Ten minutes earlier, Qin Jingzhou and his group were rushing to the agreed ransom site when the chief coordinator received a call from his superior: four entire Special Operations Teams had already arrived and were lying in wait for orders at the designated location.
The coordinator relayed the message to Qin Jingzhou. “The leadership says you can rest assured. You will definitely get a satisfactory resolution.”
In this world, each Hua Country Special Operations Team consisted of fifty members. Aside from medics and technical staff, every one of them was an elite soldier.
Normally, even major criminal cases would never see them mobilized.
Just the sheer scale of this operation showed how much the authorities valued this situation.
Qin Jingzhou didn’t bother with pleasantries, asking directly, “How many snipers did you prepare?”
The coordinator checked at once, and within half a minute had an answer. “Twenty. More can be mobilized if necessary.”
Qin Jingzhou glanced at Ling Jing and smiled. “That’s enough.”
Ling Jing opened her laptop and, using the locator’s signal, pinpointed Mi Xiaoxiao’s exact position—roughly two hundred meters from the rendezvous spot.
Qin Jingzhou took the laptop and handed it to the coordinator. “Set snipers above this small warehouse. Have each squad get their phones or laptops ready; keep me connected with you. When I activate the special infrared imaging, tell your men to seize the opportunity. The imaging device draws a lot of power, and the remaining battery is limited.”
The coordinator was silent for a long three seconds. After reporting to the leadership and hearing “Just follow his instructions,” he passed on the orders. The four squad captains and all the snipers positioned around the warehouse soon received the so-called “real-time scanning feed.”
On their phones or laptops, they could see directly through the warehouse walls, clearly discerning the outlines of everyone inside. They could easily tell who was who and what they were doing: the unmoving figure sitting there had to be Mi Xiaoxiao, the one lying at her feet was Gu Zhiwei, and the ones piled up in the corner were presumably Mi Xiaoxiao’s two bodyguards. The rest...
The snipers split their targets; each had his assignment, organized well in advance.
Yet no matter how well-trained the teams were, even with perfect composure outwardly, their minds simply couldn’t stay numb: it was as if the curtain had risen on a real-life science fiction film.
They were lucky enough to be part of it.
Two hundred meters away, Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing got out of the car on opposite sides, ignoring the coordinator and the bodyguards as they walked a few steps forward.
The bodyguards, having quickly jumped out, formed a protective cordon around them.
Qin Jingzhou smiled, reassuring the tense young bodyguards. “No need to worry. I’m much more valuable alive than dead.” Then he glanced at the crime ring leader, who appeared calm and in control. “I’m genuinely curious—what could possibly make you so naive… and foolish? You really tried to analyze my skills by dismantling Mr. Zhang’s prosthetic limb?”
He had deliberately installed an illegal tampering self-destruct program in the core components of Mr. Zhang’s prosthetic. Even so, foreign experts given the wreckage would still marvel at the parts.
Ling Jing, arms folded and gloating, said, “We always planned to use the prosthetic as bait, but you people took the hook so quickly... I’m curious—don’t you even take the time to properly prepare?”
The utterly nondescript team captain chuckled. “We’re just doing what we’re paid for.”
Ling Jing pulled out her phone and, in an eloquent, rhythmic voice, read out the team captain’s true background and résumé. She glanced at Qin Jingzhou. “This one’s a big fish. Keep him alive.”
Qin Jingzhou answered with a smile. “Got it.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the trunks on all four cars behind them sprang open at once. Inside were sixteen cases... Out of each, one after another, palm-sized spider-shaped robots marched out in neat rows. On the empty road behind Qin Jingzhou, they appeared almost alive as they lined up in succession. In less than a minute, tens of thousands of these little robots assembled themselves into a giant mechanical spider, about six meters tall.
The nondescript team captain, apart from Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing, was probably the first to react.
As for everyone else, they were still questioning reality: Who am I? Where am I? What on earth is happening before my eyes...?
