As the doors in the corridor opened one by one, countless people peered in this direction, followed by the screams of the female staff.
Gao Jianjun suddenly realized that the hands that were gripping his neck had become limp and powerless. He quickly pushed the cleaner's body away and threw it aside. He then sat up and looked at the horrifying bloody hole on the back of the cleaner's head. He then realized that he had indeed been rescued again.
However, the entire hotel was in chaos at this point. A murder had occurred, and the police would arrive soon. He knew that staying would only lead to his death, so he quickly grabbed the travel bag from the ground and ran for his life out of the hotel.
Upstairs, Zhou Ziwei frowned inwardly and muttered "idiot" helplessly. He knew that this was all he could do to help him. He wondered if his sister would be dragged into the escape and forced to flee with him.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 508: The Highest Level of Hacking
Zhou Ziwei didn't want to concern himself with Gao Jianjun's affairs anymore, nor did he have the energy to do so. After all, he had his own things to do and couldn't abandon his mission in the United States for Gao Jianjun's sake.
However, Zhou Ziwei was still a little worried about his sister Yang Hongmei, and was also afraid that the crazy Gao Jianjun would implicate his sister and nephew.
After thinking it over for a while, Zhou Ziwei simply gave the newly captured little Kun pet an order to stay with Gao Jianjun.
The newly created Kun Pet by Zhou Ziwei was just an ordinary fruit fly with no combat capabilities. So, at most, it could only serve as a positioning tool for Gao Jianjun. Even if Gao Jianjun encountered a life-or-death crisis, the little fruit fly would be of no help whatsoever.
However, with this little fruit fly, once Zhou Ziwei completes his mission in Country M, he can use the soul connection between him and the little fruit fly to find Gao Jianjun, and then find his sister Yang Hongmei's whereabouts through Gao Jianjun.
They are now several hours past their original departure time, and a murder has occurred in the hotel, which is also related to a bank theft. It will probably be a while before the police arrive to conduct a thorough investigation. At that time, it is likely that no one in the hotel will be able to leave easily.
Zhou Ziwei dared not delay and quickly woke Jiang Chunshui up.
When Jiang Chunshui woke up and checked the time, she was immediately shocked. She always had a very regular sleep schedule and had never overslept in all these years. She never expected that she would oversleep while on a mission abroad. This made her feel that something was wrong.
Fortunately, in her eyes, Zhou Ziwei was still just a little kid who hadn't even grown any hair yet, so she didn't think about anything inappropriate. If she knew that Zhou Ziwei was actually an adult pretending to be young, she would definitely wonder if he had given her sleeping pills or something.
"What happened? How could I have overslept? You..." Although Jiang Chunshui didn't suspect that Zhou Ziwei had done anything to her, she was still taken aback when she saw that Zhou Ziwei had changed back into the same outfit he wore yesterday. She asked with some confusion, "When did you wake up? Didn't you see that it was getting late? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
Zhou Ziwei rolled his eyes, feigning innocence, and said, "I just woke up too... You know... people my age are usually... pretty sleepy, but that's not the point. Listen to me..." Zhou Ziwei pointed towards the door and said, "Did you hear that? It sounds like a commotion outside. I was woken up by the noise. I heard there's... there seems to be some kind of murder downstairs... I'm worried that if we don't leave soon, the police might detain us and won't let us go. What should we do? Should we run away quickly?"
"A murder happened downstairs?" Jiang Chunshui was slightly taken aback, then asked with a look of suspicion, "What exactly happened? Did you kill someone?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei had to admire Jiang Chunshui for truly being a witch. She could guess such things without even needing divination. However, of course, he wouldn't admit it. He quickly shook his head and swore, "Heaven and earth bear witness, what does this have to do with me? I swear, from last night until now, I haven't left this room once. What does the matter of the dead people downstairs have to do with me!"
Jiang Chunshui seemed to sense some sincerity in Zhou Ziwei's words, so she had no choice but to believe him. Little did she know that Zhou Ziwei had indeed not left the room since last night. However, with his current abilities, he didn't need to go out personally to kill anyone. He simply used his soul power to control a butterfly dart, which flew out and naturally took care of everything.
“It’s good that it’s not you. You have to remember… During our missions, everything must be done with the mission in mind. We absolutely cannot cause any trouble. Otherwise, if anything goes wrong, we will be severely punished. Hmm… We really can’t stay here any longer. Let’s leave quickly!” Jiang Chunshui said, realizing that staying here would cause a lot of trouble. She quickly got up, ran to the bathroom to wash up, changed her clothes, and then picked up her travel bags with Zhou Ziwei to check out and leave.
