Chapter 87: The Sole Protagonist

There are generally three methods for handling bomb disposal: disassembly, demolition, and destruction. Disassembly is the most dangerous of the three, but as long as the expert is confident, it is usually the first choice. Firstly, the explosives removed can serve as evidence of the crime, and secondly, examining the bomb's internal structure provides valuable material for further study.

However, given the urgent situation and heavy workload this time, there was no time to safely disassemble all the explosives; many had to be destroyed on site. The lead explosives expert and Mo Fei were both overwhelmed with work. With a limited number of police dogs at the station, the stray animals proved invaluable this time. Although their discoveries weren’t always one hundred percent accurate, they greatly alleviated the burden on the bomb squad.

While the team was out defusing bombs, those at the station were equally busy. Officer Tang gathered a group of sharp-minded officers for a meeting to analyze the situation. Whether it was the kidnapping of Lv Chunqiu or the series of explosions, one thing was certain: no one could commit such acts without leaving a trace.

The explosions reported to the police spanned from the south to the west of the city. The dispersed locations increased the difficulty of bomb disposal, but also raised the chances of the criminals being exposed. The surveillance team scrutinized the screens filled with live camera feeds, needing to identify suspicious vehicles among the traffic and deduce the criminals’ movements and possible hideouts. The workload was immense, and Officer Tang stared intently at the screens alongside his team.

Before dawn, the station received two more bomb reports. Altogether, there had been eight explosions, and including the unexploded devices that had been defused, there were nearly twenty incidents. This case was particularly serious, revealing that the criminals were well-prepared—this was a formidable adversary.

At dawn, Mo Fei was handling a bomb outside a residential building. There had been an explosion there earlier, and since Mo Fei was nearby when the residents reported it, he came to assess the situation. The device was a homemade thermos bomb. Thankfully, there were no casualties, and at the scene, they discovered another unexploded thermos bomb.

Mo Fei and the officers meticulously examined the blast site. With dawn breaking and elderly residents beginning to move about, on-site destruction was no longer an option. Mo Fei carefully and methodically dismantled the unexploded device. As he scooped out the explosives from the thermos by hand, his heart skipped a beat.

This thermos, almost identical in appearance to the one that had exploded, contained a significant difference. The one that exploded had, at most, 300 grams of explosives inside, judging by its destructive power. But this unexploded thermos held 600 grams.

Moreover, after removing the explosives, Mo Fei found two glass bottles inside the device. One contained black powder mixed with a large number of steel balls and nails; the other was filled with a gasoline-diesel mixture. The bomb had been shaped with concrete before being disguised as a thermos. This bomb was clearly designed to kill.

If they had handled it as they had the previous device, they might have underestimated its lethality. A mishap could have resulted not just in one death, but several.

The bombs that had detonated so far were relatively weak, but several extremely dangerous ones had been discovered and defused. After disarming the thermos bomb, Mo Fei raised his hand to signal that the area was safe. An officer immediately stepped forward to collect the disarmed explosives. When Mo Fei stood up, he swayed and nearly fell.

A nearby officer caught his arm. “Are you alright?”

“Low blood sugar,” Mo Fei replied, shaking his head. “Do you have any cola or candy?”

After an all-nighter on high alert, it was impossible not to feel exhausted. Mental fatigue was one thing, but physical reactions couldn’t be overcome by willpower alone.

The officers exchanged glances, then led him to the roadside to rest. It wasn’t just Mo Fei—everyone had stayed up all night and needed a brief pause to regain their strength.

With the first breakfast stalls opening after sunrise, the officers bought buns and soy milk to eat while continuing their search for explosives. As Mo Fei gnawed on a bun, the officer who’d helped him slipped a handful of candies into his pocket.

Mo Fei glanced at him.

The officer smiled. “My younger brother has low blood sugar too. It’s tough—keep some candy on you.”

“Your brother?”

“He’s still in college. Young people today just don’t take care of themselves.” The officer spoke with an unconscious smile, clearly fond of his brother.

Mo Fei lowered his head and continued eating. He and Sister Lv were close too—if one encountered trouble, the other would go to any lengths to help. The person behind all this hadn’t killed Lv Chunqiu outright, but had abducted her and planted explosives all over the city. It didn’t seem like a simple act of vengeance.

But what could they possibly gain from this?

Mo Fei couldn’t figure it out.

Suddenly, a young officer scrolling through his phone exclaimed, “Wait—everyone, look at the news!”

“Someone leaked the story!”

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves. Everyone pulled out their phones to check. On a certain short video platform, the hottest clip was a video just a few dozen seconds long. The camera began focused on a woman, tied to a chair with her head bowed, her condition unknown. As the camera panned out, her surroundings were revealed—a relatively enclosed space, with numerous yellow tape-wrapped cylindrical objects placed around her chair.

There was no sound in the video, only a few lines of text.

“The show is about to begin. Did you enjoy last night’s fireworks?”
“I will present the entire city with the most spectacular performance!”

The video’s description warned that if the clip was taken down, all the explosives would be detonated and the hostage killed immediately.

Some viewers in the comments were already questioning the authenticity of the footage. The nighttime explosions had been loud, and many commented that they lived nearby and had heard blasts at specific times. This seemed to confirm the video’s credibility. Others speculated whether this was an absurd stunt by some fame-hungry internet celebrity.

But who would use such a brainless tactic for publicity in this day and age? Then again, the internet never seemed to lack such reckless individuals.

As online discussion diverged, Mo Fei instantly recognized the woman tied to the chair.

“It’s Sister Lv,” his expression turned grave. “Those tape-wrapped things look like nitrate bombs. If they’re detonated at once, there’s no way she’ll survive.”

Not just survive—there might not even be a body left to recover.

Those explosives were piled right under her feet. Someone who didn’t know better might think it was an imitation of Wan Hu from the Ming dynasty, strapping homemade rockets to his chair in an attempt to reach the sky.

But Wan Hu died in his attempt, and if those bombs went off, Lv Chunqiu would be just as doomed.