Chapter 1 The Situation

Sweat trickled down Clapton's forehead, and the tension and shock in his voice were hard to conceal: "What the hell do you want?"

"I'm helping you to recognize the situation, officer." Feng Bujue replied in a slow and measured tone, "As far as I know, the Gotham police force is severely understaffed at the moment, and casualties among your men are consequences you can ill afford. Right now, we are fully prepared, and it is impossible to enter this building without alerting us. So, if you insist on using a hard assault strategy, you will inevitably pay a heavy price."

"In addition, I have to explain that this bank's vault is an imported product, designed very interestingly. Once the power is cut, its internal ventilation system will be completely blocked. At the same time, the electronic lock on the door will randomly generate a string of numbers the moment the power goes out. At that time, the password we set will also become invalid. Only by contacting the European headquarters that produces this gate, going through a series of complex identity verification procedures, and obtaining a special decryption program to decode that random number can the vault be reopened."

"Unfortunately, the people inside can't wait that long. As long as you cut off the power, even if you immediately restore the power, it won't help. The air will not flow back in. They will suffocate in about two minutes. After five minutes, the lack of oxygen will lead to irreversible brain damage, and after ten minutes, you should consider how to explain their deaths to the media and their families."

"Of course, you can pray for a situation, such as… your people, or some superhero, being strong enough to forcibly break in here and subdue us without cutting off the power, even with us on guard."

"Although I personally doubt this situation, even if it really happens, I regret to tell you that the situation will still not change."

"The lives of the hostages are still in our hands. It is impossible to forcibly open this vault with external force within thirty minutes… sorry, twenty-five minutes. Without the password we provide, you can only watch the hostages suffocate."

"Okay, okay!" Clapton turned his head and shouted to the person next to him, "Tell the tactical team to stop the operation and stand by!" He sighed and said into the phone receiver, "Okay, did you hear that? Are you satisfied!"

"Yes, I heard it very clearly." Feng Bujue laughed, "A very wise choice, Officer Clapton." He paused for a second and continued, "Then… please call me again in ten minutes. At that time, I will tell you our demands." After saying that, he hung up the phone.

…………

The bank lobby was still very bright. Although the row of glass doors at the entrance was blocked by roller shutters, the lights on the ceiling were also on during the day, so it didn't have much of an impact.

Feng Bujue stood by the counter. After he finished talking to Clapton, he put down the telephone receiver.

The submachine gun bandit had been pointing his gun at Feng Bujue all the time. Of course, he would not trust this inexplicable stranger so easily. As long as Feng Bujue said half a sentence similar to a code word on the phone, he would be shot immediately.

The other two bandits were a little further away, on both sides of the lobby, monitoring the dozens of hostages who had been gathered in the center of the lobby.

"I told you, right? Just making up a bunch of nonsense can stop their hard assault." Feng Bujue shrugged and said in a relaxed tone.

"Okay, you bought us ten minutes of safety time, so what? You still haven't told me how we can get out of here?" the submachine gun bandit asked. At this time, his tone had eased relatively, and it was no longer the kind of vicious tone.

"In a situation where hostages are held and there is a standoff with the police, the most important and most basic task for the kidnappers is to first count the number of hostages." Feng Bujue replied. Before the other party could respond, he continued, "According to my observation, the three of you have not done this so far. Fortunately, I have already counted for you. Excluding you three and me, there are a total of twenty-nine people here." He stretched out a hand and gestured with his palm, "Can you move the muzzle away from my face first?"

The bandit stared into Feng Bujue's eyes for a few seconds, his eyes seeming to be demonstrating, before slowly moving the muzzle away.

Feng Bujue slowly walked to the bank manager (a bald middle-aged man with glasses) and poked the other party's back with his finger, "Are you the manager here?"

"Yes… yes." The manager's answer was a little trembling. A few seconds ago, he was keeping a head-hugging, prostrate posture, not daring to breathe. When he heard Feng Bujue's footsteps approaching, he had already become nervous. When Feng Bujue's finger touched him, he was even more frightened.

"Don't be nervous, buddy." Feng Bujue patted him on the shoulder, "I just want to ask, where are the cash bags and the plastic locks used to seal them?"

"Oh… in… go through the door behind the counter, there are many in the vault…" the manager replied while thinking.

"Give me the key and the access card." Feng Bujue added.

The bald manager was stunned for two seconds before nodding in agreement.

Just now, while Brother Jue was telling stories to Police Chief Clapton on the other end of the phone, he had observed everyone in this lobby, and based on the various details and characteristics of these people, he had deduced a lot of information. Therefore, he knew very well who the bank manager was, and also knew that the key and access card necessary to enter and exit the employee area were in this guy's trouser pocket.

"What are you going to do?" the money-bag bandit asked.

"Of course, it's to better control the situation." Feng Bujue replied, "Can you please go and get those things?" As he said that, he handed the key and the access card to the money-bag bandit.

"When did it become your turn to order me around…" the money-bag bandit replied unhappily.

The submachine gun bandit interrupted, "Alright, do as he says." He added, "Even if you let him go to get it, you have to follow, right?"

