Thriller Paradise

"Since things have gotten to this stage, it is hard for me to distance myself from it anymore," Feng Bujue mumbled to himself. "If I activate Body Enhancement Spell and rush out, even if the three idiots are unable to shoot me, the police officers outside will turn me into a beehive."

The criminal who was responsible for guarding the door walked past Feng Bujue then. Feng Bujue lifted his head slightly to turn back to look, and he realized that the elevator door that he had walked out from had disappeared without a trace, and the spot had turned into a wall. Obviously, only the players would be able to see the entrance of the scenario, and once they entered the scenario, the elevator would disappear. The characters from the scenario would ignore these things because perhaps they did not even see anything from their viewpoint.

Guess I will stay for a while and see how things go for now… Feng Bujue decided to observe the development further before doing anything. For now, he turned his attention to the game menu.

…

Since he entered the scenario, Feng Bujue had not taken the time to inspect his five competitors in the scenario. Now was the perfect time to do that. If it was fine before he decided to check, but once he did, Feng Bujue got the shock of his life.

You've got to be kidding me! Three of them are players within the top twenty of the best fighters ranking.

Whenever Feng Bujue visited the market, he would look at the many different rankings. With his memory skill, naturally, the guilds and players on the rankings were seared into his mind.

I remember there is one player who is level thirty-one called Understanding Death. He is one of the four Zui Sheng Meng Si from Regulation… Hmm, he is on the same level as the fellow who likes to smoke cigarettes and do his hair!

There is another player who is level thirty-one called Seven Kills. If I am not mistaken, he is the third best player from the guild that Brother Long joined…

Since he visited the forum every so often, Feng Bujue could list the star players from the large guilds quite easily.

Hey… This level thirty-two fellow, Shiva, is the boss of Brahman, right? He is ranked fifth on the level ranking! He is at level thirty-two, alongside the four other players before him on the same ranking.

Other than these three names, there was another one of the remaining two that was familiar to Feng Bujue. It was a player whom Feng Bujue had grouped up with in the Team Survival Mode. Her IGN was Not a Scaredy Cat.

Even this girl is not a simple character… He had a bad feeling growing within him. Wait a minute… could it be that… other than myself, all five players are in the ranking for the top twenty best fighters in-game?

Feng Bujue instinctually had his cynical nature take over, but the sad thing was, this time, he was right…

Understanding Death, level thirty-one, male, Regulation Studio, rank eight on the Fighting Ability Ranking.

Shiva, level thirty-two, male, Brahman Studio, rank two on the Fighting Ability Ranking.

Seven Kills, Level thirty-one, male, Blade Edge Studio, rank fifteen on the Fighting Ability Ranking.

Not a Scaredy Cat, level thirty, female, Jiang Hu Studio, rank twenty on the Fighting Ability Ranking (Hidden).

King of Shadows, level thirty, male, unattached professional player, rank nineteen on the Fighting Ability Ranking (Hidden).

These were the five competitors that Feng Bujue had to face. In terms of level, they were much higher than he was. In terms of fighting ability, they could beat him several rounds and back. If there was a general player's ability ranking in Thriller Paradise, then Feng Bujue would have the top ranking, and of the five other players in this scenario, some of them might directly drop out from top fifty. But in reality, there was no such ranking because 'intelligence' was something that could not be quantified.

Therefore, from a spectator's perspective, or rather, from the perspective of the other players, they would think that Feng Bujue was the weakest player in this Killing Game. Then again, being viewed as a weak player might have its advantage.

As the saying goes, the shot hits the bird that pokes its head out.

In this kind of non-discerning mode, the focus of the players would naturally be gathered on the strongest player, Shiva. Regarding Understanding Death and Seven Kills, they would have some degree of caution, and with regards to Not a Scaredy Cat and King of Shadows, their names were hidden on the ranking, and the three other big characters might not have heard of them before. The three of them would not have known each other and thus would be ignored for the most part.

And finally, Feng Bujue… When the other players saw his name on the game menu and in comparison to the other competitors, the first reaction that came into their minds was… Don't know him. He's the lowest level, so he must be the weakest player.

