Chapter 52: Calculated Scheme
On September 6th, Friday, at 10 AM. Early in the morning, more than ten buses carrying four hundred children, caregivers, and staff left the W District Children’s Welfare Institute.
Meng De and Han Xiao stood side by side, both dressed in casual clothing, quietly watching the welfare institute below.
With just a few minutes left until the scheduled action time, Meng De’s expression was grave, whereas Han Xiao beside him appeared calm and carefree.
“I heard Chief of Staff Kai say that during this operation, you cannot inject the bloodline obliteration agent; you need to honestly stay back and command from behind.”
Han Xiao suddenly remarked, showing no particular expression.
“You are the frontline operation commander designated by the Chief of Staff. I can’t take your position no matter where I am.”
Meng De replied indifferently, not even glancing at her.
“Meng De, I know you’re struggling with your condition… just change positions. If I transfer out, I can protect you. This has nothing to do with whether I like you…”
Han Xiao’s voice lowered suddenly, carrying a hint of insecurity. However, the officer beside her, Gao Tianjun, remained silent, seemingly not in the mood to face such topics.
As the time approached, a sharp siren echoed from the end of the sidewalk, breaking the thoughts of Meng De and Han Xiao.
A police car flashed its lights as it chased a rapidly fleeing van. Immediately, from the other end of the street, an armored special police vehicle charged out, executing a stylish drift to block the van’s path.
The van made a sharp turn and violently rammed through the gates of the welfare institute, crashing directly into the administrative building entrance at an odd angle.
Two armed men hurriedly got out of the vehicle, dragging a long black box. Then, a loud bang was heard, followed by screams from the staff left in the building.
More police cars arrived, blocking the street in front of the welfare institute completely, while heavily armed soldiers in black combat uniforms poured into the welfare institute and the surrounding high-rise buildings, seizing advantageous positions.
Citizens nearby surrounded the area, but most were kept at bay by armed police officers, with some even pulling out their phones to capture the scene, though many were dissuaded by the police.
…
On the rooftop of the commercial building, Meng De had turned away, no longer interested in what was happening below; in fact, these scenarios had already been rehearsed countless times in the plan.
According to investigations, Xia Yan was a person who lived a highly disciplined life and had no particular hobbies. Whenever he had free time, he liked to watch the news. This live broadcast would last until the early hours of the morning, effectively covering all avenues of information for him.
Han Xiao spoke lightly, yet a hint of satisfaction appeared at the corners of her mouth, perhaps pleased with the carefully arranged opening ceremony, which also diluted the sadness from her brother’s sacrifice.
This was indeed a calculated scheme. When the green-clad team arrived at the new base, he should know what had happened inside… As for the elder Chunhua, attacked by a vampire of servant rank, what would he do?
Han Xiao suddenly chuckled, turning to look at Meng De’s indifferent expression.
“To create a real atmosphere, you even called in vampire servants conducting live research from headquarters… everyone, including the headquarters leader, is betting on your plan’s success.”
Meng De took a deep breath, heading towards the rooftop staircase without looking back, his tone somewhat unfriendly: “The explosive opening act has already caused two pedestrian accidents; it’s indeed realistic enough… since it has begun, I will return to the base to prepare.”
As he reached the staircase, Meng De ran into Han Jie Li who was hurrying over. He merely nodded and turned to leave.
Watching Meng De walk away, Han Jie Li took off his military cap and walked to Han Xiao’s side, also beginning to appreciate the drama that had just unfolded.
“Sister, Ying’s remains have been transported back to the country. Mother and sister went over this morning… you can rest assured; the superiors will properly handle all arrangements. I heard Ying received a first-class merit.”
“Hehe, does the Han family still need such honors with a first-class merit…? Xiao Li, you are currently the only male descendant of the Han family, listen to your sister and apply for a transfer in two years.”
With no outsiders present, Han Xiao’s eyes gradually reddened. Looking at the younger Ying brother beside her, her gaze was filled with sadness, her tone very low: “The Han family owes it to everyone; we can’t exhaust all our resources in the Dark Arrow unit… start having children soon, don’t follow in my brother’s footsteps.”
“Hmph, Third Sister, don’t worry. I’m in the headquarters intelligence bureau, doing fine; with my conditions, it’s not hard for me to attract girls!”
Han Jie Li smiled, seemingly never worried about his future, his tone particularly calm: “I wonder if back then, my mother had some relatives who sacrificed before my second uncle, while I was still in her womb, she changed my last name to Han? That left my dad frustrated for years…”
“Hmph, all the men in the Han family, go ahead and take risks…” Han Xiao wiped her eyes and turned to leave.
…
At noon, twelve o’clock.
At the Golden River Club, there was still an hour until the afternoon business hours, and all the employees were taking turns having lunch.
Next door, Jiang Yao’s promotion sleep had crossed a crucial milestone. Even with external hormone inhibitors, she could sense the stronger aura emanating from nearby.