The boss had spoken, and the money-bag bandit was also helpless. He glared at Feng Bujue, took the key, and walked towards the vault over the counter.

After that bandit left, the submachine gun bandit spoke again, saying two words: "Now, what?"

Feng Bujue smiled, and suddenly a golden light appeared in his hand. A shining poker card flew towards the robber only a few meters away from him.

At this distance, the accuracy of the Death Poker would not be any different. With a flash of light, it cut the target's throat.

The submachine gun bandit didn't understand until he died how this unarmed person in front of him, who hadn't made any throwing movements, could suddenly have a deadly weapon fly out of his hand.

"You!" The pistol bandit in the distance saw this scene, and his reaction was not slow. He raised his gun and shot.

Bang bang bang… Gunshots rang out continuously. Feng Bujue did not dodge or evade, and stood in place. He also did not activate the [Shield] effect of the poker cards, but just raised his arms to protect his face.

The development of the situation was as Feng Bujue expected. The other party's marksmanship was indeed very bad. In a panic, he fired all the bullets in the pistol, but only two hit. The two bullets were blocked by the sound barrier of the [Echo Armor]. Although they left a blood hole in Feng Bujue's abdomen and thigh respectively, the wounds were not serious, and the survival value loss was only 24%.

Feng Bujue silently counted the gunshots in his heart. After the other party finished firing a magazine of bullets, he calmly put down his arms, took out his submachine gun [Miss Moxxi's Bad Touch] from his knapsack. He ignored the guy who had run out of bullets and aimed at the door that the money-bag bandit had just entered. He listened to the sound of that guy running back and made a prediction. He pulled the trigger at the moment when he poked his head out.

"What's going o…" These words were interrupted by the sound of gunfire. The money-bag bandit was shot in the face as soon as he stepped out of the door and was killed on the spot.

"Put down the gun." Feng Bujue had killed two people in a row, but his expression was calm as usual. He said this to the remaining pistol bandit.

"Don't dream! You bastard!" the pistol bandit shouted back. At this time, he had already hid on the west side of the lobby, in a cubicle where an ATM machine was placed (the ATM machine was embedded in the wall, and its front was a space similar to a telephone booth, one meter square, surrounded by bulletproof glass printed with patterns on three sides, and the glass door could be latched from the inside), and began to reload his pistol.

He didn't know where Feng Bujue had pulled out the weapon from, and he didn't know what had killed the boss. He only knew that this ruthless guy in front of him would definitely not care about the lives of the hostages, so the gun in his hand was his last bargaining chip. Wouldn't putting it down be the same as being at the mercy of others?

"I'll count to ten. If you don't come out and surrender, you won't have a chance." Feng Bujue shouted at him.

The pistol bandit's hands were shaking non-stop, affecting the efficiency of reloading. He was afraid that the other party would rush over immediately. Now that Feng Bujue told him to count to ten, he felt a little relieved and felt that he had gained some time.

"One, two, three, four…" Feng Bujue counted one number per second, timing it very precisely. In the seven seconds it took to count to seven, he did the following things: put away the submachine gun, took out the [Endless Grenade Pouch] from the knapsack, took out a [Mark II Hand Grenade (Generated Object)] from the grenade pouch, put away the [Endless Grenade Pouch], pulled the pin of the grenade, swung his arm, and aimed at the cubicle without a roof six or seven meters away…

"Eight…" Feng Bujue threw the grenade when he counted to this number.

The pistol bandit had already reloaded the bullets at this time, breathing heavily, and muttered to himself: "Calm down, I can do it. That guy is already injured. As long as I rush out and move faster…"

Dong, dong, pa, gurulu…

This was the sound of the grenade being thrown in from above the cubicle, bouncing twice and then landing on the ground.

The pistol bandit looked at the grenade that had already had its pin pulled out at his feet. After his brain short-circuited for a second, he said the last sentence of his life. Thousands of words could be summarized in four letters: "Fuck."

…………

Bang! A loud noise.

Even through the closed iron door, the sound of the explosion was still difficult to conceal.

"What's going on inside? First there were gunshots, and now something exploded. Is this a terrorist attack?" Clapton could no longer wait. There were still four minutes before the agreed time, but he still picked up the phone and made a gesture to his colleagues in the monitoring vehicle.

Du—du—du—

"The hostages are fine." Feng Bujue picked up the phone and said directly, "But the time hasn't arrived yet, officer. I hate people who don't have a sense of time. For this, you have to wait another ten minutes, recalculating from this moment." He didn't give the other party a chance to interrupt, "If you call in advance again, I'll kill a few hostages for every few minutes you're early." After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone rudely.

…………

Inside the bank lobby, the hostages were still not getting up from the ground, because after Feng Bujue killed the three bandits, he took the opportunity to seize the two guns from the submachine gun bandit and continued the hijacking…

"Ladies and gentlemen." Feng Bujue said as he dragged his lame leg and came behind the counter to pick up the money-bag bandit's gun as well, "From now on, I'm in charge here. As long as you cooperate with my actions, no one will get hurt."

