157: Chapter 156 The King's Bomb

Seeing the police officers sprawled on the ground in such a pathetic state, Cao Xiao found it quite amusing. If not for today's coincidence, who would dare to play such a prank on the police? Such a good opportunity couldn't be passed up, so Cao Xiao decided to keep it up and suddenly tossed the package in his hand toward Liao Kai.

"Ah!"

"A bomb! Get down!"

"Puff!"

Some of the special police officers with slower reactions hadn't even stood up yet before they threw themselves back onto the ground upon hearing the warning. Liao Kai was in an awkward position; the package was right in front of him. If he dived forward, he would land right on it. If there really was a bomb inside, he would be sacrificing himself gloriously. Consequently, his brain momentarily crashed, and he froze in place mid-lunge. He wanted to retreat, but his body couldn't react in time, and he stumbled, nearly falling. By the time he regained his balance a few seconds later, he realized something was wrong. The package remained completely still, with no sparks and none of the expected smoke.

"Hey! Your reaction is a bit much, isn't it? I already told you it wouldn't explode!" Cao Xiao sighed, feigning helplessness.

"Mr. Cao, could you please give us a heads-up before you throw it? This is a bomb! It could explode from a violent impact!" Liao Kai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke with a pained, conflicted expression.

Cao Xiao said confidently, "Relax! I don't think there's a bomb inside; it's too light! Don't wait for the bomb disposal experts. Hurry up and dismantle this one; there's another one to go! It's getting late, and I haven't even had dinner yet."

Upon hearing this, Liao Kai cautiously reached down to pick up the package from the floor to check, but the special police officers wouldn't let their leader take such a risk. One officer volunteered and snatched the package first. He then said in confusion, "Director, the weight isn't right. It doesn't feel like a bomb! Everyone back away; I'll open it and take a look."

Liao Kai breathed a slight sigh of relief but still instructed the officer, "Xiao Zhong, take it to the doorway to open it. Be careful! If anything feels wrong, throw it outside!"

"Yes, sir!"

Officer Xiao Zhong carried the package to the hall entrance, pulled out a tactical knife from his leg holster, and began to dismantle the package in his hands.

The knife sliced through the outer plastic, revealing a layer of newspaper. Xiao Zhong carefully peeled away the plastic and began to unwrap the newspaper. Everyone found cover and peeked out, nervously watching Xiao Zhong's movements. Meanwhile, Cao Xiao stood at the back, took out his phone, and began recording, trying his best to capture the expressions on the officers' faces. He even secretly approached Liao Kai for a close-up shot.

Xiao Zhong carefully tore off a layer of newspaper only to find more newspaper inside. He continued tearing, and it was still just newspaper. Xiao Zhong began to relax, and his movements quickened. When it was finally as thin as a notebook, he felt completely at ease. He walked back to Liao Kai and said, "Director, it's not a bomb. It must be a prank!"

"Open it and see what it actually is!" Liao Kai's expression was very grim. Deploying such a large police force for an investigation only to find it was a prank would make them a laughingstock.

Seeing the Director's sour face, Xiao Zhong felt a bit nervous, and his movements slowed down. After tearing through two more layers of newspaper, the contents were still hidden. In his impatience, Xiao Zhong used a bit too much force and accidentally ripped the remaining part in half. Finally, the contents were revealed as two slips of paper drifted to the floor.

"Uh!"

"Ah!"

"A... bomb?"

"King Bomb?"

"Fight the Landlord!"

"The Jokers?"

The special police officers were stunned! Their eyes bulged like bull's eyes as they stood frozen in place.

Liao Kai's face turned red, and his neck thickened as he gasped for air, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Cao Xiao put away his phone with satisfaction! At the same time, he felt it was a bit of a pity; if this video were uploaded online, it would definitely get hundreds of millions of views. However, if people found out that the Bomb Madman who had terrified Huanghe City was actually a fan of Fight the Landlord, the Huanghe City police would become famous nationwide for all the wrong reasons. So, he could only enjoy it himself.

"This is simply psychotic! What a bastard!" Liao Kai's face was ashen. He no longer maintained his usual calm leadership persona and cursed furiously.

Cao Xiao didn't dare provoke Liao Kai further. He had been a bit out of line just now, and once Liao Kai processed it, he certainly wouldn't be happy. So, he quickly changed the subject. "Director Liao, this fake bomb was just a distraction to hide the real one. The real bomb won't be found so easily. If I hadn't been bold and meticulous, I wouldn't have found it!"

"Oh? Where is the real bomb?" Although Liao Kai was still fuming, he didn't forget the task at hand.

