"Although you've proposed a good idea, we can't accept it," the lead kidnapper said after some thought. "Because there's no way for us to share what we took from the bank with you."
"I know that, of course!" Ping An said. "The paintings you stole. If I remember correctly, a batch of precious artworks was being exhibited here recently and was usually stored in the bank next door."
"You shouldn't know these things!" The lead kidnapper, enraged that Ping An had seen through their "plan" in a single sentence, asked, "And how did you know?"
"It's simple. Your backpacks can't hold much money, and what's inside might not be money," Ping An said. "Your accomplices who left earlier left empty-handed, and even if you managed to get out with identities, you would still be subject to basic checks."
"You're right, you've figured it out!" the lead kidnapper said. "Therefore, I think killing you now is a good plan."
"No, no, no. The police outside have thermal imaging devices. Right now, I'm not just a hostage in their eyes, nor am I an ordinary robber, because I've been sitting here the whole time," Ping An said. "If I'm killed, the police will assume you had an internal conflict, and then they will—"
Ping An's words silenced the two kidnappers.
"Alright gentlemen, it's time to release one person," Ping An said kindly, seeing they were deep in thought, hinting at the release of a hostage.
One hostage was released. The two kidnappers whispered to each other for a while and finally made a decision.
"Fine, tell us, what's your cooperation plan?" the lead kidnapper asked.
"I can become your true accomplice, holding out until the last one. Once you've all left, I'll surrender, and then you'll have to give me a share of the money," Ping An said. "You're all wearing hoods and haven't been exposed. As for me, when I beat up the waiter earlier, I was already exposed."
"Then today's ordinary kidnapping incident will escalate into an international incident!" Ping An yawned and said. "If I'm not back before 8 PM, the consulate will come looking for me. And then they'll find me acting as a robber in a restaurant. Do you think the police will still believe your trickery?"
Ping An's words were far from alarmist. If it truly escalated into an international incident, the counter-terrorism forces would likely be called in. The government would not have the patience to play games with them one hostage at a time.
It had to be said that Ping An's words instantly took control of the situation.
If they were desperate criminals, Ping An could have claimed to be the head of state and it would have been useless. But Ping An realized that this group of kidnappers were intellectuals, which gave him this idea. He hoped to make the kidnappers overthink the problem, thereby creating an opportunity for him to escape.
"It's almost eight o'clock. What will you do if you can't get back?" one of the kidnappers seemed to be frightened by Ping An's words.
"Easy, I'll just make a phone call," Ping An said with a smile. "Diplomats have a nightlife too, don't they?"
They couldn't kill him, they couldn't let him go, and the kidnapping had failed!
The kidnappers developed a great apprehension towards Ping An's "diplomatic" status.
"We can cooperate, but I need you to prove yourself first!" the kidnapper finally gave an answer, but it presented Ping An with a difficult task.
Oh no, they're not going to ask me to offer a "blood oath" for my allegiance, are they? Ping An suddenly had a bad feeling.
If that's the case, why would the kidnappers insist on waiting until late at night?
Unless?
Unless!
Ping An suddenly had a bold idea.
From the beginning, when the kidnappers hinted that there were four of them, Ping An should have realized that the police must have known they were indeed four kidnappers. However, only three entered the restaurant! And from the beginning, he had been fooled by the old man hidden in the restaurant, always believing that the old man was the fourth kidnapper. But the old man had not participated in the bank robbery at all...
Then where was the fourth kidnapper?
The fourth kidnapper, whom he was forced to impersonate, actually didn't enter the restaurant. Instead, he ran off with the paintings!
So, were the remaining kidnappers using this method to attract the police, buying time for the fourth kidnapper to escape?
The entire city's police force was drawn to this restaurant. The kidnappers inside were leisurely playing their hostage-exchange game, evading capture. The remaining kidnapper, meanwhile, was brazenly leaving the city...
Having figured this out, Ping An finally understood the kidnappers' escape plan.
Relatively speaking, proceeding as planned was what the kidnappers desired. Or perhaps, the "cooperation" he had just proposed was not believed by the kidnappers at all. They were, like him, employing a stratagem, deceiving him into cooperating with their plan. In the end, whether he lived or died was truly unknown.
"Master, this is difficult for you! Are the kidnappers genuinely willing to cooperate with you, or are they just trying to placate you?" Su Tang said. "Either way, it's difficult. How will you get out of this?"
"Inside the restaurant, I was the protagonist. But outside the restaurant, there was naturally another protagonist. At that time, I had no temper at all," Ping An said. "But alas, the protagonist outside was a formidable fellow!"
Who was this formidable fellow? Naturally, it was Adam!
After talking about the situation inside the restaurant for so long, it was time to talk about the situation outside.
As the person in charge of this kidnapping case, Adam outside the restaurant had been suspicious of the kidnappers' method of releasing hostages from the very beginning. The biggest problem was that he was certain, absolutely certain, that this method of releasing hostages was a way for the kidnappers to escape. Therefore, as soon as the first old man was released, he forced the old man not to leave. The other hostages who were released were also temporarily held, and their phones were confiscated to prevent them from contacting the outside world.
At the same time, he began to preliminarily interrogate the released hostages and unexpectedly obtained an interesting piece of information: an Asian person was an accomplice of the kidnappers!
What kind of Asian person was this? After interrogation, Adam obtained some useful information: 1. The Asian robber did not participate in the bank robbery. 2. The Asian robber did not wear a hood. 3. The Asian robber seemed to have had a conflict with the other robbers. 4. The Asian robber and the other robbers had been whispering to each other for a while, but no one heard.
Who was this Asian person?
Adam became increasingly curious about this Asian person in the restaurant. It was only after Ping An assaulted the waiter that the police managed to capture his photo.
"Ping An, a student from China? How could he be a robber?" Adam couldn't understand why everyone in the restaurant thought Ping An was a robber after seeing his information. Did the robbers know Ping An?