With that presumption, the 'weakest' Feng Bujue was the most likely to be ignored and probably even forgotten about. Other player would not put forth extra effort to be cautious about him or purposely go to attack him. That could be viewed as a type of advantage. Of course, not everyone there believed that he was the weakest. Understanding Death had heard about Feng Bujue from Zen Dream, but unfortunately, he did not take note of it at the time and soon forgot about it. Seven Kills had also heard Long Aomin mention the name of Feng Bujue like he was a serial killer before… and then… he too had forgotten about him.

Shiva and King of Shadows had no impression of Brother Jue at all.

Only Not a Scaredy Cat could remember and recognize Brother Jue and she had a lasting impression of him. At least from her perspective, she knew that Feng Bujue was not as simple a character as his level made him out to be.

…

"B*stards! What do you think you're doing? Do you think you can hide from me? Come over here!" The criminal who went to search for another exit soon returned to the lobby, and he was dragging another person with him. The second person should be an employee at the bank. He was wearing the bank's uniform. He was covered in cold sweat, and his face was frozen in terror.

The criminal who held the machine gun looked out the door quietly and sneakily while he turned back to ask, "What's going on? Why did you bring him with you?"

"He was hiding inside the toilet cubicle and using his phone to contact the police," the other criminal replied.

The criminal with the money bag chimed in to ask, "Have you found another exit?"

"All the windows have been barred from the outside, and the window in the toilet is too small. Furthermore, there are police officers standing by the streets near the bank."

"Damn it!" The criminal with the money bags cursed.

"Give me his phone. Quick," the criminal with the machine gun ordered. His partner had already confiscated the phone earlier when he found the man in the toilet. Hearing this, he passed the phone over to the partner. The man accepted the phone. He glanced at the screen and then pressed the speed dial button. Just only three seconds later, the call was connected.

"Is there anything wrong? Sir, are you alright? How come the call was cut off earlier?" one of the officers asked hastily with his voice lowered.

However, the criminal with the machine gun cut him off. "No, there is something wrong with him, there is something seriously wrong with him."

He made a signal for his partner to bring the man over. His partner understood the command and kicked the man forward. Under the threat of the gun, there was nothing the man could do but follow the criminals' orders. He walked hurriedly but fearfully toward the bank's front door.

"Listen up, b*stard, these are my conditions." After the criminal with the machine gun had this phone, there was no need for him to take the risk of poking his head out from behind the door anymore. He hid behind the wall and shouted at the police officer at the other end of the line, "Go and prepare me a helicopter and a pilot to drive it. Then have your people retreat three blocks away from here."

Just as he finished, he put down the machine gun and pulled out the pistol that was strapped to his waist. Without waiting for any response, he pulled the trigger. The bank employee collapsed on the spot, and blood squirted everywhere. This happened right before the bank. The scene was exposed perfectly for the police officers and the citizens as well as reporters who were cordoned off by the police tape to see. The criminal with the machine gun raised his voice to shout at the phone as well as the remaining hostages inside the bank lobby.

"From this moment onward, until I see the helicopter, every ten minutes, I will kill one hostage. If anyone dares do any funny business, that is how you will end up!"

Then, with everything he needed to say said, he hung up the phone.

"Oh my god…" The criminal with the money bag held his forehead with one of his hands. He looked at the dead body on the ground, and his breathing became urgent and hasty. "Oh… oh… oh my god… God… You've killed him. This…"

He suddenly pulled off the mask and then started to throw up on the ground. There were quite a number of women among the hostages. When they saw the spray of blood earlier, they were too afraid to react, but now that someone had started to vomit, it created a chain reaction. Many hostages who were initially lying on the ground changed into a kneeling position, and they also started to vomit.

"You idiot! Stop being such a sissy. You're totally useless!" the criminal with the machine gun scolded. He then raised the machine gun and yelled at the hostages with the gun pointing at them, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Who gave any of you permission to get up from the ground! Get back on the ground immediately! Let me see your hands behind your heads!"

"People in the bank, please listen to me. I am the negotiation expert sent over by the police. I am not armed. Can you please allow me the opportunity to speak with you?" A middle-aged man walked to the bank's front door. He held a loudspeaker in his hands, and he was not dressed like a police officer.

Tat tat tat!

