90. The Abduction of the Child Incident

Rescue the child, or dispose of the child?

Dean rubbed his temples helplessly.

The system had been quiet for a while, but now it was once again inexplicably tempting him to commit a crime.

Yet he chose without hesitation to save the child.

“Tim, where are you? Come back quickly!” A man wearing a black and red shirt and glasses raised his right hand, shouting loudly amidst the crowd.

“Has anyone seen Tim? Has anyone seen my child?”

A middle-aged woman with reddened eyes frantically stopped shoppers, scanning anyone who looked like the boy, causing them to retreat nervously into their parents’ arms.

A team of mall security guards combed the area as well.

“Dean, let’s split up and search!” Miss Gretchen said with a serious expression, full of righteous determination. “Let’s meet at the photo studio later.”

“Be careful.”

Gretchen left, and Dean immediately activated his god’s-eye view. The crowded throng, hundreds of products, various scents and colors, a vast array of chaotic information flooded his mind like an overloaded CPU. Dizzy and overwhelmed, he quickly withdrew from the god’s-eye view, a sudden warmth in his nostrils nearly causing him to lose balance.

Hmm.

“God’s-eye view has side effects too?”

Dean took a deep breath to cool his overheated brain.

If Tim had already been taken out of the mall, finding him within half an hour was almost impossible.

Yet the system had set a half-hour limit. From Dean’s experience, the system’s timeframes were always generous, never less.

Now Dean had learned to treat the system’s prompts as vital clues in solving cases.

It was almost omniscient; every progress update and fragmented description contained key information.

“Half an hour means the child should still be inside the mall.”

“But searching a sprawling mall of thousands of square meters like a headless fly, there’s not enough time—we must exclude impossible areas.”

Dean looked toward the mall’s main entrance. Two burly security guards stood by the door, and a surveillance camera hung above the revolving door. The back exit had the same setup.

If a kidnapper had taken the child, escaping through these two exits would be difficult and surely caught on camera.

Dean looked up at the ceiling. The mall was open from top to bottom, with skylights allowing air circulation without windows on the sides.

He pushed through the crowd and climbed the stairs to glance at the second floor. The customers were dense, windows completely sealed. To escape by jumping out a window, one would have to break the glass, making a loud noise—but the glass was intact.

So the escape routes were limited.

...

“I’m helping to find Tim Campbell. Have you searched the restrooms and storage rooms?” Dean asked an Asian security guard on the first floor.

The guard glanced at Dean’s yellow skin and dark eyes, his gaze softening slightly. “Some of the guys went there, but no luck.”

Dean nodded.

“Are there any other exits besides the front and back doors?”

The guard’s eyes shifted toward a nearby staircase. “On the basement level, there’s an emergency exit leading to the parking lot.”

“Have you sent anyone to check it?”

The guard furrowed his brow and shook his head.

Without another word, Dean hurried down the stairs to the basement. Only three minutes had passed since the search began.

He scanned past customers listening to announcements and, like a hawk, quickly spotted an “Exit” sign next to a Nike store in the mall’s center.

He dashed into the hidden doorway.

Tap-tap-tap... urgent footsteps echoed through the dim, silent escape corridor.

Dean sprinted along the winding path for thirty seconds, summoning his phantom armor to protect his body while pulling out a divining board from his pocket, ready for any danger.

The mall was too crowded; he dared not bring a gun before entering, to avoid misunderstandings.

The light grew brighter.

At the end of the passage ahead, a faint white glow outlined a large, round figure—fluffy white fur, a simple round head and a huge belly that swayed with each step. Its shoulders and hips twisted comically, its big feet making a snorting sound—both amusing and endearing, the kind of character children would swarm around to hug and squeeze.

Dean’s gaze sharpened, and he slowed his pace.

Though he only saw the back, he immediately recognized the figure: the mascot costume of a magician’s puppet from earlier in the mall.

Why wasn’t it leaving through the main entrance?

Dean curled his right fingers inward, sliding the divining board up his sleeve with a smile, greeting it warmly as he approached.

“Hey, Mr. Big White Bear, wait a moment.”