"It's inside this Tang Dynasty Yellow Crane Tower model. You guys were probably afraid of damaging the model and only looked at the bottom, which is why you missed it. Although this model is expensive, it's not that valuable. For safety's sake, just move it away. Don't let the bomb disposal experts take risks; just destroy it directly. At worst, we can build a new one. You don't even need to move the whole thing. I've checked, and the main tower is removable. Otherwise, that person wouldn't have been able to put the bomb inside. The bomb in there doesn't have a balance trigger; it's just a common clock timer bomb. You just need to move the main tower model out," Cao Xiao said, pointing to the Tang Dynasty Yellow Crane Tower model.

"Then did Mr. Cao find any clues left by the suspect?" Liao Kai didn't comment on Cao Xiao's words. If he had listened to Cao Xiao earlier, they wouldn't be in such a mess now. Now that the bomb had been found, the crisis was over. He didn't need to worry about the disposal; what he cared about now was whether the suspect could be caught. For both public and personal reasons, he couldn't wait to catch that psycho immediately.

"That person was very cautious when placing the bomb and left no obvious traces. Furthermore, this bomb must have been placed here a long time ago—at least a month ago. The reason the detonation time was set for tomorrow was likely to wait for the surveillance footage to be automatically overwritten. In that case, it's only natural that you can't find any clues about him." Cao Xiao shared his suspicion.

Cao Xiao didn't say much, but the implications made Liao Kai shudder. He said in alarm and anger, "Doesn't that mean the suspect started planning at least a month ago and has been planting bombs in advance? That means countless public facilities in our city might have timed bombs installed! They'll just explode once the time is up! What on earth does that madman want? This is exactly the kind of thing an extremist terrorist would do! No! I have to report this immediately; a major catastrophe is brewing! Mr. Cao, please come with me to the Municipal Bureau right away."

"Ah!"

Cao Xiao hadn't expected his big mouth to get him into trouble. He said guiltily, "I don't think I need to go to the Municipal Bureau, do I? I haven't had dinner yet, and I'm starving!"

"It just so happens we haven't eaten either. You helped us a lot today, so I should have treated you to a meal, but since there's no time, I can only invite you to eat at the bureau's cafeteria. Besides, before I came, Commissioner Chen specifically instructed me to bring you over. Let's go!" Liao Kai said, pulling Cao Xiao toward the exit without allowing any argument.

"How about we don't go to the Municipal Bureau? I'll treat everyone to a meal outside! We can discuss things anywhere. I'll call Commissioner Chen right now!" Cao Xiao struggled to break free from Liao Kai's grip, stubbornly staying in place.

"How can we do that? The leaders are all waiting. Our cafeteria chef's skills are excellent; the food isn't bad at all!" Liao Kai thought Cao Xiao was worried about the quality of the cafeteria food. He knew someone as wealthy as Cao Xiao would have very high standards for food, so he didn't want to overpromise.

"Director Liao, you've misunderstood. It's not about the food. The Municipal Bureau is too far from here, and I have something very important to do tomorrow. If I go back and forth and get delayed, it'll probably be midnight. Since the leaders have to come back this way anyway, why don't we eat at the nearby Junxia Hotel? I've already booked a banquet there to eat with my family, but since I'm alone now, I can't finish it all. Don't say no just yet; let me call Commissioner Chen and ask for instructions first."

Cao Xiao was very firm. No matter how Liao Kai pulled, he wouldn't budge an inch, looking as if he would rather die than go.

"Alright! I'll go and give some instructions first!" Liao Kai stopped forcing him. As long as the leaders agreed, he wouldn't object. This was also because of Cao Xiao's special status; otherwise, he would have long ago ordered Cao Xiao's arrest and thrown him into a police car. Threatening others with a gun in a public place and public gambling involving twenty billion us dollars—although these two cases hadn't caused severe consequences, their impact was terrible. Combined, they were major cases that could shock the whole country. Even if the other party were a soldier, they wouldn't escape the law. However, because of the man's special identity, Liao Kai didn't have the authority to deal with Cao Xiao.

Liao Kai stopped pulling, and Cao Xiao breathed a sigh of relief as he took out his phone and called Chen Huaiyu. Once the call connected, a scolding was inevitable. Cao Xiao stubbornly stated he wouldn't go to the Municipal Bureau. Chen Huaiyu knew Cao Xiao was getting engaged tomorrow, so he didn't insist. He told Cao Xiao to make the arrangements, and he and the other leaders would head over immediately.

"Director Liao, we can go now. We'll wait at the Junxia Hotel; the leaders will be here shortly," Cao Xiao said, turning back to Liao Kai.

...

Half an hour later, in the most luxurious Mudan Pavilion of the Junxia International Hotel, Cao Xiao was already digging into a serving of Crispy Drunken Duck. Liao Kai watched from the side, utterly speechless. He couldn't really blame him; after practicing martial arts, Cao Xiao's digestion was very fast. Having not eaten for nearly ten hours, he was starving, and he didn't care about his image in the face of food.

