"Damn it, we were tricked!" cursed Xiaotao.

When we returned to the room, the bomb squad had already removed their astronaut-like explosion-proof suits and stood before a disassembled bomb on the bed.

The bomb experts reported that the wires and sensors were real but the explosives were fake. The contents weren’t TNT, but a piece of tofu.

Looking at that piece of tofu, we felt thoroughly insulted. At the time, in that tense atmosphere, none of us even wondered about the authenticity of the bomb.

Upon leaving the flat, Xiaotao commanded, "The technical team will stay here and continue collecting evidence while the others return to the station with me first."

The officers were about to enter their police cars when Lao Yao suddenly sprinted towards us, a shout splitting through the air, "Stop! Don't get in the car!"

The words had just left his lips when a deafening explosion ripped our ears. A bright burst of light filled my field of vision as a strong billow of hot air hit me in the chest like a fist rippling through my flesh. The force that knocked me to the ground seemed to tear my body apart.

It took me a while to regain my senses and I felt Bingxin’s body pressing on top of mine. My ears buzzed, the sounds around me an intelligible hum.

Ten meters away from me blazed a huge flame, the outline of a car faintly visible within. The horrid smell of burning flesh permeated the air. I quickly confirmed that Xiaotao, Dali, Wang Yuanchao and Bingxin were all there.

Nearby, Xiaotao crawled up from the ground, tears sliding down her face like wax down a hot candle. Judging from her lips, she seemed to be shouting, "Put out the fire!"

It seemed to take me forever to recover. The force from the sudden car explosion knocked over almost everyone within a 30-meter radius. Officers immediately ran towards the burning car with fire extinguishers, using their clothes to douse the roaring flames that eventually took a full minute to dissipate.

I walked over to examine the burnt car. Charred, bloody pieces of flesh were scattered all over the interior and a lonely blackened badge laid on the floor.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Officer Liu!" wailed Xiaotao.

It was the old officer who had identified the I-beam at our last case discussion. It was hard to imagine that not too long ago, he was still alive and chatting with us, yet in the blink of an eye, he had died for our country. The deep impact of this sad realization was simply indescribable.

Lao Yao explained that the live stream suddenly cut to the police car, alerting him to the suspicious situation, prompting him to stop us from getting into the car. However, he was still a step too late.

It turned out that The Strongest Mantis Shrimp had installed an ignition bomb in that car alone. The bomb squad went through every other car but came up with nothing which led me to believe that The Strongest Mantis Shrimp must have randomly chosen a car to place the bomb in because he wasn’t aware of which car belonged to whom.

My guess was that he snuck the bomb in when we were trapped in the room before support had arrived. He counted on the fact that we would be less vigilant after discovering a fake bomb and thought the alarm was lifted. Who would’ve thought he had hatched such a treacherous plan?!

Lao Yao called us to watch the live stream that was filled with positive comments and rewards. On the screen was the burnt police car that had just been extinguished.

"Buddies, what do you think of today's live stream? Isn’t it exciting?!” The Strongest Mantis Shrimp gushed excitedly. “Keep the rewards coming! If I reach a million, I will blow up another officer. Rest assured, I always keep my word!"

"This is a clear provocation to the police!"

Huang Xiaotao burst out in foul language and slammed her laptop with a fist.

"Don't be impulsive,” I urged, holding her arm down. “He doesn’t know we are watching the live stream. This is our trump card! It will help us prevent him from committing the next crime!"

"Xiaotao-jiejie, don’t beat yourself up over this,” comforted Bingxin. “At least Uncle Liu passed away painlessly."

"When we catch this man, I’m going to spend some alone time with him,” Xiaotao vowed through gritted teeth. “And no one is allowed to stop me."

The debris and impact of the explosion had injured many residents and officers. Soon, several ambulances arrived. When cleaning up the scene, an officer discovered a metal box in the car which was immediately reported to Xiaotao.

It was a twisted aluminum lunch box that had been blown out of shape. The surface was completely charred by the flames. Wang Yuanchao broke it apart with little effort, revealing the contents–a photograph.

The photo depicted a time bomb placed under the table, next to a window through which the streets were visible. A sentence was written behind the photo: You have 10 hours! Good luck!

"So he’s asking us to find the time bomb that he planted somewhere?" asked Xiaotao.

"That crazy motherfucker!" condemned Dali.

The photo was passed around until it reached my hands. I carefully captured every detail of the photo using Cave Vision. "There’s a floor-to-ceiling window, a fixed table with a brown stain on the tablecloth. It might be a cafe. From the shadow of the street lamp, the picture was taken at around 7 o'clock in the morning or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The former is more likely, so this street goes north to south."

I stared at a small figure at the end of the street and added, "There’s a student in uniform who looks like he might be in middle school."

"It's not a main road,” Wang Yuanchao concluded. “7 in the morning is right during rush hour but there’s almost no traffic on this street."

Xiaotao took a moment to examine the photo. "There is a London Plane tree on the street and a hardware store opposite. I also see a large ball of light in the reflection of the glass. Is it lighting equipment?"

"It’s a crystal chandelier inside a cafe," I replied.

Xiaotao left a few officers to continue investigating the area while everyone else searched for the location of the bomb according to the clues we determined from the photo. Lao Yao and Dali would return to the station to watch the live stream since The Strongest Mantis Shrimp was likely to reveal some information there.

"I'd better come with you,” said Dali. “It's a challenge staying in the same room as Lao Yao."

"Up to you!" replied Xiaotao.

If this crime had been committed ten years ago, the police might not have the resources to locate the bomb. However, we were in the age where the current police technology was approaching its peak. It was easy to locate anything anywhere within the city. At 1 pm, a phone call came through reporting the discovery of the bomb.

Without further delay, we headed to the scene. It was a cafe that wasn’t faring too well with few customers on ordinary days. Upon hearing there was a bomb in his shop, the owner was almost frightened to tears.

The bomb squad wasted no time in dismantling the time bomb under the table. To be on the safe side, several armored personnel carriers surrounded the store. In case of a bomb, it could withstand the impact of the debris.

"Being a bomb expert is really dangerous but also exciting," remarked Dali.

"Aren’t you in applied electronics?” asked Xiaotao. “You can apply for this profession in the future."

"I certainly can't!” Dali shook his hand vehemently. “I'm much too careless for this job..."

During this time, I was on a call with Lao Yao. I asked him how the live stream was going, to which he replied, "There are many people berating the streamer, saying that his plan to kill the police has failed again, and have stopped watching the live stream."

"These assholes!" I cursed.

Now that The Strongest Mantis Shrimp had openly declared war on the police, he must have installed more than one bomb. Sure enough, the police found a second aluminum lunch box in the cafe also containing a photo. This time the time limit was only five hours.

However, the information was minimal, that is, a bare wall with a time bomb on the ground.

"This time, our task is even more difficult,” sighed Xiaotao. “Song Yang, do you have any ideas?"

I stared at the photo for a long time and reluctantly shook my head. I wasn’t a miracle worker who could determine the location based on a photo of a bare wall alone.

From the other end of the line came Lao Yao’s solemn voice, "This bastard said in the live stream that he’s going to kill a bunch of policemen if the rewards reach 200,000 before midnight."

Hearing this, it suddenly dawned upon Xiaotao. "That bastard planted a bomb in the public security bureau!"