"If all goes well, in a few hours, you'll be sitting at the dinner table, sharing dinner with your families. If you're lucky, the married men here can also reunite with the sex life they've been separated from for a long time tonight." His tone was as if he was joking with a group of familiar friends, and there was no hint of intimidation, "But if anyone refuses to cooperate with me, or even tries to hinder me…" He pushed a wheeled office chair to the outside of the counter, sat on it, and held the gun, "I'll shoot all the living things in sight until I run out of ammunition." He paused for a few seconds, scanned the expressions on the faces of the hostages, and said again, "Understood?"

The hostages never expected that after three stupid thieves had just died, another anti-human madman would emerge. No one dared to meet his gaze, and no one dared to answer this question head-on. Some hostages were already murmuring God's blessings with crying voices.

"Okay, now, that lady in the beige coat, yes, you." Feng Bujue said, "Please raise your head, okay?"

That was a blonde woman in her thirties, with ordinary figure and appearance. The makeup on her face had already been cried off, and there was some vomit on her clothes in front of her chest. When she heard this, she raised her head to look at Feng Bujue and replied with a terrified face: "Please… please don't hurt me…"

"Don't worry, ma'am, I don't want to hurt anyone." Feng Bujue said, "I noticed that there is a brown handbag on the ground to your left. I think that's your thing, right?"

The woman turned her head to look at the bag and then replied: "Yes… yes… you can take anything you want… just… don't hurt me."

"I want to ask, ma'am, did you bring a makeup bag today?"

"What?" She was stunned by this instinctively, but she was afraid that answering slowly would anger Feng Bujue, so she immediately continued, "Yes… I brought it."

"In your makeup bag, do you have tweezers for trimming eyebrows?"

"Yes… I do."

"Then, please go over now, open that bag, find your makeup bag again, take the tweezers out of it, and give them to me." Feng Bujue paused and added, "Don't worry, no one is urging you. I don't want you to mess things up because of panic."

The woman quickly got the tweezers and handed them to Feng Bujue tremblingly.

Feng Bujue took the things and said with a smile: "Thank you, please go back and lie down, let me see your hands."

After she lay back down, Feng Bujue turned his head and found the bald manager again and said, "Mr. Manager, please come over here too."

The bank manager looked around, but no one reacted. It seemed that he was the one being called. He had no choice but to stand up and walk over.

"Thirty cash bags, sixty plastic locks, please go and get them for me." Feng Bujue said, pointing to the body of the money-bag bandit, "The key and the access card are on him. I don't think he would mind you taking them back." He made a gesture of invitation, tilted his head, "Go ahead."

The body of the money-bag bandit was lying under the door frame behind the counter. It was convenient to walk over. The bank manager mustered up his courage, picked up the key and access card from the guy whose head had been turned into a honeycomb, and walked towards the vault.

"Oh, right." Feng Bujue reminded loudly, "Don't make me wait too long, otherwise… you know."

"Yes… understood." The bank manager responded and trotted to get the things.

"Hey, that gentleman in the suit, yes, you, please give me your lighter, thank you." Feng Bujue said to another hostage. He could tell that the man was a smoker just from the fingernails on his right hand. In fact, through observation, he had obtained various information from these twenty-nine people, such as their occupation, marital status, living habits, hobbies, and so on…

Feng Bujue put the gun in a position where he could reach it, and slightly roasted the tweezers with the lighter. He pried open the wound and took out the bullets, taking out the shrapnel and some of his own minced meat without changing his expression…

Those hostages who raised their eyes to sneak a peek at him were all stunned. How could they know that the player's pain sensation was weakened? Everyone exclaimed in their hearts: This is really a tough guy…

Feng Bujue quickly took out the two bullets and did not bandage them. The [Bleeding] effect in his status bar stopped on its own. He glanced at his survival value, which was still at 68%, so there was no need to rush to recover yet.

At this time, the bank manager also came back with a pile of cash bags and plastic locks. He put these things on the ground in front of Feng Bujue and asked, "Is there anything else you want me to do, sir?"

Feng Bujue gestured with his eyes to where the other hostages were: "Use the locks to tie their hands behind their backs and their feet together, and then put the cash bags over their heads."

…………

Another ten minutes passed, this time a full ten minutes. After all the police technicians were ready, Clapton picked up the phone and dialed the number in the bank lobby.

It rang four times, and Feng Bujue answered it: "You're very punctual this time, officer."

"How are the hostages in the vault? Are they still alive?" Clapton asked, "What exactly do you want? You can't escape, understand? Listen… I know you weren't the one who killed the hostages just now, buddy. You're a smart man. If you persuade your accomplices to come out and surrender with you, I can plead with the judge on your behalf." When he said the second half of the sentence, he deliberately lowered his voice, as if this deal really had a chance.

"Hehe… sounds like a very tempting condition, but… between a fixed-term imprisonment and being free from justice, I think the latter is obviously more tempting. Anyway, I have the password to the vault. Before the hostages are rescued… or… die, you can't shoot me, can you? Haha…" He laughed triumphantly. This lie that he had thought of on the spot was indeed a good shield.

At the same time, the closed bank door actually reopened.

As the roller shutter slowly rose, the scene that appeared in front of the police was…