At this moment, a young woman with long hair beside Captain Guan whispered, "Brother Guan, we’ve already alerted the Sanctuary’s army by coming here. They could arrive at any moment, and we need to leave the concession area quickly, or things will get worse."

"I understand," Captain Guan nodded and looked at the governor. "You’re the governor of this concession area, right? My surname is Guan, and I’m their leader. If you release Mayor Qiao, we won’t harm you and will let you leave safely. What do you think?"

The governor's eyes darted around, and he replied, "That sounds like a decent plan. Alright, you all put your weapons on the ground, then back away twenty steps."

Captain Guan felt this proposal was extremely unreasonable and immediately rejected it, "No, you release him first. If you let him go, I promise not to make things difficult for you and will let you leave safely."

The governor sneered, "How do I know you won’t double-cross me? If I let him go and you all shoot at me, I’ll be finished."

Captain Guan replied, "What do you want then? Don’t try to stall for time. If we can’t leave, you won’t escape either."

The governor thought for a moment and said, "How about this? Let me get back to my vehicle. Once I’m in the car, I’ll immediately release this old man."

"Your vehicle? Which one?"

"That black one over there." The governor pointed to a black van parked by the roadside.

Captain Guan pondered this. He worried that once the governor got in the car, he would immediately drive away with Mayor Qiao and was hesitant to agree to his proposal.

Seeing Captain Guan hesitate, the governor added, "If you don’t agree, you can forget about saving this old man. We can all die together!"

As he spoke, the governor tightened his grip around Mayor Qiao's neck. Under the governor's immense strength, Mayor Qiao suddenly found it hard to breathe, his face contorted in pain as he let out a weak groan.

"Don’t do anything reckless!" Captain Guan shouted at the governor. He thought that if the situation dragged on, they would all be trapped. It was time to take a risk, so he said, "Fine, I agree to your terms."

"Very good." The governor dragged Mayor Qiao slowly toward the black van, threatening, "You all stay right where you are and don’t move. Otherwise, I can kill him at any moment."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Everyone, don’t act on your own," Captain Guan ordered his men, concerned for Mayor Qiao's safety. Rulu also remained still, as he had no confidence in saving Mayor Qiao. He thought that if the governor kept his word and let Mayor Qiao go after getting to the vehicle, it would be fine even if he escaped, as long as Mayor Qiao was safe.

The governor brought Mayor Qiao to the side of the black van and opened the door, stepping one foot inside. At that moment, Captain Guan shouted, "Let him go, or we’ll shoot up your car and make it impossible for you to escape."

"Don’t rush me; I’ll release him soon…" A cold smile appeared on the governor’s face. He tightened his left hand around Mayor Qiao's throat, silencing him, while his right hand stealthily pulled out a dagger from behind. He suddenly stabbed the dagger into Mayor Qiao's lower back, then quickly pulled it out and concealed it before pushing Mayor Qiao's body out of the van.

With a thud, Mayor Qiao fell to the ground, motionless. Since the governor had completed his actions behind Mayor Qiao, and he fell on his back, everyone present failed to notice that Mayor Qiao had been stabbed.

"Mayor Qiao, are you alright? Can you get up by yourself?" Captain Guan called out to Mayor Qiao, but there was no response. He lay on the ground, completely still and silent. At this point, the governor had already gotten into the van and closed the door.

"Uncle Qiao was just fine a moment ago; why isn’t he moving now?" Rulu sensed something was wrong. He summoned a strong wind to blow over Mayor Qiao, pushing his body several centimeters to the side. At that moment, everyone noticed a large pool of bright red blood on the ground beside Mayor Qiao.

"Not good, Mayor Qiao has been harmed!" Captain Guan realized the governor had deceived him and quickly rushed toward Mayor Qiao.

Suddenly, a grenade was thrown from the black van's window, flying toward Captain Guan. He and his companions quickly dove to the ground. With a bang, the grenade exploded not far from Captain Guan, and several members of the rebel group who couldn’t dodge in time were hit by shrapnel and fell to the ground.

"Open fire! Shoot with all you’ve got!" Captain Guan shouted angrily, and the members of the rebel group raised their weapons, firing at the black van. A barrage of bullets struck the van, creating a clattering noise.

However, the van was bulletproof. Despite the rebels’ powerful fire, the bullets struggled to penetrate the vehicle's exterior and glass in a short time, causing no harm to those inside.

With a whoosh, the black van started up, speeding toward Rulu and Nana through the hail of bullets. Captain Guan worried that stray bullets might hurt Mayor Qiao's family and quickly ordered everyone to cease fire.

"Nana, you all need to run!" Rulu suddenly pushed Nana, hoping to draw the governor's attention away and cover Nana and Mrs. Qiao's escape. After hesitating for a moment, Nana ran away with her mother.

"Go down and keep that old man company!" the governor sneered, slamming the accelerator and driving the vehicle toward Rulu.

Rulu seemed either unresponsive or for some other reason stood still, and the van sped toward him. It looked like he was about to be hit.

"Run, Rulu!" Nana yelled, seeing Rulu's life in danger. Unable to hold back, she shouted. Just then, Rulu pushed off the ground with both feet, and a howling gale formed around him, propelling him downward.

With the force of the wind, Rulu soared into the air, effortlessly rising four to five meters above the ground, easily clearing the black van and avoiding the collision.