Huang Zhirong, who had been sent back across the street, sighed heavily.
"What should we do now?"
Lin Mo took out his phone and dialed Xu Haoming's number.
Logically, he should have called Xue Zigui, but before the competition, all electronic devices had been handed over to Xu Haoming.
So strictly speaking, the students upstairs had no means of external communication.
The moment the call connected, Xu Haoming's anxious voice came through.
"Lin Mo! Are you and Director Huang still inside the school?!"
"Teacher Xu, Director Huang and I are outside. How are things on your end?"
"We’re heading toward the school gate. A few police officers have arrived and told us to evacuate to a safe location."
Xu Haoming might be safe, but the students upstairs were in grave danger.
"Just get out first. The rest will have to be left to the police."
After hanging up, Lin Mo took a deep breath, his mind racing.
"Director Huang, I’m a bit nervous. I need to use the restroom."
The moment Lin Mo said this, Director Huang quickly replied, "I’ll go with you."
Director Huang had no ulterior motives—he just wanted to stay close to Lin Mo, to protect him.
And to make sure Lin Mo didn’t run back into the school.
After all, Lin Mo was quite skilled in a fight.
It was normal for a young man to act impulsively in the heat of the moment, so he had to keep an eye on him.
Lin Mo didn’t object, simply nodding in response.
He knew exactly what Director Huang was thinking, but he didn’t care.
Lin Mo entered a stall while Huang Zhirong stood guard outside the restroom.
A short while later, Lin Mo emerged.
—System: Which is called justice, which is invincible in battle—
The screech of tires against asphalt was nearly deafening as the police car beneath them swerved violently at high speed, its engine roaring like a beast.
"Damn it, these bastards can’t shoot for shit, but they sure know how to drive," cursed Captain Zhang Hai from the driver’s seat, gripping the wheel tightly as he tailgated the fleeing vehicle.
If not for Zhang Hai’s driving skills, they would’ve lost the armored SUV long ago.
The suspects knew they were being pursued and occasionally took potshots backward.
Bullets whizzed past the windows, forcing everyone to duck.
Qin Yu instinctively hunched his shoulders. This was his second year as a detective, and his first time experiencing a Hollywood-style chase through the bustling streets of Pengcheng.
His heart pounded violently—not from fear, but from a mix of fury and adrenaline.
Everything had been under control.
The meticulously planned operation, code-named "Anti-Spiderweb," was supposed to be a textbook case of counter-kidnapping.
But no one expected the criminals to be armed with heavy weaponry, tearing through the encirclement like paper.
Qin Yu’s team was the closest, and Captain Zhang Hai was the best driver, so they became the primary pursuers.
"Captain, they’re heading toward Anyu Road! That’s where First Experimental High School is!" Qin Yu reported, his voice tense as he scanned the road ahead.
"I see it!" Zhang Hai’s eyes were locked onto the SUV.
"Dispatch, suspects are approaching First Experimental High School."
The radio crackled with a garbled response, but it was too late.
The armored SUV suddenly accelerated like a rabid beast, putting hundreds of meters between them in seconds.
Then, without warning, the vehicle veered off course—instead of continuing straight, it slammed into the school’s perimeter wall.
Its rear end lodged firmly into a gap in the broken concrete.
Now they had two choices: ram through or enter through the main gate.
Zhang Hai didn’t hesitate, executing a sharp drift that brought the police car to a halt right in front of the school entrance.
At the gate, they learned that a competition was being held inside, with top students from across the city gathered upstairs.
Qin Yu, gripping his pistol, muttered under his breath,
"This is bad."
"Bad doesn’t even cover it, but the students’ safety comes first," Zhang Hai said, glancing at his two subordinates.
After evacuating the teachers from the first floor to the gate, Qin Yu checked his weapon.
His palms were slick with sweat, and he could faintly hear noises from above.
A bone-deep chill crept up his spine.
This wasn’t target practice anymore.
Nor was it just words in a case file.
"Alright, I’ll take this staircase, Kai takes the other one. Qin Yu, circle around from the back—cut off their retreat. They crashed in from behind, so they’ll have to go upstairs. But stay sharp—they’ve got heavy firepower and grenades."
Typical of the captain—with just three men, he made it sound like they had an army.
Before splitting up, he looked at his two young officers and added,
"Remember, stay alive. Don’t get reckless."
"Yes, sir!"
"Yes, sir!"
The three moved out separately.
In TV shows, this was where the heroes would flank the enemy and wipe them out.
But in reality, three men with handguns against a heavily armed gang was like throwing eggs at a boulder.
Their only hope was that the criminals were complete idiots.
But even so, as police officers, they had a duty to act.
Qin Yu crouched low, moving swiftly along the wall.
The hallway was empty, save for a class’s "merit flag" hanging on the wall and a dropped pen cap on the floor.
He repeated tactical mantras in his head, steadying himself.
"It’s fine, it’s fine. Just flank them. Just a simple flank."
Then, without warning, the world around him changed.
The walls, ceiling, floors—everything turned into translucent blue lines, like a massive architectural blueprint.
And on this blueprint, on the third and fourth floors, several red humanoid outlines were clearly visible.
They were setting up defensive positions, one even propping an assault rifle on a railing.
"What the—?!"
Qin Yu’s mind went blank. Instinctively, he raised his gun, aiming through multiple floors at one of the red figures.
"Detective Qin, calm down.
This is X-ray vision, not bullet penetration. Shooting now will just put holes in the floor and alert them."
A stranger’s voice spoke directly into his mind, crisp as if someone were whispering in his ear.
"Who’s there?!"
Qin Yu spun around, gun raised like some paranoid action hero, scanning left and right like a startled rabbit.
"Don’t bother looking. I’m inside your head."
The voice carried an eerie calm.
"Let me ask you something simple—do you want to save those kids upstairs? Do you want to wipe out these scumbags?"
Qin Yu stopped searching. He looked up at the ceiling, staring through the concrete at the red silhouettes.
The situation was insane, but he didn’t have many options.
"Yes!"
"Good. Then I’ll help you. Don’t be afraid. Go up there and fight. I won’t let the kids get hurt."
"How do I know I can trust you?!"
"You don’t have a choice," the voice replied gravely.
"You know what those criminals are capable of. They’ll kill to make a point."
"You should be well aware that criminals, to intimidate the police, often start by making an example of someone. With so many students upstairs, killing a few would mean nothing to them—no psychological burden at all. But for you cops outside, the pressure would be immense, wouldn’t it?"
Qin Yu knew it all too well.
He had reviewed too many case files. Those maniacs from Southeast Asia kill as casually as slaughtering chickens, and they particularly relish targeting children. Those Southeast Asian savages don’t care—even back in their own lands, they butcher kids without a shred of remorse.
"Alright then, what should I do?"

and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!

iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."

with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!

grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)