However, Zhou Ziwei clearly underestimated the reaction speed of the M country police. If this kind of thing happened in China, it is very likely that the police would not fully intervene until half an hour after the murder, or even longer.
However, the police in Country M were obviously much more efficient. In just a few minutes, a row of police cars had been parked in front of the hotel, and the front and back entrances of the hotel had been completely blocked off by the police much earlier. By the time Zhou Ziwei and Jiang Chunshui wanted to leave with their travel bags, it was already too late.
"Oh no, what do we do now?"
The two were about to go downstairs, but upon hearing the police sirens coming from downstairs, they turned back out of the elevator.
Although the United States is a place that values the rule of law and will not easily arrest people without sufficient evidence, such a big incident has occurred at this hotel. Before the case is clear, it is certain that the hotel guests will be restricted from leaving, especially since they are all foreigners and people of color who are discriminated against by the people of the United States. If an investigation is carried out, the police may focus their main efforts on them.
In that case, they might be trapped here for two or three days without being able to leave. But then it would be too late, and they would be destined not to reach the meeting point within the scheduled time.
Jiang Chunshui said with some worry, "No... we have to leave immediately. If it really comes to that, we'll have to call for the cannon and the marbles to come and meet us, and then we'll force our way out."
Zhou Ziwei chuckled wryly and rubbed his nose, saying, "Forget it, why bother with those two? They might have already left Luo City by now. Let's just go ourselves! It's just about forcing our way out of here, right? You don't... have absolutely no faith in me, do you?"
Jiang Chunshui was speechless upon hearing this. He then remembered that the person standing next to him, although he looked to be only five or six years old, was actually incredibly strong. Even Long Wu, the highest-ranking individual fighter in the Dragon Group, was no match for him. On the plane, Zhou Ziwei had kicked a solid metal door to pieces with a single kick. With such strength, he really didn't need anyone else's help.
"But...those police officers all have guns...I think it would be safer to call Pinball and the others back."
Jiang Chunshui was still a little uneasy. If the M country police found that they were trying to force their way in, they would probably open fire without hesitation. And if that happened, even if Zhou Ziwei was a skilled fighter, it would be useless.
If the bullets were here, then everything would be foolproof; and if the cannon barrel were here, it would probably serve some purpose as well.
As for pinball... Don't be fooled by the fact that the fat guy isn't very useful in a fight. With his almost abnormally strong hacking skills, he could easily hack into the Los Angeles Police Department's internal network and issue an emergency recall order to the police officers currently on duty here. That way, he could even resolve the crisis here without bloodshed.
So after some consideration, Jiang Chunshui decided to call for reinforcements and bring back the marbles and shells first.
Seeing the beautiful woman's distrust of him, Zhou Ziwei felt rather helpless. After hearing Jiang Chunshui's explanation, he was even more amused and exasperated. He rubbed his nose and said, "That's right... your idea is quite interesting, but... my hacking skills don't seem to be any worse than that fat guy's, right? It's just hacking into the Los Angeles Police Department, right? I can do that too!"
Jiang Chunshui was speechless again. She then remembered that when they encountered the problem of fingerprint binding to the aircraft's operating system on the plane, Pinball couldn't solve it at all. It was Zhou Ziwei who helped them escape. This showed that Zhou Ziwei's hacking skills were not only no worse than Pinball's, but far surpassed Pinball's...
Why do I always overlook his strength? It seems his age is too deceptive. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, who would believe that such a young kid could have so many powerful abilities? Even though I know he's strong, when it comes down to it, I still unconsciously overlook him.
Jiang Chunshui smiled at Zhou Ziwei with great shame and apology, then remembered to say, "But...you don't have a computer...how can you hack into the police station without a computer? Uh...we're staying in a regular hotel room, and there aren't any computers in the rooms."
Zhou Ziwei chuckled and said, "That's fine... The highest level of a hacker is... being able to hack into the network without a computer, that's true power. How about we make a bet? If I can get all the police downstairs to leave within five minutes, I win. If I haven't managed to do it within five minutes, you win. How about it?"
"A bet? Who would bet with a little brat like you!" Jiang Chunshui lost all her confidence because of Zhou Ziwei's strong self-confidence. Moreover, she instinctively sensed that if she really agreed to make this bet with him, she would most likely lose.
"Heh... If you don't dare, then forget it."
Zhou Ziwei curled his lip in disdain and said, "There's no point in betting with a witch like you. You probably sense with your special ability that you're bound to lose this time, so you don't dare to bet with me, right? If you sensed that you could win, you would definitely dare to bet with me... Sigh, you're like a natural cheat code... It's not fair... It's so unfair."
