The long ten minutes felt like a century, so long that every breath was unforgettable.
Whether it was Anderson inside the activity center or Joyce and Luther outside, they felt every second was agonizing.
By now, the sky had turned completely dark, with only a few sporadic street lights emitting dim light. The rest of the place was almost pitch black, making it difficult to see anything. The immense darkness resembled a black hole, devouring all fear.
Zhao commanded the lighting equipment to be set up, illuminating the surroundings with bright light.
As soon as the time came, the doors of the activity center opened. Several hostages appeared, and the black-clad individuals were highly professional, hiding behind the hostages and keeping their fatal parts concealed.
At this moment, Zhao shouted through a megaphone, "Begin!"
It was the predetermined signal.
The black-clad individuals started moving forward, pushing the hostages along.
As the hostages were gradually released, Anderson heard the commotion outside and recognized the signal.
He said to Fair, "Let's make our move."
Fair nodded.
Inside the hall, everyone's attention was focused on the release of the hostages, and no one would pay attention to the restroom. They quietly opened the door of the utility cabinet and crawled out from inside.
The entrance to the ventilation duct was conveniently located above the utility cabinet.
Anderson was agile and quickly climbed to the top of the cabinet.
Compared to him, Fair had some difficulty climbing up. She was wearing an elegant lady's skirt, so she couldn't spread her legs too wide. After a few attempts, she almost slipped down. Fortunately, Anderson caught her in time.
With his help, Fair finally managed to climb to the top of the utility cabinet.
Anderson then opened the cover of the ventilation duct, gently placing it aside.
"You go in first," Anderson said.
"No, you go first. I... I'm afraid of the dark," Fair said intentionally, though she wasn't really afraid. The one who entered first would be safer, and they both wanted to ensure each other's safety.
Anderson didn't say anything more; he went in first.
After entering, Fair grabbed the edge of the ventilation duct and struggled to climb up. She finally made it up.
The two of them entered the ventilation duct in the darkness.
Before leaving, Fair made sure to partially close the cover of the ventilation duct to prevent it from being discovered.
The narrow and winding duct was dark and terrifying.
Fair was genuinely scared, and she whispered, "Anderson, is your phone charged? Can you turn on the flashlight?"
"No, we can't. Haven't you seen the grid under the ventilation duct? If there's light, it will leak out, and we'll be discovered," Anderson replied, turning back and reaching out his hand to Fair. "You give me the direction, and I'll crawl forward while you follow behind me."
"Alright, 15 degrees south-west, 6 meters," Fair recited silently. "Don't worry, even in the darkness, I can still determine the direction. Even with my eyes closed, I can visualize the orientation. Now, with each step, we're covering about 25 centimeters."
As they crawled for a while, Fair suddenly said, "Stop, 7 meters east."
Anderson continued forward based on the direction indicated by Fair.
They slowly moved, gradually positioning themselves directly above the hall of the activity center.
Below them were the trapped hostages and the gunmen holding guns.
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