The moment the words were out, Silas Hawthorne gave the signal. The raid began!

Gunshots erupted, bullets striking the criminals on either side with precision, instantly felling two of them.

Rex reacted with incredible speed. He activated his Instant Teleportation, his figure vanishing in a flash. The next second, he reappeared at Blade’s side, reaching for the remote. "Blade, let’s go!"

But Blade’s eyes were bloodshot. He gripped the remote tightly and roared, "Go my ass! I’m detonating it! We’ll all die together!"

Just as his thumb pressed down, a figure shot out from behind a pillar!

Sue Lawrence dropped her camouflage, moving so fast she was just a blur. Boosted by feline explosiveness, she leaped into the air and precisely latched onto Blade’s wrist.

Caught completely off guard, Blade’s wrist was clamped in a death grip. A sharp pain shot through him, and the remote flew from his hand.

Seeing this, Rex used Instant Teleportation to lunge straight at Sue Lawrence, gathering his Superpower in his palm to shove her away. "You’re asking to die!"

Sue Lawrence was already prepared. Her body stuck to the wall like a gecko’s. As she dodged the attack, her Perception precisely predicted where he would appear next.

BANG!

Victor Keller’s bullet followed immediately, grazing past Rex’s ear and forcing him to use Instant Teleportation to dodge.

Silas Hawthorne seized the opportunity to rush forward. He caught the falling remote, crushed it in his grip, and kicked Blade in the knee, pinning the man to the ground.

The two remaining criminals tried to fight back but were instantly subdued by the other team members. A mix of gunshots and muffled grunts filled the air, and then, in just a moment, there was silence.

Sue Lawrence stood up, dusted herself off, and walked over to the car to untie the ropes on Dr. Jensen’s son.

Having survived the ordeal, the boy collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down his face as he choked out inaudible sobs.

Just as everyone thought the crisis was over, Sue Lawrence’s ant-like Perception began to blare a frantic warning. A sense of danger washed over her like a tidal wave, even more intense than the threat of the bomb!

Her expression changed drastically. She snapped her head up and looked toward the ventilation ducts of the underground parking garage, her voice urgent. "Something’s wrong! There are more of them! This isn’t everyone!"

Before she could finish, the ventilation duct suddenly exploded. Several dark figures leaped down, the leader holding a modified rifle. He aimed it at Silas Hawthorne and let out a vicious laugh. "Didn’t see that coming, did you? I had an ace up my sleeve!"

Meanwhile, Rex took advantage of the chaos to use Instant Teleportation again, grabbing the still-terrified Dr. Jensen’s son. He retreated behind the dark figures, his eyes cold and vicious. "Think you can leave? Not without leaving the hostage! Otherwise, I’ll snap his neck right now!"

The tables had turned in an instant.

Blade was pinned to the ground, his body twitching from the agonizing pain where his neck had been wrenched, but he still clenched his jaw like a cornered lone wolf. He had one hand clamped tightly around the boy’s throat, the other clutching a detonator wire in his palm, his knuckles white from the pressure. His cloudy, bloodshot eyes scanned the surrounding team members wildly.

"Don’t come any closer!" he roared, his voice as ragged as a broken bellows. "Anyone takes another step, and I’ll detonate the explosives! We’ll all go to hell together!"

Silas Hawthorne froze, his gaze as cold as ice, but he didn’t dare advance rashly.

He could see it clearly: this was a scorched-earth, mutually assured destruction gambit. If the bomb went off, the structure of the second basement level would likely collapse, and Sue Lawrence and his team would have no chance of escape.

Victor Keller tightened his grip on his gun, his fingertips trembling slightly from the tension. He looked at Silas Hawthorne, his gaze anxious, awaiting orders.

It was a checkmate, a one-for-all trade, and they were powerless to act.

The boy’s face was already flushed red. He was struggling to breathe, his limbs flailing uselessly as desperate, whimpering sounds escaped his throat.

Just as everyone was enveloped in this suffocating sense of despair, a graceful figure slid out from the side.

Sue Lawrence slowly emerged from the shadows. There wasn’t the slightest trace of panic on her face; instead, she wore an expression of almost playful calm. She even straightened the hem of her clothes, strolling toward Blade step by step as if she were taking a walk in her own backyard, not stepping into hell.

"Hey, big guy," she said, her voice clear and cold, yet it cut precisely through the chaotic silence. "Don’t be in such a hurry to die."

Blade froze for a second, clearly not expecting someone to step out and chat at a time like this. He glared viciously at Sue Lawrence. "Piss off! You think you can pull some tricks now? I’m not afraid to die!"

"If you weren’t afraid of death, you wouldn’t have taken a hostage," Sue Lawrence chuckled, stopping three steps away from Blade. She leaned forward slightly, her gaze locking onto his eyes, which were filled with both terror and violence. "You’ve had it rough, haven’t you? Order has collapsed out there, the power’s out, and all the food and water has been looted, right? With all those injuries, you’re a dead man walking even if you get out of here. Am I wrong?"

Her words hit Blade right where it hurt.

He was afraid. Terrified, in fact. He had just been backed into a corner and couldn’t see a way to back down.

"Cut the crap!" Blade blustered, but his voice lacked its earlier conviction.

Seeing her opening, Sue Lawrence knew she had him. She pressed her advantage, her tone becoming more earnest, even laced with a faint, almost imperceptible pity. "I’m here to save you. Did you think I was just here to save the hostage? No. I’m here to help you plan your survival in this apocalypse."

She held up a finger, slowly tracing the air as if sketching out a grand blueprint. "I have a spatial ability, you know? I can stockpile supplies for you. Rice, flour, oil, compressed biscuits, antibiotics, lighters, cigarettes... whatever you want, I can get it for you. Just think about it. Everyone out there is fighting and bleeding for scraps. But if you’re with me, you can relax in a Safe House with plenty to eat and drink. No one would be able to touch a hair on your head."

This was her C Level Persuasion, combined with D Level Chain Tricks—first build them up, then tear them down, all based on a precise psychological profile.

Blade’s resolve was clearly wavering. His grip on the detonator wire loosened. He was an ordinary man at heart; in a chaotic world, staying alive and having a full stomach were the only truths that mattered.

"You... You’d really help me?" he asked, his voice hoarse, laced with a sliver of incredulous hope.

"Of course," Sue Lawrence said, her lips curving into a perfect smile—the pinnacle of C Level Fraud Marketing. Her expression was so sincere it was as if she were pledging her life to him. "I keep my word. Just let the kid go, toss the bomb, and I guarantee you’ll have your life and your supplies. We can even be friends. Look, the apocalypse is going to be long. It’s always better to have one more ally than one more enemy, right?"

She pressed him relentlessly, weaving a trap with gentle words and painting a vision with concrete benefits, dismantling Blade’s psychological defenses piece by piece.

"Why should I trust you?" Blade was still struggling, but the walls of his reason were crumbling.

"You don’t?" Sue Lawrence raised an eyebrow. She casually pulled half a bag of instant noodle broth and a can of food she’d prepared earlier from her backpack—a contingency plan she kept just in case. "Here. Think of it as a greeting gift. A little something to eat, a taste of what’s to come."

Blade’s gaze was glued to the can, and his Adam’s apple bobbed violently.

Even in the hospital, supplies were scarce. For the past few days, he hadn’t even had a proper sip of water and was so hungry he was seeing stars.