My Military Career in a Parallel World

Seeing this scene, Li Gang subconsciously took a step forward, like a ferocious beast choosing its prey, ready to pounce and bite off his neck at any time.

Meeting Li Gang's gaze, Zhao Lei felt a chill running up his coccyx to his forehead, and the fruit knife in his hand almost fell to the ground out of fright.

"I'm warning you, don't come over! If you come forward, don't blame me for being rude!" Zhao Lei, who seemed to have gotten rid of his previous crazy state, swallowed his saliva, quickly put the knife on the hostage's neck, and stared at Li Gang nervously. As long as Li Gang dared to take another step forward, he would take him with him even if he died!

"Squad leader, let me do it!" Jiang Chen, who had been standing silently in the back, reached out and stopped Li Gang in time.

The look in the monitor's eyes just now was truly terrifying.

Although he often saw things like murderous intent in novels or TV dramas in his previous life, Jiang Chen didn't really believe in it.

But just now, when Li Gang turned around and looked at him, even though Jiang Chen knew that he had no ill will towards him, he still couldn't help but feel a chill on his back.

After staring at Jiang Chen for a while, Li Gang suddenly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the murderous intent in his eyes had completely disappeared. He nodded slowly, agreeing to Jiang Chen's request.

His current condition was indeed not suitable for negotiating with the criminals.

Li Gang is a scout, not a negotiation expert. When facing the enemy, he will subconsciously choose the most radical way to deal with it.

Compared to himself, Jiang Chen, the new recruit, is obviously more suitable to negotiate with the criminals. At least even if he does something extreme, it will not irritate the criminals.

During the time when the two men were confronting the criminals, Zhao Hongbin had already rushed over with a dozen veterans.

After understanding the situation on the scene with the nurse next to him, Zhao Hongbin did not choose to look for Li Gang and Jiang Chen in the ward. Instead, he signaled the soldiers behind him to send a few people to maintain order. The others followed him and walked quietly to the door of the ward and surrounded the entire room.

"Yes! You step back and let the new recruit come over to talk to me!" Zhao Lei was not stupid. After hearing Jiang Chen's words, he nodded in response.

In order to avoid further provoking the criminals to harm the hostages, Li Gang had no choice but to listen to him, remain vigilant and slowly back away.

"You should know our bottom line. No matter what you say, we will never let you take the hostages away!"

Jiang Chen took a step forward, staring at Zhao Lei who was hiding behind the hostage, and said seriously: "Besides, this old man is already ill. Even if we let you go, how far can you go with him? And if something happens to the hostage, then your fate will be..."

Jiang Chen did not continue speaking, but Zhao Lei already understood the meaning of his words.

Looking down, Zhao Lei saw the hostage, whose face was as pale as paper due to shock and fear, and who looked as if he might suffocate at any time. He swallowed subconsciously.

He just didn't want to be arrested and thrown into jail, but he had no intention of eating peanuts.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"I have a suggestion, what do you think?"

Zhao Lei stared at Jiang Chen and asked, "What do you mean?!"

Jiang Chen's eyes flashed with a hint of cruelty, but he remained calm and continued, "What I mean is, I want to exchange with this gentleman. If you let him go, I will be your hostage!

This way we can ensure the safety of the hostages, and you won't suffer any loss. It's easier to take me away than to take a patient with you."

Jiang Chen spoke in a persuasive manner. Feeling the gazes coming from the side, he used his left hand hidden behind his back to make a reassuring gesture to Li Gang.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I can tell which is safer, controlling an adult or controlling an old man. Besides, you're a soldier. What should I do if you resist?!" Zhao Lei was certainly not a fool as he was sent to the hospital to select targets and collect intelligence. He immediately found the loophole in Jiang Chen's words.

As he said, controlling a strong and healthy adult is completely different from controlling a sick and frail elderly person.

Facing the questions raised by the criminals, Jiang Chen's expression did not change at all. This was all within his expectations.

This is reality, not a TV drama, so there is no such thing as forcibly lowering the intelligence of the villains.

Jiang Chen said what he had prepared in his mind, "I am just a new recruit. I have been in the army for less than a month. I am not a soldier yet. You don't have to worry that I will resist.

If you are still worried, I can tie your hands, that should be fine!"