Provoked by Zhou Ziwei, Jiang Chunshui became genuinely unconvinced. Her eyes darted around as she said, "Who said I wouldn't dare bet with you? How could you possibly win? Hmph... If you really want to bet, I'm happy to oblige. But... we have to agree on this first: you can't use a computer, nor any other communication or electronic devices like a mobile phone. If you can hack into the Los Angeles Police Department's system and force the police downstairs to retreat, then I'll truly admire you."
Zhou Ziwei looked like he'd just eaten a bitter melon, and said angrily, "Isn't this cheating? You won't let me use anything, how am I supposed to hack into the network, how am I supposed to use my brainwaves to hack in? Is this how we can make a bet? How... how am I supposed to bet with you like this?"
Jiang Chunshui smiled smugly and said, "Hehe... Didn't you say that this is the highest level of hacking? You can hack into the network without a computer... You said that yourself... Hmph... If you're using a mobile phone to access the internet, how different is it from using a computer? If you dare to bet, I'll bet with you. If you don't dare to bet, then forget it and stop bragging in front of me!"
Jiang Chunshui's words were rather insincere. Although she herself was not very good at computer technology, as a member of the Dragon Group, she would receive some modern skills training during her training at the base, and computer technology was one of them. Even if she could not show any ability in this area, she still had to master the basic usage skills.
Moreover, she had known Pinball for quite some time. Even though she had never eaten pork, she could still see a big, fat "pig" swaying around in front of her every day, so she knew some basic hacking knowledge.
So of course she knew that there was a huge difference between using a mobile phone to access the internet and using a computer. Even with the same computer, a slightly inferior configuration wouldn't allow a hacker to unleash their full potential. As for using a mobile phone... she had never heard of any expert being able to use a mobile phone to hack into any encrypted internal network system...
However, when Jiang Chunshui thought about the time he saw Zhou Ziwei sitting in front of the cockpit of the plane, his hands moving rapidly across the control panel, creating a blurry image that was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, he felt uneasy. He felt that this kid's hacking skills were probably so powerful that they had reached a level of simplicity, and he could even infiltrate the internal network of the Los Angeles Police Department with just a mobile phone.
This kind of thing would never happen to anyone else, but it's not impossible for Zhou Ziwei to do it... The longer Jiang Chunshui spends with Zhou Ziwei, the more she feels that she can't see through this little brat. This guy is really a monster, and you can never guess how powerful he will become.
However powerful Zhou Ziwei may be, Jiang Chunshui certainly wouldn't believe that Zhou Ziwei could directly hack into the police station's internal network without using any tools.
If Zhou Ziwei can win like this, then he's not just a prodigy, but a god-like being.
Jiang Chunshui always trusted her intuition. She had a feeling that she would most likely lose if she made a bet with Zhou Ziwei, but she didn't want to be looked down upon by him, so she came up with this somewhat shameless idea.
She said this because she was certain that Zhou Ziwei would not agree to such a bet with her; only a fool would agree to such an unfair bet...
But Jiang Chunshui didn't expect that Zhou Ziwei, who seemed like a monster, would actually act stupid. After hearing her provocation, he actually dared to agree: "What, who are you calling bragging... Fine, let's bet. So what if we can't use computers or cell phones? I don't believe it. I'll just use my brainwaves to hack into your brain and show you... So tell me, what should we bet on?"
Jiang Chunshui stared wide-eyed in disbelief and said, "Hey... are you out of your mind? I was just kidding. How can you hack in without using anything? If you just wanted to lose to me, you didn't have to make it so obvious, did you?"
"Who said I could speak?"
Zhou Ziwei glared at him and said, "I never fight a battle I'm not sure I can win. Since I'm willing to bet with you, I'm not afraid of losing. So, what are we betting on?"
"What do you want to bet? It's up to you!" Jiang Chunshui saw that Zhou Ziwei was really reckless and wanted to gamble, so he didn't bother to persuade him anymore. He curled his lips and said, "Anyway, you're definitely going to lose, so I'll let you decide the bet yourself! If you're not confident, you can even bet just one dollar with me, it doesn't matter!"
“Gambling is so boring!” Zhou Ziwei snorted and said, “If we’re going to gamble, let’s gamble big. Whoever loses will have to repay the winner with their body.”
Jiang Chunshui never expected Zhou Ziwei to say such nonsense. Her pretty face flushed red with embarrassment, and she spat out a mouthful of spittle, saying, "You little devil, what nonsense are you spouting... offering yourself in return... do you know that if I hadn't left the mountain village like my companions, I would probably be married for years by now, with children older than you? You actually want me to offer myself in return? I think you'd be more like my son! Humph... if you dare to talk nonsense again, believe me, I'll tear your mouth apart!"
