Chapter 72
Chapter 72
The operating room doors burst open. Han Yifan shoved the doctors aside like a madman and charged straight toward the girl on the operating table.
She was a teenage girl in the prime of youth, only two or three years younger than Qin Lan.
She lay in a deep sleep on a green bed covered with sterile drapes, a breathing mask over her face.
Large and small sections had been drawn across her slender, pale body, marking the location of every vital organ.
The monitors beside her beeped steadily, waiting for the operation to begin.
“Ranran… Ranran!”
Han Yifan roared her name and tore away the monitoring leads attached to her body, trying to wake his daughter.
He violently shoved aside anyone who approached, his eyes bloodshot like an enraged beast’s.
The medical staff he knocked down hurriedly scrambled back to their feet and moved in to drag him away while shouting orders.
“Pull him off her! Hurry!”
“The operation is about to begin! What’s going on?”
“If this causes a delay, we won’t be able to answer to the director!”
They swarmed Han Yifan, but none could restrain the furious father.
Another bed stood on the far side of the operating room. A man in his sixties lay on it.
Hearing the commotion, the old man sat up and turned to complain.
“What’s gone wrong now?”
“How much longer do I have to wait? Didn’t you say everything would be ready in ten minutes?”
“I’m warning you, my son is the Zone Governor’s secretary. If you mishandle this–”
Before he could finish, Qin Lan seized him by the neck. He lifted the old man like a chicken and hurled him into the corridor outside the operating room.
“Ow!”
The man struck the cold, hard floor and slid five or six meters, grimacing in pain.
After wailing for some time, he finally shouted furiously, “Who are you? How dare you hit me! I’m warning you, my son is–”
Then he saw the scene in the director’s office nearby.
Wang Yupeng was screaming with half his leg reduced to bloody pulp. Lin Qing knelt unconscious on the floor. Beside them lay the fat man’s headless corpse.
The old man’s voice died instantly. It felt as though every drop of blood in his body had frozen.
“You raised a fine son.”
Qin Lan approached like a demon. He walked slowly to the old man, bent down, and coldly examined his trembling face. “To save an old relic with one foot in the grave, he planned to sacrifice a teenage girl.”
“I’ve wondered about this for a long time… Are your lives simply worth more than ours from the moment you’re born?”
“Whether we come from the slums or the city, it seems we exist only as reserve blood bags for people like you…”
Qin Lan grinned, revealing a chilling smile.
“Honestly, when you plunder other people’s lives, do you feel even the slightest guilt? I doubt it…”
“Some people in this Safe Zone have occupied high positions for so long that they’ve forgotten they are still human, just like everyone else…”
“As it happens, I have time today. Let me give all of you a vivid lesson in morality.”
Sirens sounded outside the corridor windows, drawing steadily closer.
A rising clamor followed.
“They’re faster than I expected. Ten minutes seems to have underestimated the United Government’s efficiency.”
Qin Lan looked out the window at the United Government’s black vehicles rapidly assembling below and gave them a mocking smile.
Then he opened his communicator and sent Lu Xingshan a message.
A large crowd had already gathered in front of the hospital, drawn by the earlier commotion.
Numerous reporters had also arrived and set up equipment for live broadcasts.
“This is field reporter Zhang San with a live report… An unidentified assailant has vandalized Qianshan Hospital, and fatalities have been confirmed at the scene…”
“According to reports, the attacker is affiliated with the Anomaly Hunter Bureau and is strongly suspected to be an Anomaly Hunter. Further details–”
Some reporters looked grave, while others could barely conceal their excitement. None wanted to miss a headline this enormous.
Qin Lan looked calmly at the restless crowd below.
“That should be enough.”
“Why don’t you go say hello to our reporter friends?”
Lin Qing’s father did not yet understand what Qin Lan meant by that when Qin Lan seized him by the shoulder.
Five fingers clamped around his collarbone. The tremendous grip shattered the bone and drove Qin Lan’s fingers deep into his flesh.
“Aaaaargh!”
The old man shrieked as Qin Lan pushed him out the window. Qin Lan did not release his grip, leaving the man dangling in midair.
“Don’t! Don’t let go!”
“I was wrong! I know I was wrong!”
“I’ll apologize! Or do you want money? Fine, you can have anything! My son is very rich!”
“Don’t let go! Please…”
All color drained from the old man’s face. One glance downward made the shifting scenery spin before his eyes.
The wind was fierce on the thirteenth floor. Every gust across his skin brought the terrifying illusion that he had already begun to fall.
Dark yellow liquid ran down his trouser legs, releasing an unpleasant stench.
“So you do know what fear feels like…”
Qin Lan sneered at the man’s pathetic state. “Did you ever stop to wonder whether the child sent to that operating table was afraid?”
“You’re an animal.”
Mockery and indifference filled Qin Lan’s eyes, as though he were looking at livestock.
The old man’s expression shifted between fury and humiliation. He instinctively wanted to curse, then remembered that his life was in Qin Lan’s hand.
“We… We don’t have a grudge, do we?”
“Why… Why are you singling me out?”
“I’m not the only person doing this. Almost every powerful figure in the Safe Zone signed an agreement with Qianshan Hospital and used this service…”
The old man trembled as he tried to defend himself.
“Look at those people, the famous and influential figures of the Safe Zone. Which of them hasn’t sucked the blood of ordinary citizens?”
“Director Wang has a ledger recording everyone who has done this over the years… Some names in that book are too powerful to even be reported in the news!”
His voice shook as he earnestly tried to persuade Qin Lan, pretending to have the young man’s interests at heart.
“This goes far deeper than you realize. You’re still young. Don’t bring a disaster down on yourself in a moment of impulse!”
“Young man, I can tell you’re no ordinary person… Why put yourself through this?”
The old man swallowed and gave him an ingratiating smile. “If you spare me, I promise my son can get you anything you want!”
“Status? Power? Women? Anything!”
“You can have whatever you desire in this Safe Zone!”
The reporters below finally spotted the old man hanging in midair. Every camera tilted upward, and flashes began popping without pause.
“Look up there!”
“The situation at the scene has changed again. The attack is still ongoing…”
Qin Lan seriously considered the old man’s flattering offer.
“Hm… You make a good point.”
“Maybe I really should let you go.”
The old man was ecstatic. His wrinkles bunched together in delight. “Wonderful! I knew you understood how the world–”
Before he could finish, Qin Lan released his hand and revealed a malicious smile.
“There. I’m letting you go.”
“Remember to land on your feet.”
The old man had not yet processed the words when the wind began howling past his ears.
He managed only a few seconds of short, terrified screams before plummeting from the thirteenth floor and meeting the concrete below in a very intimate embrace.
The bloody scene instantly threw the crowd into chaos.
Qin Lan stood at the window and looked down. His gaze precisely locked onto an unremarkable black vehicle.
It was an official United Government car. Its exterior was understated, yet hinted at discreet luxury.
Through the window, Qin Lan’s gaze met that of the person inside.
“The Zone Governor…”
Qin Lan grinned.
“Too afraid to even show your face?”