In order to convince the criminal to agree, Jiang Chen reminded him again: "This is your only choice to leave. We must ensure the safety of the hostages. No matter what, we will not let you take them out of our sight!"

Listening to Jiang Chen's words, Zhao Lei's expression became conflicted.

On the one hand, he knew very well that, as the rookie had said, the other side would not allow him to leave with the hostages. There was no doubt about this, and countless cases and deeds had proved the truth of this statement.

But if we agree to the hostage exchange proposal...

Zhao Lei raised his head and looked at the new recruit in front of him, judging whether he could pose a threat to him.

Seeing the criminal's hesitant expression, Jiang Chen decided to add fuel to the fire.

"You'd better make a decision as soon as possible. When we came here, we notified the comrades from the County Public Security Bureau. They should be on their way."

Jiang Chen did this not to warn the criminals, but...

"That old man's condition is very bad. You should make a decision quickly so that we can rescue him quickly. If something unexpected happens to him, I guarantee that you will die a very ugly death!"

At the end, Jiang Chen even used a threatening tone.

"Do you think I was scared? The worst that can happen is that I'll drag him down with me to die, so that I'll have someone to take with me on the road!" Zhao Lei said in a timid tone, but it was very obvious from his expression and actions that he was already shaken in his heart.

"Prepare a fully fueled motorcycle for me and deliver it to the east gate of the hospital within five minutes. Also, I want a gun!"

"A motorcycle is OK, but a gun is definitely not!"

"You should know why we come to the hospital. How could we bring guns? If we had guns, we wouldn't have to talk so much nonsense with you. We would have shot you to hell with one bullet!" Jiang Chen said with a sneer.

"You!" Zhao Lei subconsciously wanted to say something harsh, but before he could open his mouth, Li Gang, who had already retreated to the gate and had not spoken a word, stared at him and said disdainfully: "Don't think this is alarmist talk. If I had a gun in my hand, you would have been lying on the ground long ago!"

Zhao Lei remained silent. Having come to his senses, he knew that the man opposite him was not trying to scare him.

Being at the border, he understood the power of firearms far better than anyone else, and was more aware of how powerful the soldiers in front of him were.

After thinking silently for a long time, Zhao Lei decided to take a chance and continue staying here. The longer he stayed, the more disadvantageous it would be for him. The longer the night, the more trouble he would have. There was no guarantee that there would not be accidents.

Just as mentioned before, these soldiers had no guns and were afraid of the hostages in his hands, so they chose to retreat. If the police were allowed to come over, with firearms and other powerful weapons, he might lose his life if he was careless.

"I agree to your request to exchange hostages! But not now!!"

Zhao Lei thought for a long time and finally came up with a more reliable solution.

He asked Jiang Chen to tie his hands under his supervision first, and then follow him downstairs. He would only let go of the patient after seeing the motorcycle and confirming that there was no problem.

"Okay, I promise you!" Jiang Chen nodded and agreed without hesitation.

While the two were talking, Zhao Hongbin and others outside the door had already started to take action, evacuating the surrounding residents, reporting the situation here, requesting the cooperation of the local police, and looking for opportunities to rescue the hostages.

Under Zhao Lei's gaze, Jiang Chen pulled out his shoelaces and signaled Li Gang to tie his hands.

Li Gang did not hesitate, took the shoelaces and started working.

Zhao Lei stared at the two of them with sharp eyes, not giving them any chance to communicate.

Feeling the threatening and malicious gaze, the two of them consciously did not speak, for fear of accidentally irritating the neurotic criminal and causing consequences that no one wanted to see.

At Zhao Lei's request, Li Gang tied the rope into a knot, and pulled it hard to indicate that there was no problem. Then he nodded with satisfaction.

"You retreat ten meters away. If he dares to come any closer, I will kill him!" After Li Gang finished all this, Zhao Lei immediately asked him to retreat. Li Gang did not say much. After looking at Jiang Chen with a meaningful look, he slowly retreated and walked out of the ward door.

"You go ahead! Don't play any tricks, otherwise, I would rather die!" After Li Gang stepped out, Zhao Lei stared at Jiang Chen, whose hands were tied behind his back, and said viciously.

Without further ado, Jiang Chen strode out of the ward.

"Walk slower!" Zhao Lei's voice came from behind, along with the old man's groan of pain.

