387 It Starts

July 19, 20X2 (Sunday)

Emergency Hideout

Yang was pacing on the floor as he talked. In the middle of the room was a table with a large unrolled paper-made map. Chang Min, Hao Chen, Alexandre, Dan, Uncle Wu, and Hao Ren gathered as if they were the knight of the round table. With the help of Dan's information, they were finally building a solid plan for the rescue and not aimlessly searching.

Regardless of the severity of the situation, Hao Ren couldn't help but snort at his little brother's weirdness. Chang Min and Yang were often time butting heads, and Uncle Wu would mostly destroy all possible half-assed plans with extreme detail. Alexandre would quip his opinions once in a while, but Hao Chen would only nod, grunt, and then drink his tea. 

Hao Ren remembered that he had never indeed seen Hao Chen sitting comfortably without tea on his side. Fortunately, there were no biscuits that would put crumbs all over the paper made map. Hao Ren briefly wondered if he was as weird as his brother? Looking at his hands typing code like he breathed air, Hao Ren knew he was the most normal sibling. 

Uncle Wu grunted in annoyance when a sound of soft bells rung from his phone. Ignoring the eyes on his person, Wu Tian Li read the message that was sent from his eldest sister. He locked his phone before he directly said to Yang, "Your mother said that she had secured the Hospital... but left the Mansion weak and defenseless."

Yang clicked his tongue in annoyance. Live it to his mother to focus on a bunch of heirlooms from rulers long dead. He was trying to rescue his children for fuck sakes! Can he not think about material things and focus on family?

Uncle Wu raised his eyebrow in question. Yang had always tried to evade his mother's wrath, so this kind of reaction is a bit uncharacteristic. The kidnapping of the children must have shaken his world this badly, huh...

Uncle Wu calmly reminded the underlying reason for Mother Zhao's message, "This people we are dealing with is an organized terrorist group. The Arcadia has been around long before you all existed. Do you know who is most likely to understand them?"

With a grin, he continued, "The people that have gone against them before and survive. Just because you have become some hotshot in the business world and become such a fear person in the underworld that you already know all things. Arcadia's main purpose amongst all else is not to cause terror. It is to exterminate all possible royal blood. They believe that the wealth of these people who used to ruled belongs to the people."

Suddenly, Uncle Wu slammed the table and hissed, "With this in mind, will you be able to ignore your mother's words or not?"

"Why did they have to take the children?" Chang Min muttered after he, too, realized what Uncle Wu said. 

Uncle Wu snorted, "You guys are still amateurs.."

Hao Ren was surprised when Hao Chen pushed another cup of tea to him before his little brother spoke, "They needed to know more about the Manor. They may still be children, but they are easier to scare, easier to manipulate, and easier to get information."

Uncle Wu looked at Hao Chen in surprise before clapping slowly. His eyes met Yang and said, "See, your friend gets it."

Hao Ren sipped his tea and winced when it was ginger tea. He glared at Hao Chen before he pushed it back to his little brother. Hao Ren was being bullied in the form of tea.

Hao Chen smiled deviously at his older brother and continued his analysis, "If they truly want the heirlooms, then we must plan to strengthen the Manor. To our knowledge, there aren't that many of them. They would have to be wise about their next move."

Alexandre hummed and began to speak, "That means that they will either live the kids with lesser guards making them easier to rescue or they will take the kids with them."

"Or they will move the kids to another location..." Uncle Wu pointed out.

Hao Ren pointed to his laptop and casually reminded everyone, "We have a tracker. If Ling Ling did as what Chang Min instructed, then the only way to remove that tracker is through an operation. I doubt they have a capable enough surgeon to do the task."

Chang Min nodded, "They have some weapons to defend themselves if all else fails. If they are trapped in a room, unfortunately, I did not put some unlocking device."

Dan, who has been silent for a while, spoke up, "My nephew knows how to pick locks."

The rest of them could only stare at the almost fingerless man and sweatdropped. Hao Chen asked, "Why does he know how to do that?"

Dan shrugged, "He said he wanted to be a ninja and use chakra that he watched from the television. We thought it was just a fleeting fancy, but he learned some martial arts, how to handle hits and kicks, and have always liked playing pranks." 

Yang nodded and said, "We must divide and conquer then. Some of you will go with me to rescue the children, and the others must secure the Manor and be ready for attack." 

Hao Chen agreed, "So who wants to go to Zhao Manor?"

Almost everyone but Yang and Chang Min raised their hands. Hao Chen snickered a little as Chang Min's eyebrows twitched in annoyance at their behavior. Nobody wanted to go with two overbearing and overpowered guys that have limited control of their bloodlust.

Uncle Wu smacked the table and grinned, "Too bad. There are already two seasoned veterans in Zhao Manor, so if you guys go, you have to follow their lead. I would recommend sending someone who can keep up with these two. They're known to leave comrades not fast enough behind."

Wu Tian Li recorded the groups' faces as he turned his laptop and showed them the screen. Jerome Bonaparte and Zhao Qinyang were seen setting some traps and burying some landmines. 

Hao Ren sweatdropped. Weren't landmines a bit of an overkill? It would be hard to take that out too! Where's the common sense of these people?

When Hao Chen stood up and volunteered to say, "I want to go. They sound like fun people."

Hao Ren lost all hope for sanity. His poor little brother has become like them!

And so everyone started detailing who goes where. As the meeting came to an end, Hao Ren thanked all the possible God in heaven that they have been lenient with him. Yang was too vicious.