Chapter 298: Chapter 298: Binding
In the video, Frederick Shaw’s hands and feet were bound. He was blindfolded and gagged. Two other little boys were beside him, treated the same way.
This instantly reminded him of the last kidnapping—the dark, enclosed room. ’They’re so young. He must be so scared...’
Elder Shaw didn’t want to dwell on it, but the video kept playing. The three little boys could be seen lying unconscious on the ground. If he weren’t certain the kidnappers wouldn’t kill the hostages so easily...
...he probably would have lost his mind.
The video ended there. It didn’t reveal any location, but it had to be near the base.
He replied to Lily Hart, "Can you help me find Fred and the others’ location? I can handle the rest myself."
Lily Hart received the message and immediately summoned her system.
The system reported... no... they didn’t have any items from the system on them.
"How is that possible?" Lily Hart said, surprised.
The system scanned again, even putting in a little extra effort by expanding the search radius, but it truly came up with nothing. If it could locate an item, it could view that person’s information and confirm their position.
Lily Hart guessed that after the kidnapping, the perpetrators must have searched them and removed any suspicious items.
’This is ridiculous,’ she thought. ’Why do I keep running into kidnappings? Can’t they come up with something new?’
[However, Host, a new feature was just released! You can bind relationships, and then you can track their location!] the system’s voice chirped happily.
Lily Hart’s eyes lit up. She shot an imaginary glare at it. "Why didn’t you say so sooner!"
[It just came out yesterday...] the system said weakly, immediately displaying the interface for her.
Lily Hart had previously entered everyone’s information into the Light Brain, but since they weren’t hosts, the system didn’t have permission to track their locations.
Now, all she had to do was bind herself to them.
There were options for romantic partners, parent-child relationships, friendships, and so on...
She chose to bind them as siblings.
Once bound, she could see his movement history, daily expenses, and more. It was a lot like one of those kids’ smartwatches from the civilized era...
After successfully creating the bond, she quickly checked their locations.
They were very close to the lottery shop, right inside Central Command. ’The most dangerous place is the safest place, huh?’ Lily Hart forwarded the location to Elder Shaw.
The shop was just closing, so Lily Hart, Frost Shaw, and Roman Rowe headed toward the location together.
Elder Shaw also received the information. ’I can’t believe they’re so bold, doing this right under my nose.’ Recently, his own troops had been returning to the base in succession.
There were about five hundred of them. He immediately issued an order for them to assemble downstairs.
During this time, Elder Shaw received another message. Fred was awake, his small, thin body trembling uncontrollably.
The three little boys were huddled together, shivering. Their blindfolds were still on, and the muffled "MMPH MMPH MMPH" sounds from their mouths were heartbreaking to hear.
Elder Shaw clenched his fists and rushed downstairs with his bodyguards. The formidable assembly of five hundred men downstairs attracted the attention of certain people.
Brian Booker sent someone to lead The Guardian Corps over. He did not make an appearance himself.
The Guardian Corps’ Deputy Commander, Marlon Donovan, led two squads to aggressively block Elder Shaw’s path. "Large-scale mustering of forces is prohibited within the base, Elder Shaw. Please comply."
Elder Shaw was furious, but this wasn’t the time to argue. With a wave of his hand, the five-hundred-man force split into five one-hundred-man teams, swiftly bypassing The Guardian Corps and rushing forward.
They executed the command with incredible speed. The entire process was silent, their footsteps so synchronized it sounded like a single person moving.
Before Marlon Donovan could even react, the five-hundred-man force had split up, bypassing him one by one, ignoring him as they jogged forward.
Elder Shaw brushed past him. Marlon Donovan spun around and roared, "Halt!"
After roaring, he reached out to grab the elder’s shoulder but was solidly blocked by the bodyguards. He could only watch helplessly as Elder Shaw walked away.
"Quincy Shaw!" he yelled.
But all he could see through the shifting figures of the bodyguards was Shaw’s resolute back.
The five-hundred-man force thundered toward the target location, attracting the gazes of countless survivors along the way. They discussed it in hushed tones.
"That’s Elder Shaw’s army."
"Are they heading out on another mission?"
"Probably, but it’s a confidential operation."
"I heard there’s some kind of ’Elimination Plan.’ Wonder when that’s going to happen."
"Pfft, just take what the leaders say with a grain of salt. When have they ever acted quickly?"
...
Frederick Shaw strained his ears, listening for any faint sounds from outside.
He could vaguely hear the sound of flowing water, but nothing else. It was deathly quiet. Stewart Carter and Julius Carter had been separated from him, placed somewhere else.
’At some point, someone came in with a flashlight. Did they take some videos or pictures? They must have sent them to Grandpa or Boss Hart.’
He was a little frustrated with himself. ’Why did I have to go to the night market? I let my guard down, and they took their chance.’
’Grandpa has been visiting a lot lately. The bad guys must have seen him. Grandpa’s status is special, so they must be using me to threaten him.’
But he had been training hard and was already at Second-rank Peak. He focused, gathering the energy in his body at his wrists and directing his superpower at the hemp rope binding him.
The rope began to change at an extremely slow rate. If one looked closely, they would see it was starting to decay, each tiny fiber snapping.
A soft POP...
Frederick Shaw flexed his wrists and successfully broke free from the rope.
His superpower was time. He could accelerate or decelerate the time of an object. For example, he could make a caterpillar rapidly pupate and transform into a butterfly.
He reached up and took off his blindfold. It took a while for his eyes to adjust before he could make out shapes in the darkness.
Frederick Shaw sat on the floor and tentatively shuffled forward a few steps until his feet touched a wall. He carefully reached out to feel his surroundings.
The room was small and damp.
There seemed to be the sound of rushing water outside. ’Where am I being held? What about Stewart and Julius? Are they in the next room?’
’Are the people who kidnapped us guarding outside?’ A series of questions flashed through his mind. He couldn’t remember how he had gotten here at all.
He only remembered being separated by the crowd, and after that... nothing. When he woke up, he was here.
He firmly believed someone would come to rescue him.
Suddenly, a long, flat, and narrow crack appeared on his right. His eyes lit up, and he propped himself up to take a closer look.
But he was startled by a sudden gush of water that soaked more than half his clothes. Panic filled his heart. ’If the water doesn’t stop, am I going to be drowned alive?’
He tried using his superpower on the wall, hoping to make time ravage it until it aged and crumbled. But the wall’s material was unusual, and its surface area was too large.
Before long, he was drenched in sweat from exhaustion. He had no choice but to give up and conserve his strength while waiting for rescue.
...
Elder Shaw arrived at the location with his men. He looked around, puzzled, but saw no suspicious individuals.
In front of him was the river that ran through the base. Nearby were some low-rise buildings where survivors lived, but right now, all he could see were houses and more houses.
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