Sin City
The conference room was packed with officers.
“An Zhi’s private number just sent a video to Zeng Wenyu’s phone,” one officer said, setting a laptop in front of Li Weiguo. “We’ve already pulled it up.”
Li Weiguo’s frown deepened. He clicked play.
The video appeared to be set inside an amusement park. People moved through the background, parents laughing and playing with their children, a carousel turning nearby.
On a bench by the path, a familiar figure sat perfectly still.
An Zhi.
“Where is this?” Li Weiguo asked.
“We’ve sent someone to look into it, but it’ll take a little time,” the officer beside him replied.
A voiceover cut in from the screen.
“Hi there, friends at the police station. Hope you’re doing well.”
“I imagine you’re a little confused seeing this.”
“To save you the trouble of guessing, let me explain.”
“Today is Children’s Day, so I’d like to invite you all to play a game with me. Think of it as a gift.”
The voice had been processed and sped up, coming out light, bright, and faintly childlike.
Wen Yiqian checked his phone. Today really was June 1st.
The video cut off there, abruptly, as if a piece had been removed, leaving it disjointed and incomplete.
“Is that all of it?” Li Weiguo asked, his expression grave.
“Yes,” the officer confirmed.
“Could this be An Zhi pulling another stunt?”
“Possibly.”
“I don’t think so.”
…
“Enough.” Li Weiguo brought his hand down on the table, cutting through the back-and-forth. He turned to the officer beside him. “Have we traced the source yet?”
“The tech team is on it. We should have something shortly.”
At that moment, the phone Zeng Wenyu had used to contact An Zhi buzzed and lit up.
Another video from her number. Li Weiguo opened it immediately.
This time there was a message attached below.
“Sorry, the connection was a bit slow, so I split it into two parts. Don’t be cross. ^^”
The video picked up exactly where the first had ended, same background, same voice.
“Of course, I’ve also prepared a little Children’s Day gift for you all. Have you received it yet?”
It ended there.
Li Weiguo’s expression shifted. He was already moving, striding out into the main office. “Did anyone take in a delivery just now?”
A female officer raised her hand and pointed to a box on a nearby desk. “Your package came in a little while ago. You seemed busy, so I signed for it. I was going to hand it over when you had a moment…”
Li Weiguo crossed to the box quickly.
It was sealed, the outside covered in cartoon patterns, the kind of packaging that comes with a toy.
He signaled for silence, pressed his ear gently against the surface, and listened.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
His chest tightened.
“Bomb.”
On the side of the box, a small hole had been cut, revealing a tiny screen with a countdown ticking down in real time.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
There was no time to think. Li Weiguo seized the box and ran, his colleagues erupting behind him.
“Bomb! Clear the way! Everyone out! Move!”
He burst through the entrance and hurled the box into the open area in front of the station with everything he had, then threw himself down and covered his head.
The box landed and sat quietly on the ground, ticking through its final moments.
5
4
3
2
1
Ding.
The lid flew open. A clown doll shot upright, both arms raised, holding a small banner between its hands.
Happy Children’s Day!
No explosion. The tension broke all at once.
“A prank.”
“Thank god it was just a prank.”
“That nearly gave me a heart attack.”
…
Only then did the thoroughly cowardly Wen Yiqian dare to edge forward and look outside.
His eyesight was sharp enough to catch it: a faint red glow in the clown doll’s eyes.
Something’s wrong.
Boom.
The blast was deafening. The doll erupted in a column of fire and heat that reached toward the sky. The wave washed over Wen Yiqian’s face from where he stood.
“This isn’t Ditan City,” he said, his face pale and perfectly still. “This is a full-blown crime metropolis.”
…
Back in the conference room, the mood was shaken. Li Weiguo’s expression was harder than it had been all day.
If someone had the nerve to send explosives to a police station in broad daylight, there was no telling what came next.
The scale of the audacity was beyond anything he had been prepared for.
Zeng Wenyu’s phone lit up again.
Not a message this time. Not a video.
A call.
Li Weiguo steadied his breathing, answered, and put it on speaker.
“Did you receive my gift?” The same processed voice.
“We did,” Li Weiguo said evenly.
“Did you like it?”
“Very much.”
“Shall we start the game, then?”
“What if I refuse?” Li Weiguo kept his tone cold.
“Then I’ll just have to send another gift.” Perfectly calm, no inflection at all. “There’s a young woman named An Zhi at Happiness Amusement Park right now. She’s carrying one of my homemade devices. This one is ten times more powerful than the last.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” Li Weiguo’s control cracked.
“I don’t like being interrupted.” A note of mild irritation entered the voice. “That’s the first time. I hope it’s the last. I think you know what happens otherwise.”
Li Weiguo’s fists closed. He said nothing. Instead he pulled up the notepad on his own phone, typed quickly, and turned the screen to the officer beside him.
Evacuate Happiness Amusement Park immediately.
The officer read it and gave a single nod.
“One more thing,” the voice continued. “Don’t even consider evacuating that amusement park. Every person there is a participant in my game. Without them, it loses its appeal. If I see an evacuation, I detonate immediately.”
The officer went still.
Li Weiguo exhaled slowly and shook his head. The officer stood down.
“Fine. Tell me the rules. I’ll play.”
“I don’t want to play with you,” the voice said, with the mild petulance of a child who hadn’t gotten their way. “Actually, Miss An Zhi told me some rather interesting things.”
A brief pause.
“Go find the one called Wen Yiqian. He’s who I want to play with.”
In the corner of the room, doing his best to disappear into the wall, Wen Yiqian gave a small, helpless shudder. He pressed both hands over his face and let out a muffled wail.
“Why am I so unlucky?”
(End of Chapter)