His pupils contracted sharply. He seized his weapon and fired at Mi Jingzhou with all his might. Instinct told him, in a flash: Mi Jingzhou would never come over to their side. A dead Mi Jingzhou was the best outcome for him, his organization, and even his country.
As he fired, his men likewise turned their entire arsenal on their targets. Faced with something so far outside their understanding, they had no illusions that this thing was just an empty shell. When science fiction becomes reality, only one option remains: as the Hua Country saying goes, do your best and leave the rest to Heaven.
Against the barrage of bullets like a raging storm, the mechanical spider with eight legs required no commands from its master. Its left front leg, flexible and swift, swung in front of Qin Jingzhou, deploying the semi-transparent impact-resistant shield hidden inside the slender spider leg.
Not only was Qin Jingzhou unharmed, but even the bodyguards beside him were left unscathed.
Magazine after magazine was emptied. The team captain knew escape was impossible but wanted someone to carry the news back. He yelled, “Cover!”
His subordinates, hidden in a derelict building by the roadside, immediately took the signal. Without hesitation, they spun around and bolted for the four-wheel drive stashed at the corner. But before the engine could fire up, the giant spider’s right foreleg came crashing down from above, piercing through the car and leaving it thoroughly iced.
Ling Jing shook her head with a laugh. “I said you were stupid... Spiders have eight legs, you know.”
Before she finished speaking, the mechanical spider, without retracting its forelegs, lifted its left-side walking leg and, at a speed surpassing human reaction, executed four sweeping slashes in succession. The plain-looking team captain and his subordinates dropped their weapons—and their weapon-holding arms fell to the ground as well.
Qin Jingzhou gave the bodyguards at his side an inviting “please” gesture, and the spider withdrew its shielded foreleg.
The young men surged in to subdue the kidnappers.
All around, the Special Forces soldiers had a thousand words on their minds, but at that moment, all the awe boiled down to two words: Impressive!
Now short one arm each, the kidnappers gave up without a fight. They hadn’t even managed to warn their accomplices two hundred meters away, because Ling Jing, the moment she got out of the car, had sealed off their communication channel with a single tap.
It wasn’t until they were pinned to the ground that the poor kidnappers realized this.
As for Mi Xiaoxiao, two hundred meters away, the mechanical spider at Qin Jingzhou’s back opened a launch port about one and a half meters wide in its abdomen, spat out a metal “disk” a meter across at high speed, and arced through the air before crashing clean through the warehouse roof, leaving a gaping hole.
At the moment right before the “disk” hit the roof, the snipers got an urgent message on their screens—four red characters: Prepare to move!
That was how the snipers, firing in a synchronized volley, were able to take down the captors guarding Mi Xiaoxiao in one swift operation.
Supported by Special Operations soldiers, Mi Xiaoxiao walked out of the warehouse, turned a corner, and caught sight of the visually shocking, pure black mechanical spider, and beside it her father and Aunt Gu, laughing together at its feet.
Mi Xiaoxiao instantly pieced together what had happened. She shook off the arm steadying her, hurried up to her father, and declared, “Dad! You actually used me as bait! I, I’m not talking to you anymore—unless you make one of these for me too.” She pointed at the mechanical spider behind him, so out of place in this era.
Ling Jing took a drink from the coordinator, sipped with a smile, and watched the show.
Qin Jingzhou smiled silently at his daughter.
Mi Xiaoxiao felt an itch atop her head, then a weight on her shoulder. She watched a much smaller mechanical spider climb from her arm onto her palm.
That’s when she realized, “This little guy is what transmitted my location!”
Qin Jingzhou said, “Correct. It doesn’t pack the punch of the big spider, but it’ll keep you safe.”
Mi Xiaoxiao admired the cute and ingenious machine that perched firmly in her hand. “Really? I don’t believe it!”
Ling Jing cut in, “Then show her.”
Qin Jingzhou nodded, “Practice is the best proof. Even for me, faking this little thing was a bit much.”