Hearing the muffled groan from behind, Jiang Chen subconsciously clenched his bound hands.

Restraining the rage in his chest, Jiang Chen obeyed Zhao Lei's request, slowed down his pace, stopped outside the ward door, and waited for him to catch up.

When walking out of the door, Zhao Lei was very alert. He did not follow Jiang Chen out immediately. Instead, he went to the bathroom first, broke a piece of glass on the sink, used the reflection to observe the situation outside, and after making sure there was no ambush, he slowly walked out holding the hostage.

When passing by the nursing station on the floor, Jiang Chen suddenly stopped. Zhao Lei was startled and warned him quickly: "What do you want to do! I have a hostage, don't mess around!"

Glancing at the frightened criminals, Jiang Chen said disdainfully: "Humph, we are not that stupid yet."

"This place is still some distance from the east gate you requested. The old man is old and sick, so he may not be able to make it all the way. There is a wheelchair over there, you can push him there."

"Or you can give up on him and choose to hold me hostage!" Jiang Chen continued in a flat tone.

When Zhao Lei heard Jiang Chen asking him to push the half-dead old man away, he subconsciously wanted to refuse.

But after hearing his next words, looking at Jiang Chen, and then looking at the old man in his arms who had trouble walking, Zhao Lei hesitated.

This old guy is his only hope of leaving right now, and nothing can happen to him before he reaches the destination.

As for giving up on him and holding Jiang Chen hostage...

"Humph, don't try any tricks, just keep going! I know what I'm doing!"

Although he didn't know what the new recruit was planning, Zhao Lei subconsciously rejected his offer to push the wheelchair.

Hearing his answer, Jiang Chen cried out in his heart: "What a pity."

Turning his head to take another look at the hostage old man, and after making sure that he was not in danger for the time being, Jiang Chen followed the orders of the criminals and continued to move forward.

He did not choose to push the wheelchair, which resulted in his moving forward very slowly. It took him almost five minutes just to walk from the ward door to the stairwell.

"Take the elevator or take the stairs."

Looking at the elevator in front of him and the quiet stairwell next to it, Zhao Lei made the decision without hesitation.

"Take the elevator!" With a hostage in his hand, he was not afraid of these soldiers playing any tricks. It would be faster to just take the elevator down.

The people in the hospital had already been evacuated by Zhao Hongbin and others, and the elevator quickly rose up.

The elevator door opened, and Zhao Lei hid behind the old man and observed carefully. After making sure there was no problem, he said, "Wait for me over there, and come up after I go in!"

Jiang Chen stepped aside. Zhao Lei, holding the hostage, stared at Jiang Chen and Li Gang, who was standing in front of the nursing table and staring at them, and slowly retreated into the elevator.

"Okay, you can come in!" Zhao Lei pressed the button for the basement floor, then quickly took the hostage and retreated to the innermost part of the elevator. Then he said to Jiang Chen.

The east gate of the hospital is located at the exit of the underground first floor. Across the road outside is the intricate village alleys.

Although X County is a county town, not all places have cement or asphalt roads. Many village alleys are still common gravel roads, and in many places, slightly larger cars cannot pass through at all.

Moreover, most of the residents on both sides are elderly and children left behind after their children go out to work. Even if there is no Jiang Chen as a hostage, he can respond immediately if something goes wrong.

Once you leave the village, there is a vast jungle behind you. Except for two county roads that are open to traffic, the rest are small paths that can only be walked or bicycles.

Once he entered the jungle, as a local who had lived here for most of his life, he relied on his familiarity with the surrounding terrain. Even if the soldiers chased after him, they would not be able to find him.

If not for this, Zhao Lei would not have dared to take hostages and force Li Gang and others to let him go.

When that time comes...

Zhao Lei looked at Jiang Chen, who was standing at the elevator door with his hands tied behind his back, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

If it weren't for this kid, I wouldn't know where I'd be now.

Sixty thousand yuan, that's sixty thousand yuan. Even if several people share it, the money he gets is not enough to buy him how much laundry detergent!

Thinking about the experience of being in heaven and experiencing the ultimate happiness, Zhao Lei's hand holding the knife could not help but start to tremble.

This is also the reason why he would rather risk his life than be caught and thrown into jail.