The bear’s steps halted. It turned around, its simple bear face breaking into a broad, radiant smile.

Dean’s eyes sparkled like a fan meeting an idol. He closed the distance to twenty meters.

“Can I take a photo with you? My little brother really likes you.”

Fifteen meters.

The bear’s furry face twitched as its round nose sniffed the air, sensing something unsettling. Its warm smile stiffened into a cold, eerie grin.

Suddenly, it pulled its right hand from inside its belly pouch. At the center of its large, round paw appeared a dark metal object—a tubular barrel pointed straight at Dean.

At first glance, the scene seemed harmless, like a cute toy bear holding a water gun in a prank.

But Dean’s smile froze.

He dropped low, hugged the ground, and rolled forward like lightning.

Bang!

The air hissed as a bullet exploded into a puff of dust at his feet.

Whoosh—

As Dean rose, the divining board slid from his sleeve into his palm. He hurled it forward like a dart at the bear.

Swish—

An invisible shadow trailed the board, drawing a meteor’s arc. In a blink, it flew twenty meters, striking the bear’s right hand before it could fire a second shot.

A muffled grunt escaped as the bear’s gun flew from its grasp and clattered to the floor.

Before it could react,

Dean was already in front of it, catching the “boomerang” with his left hand and snatching the handgun with his right, aiming it at the bear’s head.

“Don’t move. If you don’t want to become a dead bear, raise your hands now.”

The bear stood still, staring blankly at him, neither fleeing nor obeying.

Dean’s god’s-eye view penetrated the bear’s unusually protruding belly—a blond boy in a blue jacket was curled up unconscious inside. If not Tim, then who?

“Still a ‘mother’ bear, carrying a cub inside?”

“I said don’t move!”

Dean pulled the trigger sharply. Bang! The shot struck the floor beneath the bear’s feet. The bear’s slowly retracting furry arms froze, reluctantly raising both hands in surrender.

...

Mall Service Center.

“Waaah, I knew you would find me.”

The boy, awakened from unconsciousness, threw himself into his mother’s arms, crying.

The stout woman knelt, clutching the boy tightly, kissing his face wildly. “You scared me to death, Tim. If anything had happened to you, how could I live?”

“Good that you’re not hurt!” The man nervously took the boy from his wife’s arms, lifting him high and spinning him around. “But listen, Tim, you’re never to leave our sight again. Not a single step!”

The boy nodded heavily, then glanced back at the man handcuffed by two policemen, cursing with fear and hatred, “Bad bear, stinky bear, you covered my mouth with cloth and made me so sleepy!”

“Don’t worry, little Tim. That guy will be spending a long time in prison and will never hurt you again.” Dean patted the boy’s head and looked at the captured kidnapper, who peeled off the mascot costume to reveal his true self—

A man in his twenties with platinum blond hair and eyes like exquisite green gems. Handsome, tall, and elegant, clearly well-educated.

Despite the scrutiny and search by two officers, he remained calm and composed, exuding an innate pride.

He was nothing like the burly, low-education kidnappers Dean had imagined.

“Sir, we’re grateful to you. We couldn’t have handled this without you. You saved our family. We will pray for you forever.”

“God bless you.”

The couple’s eyes glistened with tears as they tightly grasped Dean’s hands, almost bowing before him. The father even handed him a business card, promising the lowest discount on any future house purchase or trouble.

“Don’t thank me. Thank everyone who helped,” Dean shook his head, a prompt flashing before his eyes:

You have successfully captured the kidnapper and returned Tim Campbell to his parents.

You have upheld your sense of justice once again.

Investigation progress: 100%.

Reward ready for collection.

Collect.

Personal experience +30, Level 2 (230/300) → (260/300)

...

Gretchen looked at him with a complex expression.

“You’re a hero too,” Dean said, stroking her hair.

“Don’t comfort me. Just glad we saved the child.” Gretchen admired him, linking her arm through his.

“Excuse me, I’m Grish from LVPD Unit 4.” A muscular middle-aged officer with an LVPD badge approached and shook Dean’s hand, eyes full of admiration. “Carl’s guys spoke so highly of you, and now II'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.