The small spider, as if hearing a command, leapt lightly from her hand and landed squarely on the ground.
It dashed toward the team captain’s severed arm on the ground, and as it reached it, a jet of plasma flame shot straight out from its face.
The arm was instantly cremated on the spot.
Task accomplished, the spider zipped back to Mi Xiaoxiao, leaping up into her palm.
All Mi Xiaoxiao could think was, Dad, this thing must guzzle battery. Something this small that can shoot plasma... the energy density of the battery inside must be phenomenal!
Which probably meant, when it came to missions, this little spider cost even more than her dad’s giant one.
Qin Jingzhou burst out laughing. “My girl has the sharpest eyes.”
At this point, Chief Wang had been observing for some time and finally made his way over. Though he arrived late, he didn’t miss a single key moment, especially witnessing firsthand how the mechanical spider blew a sunroof into an armored, modified SUV.
He was even more courteous than before, practically reverent. “Professor Mi, you’ve been hiding things from me for a long time.”
Qin Jingzhou replied with a smile, “You never asked.”
Standing by the massive mechanical spider, Chief Wang was frank as could be. “I thought your ‘Miraculous Trio’ was the pinnacle of your life’s work, but turns out, this is dimensional suppression.”
Watching his daughter lift the mini-spider onto her head, then take his arm while her childhood friend came running over to take her other hand with a beaming smile, Qin Jingzhou actually felt quite content. After all, Gu Zhiwei had taken quite the beating but still never stopped protecting Mi Xiaoxiao, and throughout it all he refused to say a word.
Ling Jing sent a message via communicator, “The kid’s passed the initial test. Maybe it’s time to give him something real—and teach him a few true skills.”
Qin Jingzhou silently agreed. He turned to Chief Wang and pointed at the mechanical spider behind him. “What do you think?”
Chief Wang was visibly excited. “What can I say? This is dimensional suppression. What else could I possibly call it?”
Qin Jingzhou chuckled. “This is actually my first mecha design. I’m no expert in AI, so the first light-class mecha I created is fully manual. I’ll only charge you at cost—twenty million per unit.”
Chief Wang repeated “twenty million” once, then belatedly came to his senses. “What?! Twenty million per unit?!”
Qin Jingzhou continued, “And I have a bunch of requirements. We’ll discuss this another time.”
Chief Wang took a deep breath. “Alright, you name the time and place!”
The coordinator signaled him, and he instantly understood that the entire scene had been recorded. Having witnessed the spider dismantle itself into tens of thousands of tiny spiders, he was left with nothing but shock and admiration.
After seeing Professor Mi’s family off, he set about cleaning up the scene and reporting to his superiors.
Truthfully, the kidnappers hadn’t wanted this to become widely known, which is why they’d chosen a derelict factory outside the Capital City for the meet. To be safe, they’d cleared the area beforehand—the Special Operations scouts had just reported finding numerous vagrant corpses in the factory’s ruins.
Another team soon reported finding a tunnel beneath the former warehouse.
According to those who entered, it didn’t take long before they came to underground sewers. In other words, the kidnappers never meant to return Mi Xiaoxiao alive.
Not much later, another team reported finding Mr. Zhang, unconscious.
Chief Wang, seeing Mr. Zhang being dragged back, couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. “So, how does it feel being a double-crosser?”
Mr. Zhang had no idea what kind of mental shock Chief Wang’s team had just experienced. He simply thought the kidnappers’ plan had failed, nothing more.
Though, in truth, he’d never had much hope. The interests liaising with Elizabeth had targeted Mi Jingzhou, but weren’t determined enough to risk all for him—even after he’d smuggled out the wreckage of his custom prosthetic’s core.
During his attack, he’d been able to remain somewhat rational but felt an odd kind of fearlessness. “They just have terrible judgment. But Elizabeth will send a big gift soon enough.”
That evening, Gu Sheng, who’d only heard some rumors and didn’t fully know what had happened that morning, received a message from Elizabeth: “I’m pregnant. It’s your child.”