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Chapter 476 Running away
"The huge success of 'Iron Man' released last year has led to rumors that Disney is planning to acquire Marvel. The next big thing in Hollywood will definitely be the superhero genre."

"Superheroes? Come on, it's fine to make one or two movies, but audiences will get tired of them after a few years of widespread release."

In the pavilion on the southern part of the island, celebrities, flushed with wine, were engaged in lively discussions, while scantily clad waiters diligently served them—the insider information here was invaluable, and could even be used to make a fortune in the stock market.

Boom!

The loud noise interrupted the soothing music, and everyone looked towards the northwest direction from which the sound came, where thick smoke seemed to be rising.

"What happened?"

Why was there an explosion?

The VIPs looked around, but didn't see the manager.

After a while, a security guard carrying a gun, wearing a bulletproof vest and a communication headset approached and explained, "Please rest assured, everyone. It was an accidental explosion in a warehouse on the island that stores a small amount of fireworks. The fire has been brought under control."

This explanation put the VIP at ease, and they went back to continue drinking.

But on the other side, in the island's monitoring center, the supervisor's face was ashen.

Through his communication headset, he could clearly hear the conversation of the front-line tactical squad—the squad had just arrived at the perimeter of the winery when an explosion occurred inside, collapsing the underground winery passageway, and he could vaguely hear survivors calling for help inside.

Even worse news is that Bob, the security guard who defected, the three SVIP slaves he took with him, and the young master named Varta are still missing.

At this moment, the tactical squad is observing the collapse and assigning people to prioritize moving rocks and clearing a crack to prevent the VIPs inside from suffocating.

Meanwhile, we await further instructions from our superiors.

"Check the surveillance footage; we have to find their location no matter what!"

The supervisor's angry roars echoed in the monitoring room, but this did little to speed up the search.

To maintain maximum secrecy, the island's monitoring system uses a local area network and has not introduced any advanced automatic identification or early warning technologies.

"Manager,"

Lee Chang-yu, who had been watching the drama unfold from the sidelines, finally spoke up: "If I were you, I would send people to the dock first."

The supervisor was taken aback and turned around. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"There are only a few possibilities for why that security guard, Bob, betrayed his employer."

Lee Chang-yu calmly stated, "First, it stems from my personal sense of morality."

Second, some relatives were taken to the island.

"impossible,"

The supervisor shook his head decisively, "We've done a background check; his personal history and social connections are very clear. Besides, he's not exactly a righteous and good person."

“I also think it’s unlikely. If Bob had relatives who were brought to the island, he would only need to rescue specific targets, and there would be no need to rescue passersby. There would be no need for him to go to the underground winery.”

Lee Chang-yu continued, "Then there's only a third possibility left. He was asked to do it by someone, or he has someone supporting him behind the scenes."

"There's someone backing you up behind the scenes."

The supervisor frowned, immediately recalling the time when Epstein was first prosecuted a few years ago.

It was very likely that the Bush family, a member of the Republican Party, was pulling the strings behind the scenes, trying to eliminate Epstein and take the opportunity to strike at the Democratic Party.

George H.W. Bush was cunning and shrewd, while George W. Bush remained as pure as ever, and their families had deep roots in Southern states such as Texas and Florida.

Of course, this does not mean that the Bush family's attack on Epstein was morally superior. Both sides are the American flag, and each has its own way of playing, circles, and entertainment.

(The Puff Daddy's Diddy Party scandal, which broke in 2024, exemplifies this kind of small-circle phenomenon. It involved the Kardashian family, Beyoncé and her husband, LeBron James, and other celebrities from the entertainment and sports industries. Wild and shocking across Asia.)

"Go, immediately check Bob's personal and his relatives' bank accounts to see if there have been any large sums of money transferred in recently."

The supervisor instructed his subordinates to conduct an investigation, and the more he thought about it, the more cold sweat broke out on his brow.

If the Bush family is indeed manipulating things behind the scenes, even a battle between titans could have devastating consequences, including those of him and a host of other nobody.

"This is just speculation; there are still things that don't make sense."

Lee Chang-yu said, "Assuming Bob was entrusted with this task, his primary goal should have been to find witnesses and physical evidence. The people he took away were not long-time employees on the island and were not suitable as witnesses. There was no reason for them to make an extra trip to the underground winery."

Yes.

The supervisor was taken aback. Those slaves were intended for important figures and had only been tied up and brought to the island not long ago.

If we're looking for witnesses, retired prostitutes over 18 would be more suitable.

