Song Lan had a dream.

To safely retire from his current position, buy a house of his own, and live out the rest of his life in peace.

At this moment, however, his dream was facing an extremely severe challenge.

7:23 PM.

This should have been a time when the workers in District 17 toiled at their posts late into the night. Yet, the incessant blaring of the alarm shattered the evening's tranquility. Through the closed door, he could clearly hear the rush of law enforcement officers who had arrived on the scene to besiege the building.

Cornered and in a seemingly hopeless situation, the criminals within the building remained eerily quiet.

The scene before him was worthy of any action movie, and unfortunately, Song Lan found himself playing the role of the hapless hostage, with a gun barrel pressed against the back of his head.

In the past fifteen minutes or so, he had deeply reflected on his actions over the past few months. The only thing he could recall that could possibly make him enemies was haggling with a sales attendant at a shopping mall and buying a shirt at a price 20% cheaper than the original price.

Despite the rough state of law and order in District 17 and the fierce local folk customs, the sales attendant from the mall wouldn't hire an assassin to blow his brains out for a mere 20 watts, he thought.

So, he must have been plain unlucky today.

Just casually humming a tune to the music as he was walking home from work, he was abruptly ambushed and dragged into a dark room by some thugs.

Clearly, there were three others just as unfortunate as himself.

With their heads also covered by the smelly fabric bags, they were lined up in a row by the rough-handling thugs.

Throughout the ordeal, Song Lan listened as the other three hostages moved from fear to begging for mercy, and he judged that they, like himself, were public servants from District 17.

Song Lan remained silent throughout—he realized that the first round of negotiations had not gone well.

The unidentified thugs only responded to the captured colleagues' threats and temptations with cold laughter. Apart from those sneers full of mockery, they barely communicated with the hostages at all.

Based on his years of experience, Song Lan knew this was not a good sign.

As a civil servant who didn't want to cause trouble, he cooperated with the thug's every instruction. Meanwhile, he was waiting for an opportunity.

An opportunity for a retired top-level expert from the United Government's secret department, who may be among their captured colleagues, to step in and easily knock down these arrogant "trash fish," just as they do in the movies.

Just like what happens in the movies.

In 2166, movies of this genre were still popular among people.

Perhaps responding to the expectations in Song Lan's heart, a colleague next to him decided to take action.

"You guys better surrender, the place is surrounded by law enforcers."

This lady, whose voice trembled as she spoke, seemed to attempt to mentally dismantle the thug's defense with superior psychological tactics.

A painful-sounding thud echoed in response to her words.

Then, the sound of a heavy object hitting the floor came from beside Song Lan.

Even with his vision blocked by the bag, Song Lan could figure out that the thug had brutally hit the poor woman in the back of the head with the butt of his gun, effectively ruling out one wrong answer.

However, this might also present another opportunity.

The retired special agent among them, who had been hesitating to reveal himself, might finally step in and subdue these thugs after seeing this damsel in distress!

...

7:25 PM.

Two minutes passed, and the silence inside the room completely crushed Song Lan's hopes.

It seemed that the remaining two, like him, had chosen to bide their time.

Alright, legendary agents from the movies were unlikely to turn up in real life, after all.

Song Lan realized that he couldn't rely on his colleagues.

But it didn't mean the situation was hopeless.

Soon, the law enforcers outside should be able to send a negotiating expert. At that point. the highly trained snipers might be lurking from high places. As soon as the thugs holding them hostage show any moment of complacency, these snipers would blow their brains out.

Perhaps the night news in District 17 would vigorously promote the heroic deeds of the law enforcers tonight.

"Almost everyone is there."

A strange voice suddenly came from inside the room. The voice seemed to be altered by some electronic device, making it impossible to identify its original owner.

After a pause, the strange voice continued, "That bitch Lu Xiang is here too."

The director!

The director must have come to rescue them!

This must be what it feels like for a drowning man clutching at a straw, Song Lan thought.

If the current situation allowed, Song Lan really wanted to rush out and give Director Lu a passionate hug, and personally tell her how tall her image was in his heart.

Song Lan believed in Lu Xiang. Compared to the fictional characters created by movies, it was Director Lu that would truly become the hero who would rescue them from the hands of these thugs in reality.

"Get to action."

The leader of the thugs had a voice that wasn't disguised, a rather coarse voice, "As agreed, in half an hour this news will make the headlines of all major media."

The ominous feeling, as expected, came true.

The two colleagues who had been silent for a long time must have realized their fate. At this moment, they both spoke in unison, harshly shouting:

"Stop! What do you guys think you're doing?!"

"Don't think you can kill us and still get out of District 17 alive!"

As expected, the thugs ignored the threats from the two. The sound of the gun being cocked returned the room to silence.

So, that's it.

Song Lan finally understood everything.

The reason these thugs didn't communicate with the hostages throughout the ordeal or showed panic or hysteria in front of the besieging situation. They did not harass the beautiful female hostages even when they were in control, like the villains in the movies, was because they intended to kill everyone from the very beginning.

Their aim was probably related to the headline news the thug had just mentioned.

And the few unlucky victims like himself, who would be shot, were part of the headline news.

Misfortune, it seems, never come alone. The saying was indeed correct, he thought.

As for the conspiracy behind all this, it was probably beyond them, these unfortunate victims, to find out.

The cold muzzle once again pressed against the back of Song Lan's neck, reminding him that no matter what he would say next, no matter how desperately he struggled, it wouldn't be enough to change his doomed fate.

Before Director Lu could even make a move, the thugs proceeded to act.

This seemed like a planned operation from the start, which meant that after killing the hostages, the thugs had already prepared their escape route.

"Bang——!"

...

7:26 PM.

Even several blocks away, the sound of the continuous alarm could be heard.

The passersby stopped in their tracks, discussing the big case that had mobilized more than half of the law enforcement force in District 17.

With a plastic bag carrying ribs in his hand, Song Lan had just stepped onto the stairs when he was stopped by Grandpa Li, the security guard of the apartment building.

"What happened over there, young Song?"

He grabbed Song Lan's sleeve as if he was afraid of letting him slip away.

"I don't know."

Song Lan calmly brushed the guard's hand away, maintaining his usual calm tone when speaking, "You know me, Grandpa Li, I always try to avoid trouble."