Chapter 1 The Large Flag

On television, the reporter continued to deliver both useful and useless information. Before any new developments, she could only stand in front of the camera and spout all sorts of nonsense.

The old Taoist looked at Zhou Ze with some surprise and asked, "What did Officer Zhang call about just now?"

"He set a flag bigger than any other."

"Um..." said the old Taoist.

Zhou Ze shook his head, feeling somewhat helpless.

"He should be okay, right? Such a good police officer should be fine," the old Taoist muttered to himself.

Zhou Ze sat down on the chair behind the bar and lit a cigarette.

Old Zhang called him because he was also afraid, wasn't he? Fearing death is human nature, even for a police officer. You can't laugh at him if he's afraid of dying.

But he still went, walking into the kindergarten with his hands raised.

…………

Zhou Ze was right.

Cold sweat was constantly dripping down Officer Zhang's face.

It's like the difference between a girl's selfie on WeChat Moments and her real appearance.

No matter how righteous and sonorous you are on the award stage,

when you truly encounter something,

deep down,

you are still uneasy.

Only one class of children in the kindergarten was held hostage by the criminal in the classroom. The rest of the children and staff had already escaped, but one class was still a lot of children.

Probably influenced by some film and television works, the criminal seemed to be very experienced in some aspects. He even used spray paint to cover the windows on both sides of the classroom to prevent snipers.

In fact,

he succeeded.

Ordering a sniper to kill the criminal at this time was itself a "gamble." Unless it was absolutely necessary, the commander at the scene would not dare to issue this order.

In the current situation, the other party was like a turtle, holed up in the classroom without even poking his head out. The sniper couldn't lock onto him at all.

"You, stop!"

A man's shout came from behind the classroom door.

Zhang Yanfeng immediately stopped and raised his hands.

"I don't have any weapons. You can check."

As he spoke,

Zhang Yanfeng turned around in place to let the other party see clearly.

"Send a female police officer over!"

the criminal shouted.

"Heh, aren't you going to negotiate? I'm a leader from the city bureau. Only I'm qualified to negotiate with you. If you want to change to a female police officer, I can help you find one.

It's useless no matter what you discuss with a little girl."

As he spoke,

Zhang Yanfeng shrugged his shoulders,

"Look at my belly, such a big paunch, what are you afraid of?"

Paunch,

indeed, there was one.

When a man reaches this age,

it's really hard not to have a paunch.

The criminal seemed to be hesitating.

"Look, it's afternoon already. You don't want to wait until dark to negotiate, do you? I can reveal a piece of information to you. Snipers have night vision devices. At night, you can't see them, but they can see you very clearly.

So,

if you want to negotiate,

hurry up."

"Where are the doctors!"

the criminal shouted.

"Let me take my phone and ask, okay?"

Zhang Yanfeng was holding a phone in one of his raised hands.

"Ask!"

Zhang Yanfeng nodded and dialed a number. The person on the other end of the line was a police officer outside.

"Have they arrived?"

"Chief, not yet. The people we sent to invite them said the doctors are unwilling to come."

"Oh, almost there? They're already on the way, right?"

"The hospital doctors said they have absolutely no responsibility or problem. They told the pregnant woman when she came for previous check-ups that she had multiple abortions to have a boy, and her endometrium was severely damaged.

They had previously warned the pregnant woman's husband that his wife was not suitable for another pregnancy, but they insisted on getting pregnant again and preparing to give birth.

Moreover, they hadn't gone to the hospital for check-ups afterwards until they were sent to the hospital during the miscarriage, and it had been delayed for a long time. The doctors said they had tried their best, but they couldn't save either the big one or the small one. They feel nothing but regret and don't feel any responsibility at all."

"Oh, another fifteen minutes? Good, good, good, I got it."

Zhang Yanfeng hung up the phone,

looked towards the door,

and said, "The doctors are coming soon. They will kneel down at the door and apologize to you."

"I want them to pay with their lives!"

the criminal shouted from behind the door.

"You know this is impossible. I won't lie to you. We're the police, and we can't help you kill people. Perhaps, we can talk about something more appropriate.

For example, you want two million in cash. Okay, we've already sent people to the bank to get the money. And the car you want, we've already prepared it.

As long as you can ensure the safety of the children, we can meet these demands of yours."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Our job is to protect children. Children are priceless. Two million in exchange for the safety of these children's lives is worth it!

Also, I'm curious. Where do you plan to go with the money?"

"Why are you asking that?"

"Just curious."

"You better not ask what you shouldn't ask. I'll take the money and buy another wife to give me a son!"

"Oh."

Zhang Yanfeng nodded, deeply agreeing, "Yes, of the three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the greatest! I understand and support your decision. We're all men. My parents only have me as their son."

"Where are the doctors? Where's the money?"

the criminal began to roar.

