Lin Yi was not a hero.

He preferred to lay low, and he understood with a clear mind the things he should, and should not, do. It was the same in North Africa as well- he had always remembered the duty assigned to him: He was tasked with guarding the interview team, not charge around in heroic glory.

Lin Yi’s current mindset, as a result, placed the safety of Chu Mengyao and Chen Yushu at the utmost priority. The task of apprehending the bank robbers, on the other hand, was not something he’d planned to get involved with.

It was also evident that the girls had no experience whatsoever with situations like this- they simply stood there paralyzed, not knowing what to do.

“Everyone listen up! Hold your heads and crouch on the floor, and I guarantee that no one will get hurt. You move, you die!!!” Baldy fired another shot at the ceiling, and the bank went from chaos back to order once more.

The children forgot to cry, and the adults forgot to scream. Everyone crouched of their own accord, quietly and steadily; it was their only means of surviving in face of armed criminals.

Yet it was not to say that these succumbing people had no sense of justice... Anybody who stepped forward would pay the price of his or her life- that was all there was to it.

Baldy’s group was already charging at the counter when he fired his second shot. They broke the glass with hammers and started pointing their guns at the staff. They were then ordered to fill up the sacks with money.

“Hurry the fuck up!” One of the robbers barked, impatient. “I’ll blow your head open if you waste any more time!”

“Y-yes...” The man’s hands trembled, not taking well to the robber’s threat. The cash he was holding, as a result, slipped out of his hands and fell onto the floor.

“Motherfucker!!! You trying to stall for time?!” The robber yelled with a glare, firing a bullet at the man’s arm. The cashier screamed in agony as he squeezed at his wound.

The two gunshots earlier were aimed at the ceiling, and had served to put the crowd down in fear. This new shot, however, was aimed at a person! It led to both staff and customer covered their mouths as the fear for the robbers grew- none of them dared to move at all.

Baldy, on the other hand, swept his gaze across the cowering victims, pleased with his lackey’s move.

“Yao Yao... I’m scared...” Yushu paled as she gripped onto Mengyao’s arm tightly, her loud and playful personality suppressed by the tension.

“It’s okay, it’s okay...... I’ll protect you Shu.” Mengyao was terrified herself, but Yushu was a whole year younger than her- she had to be the one to comfort her!

“Stop comforting each other. I’ll protect you both.” Lin Yi said dully.

Lin Yi wasn’t sure if he could capture the robbers alive, but guarding the two girls from harm was well within his capabilities.

Mengyao was about to fire some insults at Lin Yi on reflex, but she managed to stop herself upon seeing Lin Yi’s determined eyes.

The group of robbers were just about to leave the bank with their sacks of cash when police sirens started wailing outside.

The customers in the bank frowned upon hearing the sirens- it was oftentimes a plus for the police to show up, but the robbers had nowhere to run now- it was only natural for them to do something to the victims, in order to guarantee their own safety!

No one wanted to be taken hostage. Most people were selfish- it didn’t concern them how much money the bank lost- what mattered was the safety of their own selves.

“You have been surrounded! Put down your weapons immediately! Surrendering is your only option!” A megaphone sounded from outside the building.

The baldy snorted upon hearing the megaphone. He turned to one of his followers. “Go tell them not to do anything stupid, else I’ll start butchering these pigs!”

The lackey nodded, running to the doors before yelling at the police outside. “Shut up! Keep barking and our boss will start killing!”

The police went silent immediately- they wanted to recover the bank’s losses if possible, but there were the victims inside the bank to consider as well.

Song Lingshan, the vice captain of the criminal police team, had taken charge under orders of the police department’s director. Yang Huaijun, the absent captain, was attending a meeting outland, forcing the director to contact Lingshan directly, implying to her that Chu Pengzhan’s daughter was in the bank along with Elder Chen’s daughter as well. The task stressed her heavily- failure was not an option!

Even the officialdom overseeing the director would be in trouble should something happen to Chen Yushu- the entirety of the organization would shake!

As a result, Song Lingshan ordered the officer handling the megaphone to stand down upon hearing the robber’s threat- she couldn’t afford to enrage them.

Baldy was very much pleased at the cooperation and silence. He then walked around the room, gun in hand, and many of the customers understood- one of them was about to become a hostage.

Many of the victims then lowered their head a little further, dreading what was about to come- the last thing they wanted was to get picked by criminals as ruthless as these. There was no telling what would happen to them once chosen as a hostage.

Baldy took his time as he eyed everyone with a smile. His gaze then landed on Mengyao, who was crouching right beside Lin Yi.

“You! Stand up!” Baldy was already in front of Mengyao, his gun pointed at her head.

Mengyao’s heart stopped, and it was her turn to grip tightly on Yushu’s hand. She raised her head at the baldy slowly.

“Hoooh? A pretty one, aren’t ‘cha!!” Baldy grinned lustfully as he pointed his gun at Mengyao again. “Well? Get up!”

“I........” Mengyao was nowhere near prepared to deal with a situation like this, and her heart was thumping as hard as it possibly could. She didn’t know how she should go about this, but she forced herself to stay strong regardless. I can’t cry! I can’t cry!!! 𝙗𝒆𝒅𝒏𝙤𝒗𝒆𝙡．𝙤𝒓𝙜

Mengyao clenched her jaw and started getting up when a pair of hands suddenly pushed her down again.