Zhou Ziwei stuck out his tongue and said, "Okay... if I lose, I'll acknowledge you as my godmother. But if you lose... hehe, you either have to repay me with your body, or... be my maid! You'll have to serve me tea and water, bathe me, scrub my back, massage my shoulders, and even serve me in bed every day on this journey..."
"You brat, you're asking for trouble."
As Zhou Ziwei's words became increasingly absurd, Jiang Chunshui felt as if she had been teased by a little brat. Enraged, she pinched Zhou Ziwei's nose hard and said, "Fine, I'll take the bet with you. But... if you lose, don't blame me for being ruthless as a mother and torturing a minor!"
Volume 3, The King of the City, Chapter 509: The Child Bride
When Zhou Ziwei heard Jiang Chunshui say something like, "Don't blame me for being ruthless as a mother," he almost tripped over her fierce tone. What did she mean by "me as a mother"? It was as if he really was her son.
"Alright... let's not stand here any longer, let's go back to our room and hide for a bit!" As they were talking, they both heard a commotion coming from the stairs, knowing that the group of police officers had come up. So Zhou Ziwei quickly grabbed Jiang Chunshui's hand and led her back to the private room. He turned around and slammed the door shut, locking it tightly.
"Bang bang bang... bang bang bang..." As soon as the two returned to their room, they heard knocking on the doors of the guest rooms one after another, and a woman's clear and pleasant voice rang out: "The police are investigating a case, please cooperate!"
"What should we do?" Jiang Chunshui became anxious when he saw that the police had reached this floor so quickly. He regretted not notifying Danqiu to help them in time and instead wasting time chatting with Zhou Ziwei.
"Hey... the bet we made earlier was just a joke. If you have a way to access the internet on your phone or something, then hurry up and do it! If you wait any longer... once we officially meet these police officers, there will probably be even more trouble."
Jiang Chunshui knew what was important and what wasn't urgent. Hearing the footsteps and knocking getting closer, he grabbed Zhou Ziwei's shoulders and urged him on.
"What joke? I'm not joking with you!" Jiang Chunshui was so flustered for no reason, but Zhou Ziwei remained calm and unperturbed, saying relentlessly, "Don't try to cheat... If you lose, you'll be my childhood sweetheart, hehe..."
Jiang Chunshui glared at him, somewhat annoyed, and said, "Please, can you be serious for once? I'm talking to you about serious matters, why are you still arguing? What time is it now? What's the point of saying all this nonsense? We should hurry up and find the fastest and most effective way to leave here and get out of the police's sight!"
Zhou Ziwei rolled his eyes innocently and said, "Who said I'm not serious? I've already started hacking into the Los Angeles Police Department's internal network. Just a moment... I can use a fake news message to divert all the police officers here."
"Hey, you're still talking nonsense!" Jiang Chunshui saw that Zhou Ziwei had clearly not used any equipment from beginning to end. Could it be that he could really hack into the network with brainwaves just by standing here and spouting nonsense? If Jiang Chunshui believed even this, then she was incredibly naive. She said angrily, "Forget it, I knew it was a waste of time to talk to a little kid like you. I'd better call Danqiu and Paotong right away! We can stay here for a few more hours and create an opportunity to escape when they arrive!"
Zhou Ziwei snorted in obvious displeasure and said, "You really think I'm some kid who just talks big... Facts speak louder than words. I'll show you what the ultimate level of hacking is... Well, I hope you don't spread this around today, and especially don't let that fat guy from the pinball club know, otherwise... that fat bastard will definitely pester me like Long Wu, demanding that I teach him hacking techniques!"
Seeing Zhou Ziwei still saying the same thing at this point, Jiang Chunshui finally became somewhat suspicious and couldn't help but ask, "You're not serious, are you? But... without a computer or a mobile phone or any other equipment, how... how could you possibly hack into the police network like that? This... how is this possible?"
"Knock knock knock...knock knock knock..." Just then, there was finally a knock on the door of their room, and the pleasant voice of the policewoman rang out again from outside the door, "Excuse me, please open the door. The police are investigating a case and need your cooperation!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Chunshui involuntarily pulled Zhou Ziwei a step further into the room, bent down, and whispered in Zhou Ziwei's ear, "What should we do? Should we open the door... or... As far as I know, the detection methods of the M country police are very advanced. At this moment, they might have thermal imaging monitors on their hands outside. Those things can clearly show our shapes and movements. If they really have those things, they should already know that we are not sleeping or taking a shower or anything. So if we hesitate and don't open the door, we will probably immediately become their prime suspects."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei used his soul power to scan the area outside and discovered that the police officers were indeed carrying such a device. One of them was standing at the door, using the device to shine light in the direction they were currently facing...