What answered him was the sweeping fire of the machine gun, but the bullets were aimed at the ground. The shooter merely pushed the barrel of the gun outside the door; he did not poke his head out to take aim. The aim was to scare, not to kill. The negotiation expert had no choice but to run back and take cover.

"You have eight minutes left before I kill the next hostage!" This statement was the reply from the criminal. After the criminal with the money bag finished vomiting, he seemed to feel better. After his breathing became more even, he said, "Perhaps… er… we should listen to what he has to say…"

"Shut up! Shut the f*ck up! Who asked for your opinion!" The criminal with the machine gun roared back at him. "Who is the boss here? Who is the one making the call!"

"The helicopter won't be coming anytime soon," an unfamiliar voice said. The hostages in the lobby did not dare say anything; they were too shocked and scared. Therefore, this sentence from Feng Bujue travelled into everyone's ears clearly and easily.

"Who is it?" the criminal with the machine gun asked. "Which b*stard was the one who said that?"

"It's him!" The criminal with the gun was closest to Feng Bujue, so he heard Brother Jue quite clearly earlier. "It's the kid wearing the purple suit."

"You, guard over the front door!" the criminal with the machine gun told the criminal with the money bag. The latter heard the command and instantly moved toward the door as per his order. After the two switched positions, the criminal with the machine gun headed directly for where Feng Bujue was. "Get up, you b*stard!"

He yanked Feng Bujue's hair pulling the man up, moving him from a lying position to a kneeling position. "What did you say earlier? Say it again."

Feng Bujue's head was pulled upward to look at the man, but there was only calmness and serenity on his face. "I said, the helicopter that you asked for will not arrive. Even if you wait for eighty minutes, it won't be coming, much less eight minutes."

"B*stard…" The criminal pointed the barrel of the machine gun right at Feng Bujue's head. He growled angrily, "Do you think you are very clever? Hmm? Speak! Who are you? Are you one of the police? Ah? Or are you toying with me? Trying to be a hero, kid?"

"I am just an unimportant character, but I wish to remind you that the street in front of the bank, even if the street is all cleared away and the space cordoned off, is not big enough for a helicopter to land." Feng Bujue's answer was very technical. He very casually and easily moved away from the question about his identity and changed to the subject to one that would arouse the other party's attention. "Therefore, even if the police do call over a helicopter, it will not land in front of the door. You will need to walk to the near junction to get into the helicopter. During that process, you will naturally have to walk out from the bank itself, and that will expose you to the sight of the snipers.

"You have already killed one of the hostages. Due to the current situation in Gotham City, I believe you have given more than enough reason for the police to kill you on the spot without giving you any chance to retaliate or negotiate…"

"Oh my god…" When the criminal with the money bags near the wall of the front door heard this analysis, he instantly held his head in one hand and spoke in a voice that was cracking. "What have we done…"

"Enough! Shut up! Stop distracting me!" the criminal with the machine gun roared at his partner. He then turned back to Feng Bujue. He let go of Feng Bujue's hair and then said, "Humph… Is that all what you want to say?"

"I am not done," Feng Bujue replied. "I will tell you what the police will do next, what their next course of action is. In a few minutes, they will announce that it will be too difficult for them to find a helicopter on such short notice, and they will persuade you against killing any more hostages, asking for a few more minutes to negotiate the situation. During that period, they will do everything they can to set up and deploy a tactical team and snipers."

His mind was clear, and he spoke very fast. He did not care whether the other party could digest the information that he had thrown out or not.

"If everything is based on what you said, and you kill one hostage every ten minutes, when the helicopter arrives to get you away from this situation, there can only be one of two endings.

"One, after you kill a certain number of hostages, the police will say that the helicopter has arrived to lure you out into the open so that they can shoot you down on the spot.

"Two, after you kill a certain number of hostages, the police will take drastic action and charge into the building. No matter what the police choose to do, it ultimately depends on the amount of the information that they have in their grasp. The key element would be if they know how many exact hostages there are in total. But unfortunately, you killed the person who was communicating with the police. If he was still alive, you could have gotten plenty of information from him or, at the very least, used him as a medium to reveal some information here to the police, but now…"

Feng Bujue smirked coldly. "Other than that, I have to remind you that, in the following minute from now, there might be other 'members of justice' who might come to intervene. Nightwing, Robin, Catwoman, Black Canary… and so on. Forgive me for being straightforward, if any of them come here, I am afraid all three of you will be captured alive."

