A Bad-Hearted Doctor is Unbearably Beautiful - Chapter 52

—Eight hours since Shen Zhao was taken.

The entire task force was exhausted.

The equipment in question was an imported medical device; while not in widespread use, it had numerous domestic distributors. To expedite the search, Lu Xiao leveraged his parents’ connections in the import-export trade.

Rows of data flickered across the screen as Zhang Zhen filtered through them one by one. After auditing the accounts of countless distribution companies, they finally managed to narrow the mountain of information down to five specific orders.

“Captain Lu, these five orders are all within the surrounding cities and towns, but they are in completely different directions…”

Lu Xiao stared at the five delivery addresses. They were too scattered. A round trip to any single location would take one or two hours—or more. Did they have to check each one manually? Or was there a piece of information they had overlooked?

What else was there?

The last thing Shen Zhao said when he looked at the camera was… “Open the recording!”

The technician quickly adjusted the playback. “Found it!”

What Shen Zhao had said was: “Even if his family doesn’t want him, send him back.”

This phrase seemed to echo something the kidnapper had said earlier. At the time, the man had remarked: “This child’s family doesn’t even care about him. Why are you so concerned?”

That was it!

“Old Zhou!” Lu Xiao shouted into his radio.

“Go ahead, Captain,” Old Zhou replied.

“When you were cross-referencing the missing children’s reports, didn’t you say there was one whose facial features matched, but the family refused to claim him?”

“That’s correct.”

“Find out the date that child went missing. Check all surveillance and suspicious vehicles near the abduction site! Cross-reference the final stopping points of those vehicles with these delivery addresses to see if they overlap!”

Thirteen hours since Shen Zhao was taken.

As the seconds ticked by, Lu Xiao felt a twisting pain in his heart.

After nearly nine hours of darkness, the screen flickered to life once more. The command vehicle was parked in an open field on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by the pitch-black night. Everyone stared intently at the screen. Shen Zhao was lying on a bed, his wrist hanging over the edge; the wound appeared to have been treated.

His face was deathly pale, though a hint of color had returned to his lips.

Suddenly, the kidnapper in the white suit stepped into the frame, letting out an eerie laugh.

“I must say, you’ve been working quite hard on this case.”

He spun around in front of the camera, walked over to Shen Zhao, and pointed. “As you can see, Doctor Shen is a very kind soul. He forced me to release that child.”

A moment later, he leaned over Shen Zhao, gently lifting his head and pinching his chin to force him to face the camera. The voice behind the mask had returned to its habitual, ghostly lilt. “And I did, indeed, release him.”

Shen Zhao forced his eyes open despite the pain, looking at the man. “Is that true?”

“Of course. However… in an act of great mercy, I left him in a very crowded place. A place where… in fifty minutes, a small explosion will occur.”

The man made an exaggerated gesture with his black-gloved hands. “Just like this—’Boom!'”

What!

Everyone in front of the screen widened their eyes in shock. Shen Zhao began to cough violently.

The kidnapper’s smile deepened, his voice reaching a manic pitch. “No need to panic. I’ll tell you where he is. He’s in a car… specifically in the Jinhu Square parking lot. Tell me, with the police force you have now, will you save Shen Zhao? Or will you save the child?”

“I look forward to seeing you here, Officer Lu. But remember, you only have fifty minutes. During these fifty minutes, I will inject a different drug into Shen Zhao’s body every ten minutes. Care to guess what I’ll be putting inside him?”

The man stepped away from the bed, erupting into a fit of wild laughter. He looked at Shen Zhao and said hollowly, “Tell me, who do you think he will save first?”

Shen Zhao’s eyelashes fluttered. He tried to sit up, but his limbs were leaden; he had no control over his body. He let out a soft sigh, glancing sideways up at the man. “Playing these kinds of games… just to stall for time?”

The man laughed softly. “I just want to see if he has the guts to come and save you all by himself.”

Back at the command vehicle, the team looked on with shock and tension, waiting for Lu Xiao to speak.

Every night, thousands of citizens gathered at Jinhu Square to dance, walk, or chat. Even late at night, trying to find a single bomb in that parking lot without a massive search party would take until morning.

Lu Xiao’s face was grim, his features cast in shadow. “Do we have a lead on the kidnapping site yet?”

Lin Xue silently handed him a slip of paper. Written on it was an address: Warehouse 465, West Ring Road, Eastern Suburbs.

Lu Xiao paused, checking the time on his watch. When he looked up again, his expression was unnervingly calm. “Leave two men from the bomb squad with me. Bring thermal imagers and weapons. Everyone else—get to Jinhu Square!”

“Captain! I’m going with you!” Old Zhou insisted.

“Me too!”

Lu Xiao spoke coldly: “That was an order!”

With that, he leaped from the command vehicle and sped toward the destination with his two men.

Shen Zhao, hold on… please…

A cold light shone down from above. Shen Zhao lay on the bed, his eyelids so heavy he could barely keep them open. He felt as though he were sinking into a swamp, dragged down by some unknown, brute force. His consciousness was drifting through a thick fog.

The man stood straight and drew a small bottle of medicine into a syringe. His gloved fingers searched for a vein on Shen Zhao’s arm. Shen Zhao’s body gave a sudden, sharp shiver.

“What is that…?” Shen Zhao managed to squeeze out the weak words.

“A little something I recently developed. Don’t be so afraid. I have a very gentle touch.”

Lu Xiao, wearing his earpiece, listened to the audio from the live feed as he slammed his foot harder on the accelerator.

The moment the needle pierced the vein, Shen Zhao’s fingers twitched with a slight effort to move his arm, but he couldn’t muster an effective struggle.

“Ah, Officer Lu, you’re too slow,” the kidnapper’s mocking voice came through the earpiece. “Doctor Shen is running out of time.”

Shen Zhao exhaled a weak breath, his consciousness fading further.

—BOOM!

A sudden, massive explosion shattered the eerie atmosphere of the sealed room.

The entire room shook violently, and the kidnapper staggered.

“Damn it!” he cursed under his breath, steadying himself in an instant.

As the door was blasted open, the kidnapper simultaneously raised his gun…