The lower-tier knight stage represented Jiang Yao’s achievement after more than half a month of sleep, but it was not her final result. Judging from the strong and escalating aura Jiang Yao was currently emitting, her breakthrough was far from over. Perhaps by the end of her sleep, reaching the mid-tier knight realm would not be impossible, flawless beyond reproach.
Only a few people knew about Jiang Yao’s initial battle against the Black Blood Clan, and now, as a knight, her combat power potential seems even more promising.
The Hyacinth leader seemed to have already forgotten what had happened to Jiang Yao a few days ago, creating an external blood and nutritional supplement plan for Jiang Yao’s promotion sleep, likely filled with expectations for the outcome.
Under the prohibition of Wan Yue, no one within Hyacinth discussed Jiang Yao’s sleep topic anymore, as if it had never happened.
In the employee cafeteria, Jiang Yan was eating carefully with a few colleagues. The table in front of her was filled with a wide array of dishes, not only meaty but also heavily flavored.
For the Golden River Club, such a meal quality comparable to a star-rated hotel was undoubtedly a huge temptation, since everyone’s appetite could not be underestimated.
On one side of the employee cafeteria wall, a large-screen television was broadcasting the news.
“… This is a live report from the scene at XX Street in W District. The entire traffic around the closed children’s welfare institute has been cordoned off. According to eyewitnesses, two armed robbers are currently hiding in the welfare institute building, holding some staff hostage.”
“… Fortunately, just two hours before the incident, all the children from the welfare institute and most of the staff had gone out on a fall outing, leaving only elderly personnel inside the institute.”
The police had already begun dialogue with the armed robbers, hoping they would release some of the elderly and weak inside the welfare institute. Remarkably, the advanced representative of women from the province and city, the elderly Jiang Chunhua, is currently inside the building!
Jiang Yan’s face changed drastically, her bowl dropping to the ground with a loud clatter, oil soup, dishes, and rice splattering across the clean floor, creating a large unsightly mess.
“Xiao Yan, what happened?”
Zhou Ping hurriedly put down her bowl and chopsticks, grabbing a handful of napkins to cover the spilled food, preventing the liquid from spreading further.
Jiang Yan said nothing, her eyes glued to the television screen. In a flash of footage, she caught a concerning scene: several armed members of the Dark Arrow unit.
The only reason for the Dark Arrow unit to be dispatched was most likely that a serious incident had occurred at the location!
Most of the usual terms used to cover up the Dark Arrow unit’s operations in densely populated areas include wanted criminals, robbers, drug dealers, mentally ill patients, or incidents like fires, traffic accidents…
The robbery at the Children’s Welfare Institute in W District was almost certainly a result of a failure during a manhunt.
“Xiao Ping, Xiao Ling, Xiao Yao, you all stay here. I… I need to step out for a bit. Please inform Brother Zhao Peng that I need a leave of absence!”
Jiang Yan’s face grew paler, her whole body trembling as she nearly collided with others while attempting to exit.
…
Several streets surrounding the W District Children’s Welfare Institute were completely blocked off by police cars. All onlookers could only peek from hundreds of meters away, continually being pushed back by the police.
The first batch of online videos that were captured had clearly been subjected to information control. Most contained sensitive content, causing people to suspect the severity of the situation inside the welfare institute.
On a pedestrian bridge hundreds of meters away from the Children’s Welfare Institute, amidst the crowd of anxious observers, Jiang Yan squeezed into the front row, her expression frantic. She could already sense a chaotic surge of blood aura emanating from within the welfare institute, mixed with the slaughter’s brutality and despair—an omen of impending disaster.
Near several armored special police vehicles, the familiar black uniforms and police badges stood out glaringly, weapons at the ready. Jiang Yan recognized they were from the Agricultural Practice Team and even saw surveillance drones flying in the air.
Feeling conflicted, Jiang Yan pushed her way out of the crowd, slowly sitting in a corner of the bridge, blankly staring at the ground.
“Xiao Yan, let’s go; Sister Wan is back. If there’s anything, we can ask her for advice.”
Zhao Peng appeared next to Jiang Yan at some point, crouching down to comfort her.
“The old director… she’s inside.”
Jiang Yan became increasingly agitated. Although she believed that a wandering rogue vampire would be far from a match for the armed-to-the-teeth Dark Arrow unit, she had witnessed countless times how blood clans collapsed into chaos.
“Yes, I saw it on the news. Given the Dark Arrow unit’s capabilities, if it weren’t for the consideration of the hostages’ safety, they probably would have dealt with that rogue vampire already.”
Zhao Peng, too, did not know why, feeling an unusual expectation for the Dark Arrow unit to effectively execute a mission against the blood clans for the first time. At the very least, the girl before him surely held hope.
“Come on, let’s go back. There’s no use staying here, let’s discuss with Sister Wan.”
Zhao Peng pulled Jiang Yan up, and the two merged into the crowd.
Once their figures completely disappeared, a middle-aged European man with a small belly walked out from a nearby store under the pedestrian bridge. He first glanced toward the welfare institute, then toward the pedestrian bridge, slowly forming a grin on his rigid face.