Lee Chang-yu said, "Regardless of the circumstances, if Bob and his backers want to leave the island with the evidence, they can only do so by speedboat, yacht, helicopter, or airplane. My personal suggestion is to prioritize blocking off the island's exit routes and at the very least, send people to conduct thorough screenings."

"Yes, yes, you are indeed a professional. Thank you so much, Dr. Li."

The supervisor slapped his forehead and immediately ordered his subordinates to seal off the dock and helicopter landing pad. Then, he took a deep breath, pulled out his walkie-talkie, and contacted his superiors, "Hello, Mr. Epstein, there's been a bit of an incident on the island."

While everyone was busy, Lee Chang-yu quietly left the monitoring room, called two security personnel, and took him back to the speedboat on the south beach of the island, leaving the island before it was sealed off.

Run faster, faster!

Despite being over seventy years old, Lee Chang-yu walked briskly, with two burly security personnel struggling to keep up.

A wise person avoids standing under a crumbling wall.

As a Chinese-American criminal investigation expert, Henry Lee was able to gracefully withdraw from major cases such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Watergate scandal, the Kennedy Jr. dancer case, and the suicide of a Clinton aide, without ever getting involved in any scandals.

Not only did he not "commit suicide," but his reputation grew, all thanks to his keen sense of danger.

He deliberately left a message for his supervisor: if Bob and his backers wanted to kill Epstein, then the most significant source of physical evidence would clearly be the monitoring room that used the local area network.

Only after boarding the speedboat, sailing away from the beach, and watching the island recede into the distance did Lee Chang-yu finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The countless surveillance videos stored in the monitoring room are essentially the American version of "The Deeds of Officials."
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"On this island, I only saw the American spirit of scientific research. Academic giants like Hawking are not only accepted by the ruling class, but also pulled into their shady circles. Although this violates the law and public order and good morals, it precisely proves the high status of American researchers. This is something that backward civilizations, which only know how to stand up and toast their leaders, can never learn."

In the dark woods, Zhongtian Beiji, who was assembling weapons, hesitated before raising his head, glancing at the ant talking to itself in the woods, and lowering his voice to ask the oracle, "Who is he talking to?"

"Let's break the fourth wall and talk to the audience who will see the walkthrough videos in the future, maybe."

The oracle calmly said that he would connect the laptop to the surveillance camera in the tree with a data cable, use hacking techniques to hack into the surveillance network, and make all the surveillance cameras in the nearby area freeze on the same image, thereby hiding his own presence.

At this moment, the players had regrouped and hid on another hilltop a few hundred meters away from the underground winery.

Standing here, you can clearly see the flashlight beams of security personnel flickering in the distant dense forest.

"What do we say now? Should we storm the monitoring room, obtain the video recordings of officials' conduct, and use that to blackmail the island's management, or should we blow up the yachts to prevent people from escaping?"

Joker took a break from his busy schedule to apply lipstick and talcum powder to his face to create a clown look, and put on a children's size bulletproof vest (this thing was kindly provided by Li Sheng; there are actually stores in the United States that sell children's bulletproof vests).

"neither."

Li Sheng turned around, holding a children's JR-15 rifle in his hand.

This gun was launched by the American company WEE1 Tactical in February 2022. It is based on the AR-15 assault rifle and has been specially modified for children's body size. The length of the gun is 20% shorter than the original version, and the weight is reduced to about 1 kilogram using lightweight materials.

Even elementary school students can easily carry it, and it can be disassembled and put into their schoolbags.

While children in the great Eastern country were still dreaming of 3 million mouse-based shooting games, American children had already taken the lead in playing Call of Duty and Battlefield series.

"The monitoring room is located below the fortifications. It would be difficult for the four of us to take it quickly, and it wouldn't be worth the effort. As for sinking the yacht, that's something we can consider."

Li Sheng said, "If I'm not mistaken, the real big shots on the island should have received the news by now and started mobilizing their troops."

The three from Zhongtian and Beiji frowned in unison.

Ant's current maximum spiritual power is 80 points, Oracle's is 72 points, and Joker and Zhongtian Beiji's is 45 points.

The maximum ability value is roughly equal to the progress of unlocking extraordinary powers. When four players team up, they can roughly confront the island's security forces head-on.
However, it would be difficult to deal with a PMC private military company carrying heavy firepower, or a regular special forces unit.

"Therefore, we must be quick and swift. While capturing and locking down SVIP, we must also create trouble for the external forces attempting a rescue, buying us as much time as possible."

Li Sheng slung the children's rifle over his shoulder, turned around, and looked toward the airport runway to the northeast. "The first step of this special military operation is to seize the airport."

(End of this chapter)