Zhang Yanfeng took out his phone and made another call.

"Chief, the sniper can't confirm the target. The assault team has already sneaked in while you're distracting the criminal. They're ready to attack at any time."

"Oh, the money has been delivered? Good, very good."

He turned off his phone.

Zhang Yanfeng let out a long sigh and said, "The money has arrived."

"Move it over here for me. And drive the car over too!"

"Okay, but I have a request."

"You're not qualified to make demands of me."

"Two million isn't a problem, but I want to go in first to see if the children inside are safe. Who knows how they are now. To tell you the truth, the police are willing to negotiate with you and are willing to give you money based on the premise that the children are all safe and sound.

If the children have already been harmed,

you won't get a single penny.

You can wait for a bullet!"

Zhang Yanfeng sternly rebuked.

The criminal seemed to be considering it.

After a while,

he pushed open the door.

"Come in and take a look."

When the criminal saw the light of getting the money and the car, he became anxious instead. He was afraid that the police would be dissatisfied and wouldn't give him the money.

Zhang Yanfeng was an old detective. He had experience in controlling the criminal's psychology.

With his hands raised, Zhang Yanfeng slowly walked in.

As soon as he entered,

Zhang Yanfeng saw more than twenty children squatting in the corner of the classroom, as well as three women, all squatting there with their heads in their hands.

The air was filled with a pungent smell of gasoline!

Damn,

gasoline had been poured in the classroom!

Zhang Yanfeng also noticed that the children and the three female teachers were also covered in gasoline.

Standing across from Zhang Yanfeng was an old man around fifty years old.

Was it him?

He didn't look like the suspect in the photo.

And he was so old?

He still wanted to have a son?

The old man was holding a lighter in his hand. He waved his hand at Zhang Yanfeng, signaling him to hurry up and leave after he was done looking.

In an instant,

Zhang Yanfeng knew,

a strong attack was impossible.

If the criminal lit the fire, the children and female teachers in the classroom wouldn't survive. Moreover, if they opened fire, the bullets could easily ignite the gasoline.

"I've seen enough. I'm going out now to drive the car over. I'll put the money in the car for you first,"

Zhang Yanfeng said.

The old man nodded.

His eyes signaled Zhang Yanfeng to hurry up and get ready.

Zhang Yanfeng smiled, turned around, and took a step towards the door.

Then,

he suddenly turned sideways and smashed the phone in his hand hard at the old man, hitting the old man's face squarely.

The old man let out a muffled groan and covered his face with his hands.

Zhang Yanfeng rushed over immediately, pried open the lighter in the old man's hand, and then locked the other party's wrist and smashed it down hard!

"Bang!"

The old man was thrown to the ground.

"It hurts... it hurts..."

the old man shouted.

Zhang Yanfeng's expression suddenly changed!

This wasn't the voice that had been talking to him from behind the door just now,

it wasn't him!

No,

this meant,

in this classroom,

there was another criminal!

At this moment, one of the three female teachers huddled in the corner suddenly stood up.

He was wearing a woman's dress,

and a wig,

but when he really stood up,

it could be seen that he was actually a man!

"Dad! Dad!"

The man hidden among the hostages shouted at the old man who had been thrown to the ground by Zhang Yanfeng,

then looked at Zhang Yanfeng and roared with a distorted face:

"You damn cop, you're playing me!

Okay,

let's all die together!"

As he spoke, the other party actually took out a lighter as well.

Zhang Yanfeng's pupils shrank sharply.

Without hesitation,

he directly pounced forward, crashing into the man. At the same time, his momentum didn't decrease, and he directly hugged the man and rushed towards the window.

"Smash!"

The windows of the kindergarten classroom were relatively low, which was specially designed to suit the height of the children.

Therefore,

it was easy for two big men to break the window and roll out.

Even though Zhang Yanfeng looked like he had a paunch,

in terms of reaction speed, awareness, and combat experience,

ordinary people really weren't worthy to be compared with him,

let alone this cross-dressing criminal.

"Phew!"

After tumbling out of the window, a stone finally fell from Zhang Yanfeng's heart.

Damn,

there couldn't be a third criminal, right!

However,

just as Zhang Yanfeng was preparing to subdue this guy,

he heard a "click" sound.

For an old smoker, this sound was very familiar, the sound of a lighter.

The criminal was covered in gasoline,

and the flames immediately flared up as soon as the fire appeared.

Zhang Yanfeng subconsciously wanted to get rid of the criminal and escape from this ball of fire,

but,

the criminal desperately hugged Zhang Yanfeng with his arms and legs,

the other party's eyes were fierce and filled with deep resentment.

For a time,

Zhang Yanfeng couldn't break free at all.

He could only feel the scorching heat and flames

begin to quickly spread to his body...