Rise of the Wasteland Chapter 27 - Focus of the World

Chapter 27        Focus of the World

Zhou Qingfeng took the initiative to hang up the phone on Tony Parker as he felt angry after hearing his arrogant voice. However, the anger gave him the motivation to break out of his anxiety from David Lawrence’s threat.

“F*ck you David Lawrence, it’s bullshit! I did not smash her, I did not. If this world turned out to have a bad ending, you’ll only live for another three months at most. You won’t live better than anyone else when the nuclear missiles would be launched during the winter.

“On the contrary, I know both endings. I only killed a robber for now, but I’ll kill even more people in the future. Only I will know how to overcome these desperate straits, only I will be able to find the path of survival, and only I will laugh at the very end!”

Zhou Qingfeng cursed as he rebuilt his morale. He then checked his weapons and ammunition. He stole a total of two guns and eight magazines from the two cops, and he had already used up one gun and five magazines. He was running low on ammo.

Zhou Qingfeng retreated to the third lower ground floor via the parking lot driveway. He had no way of knowing what the current situation of the first and second lower ground floors were. He felt that he had reached the end of a blind valley and the only way out for him will be the fire escape.

However, when Zhou Qingfeng stealthily opened the fire escape door, he heard a loud voice descending from the broadcasting system of the parking lot, “Officer Hugo, how are you? Let me introduce myself, I’m Locke, the main planner and director of this kidnapping.

“I’ve now captured my target, Miss Lena Fox. I asked for a hundred million U.S. dollar ransom from the Fox Foundation, and both the foundation and the police are still considering my request.

“To be honest, I underestimated you. I thought you were just a rookie who recently graduated from the police academy. I was impressed when I was informed that you’ve killed one of my subordinates, and wounded the other one.

“As a cop and a kidnapper, the conflict between us seems irreconcilable. I think the training you’ve received in the past is all about how to catch the bad guy. We play the bad guys, catch the police this time around, and you’ll catch me outside, how ‘bout that? It will be my entertainment before I receive the ransom.

“In order to make our game more exciting, I’ll execute a hostage every ten minutes until you surrender, got killed, or until you’ve finished killing us. By the way, I specifically allowed journalists from CNN to enter the hospital, and our games will be distributed throughout the world through the media. 

“Now, let the game begin. Best of luck!”

Laughter and mournful cries can be heard in the PA system. It sounded as if the boss of the kidnappers were abusing a group of captured hostages. Zhou Qingfeng pulled out the phone again to search up keywords such as ‘New York hospital’. A CNN live broadcast indeed showed up as the top result of the search.

Zhou Qingfeng saw dozens of captured hostages, as well as more than ten kidnappers from the live broadcast. The dumb guy named Locke was especially eye-catching, as he kept nodding his head complacently.

“F*ck! They’re in the security room.” Zhou Qingfeng saw a few virtual screens projected on the wall. Those were the security camera footages of the interior of the hospital. He hurriedly looked around. As expected, he found a security camera hiding in the corner of the parking lot. “I was actually under surveillance all this time.”

Zhou Qingfeng looked for a few fire extinguishers, then smashed the security camera with them. The footage of him wearing a police uniform was unfortunately captured.  The CNN journalists in the security room broadcasted the footage through media channels, and hence, he became the focus of the world.

“Isn’t that the murderer?”

“How the hell did he become a cop?”

“Oh Lord, I don’t understand. Why are these two criminals opposing each other, where’s the real police?”

A lot of weird discussions appeared as the comments section of the social media channels refreshed. NYPD was frantic with worry.

The chief officer of the police department was extremely angry with the sudden appearance of Zhou Qingfeng. He growled at his subordinates, "Why is that murderer, a humiliation for our entire NYPD, in that hospital? He even seems like a hero fighting against those kidnappers."

The cops blinked their eyes as they responded to the chief officer’s question, “We don’t know either! We’ve been tracing this kid for the whole afternoon. Who would’ve thought that he’s involved in another more urgent case?”

It was like a thief yelling, ”Catch the thief!” The scene amazed people all over the world. Billions of people from various media channels were eager to find out the whole series of events. Everyone was wondering who will win the match between these two criminals.

“I’m not so optimistic about the kid who faked himself as part of the police. Although his murderous technique is impressive, he’s on his own. He’s in a large disadvantage.”

“As an experienced cop, according to the current situation, I think this Chinese-born young man will be killed in half an hour by the siege of the kidnappers."

“I think it’ll be even less than half an hour. Don’t you guys see that the Chinese-born young man is only holding a small pistol in his hand? Now let’s look at the kidnappers. They’re all equipped with assault rifles. His disadvantage in firepower is much larger than his disadvantage against a large number of opponents. He’s dead for sure!”

Everyone transformed into a critic after facing such a bizarre case, and people around the world who were bored enough began discussing a million ways for Zhou Qingfeng to die.

Zhou Qingfeng was not aware of all the commotion brought by his current situation. He was in a quiet underground parking lot, ready to face the kidnappers. Just when he was thinking about how to get out, a voice descended from a dark corner of the third lower ground floor of the parking lot.

“Cop, will you rescue my mom?”

Who’s that?

Zhou Qingfeng turned around and saw a boy come out from a dark corner of the parking lot. He was around eight to nine years old, covered in dust, and he looked depressed. Zhou Qingfeng pitied the boy just by looking at his face.

“Why are you hiding in here, little fella?” Zhou Qingfeng frowned as he asked him in curiosity.

“My name is Ronnie, and I was accompanying my mom. She’s here to visit the doctor. But she was caught by the kidnappers to protect me from them. I managed to escape here in the parking lot. Just now, I saw you shooting at the two bad guys in the second lower ground floor, so I came and hid in the third lower ground floor.

“The kidnappers said that they will kill a hostage every ten minutes, and they’ll probably kill my mom. Can you please go and rescue my mom? I beg you!” Little Ronnie burst into tears as he spoke and his tears made him look even more pitiful.

I’m not a f*cking cop! David Lawrence should be the one to save the world, I’m only a criminal! Moreover, I’ve been sentenced to death by the savior of the world.

Zhou Qingfeng was truly pissed-off.

Chapter end