"You brat, is this how you treat guests? You started eating before the guests even arrived! Were you a starving ghost in your past life?" As soon as Chen Huaiyu walked through the door and saw Cao Xiao eating with grease all over his mouth, his anger flared. He rushed over and began scolding him immediately.

"Cough, cough! Sorry, I was just too hungry. Everyone, please take a seat!" Cao Xiao was eating happily and was so startled by Chen Huaiyu's voice that he almost knocked over his plate. He looked up to see Chen Huaiyu staring at him with murderous intent. Seeing the group of people entering, he quickly wiped his mouth and stood up to apologize.

A vigorous, lean middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked at the front. Seeing Cao Xiao like this, he wasn't angry. Instead, he laughed and said, "Haha! It's no matter. Young people shouldn't go hungry for too long. When we were young, we worked too hard, and now we've developed stomach problems that are hard to cure!"

"This is the Chairman of our Municipal Committee and a member of the Provincial Committee, Mr. Zhang Ruikang," Chen Huaiyu introduced him to Cao Xiao with a disgruntled glare.

"Hello, Commissioner Zhang!" Cao Xiao hurriedly stepped forward and bowed in greeting. This was a high-ranking official of the province. Although Cao Xiao hadn't met him in person, he knew this young Provincial Committee member had truly done many great things for the people. He was a fair and honest official, deeply loved by the citizens. In front of such a selfless person, even with his immense wealth and status, Cao Xiao didn't dare to be the least bit disrespectful. Cao Xiao respected him not for the height of his office, but for his noble character and integrity.

"Haha! You don't have to be so polite. Commissioner Chen heard you made a fortune today and booked a meal here. Fearing the food would go to waste with no one to eat it, he brought us along to shamelessly grab a free meal. Just treat us as ordinary friends who came to freeload," Commissioner Zhang said with a smile after taking his seat.

"Uh! You're too kind. I didn't know you were here, otherwise I would have gone over there to treat you. I'm very ashamed to have made you travel all this way." Hearing Commissioner Zhang's words, a bad premonition rose in Cao Xiao's heart. Chen Huaiyu had come prepared!

"Come, Xiao Xiao, let me introduce you. These two are Commissioner Wu and Commissioner Wang from our city. This is Director Huang of the Environmental Protection Bureau, Director Hou of the Commerce Bureau, and Director Zhou of the Civil Affairs Bureau..."

Chen Huaiyu introduced the remaining people to Cao Xiao. Cao Xiao greeted them one by one, though while his attitude was warm, it wasn't as respectful as it had been toward Zhang Ruikang. At the same time, he found it very strange. Weren't Chen Huaiyu and the others at the Municipal Bureau directing the case today? Why were the Environmental Protection Bureau, Commerce Bureau, and Civil Affairs Bureau—departments unrelated to the case—also present?

"Come on, everyone, ignore this kid and have something to eat before we talk." Chen Huaiyu acted as the host, inviting the others to eat and naturally ignoring Cao Xiao.

Cao Xiao didn't mind and quietly started on the dishes in front of him. Everyone had been hungry for a long time, so they weren't polite and began to eat.

A short while later, everyone slowly put down their chopsticks and began the formal conversation. Cao Xiao ignored them and continued eating non-stop.

"Ahem, Xiao Xiao, stop eating for a moment! Commissioner Zhang is asking you a question!"

Hearing Chen Huaiyu call him loudly, Cao Xiao reluctantly put down his chopsticks and looked at Commissioner Zhang. "Sorry, what did you just ask me?"

"I wanted to ask if you have any way to catch that Bomb Madman in a short amount of time. The harm caused by his methods is too great. We won't be able to sleep until he's caught," Commissioner Zhang said, looking at Cao Xiao seriously.

"This... I can't think of any way either. After all, there are no clues at all, and no suspects. To find the person, we can only wait for him to slip up. Doesn't he post announcements on a website before the bombs go off? The police can track his ID address through the network and arrest him directly." Cao Xiao didn't want to get involved in this matter. It wasn't that he was unwilling to help, but he didn't have the time, nor was he certain of success.

"If we could catch him by tracking his ID through the network, why would we be looking for you! That person is very cunning; every time he posts information, he's heavily disguised and uses different internet cafes. The surveillance can't capture his face, and by the time we get there, he's long gone! You brat, don't try to play dumb with me. Don't think that just because you hide it well, I don't know you have some strange skills. I haven't slept well for days because of this; if I can't have a good time, you won't get any peace either!" Chen Huaiyu said to Cao Xiao without any hesitation.