He gave a long sigh and looked at the criminal before him that was as shocked as a stunned fish.

"About ten minutes ago," Feng Bujue said, "the over secretion of adrenaline pushed you to the edge of losing control. The method that you have come up with to escape when you were taking us hostage is much worse than the plan that you had before you started the heist. Huh… Of course, that is if I am kind enough to call that a 'plan'.

"At the same time, your rash decision to kill someone has placed you and your partners in a tough spot. If you do not wish to die here or go to jail, then you'd better come up with a better idea, or else…"

He mimicked the ticking of the clock to toy with the criminals' emotions. "Tik tok, tik tok… time is never going to stop to wait for anyone. The superheroes might show up at any moment…"

"You… who are you?"

After hearing Feng Bujue's detailed analysis, the criminal with the machine gun really did manage to calm down, and he was not in a rush to kill anyone. The bloodlust had worn off. Feng Bujue analyzed the expression and gaze of the three criminals one by one. Then he revealed a mirthless smile as he stood up without fear for his own safety. "That again is an unimportant question. At this moment, the most important question for all of you is… how can you safely escape from this place?"

…

Five minutes later, the row of metallic shutter door behind the bank, which were remotely controlled and not manually pulled up or down by hand, started to slowly descend before soon closing completely. From that moment onward, the police on the streets and the criminals inside the bank lost the ability to observe each other's movement. At the very second the shutters dropped fully, the phone that was used to connect the police and the criminals rang. The bank employee who was shot dead by the criminal had used his phone to call the police when he was hiding in the toilet earlier. The call had not been disconnected until the police arrived. His call was directly connected to another police line.

"I am Inspector Clapton." Clapton, who was responsible for managing the team, picked up the call and answered.

"Hello, Inspector." Feng Bujue's voice came from the phone. "I believe you must have noticed that I am not the same person as the one who was communicating with you earlier. But for you, that should be good news. From this moment onward, I will take over the responsibility of communication. You can call me John Doe."

"How are the hostages? Are they all safe?" Clapton skipped past the greeting in a hurry. "Listen to me… the helicopter that you asked for is on the way…"

"Forget about the helicopter, Inspector, that was just a joke." Feng Bujue cut him off. "With regards to the hostages, they are as safe as they can be. I can guarantee you that the brutal incident that happened earlier was just an accident. I believe you also do not want something like that to happen again, right?"

He chuckled lightly twice, and that sent chills up the spine of the listener.

"Listen to me… if you come out now to surrender…" Clapton began.

"There are two things that I wish to tell you, Inspector. First, the battery of this phone is dying. So, to continue this conversation, I need you to call the number of the bank. I do not need to give you the number, right?" Feng Bujue said and, without waiting for an answer, hung up.

"Quick, hurry up…" Clapton waved his hand to signal his colleague who was stationed inside the surveillance vehicle. The tech team had heard the conversation between Feng Bujue and Clapton. Before Feng Bujue even ended the conversation, they had already made their move, and the call was made in less than a minute.

Clapton listened to the dial tone that came from the phone for several seconds. Then Feng Bujue's voice once again returned.

"The second thing is… If I am not mistaken, a well-trained and heavily equipped task force is infiltrating the building that I am in right now. I know they only need to use simple tools to remove the bars that block the windows, and they can gain easy entry from the ground floor windows. There are at least five rooms that they will be able to use as entry points.

"Then, they will enter the place silently to confirm the number of criminals and hostages and where we are all located. And then, when they have found a suitable moment that they believe will work, your people will cut off the electricity from the outside and send this place into darkness. Before we are able to react to the change, several trained officers wearing night vision goggles will rush in to apprehend us."

Clapton covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand. He turned his face around, and the expression on his face was as colorful as it could be. He lowered his voice to hiss at the people around him, "Is there a traitor among us?"

Feng Bujue was still going. "What I described is what I refused to see. Therefore, I have come up with a backup plan to prevent that from happening."

He paused and used a casual tone to continue telling the story. "I have moved some of the hostages into the safe vault and changed the vault password. Based on the vault's size and the number of people inside… Hmm… I give them another thirty minutes before their oxygen runs out."