However, Zhou Ziwei showed no sign of panic. He smiled faintly, pretending not to care as he glanced at Jiang Chunshui's ample bosom through the neckline that was partially exposed as she bent over. He said confidently, "It doesn't matter. My intrusion is complete. The Los Angeles Police Department headquarters will soon issue an emergency order to divert them. I need to prepare for the last five seconds. Four seconds, three, two, one... OK."
As Zhou Ziwei said "OK," the walkie-talkies of the police officers standing outside the door suddenly started crackling in unison: "Attention all officers on Clemlin Street! Attention all officers on Clemlin Street! A terrorist armed robbery has occurred at the Hughespiel Building at 2875 Clemlin Street, taking 48 hostages, including three high-ranking federal government officials, five city councilors, and several important government officials, including the governor of this state. All officers near Clemlin Street are to immediately drop everything and get to the scene as quickly as possible!"
Because many police officers outside were making the same sound from their walkie-talkies and intercoms almost simultaneously, the sound was so loud that everyone on the entire floor could hear it clearly. Instantly, the entire floor erupted in chaos, and some timid female tenants screamed and cried out in alarm.
Because many years ago, the old building in Country M was brutally destroyed by terrorists, causing countless deaths and injuries, they were filled with fear and resentment towards terrorists. When they heard that even the governor of their state and high-ranking federal government officials had been kidnapped here, everyone was terrified, as if the end of the world was coming.
These terrorists are no saints. Since they dared to kidnap the governor and high-ranking federal government officials, they are bound to take even more terrifying and violent actions next.
Who knows, a human bomb might explode at any moment, or a plane might suddenly fly down from the sky and crash into everything... If those terrorists have enough power, they wouldn't mind turning the entire city of Los Angeles into ruins.
The general public was terrified, and the police were no better off. Most of them turned pale upon hearing the news, because they were on Kerlin Street, and the Hughespiel Tower was only a ten-minute walk away, or less than three minutes by car. They were among the police forces closest to the scene, and upon receiving the notification, they had no choice but to rush there as quickly as possible. Moreover, according to the notification, everyone had to drop everything and get there immediately.
The police department had never issued such an order before. No matter how big the matter was, they would never ask officers to put down the cases they were handling and allocate all their manpower to do something else.
So when the police officers first heard the news, they felt a little strange. However, when they thought that what happened today was a major event that had never happened in the history of Los Angeles, they felt that it was not surprising.
If they mishandle the situation today and allow high-ranking federal government officials, or even their governor, to be killed by terrorists here, then they, the police, will be disgraced. Therefore, they have no other choice but to immediately withdraw and rush to the Hughespiel Tower as quickly as possible, hoping to be the first to arrive and use their wisdom and courage to defeat those damned terrorists and rescue their great governor.
So... very quickly, within ten seconds of that sound, all the police officers on that floor immediately left, not one of them remained.
After all, this was an order from above. Even if some people felt that at least one or two people should be left to follow up on the case, the order could not be disobeyed. Moreover, relatively speaking, it was just two insignificant people who died here, but there were countless powerful figures waiting for them to rescue them at the Hughesbury Tower. There was no need to weigh which matter was more important or less important; everyone naturally knew how to choose.
Of course, the main reason they withdrew so readily and completely was that the police had only just begun their investigation and hadn't yet discovered that the hotel murder case was also connected to a major bank robbery. The bank next door, having just opened for business, hadn't had a chance to access its vault, so it hadn't yet realized that the vault, which had been crammed full of cash that morning, was now empty. Otherwise… given the severity of this major bank robbery, the police would definitely not have taken it lightly.
To prevent suspects from still lurking in the hotel, and even to avoid the possibility that the stolen cash might be hidden there before being moved out, the person in charge here would likely communicate with headquarters to confirm whether the case should be temporarily put on hold. In that case, Zhou Ziwei's scheme would naturally be broken.
However, because the small house was in a remote location and no one had noticed it until now, although the police went to check it out, they only used a thermal imaging device to shine it in, and when they found that no one was inside, they did not focus on investigating it.
So, the murder at the hotel wasn't considered a very serious case yet, and the police chief wasn't too concerned. However, the order from headquarters was extremely urgent. These police officers had never suspected that their walkie-talkies and communicators might one day be used to spread false information. Therefore, upon receiving the message, they obediently dropped everything and evacuated to the Hughespiel Tower.