moment!"

"Student, what you did was a good deed, why won't you admit it?!"

No matter how loudly the captain of the public security team shouted, Lin Zichen had no intention of stopping, and his figure quickly disappeared around the corner ahead.

"This is bizarre, why would someone not want to acknowledge their good deed?"

The captain of the public security team was totally puzzled by this.

Nevertheless, he didn't dwell on it much longer, planning to return here tomorrow to check the surveillance footage to confirm if it was indeed Lin Zichen who had acted, and how exactly he had done it.

Just then, Lin Zichen came back with Shen Qinghan and asked, "I suddenly remembered something, is there a reward for acting heroically?"

"Um, there is."

"That's right, it was me who threw the stone, it has my fingerprints on it, you can take me back for a comparison."

The captain of the Public Security team: "..."

This change of face was so sudden that it left the captain of the Public Security team at a loss for words.

Lin Zichen didn't want to do this either, but in order to open the Ghost Shadow Squid Album as soon as possible, he had to think of all sorts of ways to save money and bow down for a mere pittance.

The captain of the Public Security team: "Then how about this, come to the security office later for a brief statement, and compare the fingerprints while we're at it. Once we're certain there's no issue, I'll apply for the reward for your act of bravery."

"Sure, no problem."

Lin Zichen agreed readily.

Shen Qinghan, sitting in the backseat, immediately took out her phone and made a call home, saying she would return later.

Meanwhile, the captain of the Public Security team went back to the park to deal with the aftermath, intending to take the subdued Heretic Believer back to the security office.

"By the way, Xiao Chen, I don't know how Ms. Strawberry is doing now, let's go over and check on her," said Shen Qinghan as soon as she hung up.

Lin Zichen: "Okay."

Once they reached an agreement, the two parked their bikes to the side and walked together toward the security vehicle in the park.

Ms. Strawberry had been immediately taken into the security vehicle for treatment of the wounds on her neck right after being rescued, presumably resting in the vehicle at the moment.

Just as the two of them were about to reach the security vehicle,

not far to the side, the handcuffed Heretic Believer suddenly started to make a painful "Heh Heh" noise out of nowhere.

Following that, his face began to crack, revealing shocking, bloody gashes.

The gashes grew longer and wider until they formed eyes, symmetrically distributed on both sides of his face.

Counting the original pair, there were exactly eight eyes.

The security officer responsible for escorting the Heretic Believer noticed the problem, quickly drew his gun and chambered a round, while anxiously shouting to the captain of the Public Security team:

"Captain, there's been a mutation! The Heretic Believer is showing signs of transformation and is turning into a Giant Mutant Rat!"

No sooner had he spoken than the Heretic Believer displaying the symptoms of mutation suddenly became incredibly strong, snapping the handcuffs with ease and then turning around to ferociously pounce on the security officer and bite him.

Luckily, the security officer was on guard and reacted swiftly, sidestepping just in time to dodge the attack.

Giant Mutant Rat transformation?! Lin Zichen first heard these five words and then saw the eight eyes on the Heretic Believer's face, and without thinking, he immediately picked up Shen Qinghan beside him and started sprinting towards the park's exit.

He didn't know what exactly was happening, but getting away from the situation as quickly as possible was definitely the right choice.

Shen Qinghan was still a bit bewildered, but she had been carried by Lin Zichen like this often enough as a child, so she obediently wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his body to make it easier for him to carry her.

"Shoot, shoot now!"

No sooner had Lin Zichen started running than the captain of the Public Security team, frantic, yelled at several security officers.

Then, a series of deafening gunshots rang out, piercing the quiet night.

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"..."

By that time, Lin Zichen had already run outside with Shen Qinghan and they both got on their bikes, pedaling away swiftly to leave the dangerous area behind them.

However, whether he pedaled too hard or something else went wrong, the bike chain suddenly "snap" broke just less than 20 meters out—not a slipped chain, but a complete break, leaving no hope for repair.

"Fuck!" Lin Zichen rarely cursed.

...

PS: Holding out my bowl, asking for monthly and recommendation tickets!