Netherworld Investigator

Xiaotao rushed to remove the book, finding a pinhole camera concealed within the spine. She was about to destroy it but I immediately stopped her. "Don't remove the camera for the time being. If the live stream is interrupted, we may all be killed."

"Are we to let this bastard do whatever he wants?" retorted Xiaotao.

The Strongest Mantis Shrimp would most likely force us to do all sorts of things, and press the detonate button once he grew tired of playing.

A live stream was no different from a street performance. To attract more audiences, you would first make a loud commotion so in that vein, he wouldn’t put us in danger with overwhelming requests for the time being.

"Xiaotao, is there any recording equipment on it?" I asked.

"It doesn’t look like it,” Xiaotao replied upon careful inspection. “If only Lao Yao were here, he could provide some technical support."

Her radio was on, so every word we said could be heard outside. Lao Yao would probably find out soon.

"Did you notice the remote control car that was taken apart in the other bedroom?” I asked. “This bomb was hastily put together and the materials were obtained from available sources. The range of the remote control from the remote control car would be rather limited."

"My son has the same toy,” said an officer. “The information in the manual states that the range is only 50 meters."

Xiaotao nodded. "That’s to say, The Strongest Mantis Shrimp is hiding somewhere within 50 meters."

Right then, The Strongest Mantis Shrimp’s voice sounded from the MP3 player once more. "You’ve got a minute left!" he prompted.

"Do we strip?" asked someone as we stared at each other, wavering.

"Strip and buy ourselves some time," Xiaotao coolly waved a hand.

One by one, the uniforms began to fall to the ground. The rest of us were casually dressed so we could keep our clothes on. A minute later, The Strongest Mantis Shrimp laughed, "Good job! What an obedient lot, as expected of trained police officers. For your next task, you have five minutes to take off your pants!"

"Bastard!" cursed Xiaotao.

Apart from Bingxin who wore a denim skirt, the rest of us were wearing pants. Our faces colored with embarrassment. "Think of our current actions as a strategy to save our lives and delay time,” I said. “Don't stress yourselves over the matter. Remember, the most important thing is to stay alive!"

Looking at the bottles of urine by the bed, I knew we had more challenging tasks ahead!

"Take off your pants!” sighed Xiaotao. “Whatever he forces us to do now will be returned to him twofold!"

With the warmer weather of spring, we were all wearing a single pair of pants. Having exposed their furry legs, the officers flushed with awkwardness.

I suggested using the wardrobe door to block Xiaotao’s body from the camera. "What's the point?” her lips curled in a bitter smile. “It's not like I can keep hiding."

Unbuttoning her pants, Xiaotao let them slip to the floor. Although we were currently trapped in a critical situation, we couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath as her slender calves, toned thighs and sexy pink panties were revealed. Two red blots colored her cheeks. I bit my lip in indignation but I could do nothing about it, only silently cursing eighteen generations of The Strongest Mantis Shrimp’s family.

To our utter surprise, Bingxin suddenly removed her skirt. 

"You don't have to take it off!" cried Dali.

Under her denim skirt, Bingxin actually had on a pair of white stockings, exposing less of her body than the rest of us. "Xiaotao-jiejie, put this on!" she said, handing Xiaotao the skirt.

Neither I nor Xiaotao expected Bingxin to make such a move. A hint of gratitude swept across Xiaotao’s face but she still persisted, "No need, everyone is naked anyway."

Bingxin’s denim skirt suddenly gave me an idea. "We can wrap our jackets around your legs,” I suggested. “I don’t think he’ll blow us up over such a small matter."

Having agreed that it was a feasible idea, the officers soon followed suit, easing the awkward atmosphere in the room.

Five minutes passed before The Strongest Mantis Shrimp interrupted the silence once more. "Haha, aren’t our police obedient? Where is their usual prestige?" he mocked. “Your next task is to work in pairs and slap each other in the face. Everyone must receive 50 slaps each. I’ll give you 10 minutes. There are thousands of eyes watching you right now so even if one of you fails at the task, I will detonate the bomb!"

