Memory Lost

What exactly will happen?

Su Mian holds her breath and takes a look at the clock on the wall: 6:55.

With a wall full of monitors, they still haven’t spotted anything out of the ordinary. The malls, big buildings, transit stops, online video streaming sites, popular forums……everything is working in order and have no signs of any ferocious crimes happening.

Cold Face finishes his phone call, comes back and sits down, “The local team is on their way. They’ll be at the oceanarium very soon.”

Han Chen nods.

Everybody looks toward the monitor. The show on the life channel is still continuing. The five mermaids dive and surface in the tank, waving their bodies. The host is talking in a fast pace manner while the seniors in the audience panel watch without moving their eyes and are revealing smiles.

6:57 am. There are only ten minutes left before the promised time.

“There’s a situation!” Xiao Zhuan shouts suddenly in the corner.

Everybody has been tensed up all this time. The moment he shouts, everybody turns to look in shock.

It’s a square in the middle of a shopping center.

Since it’s between major roads, the square is surrounded by traffic and people. But in this busy and peaceful place, something is happening in an area.

In the corner of the square, there’s a crowd of at least twenty to thirty people bunched up together. Other people passing by are also attracted by the scene where they stop to take a look.

There are more and more people. Although the Black Shield Team can’t hear

any sound, they can see a lot of people smiling. Someone even raises their arm to take a picture. There are even some who are showing a disgusted expression.

Since this is a key monitored area, three police officers enter the screen very soon and are running toward the crowd.

“What’s the situation? Why are there so many people gathered around?” Chatterbox asks softly.

“Could there be a murder?” Xiao Zhuan scrunches his thick eyebrows, “But that can’t be. Their expressions don’t look right.”

Su Mian feels her heart in her throat.

“Xiao Zhuan! Try to get the camera closer,” Han Chen orders, “Cold Face, call them.”

Xiao Zhuan answers, “Yes, Sir!” and immediately starts to search through the computer. Cold Face picks up the phone without a word and calls one of the officers based on the address book.

7:00.

Now’s the time!

Su Mian opens her eyes wide. Han Chen’s expression turns dark. It’s because the crowd in the image seems to be frightened suddenly or has seen something terribly horrifying. They retreat right away. Everybody has a scared expression while some seem to show excitement in their frightened look. They are all running away as fast as they can.

“Done!” Xiao Zhuan shouts.

The image changes to a closer distance; most likely a camera on top of one of the street lamps looking down. This allows the Black Shield Team to see what exactly is happening.

The crowd has completely dispersed to a far distance as they continue to watch. The wave of frightfulness seems to travel outward quickly as many others try to escape the area while others surround

surround the place in a big circle. They’re all holding up their cell phones to record it. The square is in chaos. Some cars on the road have even stopped to take a look; the roads are jammed very soon.

And the corner that was surrounded by people originally, besides the few officers with an awful expression on their faces, there’s also one man.

A very strange man.

He’s wearing a colorful clown outfit and a pointy hat. His face is covered with thick makeup looking rather funny. At a glance, you would think that he’s some employee of a children toy store.

But he’s been circling all this time. While he circles, his arms and legs are also dancing. The main point is that his moves are clumsy and ridiculous. Clearly, he doesn’t know how to dance. His mouth is opening and closing, making it seem like he’s singing.

The important thing is that he’s crying.

Dancing, singing, and crying?

His tears are ruining his makeup, making him look even more ridiculous and hideous. And the fright and hopelessness on his face make everyone’s heart pound.

At the same time, they connect through to an officer at the scene! 𝐟𝓇ℯ𝐞𝚠𝚎𝒃𝑛𝒐ѵe𝚕.co𝚖

Cold Face turns on the speaker. They see the officer in the screen hold up the phone with his pale face. Everybody can hear the shakiness in his voice, “hello, Black Shield Team. I am a civil officer, Zhang Xiao Chuan. Th-There’s a situation! Someone here says that he has a bomb on him! He’s asking us to help him! But how do we know how to get rid of it?!”

The clown man continues to

continues to circle and dance. They can hear him stuttering while humming a tune through the phone. His tears are flowing even more furiously now. And following his moves, the bystanders can now see a black colored explosive package underneath his untidily worn clown outfit.

7:04.

The Black Shield Team’s office is quiet.

Han Chen stands up with both hands pressing against the table and announces his orders one after their other.

“Chatterbox, report the situation to our authorities immediately!”

“Got it.”

“Xiao Zhuan, how much time does the bomb squad need to get there?”

Zhou Xiao Zhuan looks through the map on the computer immediately. In order to prepare for today, the criminal investigation team has already arranged for all bomb squads in the province to stand by at each of the districts. But the area is still too big so it’s impossible to have a bomb squad in all locations.

He finds the answer quickly and says nervously, “At least 3 minutes!”

It’s not enough time!

Su Mian holds her hands into fists; her knuckles are turning white from the grip.

Han Chen raises his eyes and looks at the clown who’s so frightened that he’s about to collapse. He orders the officers at the scene without any emotion, “The bomb will detonate in less than 3 minutes. Give him the phone. Leave the area immediately and have the bystanders evacuate.”

The civil officers feel as if they’ve been set free. They stuff the phone into the clown’s hand immediately, turn around and run. The clown’s face is even more hopeless now as he holds the phone and stops circling and dancing.

center style="margin-top:25px"> and dancing.

“You guys are not saving me anymore? Why are you guys not saving me? He said……He said only the police can help me! Hurry and help me! I don’t want to die. Why did someone tie a bomb on me……”

The Black Shield Team feels awful. Clearly, the man in front of them is a victim abducted by A. He’s even been dressed up as a clown, but in the end, no one can save him.

“He? What about him?” Han Chen stares at the man on the screen and presses him. He says at the same time, “Take off your clothes immediately. Let me say if there’s a way to remove the bomb!”

But the man’s emotion has finally crumbled. He doesn’t listen to Han Chen. He throws the cell phone onto the ground and runs toward the bystanders!

“He said that when it’s 7 am, I must……I must circle and dance non-stop, otherwise, the bomb will explode……He said that the police would help me, so I kept waiting……Why are you guys not saving me……” his voice stutters and can be heard on the phone.

The Black Shield Team freezes for a second.

Among the glistening building and spacious square, the cars flow around the area like a running river.

The man who has been dressed as a clown has tears covering his face. He staggers as he runs toward the crowd while shouting, “Help me! Help me!” All the people break up like they’ve been washed by a tidal wave. The square is filled with screams.

Finally.

Su Mian lifts her eyes to look at the clock.

4, 3, 2, 1……

“Boom!”