I enlisted four times! My former unit blacklisted me.

Meanwhile, Wang Rui's assault team had already reached the back of a shop less than fifty meters from the car.

Two assault team members stood against the wall, their assault rifles cocked.

"One team is ready to storm in at any time."

"Team Two is in position, tear gas is loaded."

"Sniper position locked onto driver's seat, target shows no movement."

Reports from various locations came through the headset one after another. Wang Rui took a deep breath and said in a deep voice into the microphone:

"Captain Li, we're all in position. When do we move out?"

Li Jianguo raised his binoculars again and took another look. The car was parked quietly on the side of the road, with the engine not even turned on and the windows closed, so he couldn't see what was inside.

The quieter it is, the more unsettling it becomes.

"Wait a little longer," Li Jianguo said in a low voice. "Observe first and see what their demands are. The negotiators will arrive soon. Once the experts arrive, make statements and try to resolve the issue peacefully. If that doesn't work, then we'll launch a full-scale attack."

"Tell the brothers to be on their toes. These guys are tough; don't let them get caught off guard."

"clear!"

Everyone held their breath.

The setting sun stretched the street long, and the wind swirled fallen leaves across the road. The entire avenue was eerily quiet, with only the faint sound of traffic in the distance.

The customers in the milk tea shop fell silent, peering through the crack in the door, forgetting even to drink their milk tea.

The drivers who were stopped at the intersection stopped complaining and instead sat in their cars, craning their necks to look inside, their eyes filled with a mixture of tension and curiosity.

Everyone is waiting.

We'll wait for the robbers inside to make their demands, for the police to negotiate, and for this shocking case to come to a close.

Unbeknownst to anyone, inside the military vehicle they had imagined as a "bandit's ride," Wu Hanfeng was leaning back in his seat, a braised duck wing dangling from his mouth, and impatiently speaking to He Dong:

"Why aren't the police here yet? It's just picking up a kid, does it have to take so long? If they don't come soon, we'll just take the kid to the police station instead of wasting time here. If we're late, Ma Teng will be late for his shift."

He Dong was flipping through the stack of fake documents, jokingly saying, "Maybe there'll be traffic during rush hour. Let's wait a bit longer."

In the back seat, Qian Kun was playing rock-paper-scissors with Lele. When he lost, Lele shot him twice with a toy gun, making him laugh so hard he almost fell over.

Zhao Yihang was unpacking potato chips next to him. After he finished, he handed one to Lele, just like he was coaxing his own younger brother.

The people in the car chatted and laughed, as relaxed as if they were on a road trip.

Outside the car were hundreds of heavily armed police and armed police, forming layers of encirclement, creating a tense atmosphere of alert throughout the city.

Inside and outside the car felt like two different worlds.

Wu Hanfeng spent the whole afternoon in the car, first outwitting the fake military vehicle, and then being jostled all the way to a wide road, his buttocks were practically split in eight pieces.

When he pushed open the car door and got out, he straightened his back, and his joints cracked all over.

"Oh my, the old company commander's old car looks pretty impressive, the seat is as hard as a stone slab."

He stretched out a big yawn, "Sitting for an afternoon is more tiring than running ten kilometers, my back is about to break."

He Dong also climbed out of the passenger seat, rubbing his buttocks and grimacing, "You bet! My tailbone is still numb from being hit by that heavy truck. If I had known riding in this car would be this bad, I would have preferred to ride a shared bike on duty."

The two stood by the roadside stretching their muscles. As Wu Hanfeng swayed, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

He stopped what he was doing, frowned, and looked around.

Weird.

Just now, when they parked, this intersection was bustling with activity.

During rush hour, the streets are bustling with traffic, and the shouts of vendors selling grilled sausages and ice jelly echo from the roadside in the distance.

The shoppers were gathered in twos and threes in front of the stores, but how come they all disappeared in just a few minutes?

The streets were empty; not a single electric scooter could be seen.

Shops lined the roadside one after another, all with their roller shutters pulled down. Shops that had been selling clothes with their doors open just moments before were now locked up tight.

Even stranger were the pedestrians.

The people who were just wandering around the streets a moment ago are now nowhere to be found.

Even the auntie who was selling grilled sausages at the intersection has disappeared. Her cart is still there, the sausages are sizzling on the griddle, but she's gone.

Wu Hanfeng: "..."

He reached out and nudged He Dong beside him: "Dongzi, don't you feel a little creeped out?"

He Dong was rubbing his lower back when he heard this. He looked up and glanced around, then immediately shivered.

"Deputy squad leader, you know what... there really is some truth to that. There were quite a lot of people just now, how come they all disappeared in the blink of an eye? Could something unexpected have happened?"

"What kind of sudden event could wipe out everyone on an entire street?"

Wu Hanfeng was completely bewildered. "Alien abduction? Or did we accidentally stumble into some parallel universe? Wait, the sausage is still hot, which means they just left not long ago."

He Dong swallowed hard. "The squad leader...it can't be...haunted, can it? It's broad daylight, that can't be..."

"What a load of nonsense." Wu Hanfeng rolled his eyes, a little uneasy. "I reckon it's some kind of bomb disposal drill?"

"That's not right. Why wasn't there any prior notice about the exercise? Besides, none of our military police received any information. What kind of exercise could require clearing out an entire street?"

The two stood facing each other on the empty street, looking like two fools who had wandered into a deserted area.