The Same Fate Awaits All Sins Chapter 76

Final Part – 17

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Jiang Ziyu and Lu Zheng could only hold their positions. Based on the information relayed by Chang Le and the situation at the scene, Lu Zheng had already analysed the stakes involved. If they acted recklessly now, they would only create more chaos. All he could do was silently pray for the heavens to lend Gu Yanta a helping hand.

What made Lu Zheng even more anxious was that ever since Chang Le had last reported back, there had been no further updates from them. However, an explosion of this magnitude would undoubtedly cause a massive commotion. Even though it was happening dozens of metres underground, the current calmness indicated that no danger had arisen yet. This realisation brought Lu Zheng a slight sense of relief.

Since the other party had already resolved to perish together, he could only adapt to the situation in order to minimise the losses.

Inside the villa, Mu Jie had long dismissed his subordinates. He had no intention of fleeing.

His eyes remained fixed on the surveillance feed of the underground factory displayed on the large screen, waiting for the police to arrive. He knew full well that he could detonate the explosives right now and escape in the ensuing chaos. But his nature wouldn't allow him to do so, Mu Jie had already lost all reason.

For years, he worked hard for Ma Xiangrong, only to finally force Ma Xiangrong down from his pedestal. He didn't expect him to come back so soon, trying to seize control from his hands. No matter how many times Mu Jie had plotted against him, his schemes had failed. This time, Ma Xiangrong had gotten the better of him with the gas station incident! He had even exposed Xu Jia and himself to the police!

Wishful thinking, Ma Xiangrong! Mu Jie glanced at the underground chamber where Ma Xiangrong was being held, his eyes brimming with hatred. Impossible! I will never let you, a senile fool, get your way!

I, Mu Jie, would rather destroy all of this than hand it over to you, Ma Xiangrong! And I won't let the police reap the benefits either! I want everyone to die with me!

Mu Jie stared silently at the button in his hand.

With a single press of that red button, everything would be engulfed in flames.

They laugh at me for being too crazy, but I laugh at their blindness!

How could someone like Xu Jia, who is afraid of death and only pursued short-term gains, ever understand my thoughts?! Mu Jie looked at the empty room, a twisted smile creeping onto his face...

But what Mu Jie didn't know was that Gu Yanta had already guessed his intentions. The surveillance footage on the large screen had actually been frozen in place, yet the timestamp in the lower right corner continued to move...

Mu Jie was so consumed by his own madness that he completely failed to notice the subtle change.

This was all thanks to Chen Chen's latest equipment. Before Gu Yanta had even emerged from the ventilation duct, he had already spotted the red lights flashing on the surveillance cameras in all directions. He immediately contacted Chen Chen, sending over the location and surveillance signals. Using cutting-edge technology, Chen Chen created the illusion that the cameras were still functioning normally.

Once they received Chen Chen's confirmation, Gu Yanta and Chang Le finally dared to crawl out of the ventilation duct and began searching carefully...

"Chang Le! Over here!" The signal from Gu Yanta's detector grew stronger, indicating they were closing in on the target.

Following Gu Yanta's voice, Chang Le jogged over and, sure enough, discovered a bomb hidden in a dark corner of the factory.

"I've seen this type of bomb before!" Chang Le observed the flashing red light. "It's not set on a timer but is controlled remotely! And..."

"What is it?" Gu Yanta asked urgently.

"There's definitely more than just this one!" Chang Le frowned. "This type of bomb is powerful, but a single unit isn't enough to bring down a place this big!"

Gu Yanta's brows furrowed. This undoubtedly made disarming the bombs even more difficult. If they had the right equipment, they could have simply thrown all the bombs into an explosion-proof container, but with only their portable tools and basic protective gear, their only option was to defuse them by cutting the wires manually.

Chang Le crouched down to inspect the device. "The situation is not optimistic. These bombs are linked. If we make a mistake, it could trigger a chain explosion! Even if we disarm this one correctly, we'll still have the others to deal with."

Shit! Gu Yanta cursed inwardly. But the current situation left him no room for further thought. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Then let's find them all first!"

Relying on their extensive experience, it didn't take long for the two to quickly locate the remaining bombs. There were four in total, each hidden in a different corner of the factory.

"What now, Captain Gu?" Chang Le asked hesitantly. With four bombs, even if they got one right, a single mistake could detonate the rest. Chang Le simply didn't have the confidence to gamble on getting all four right in a row.