His words aroused a round of curses in the room. With awkward hand signals, Dali endeavored to remind the officers to keep their voices down. I looked under the bed and noticed that the vibration value of our voices would reach 20 at most so it seemed like this was negligible.

Right, then Xiaotao's radio sounded, a calm Wang Yuanchao speaking from the other end. "This is Wang Yuanchao. We’re checking the neighborhood and the technical team is installing a signal shielding device. The Public Security forces are also on their way. Just hold on for another ten minutes!"

"Roger!" replied Xiaotao.

"Because we don't know the exact frequency of the initiator, we will be shielding against all frequencies!” added Wang Yuanchao. “When the time comes, your radios and cell phones will be disconnected. But before that happens, I will inform you. After you’ve left the flat, the Public Security forces will take over."

Sighs of relief resounded around the room. "Let's start then,” said Xiaotao. “If any of you are dissatisfied with me, now’s the time to act! Come on then, I promise not to take it out on you after."

Had Sun Tiger uttered these words, perhaps a bunch of officers would be lining up to slap him. But Xiaotao’s care for her subordinates went without saying. No one could bear hitting such a kind, generous team leader.

"Let’s work in pairs,” I instructed. “Don't slap for real. Keep your actions gentle!"

I started off by slapping Dali. "Who asked you to put your smelly socks in my washbasin!" I scolded despite my actions being so light they couldn’t even hurt a fly.

Dali retaliated with a soft pat on my face. "Why didn’t you allow me to copy your answers during our exam?!"

"Excuse me, Xiaotao-jiejie," started Bingxin.

With Bingxin and Xiaotao’s participation, the other officers began to divide themselves into pairs and slapped each other as well. The scene was filled with excitement at once.

50 slaps later, everyone's faces were a little red but unswollen. 

"What an obedient group of dogs!” exclaimed The Strongest Mantis Shrimp. “In fact, you’re really dogs, aren’t you? Dogs wearing police uniforms!"

"That fucking piece of shit!" fumed Dali. “What’s with all the bullshit talk? Didn’t we already do as he asked?!”

The Strongest Mantis Shrimp proceeded onto the next task. "Do you see those bottles by my bed?” he asked. “That’s the holy water that I’ve managed to preserve over some time. I’d like you to each down an entire bottle. Your time limit is five minutes. No need to fight each other, there’s enough for everyone!"

At this point, Wang Yuanchao radioed Xiaotao, "We’re going to block the signal so prepare to withdraw!" Then his voice turned into radio static.

"Put on your pants and go!" ordered Xiaotao.

As soon as we rushed out of the room, Public Security forces in bomb suits charged into the scene. The police had already evacuated a 20-meter radius and formed an impenetrable barrier.

Wang Yuanchao was indeed a highly-effective officer who worked swiftly. The situation was under control in less than half an hour. I found Lao Yao sitting in a police mobile command vehicle with Young Mater Wang's laptop on his leg. 

“The popularity of your embarrassing live stream soared to tens of thousands of viewers,” said Lao Yao. “The screen was full of rewards. Looks like the streamer achieved the effect he was looking for!"

The live stream continued on his laptop. In the video, two bomb squad officers were crouching on the ground, attempting to dismantle the bomb.

"Are you here just to watch the live stream?" I mocked.

"I was the one who brought the signal shielding device from my dormitory,” he retorted. “If you had relied on the police, they would have made you wait two hours going through their long-winded procedures. Otherwise, you’d be drinking that holy water right now!"

"You can tamper with radios?" I asked, unable to hide the wonder in my tone.

"It’s something left over from my middle school days!" he laughed smugly.

The dismantling of the bomb lasted nearly three hours, the entire process filling our hearts with anxiety. During this period, the police had to dissuade the many residents who insisted on returning to their homes by passing around bottles of mineral water to pacify them.

Three hours later, a bomb squad officer finally stuck a head through the window. Due to the lack of radio and communication devices, he could only rely on shouting. "Captain, the bomb is fake!"