Gu Yanta understood Chang Le's concerns, the risk was far too high. He remained silent, contemplating other strategies in his mind.

Lu Zheng learned of their dilemma through the updates sent back by Chang Le. The feeling of pulling one thread and disturbing the whole web left him on edge, as if he were sitting on needles. He knew he couldn't just sit back and watch any longer, he couldn't let Gu Yanta gamble his life like this alone.

The surveillance helicopter transmitted footage from inside the villa. A short, middle-aged man was staring intently at the monitors, a red button resting beside his hand. 

"I recognise him! That's Mu Jie!" an older officer exclaimed in shock. "Over a decade ago, he was arrested for drug trafficking, I was the one who personally put him behind bars. Back then, he was just a young man in his twenties, and he was sentenced to several years! Could it be that he's..."

Lu Zheng's eyes locked onto the sinister figure in the surveillance feed. The man was now completely under police control, with no possible means of escape. However, he still held leverage in his hands, just a single movement of his finger, and all the evidence would be wiped out. That included the life of his beloved! Lu Zheng could no longer remain calm.

At this point, expecting Chang Le to defuse the bombs was out of the question. Four sets of explosives, one wrong move and they would be wiped out. Perhaps luck could favour them once, maybe even twice, but no one could guarantee it would favour them three or four times, and sending in the SWAT team for support would only alert the man inside the villa. If he pressed that button, the consequences would be unimaginable. Lu Zheng neither wanted to think about it nor dared to.

Lu Zheng's expression darkened. The only viable solution was to take control of the man inside the villa. Whether or not he was the true mastermind, capturing him was the only way to temporarily defuse the crisis.

Jiang Ziyu agreed with Lu Zheng's proposal, after all, there were no better options. Initially, they thought that with Gu Yanta's investigative skills and Chang Le's many skills, they could handle the underground factory's bomb threat, but they hadn't expected their opponent to leave absolutely no room for negotiation, this was a fight to the death!

Although preserving the evidence and capturing the suspect alive was the ultimate goal, right now, this was the only course of action left.

"Snipers, stand by!" Jiang Ziyu commanded.

In an instant, over a dozen sniper rifles from all directions simultaneously locked onto the man inside the villa...

Gu Yanta heard a fierce firefight from afar, and his heart clenched. The red lights on the four sets of bombs before him abruptly stopped flashing.

"Captain Gu, this..." Chang Le had also heard the disturbance and turned to look at Gu Yanta.

"There might be a firefight going on above!" Gu Yanta frowned. "Didn't I tell them not to act rashly?"

"In any case, we're out of danger now. If shots have been fired, there must be a reason, let's wait here for backup," Chang Le breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the bombs had stopped, and he put down his tools.

Gu Yanta nodded silently, a strange feeling rising within him. He had a nagging sense that this wasn't over yet...

Gu Yanta and Chang Le sat down side by side, neither speaking. The only sounds were their rising and falling breaths. Then, in the midst of this silence, a sudden ticking broke through.

Gu Yanta's scalp tingled. He slowly turned his stiff neck and saw the timer beneath the bombs. The numbers, which had been static, had suddenly started counting down!

"Captain Gu! It's a backup trigger!" Chang Le exclaimed. "That bastard set up dual controls, if the remote fails, the timer takes over!"

Gu Yanta instantly grasped what was happening. The relentlessly decreasing red numbers loomed before him like a row of demons, each flicker sending a jolt through his heart!

"There's only one minute left! Chang Le, I'll do it!" Gu Yanta saw the hesitation in Chang Le's eyes, grabbed the discarded tools, and stepped forward.

Although this timed bomb had a dual fail-safe, it was far less complex than before. Since all four bombs shared a single timer, defusing it would neutralise them all.

Gu Yanta clenched his teeth as he faced the red and blue wires before him.

Don't worry! Lu Xiaozheng! I will definitely come back alive!

When Gu Yanta finally opened his tightly shut eyes again, he felt as if his soul had momentarily left his body.

"Success! Captain Gu! We did it!" Chang Le's cheers pulled him back to reality.

Gu Yanta looked down at his trembling hands and the static digits on the timer, and his heart finally landed with a heavy thud. Success... I succeeded... Lu Xiaozheng, did you see that? I didn't break my promise! I told you I would definitely come back to you!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: February 28, 2025 by Angel

Edited: March 4, 2025 by Angel