It was 7:00 PM, rush hour.
Traffic on the road was dense, making it impossible to accelerate.
After speaking with her father on the phone, Barbara was visibly anxious, her eyes constantly darting forward, terrified the gray van would vanish from sight.
Luke glanced at her and offered reassurance.
"Don't worry. Their target is Dominic Sydney. Your stepmother is just leverage. The leverage will be safe until their goal is achieved."
"Shut up. I don't want to hear you talk."
Luke rubbed his nose, exasperated.
"Actually, you could try thinking about this from a different perspective. If I hadn't taken you to that motel, what would the outcome have been?"
"First, you could have been shot by the kidnappers and become a corpse. Second, you could have been kidnapped and become a second piece of leverage to threaten your father."
"Neither result is good. You wouldn't be sitting in this car tracking them like you are now."
"You have the gall to say such shameless things."
Barbara sneered coldly, undisguised contempt etched on her face.
Luke gave an awkward laugh, but luckily his skin was thick, and he showed no reaction.
After a while, Barbara called her father again, detailing the gray van's direction of travel. Then, she crossed her arms and stared silently ahead.
The atmosphere was heavy.
"What are you thinking about?"
"One word: libido. Do you know what that means?"
Luke replied casually, "I know a little."
Barbara tucked her hair behind her ear and spoke with a detached air. "Libido is a human instinct, influenced by various factors, the most crucial being time. The longer one goes without contact with the opposite sex, the more intense the excitement is when the libido erupts."
"Judging by your behavior in that room just now, you haven't been in contact with the opposite sex for a long time."
Luke paused, frowning. "What are you trying to say?"
Barbara scoffed and continued, "When the libido erupts, high levels of steroids, amino acid derivatives, and fatty acid derivatives are secreted. These substances have two effects: one, they increase a person's excitement; two, they drastically reduce judgment, turning a person into a rutting animal, out of control."
"But you're different. You clearly understand the consequences of raping the future Police Commissioner's daughter. That's not a situation you want to face. So you remained restrained. Even though your body demanded you attack, your mind forcibly maintained the last shred of clarity, stopping the situation from spiraling out of control."
"My father once told me that smart people who maintain absolute rationality are dangerous."
"Luke Shaw, you are that kind of person. A hundred times more dangerous than Falcone."
Luke smiled strangely, a look of appreciation—and a barely perceptible flash of killer intent—in his eyes.
"You know, I actually regret one thing right now."
Barbara's face tightened, and she immediately went on guard.
Luke glanced at her. Noticing the defensiveness in her eyes, he shook his head with amusement.
"Although I have many flaws, I have one virtue that most people don't: I'm sentimental. I rarely hurt those close to me. So, don't look so tense. I'm not the kind of scum who zips up his pants and then denies everything."
"My regret is about my previous actions. I shouldn't have rashly sought you out for an explanation without clearly understanding your personality first. That was a very wrong decision."
"It was that wrong decision that led to a series of bad consequences."
Barbara scoffed. "So, you're apologizing for what happened earlier!"
"No!"
Luke shook his head. "The fault for that incident isn't mine; it's yours. You invaded the ShowMe database and stole Batman's files. After I tracked you down, not only did you show no remorse, but you tried to use recording and seduction to grab leverage over me."
"Barbara, you are a beautiful and sexy girl, exuding alluring charm. Did you never consider the consequences of a girl like you lifting her shirt in a small room for someone else to see?"
"From the start, you were calculating me: recording, seduction, pouting, playing dirty—using every means to force me into submission. You never intended to sit down and talk properly, because you knew very well that the fact I came directly to you, instead of going to your father when I had the evidence, meant there was another reason."
"You didn't want to lose the initiative, and you certainly didn't want to be coerced. So you used a woman's natural advantage to be deliberately unreasonable, trying to neutralize my objective."
Luke gave a cold laugh. "You call me dangerous? You're not much better."
Barbara turned her head away, unwilling to speak to him.
"What's wrong? Did I hit a nerve? Are you bristling?"
"Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to a rapist."
"Hah! Women."
Luke shook his head with a sigh. "No matter how high the IQ, they can never be reasoned with."
"You, a rapist, have the nerve to lecture me!"
Luke sneered. "Stop calling me a rapist. I didn't see you resist much earlier. I did all the work; you did all the enjoying. You should be embarrassed."
The girl's face flushed crimson. She grabbed his arm and bit down, but Luke raised his hand and pushed her away.
"Enough with the theatrics. We can deal with our situation later. The priority right now is how to save your stepmother and your unborn sibling."
Barbara yelled, gritting her teeth. "Luke Shaw, you wait! This isn't over."
"Fine, I'll be waiting."
Out of the city center, the speed of the gray van suddenly increased.
Gradually, the occupants noticed something.
A gangster leaned out of the car window and maniacally sprayed bullets from a submachine gun at the car behind them.
Barbara gasped in terror. Just as she was about to scream, she was stunned to see the bullets hitting the car body without causing any damage.
"A bulletproof car?"
Luke nodded. "All my cars are bulletproof."
When the initial burst of gunfire had no effect, two more gangsters leaned out of the windows and started shooting.
Bullets rained down, the thwack-thwack-thwack sounds almost merging into a continuous line.
Luke frowned. He couldn't continue the pursuit. If he pressed any further, he might anger them, and a group of lawless thugs, in a fit of rage, were highly likely to hurt the hostage. That was not a result he wanted.
After a few seconds of thought, he opened the display screen.
Activating Tracking Mode...
A soft electronic synthetic voice responded. The left side of the hood split open, and a gun barrel emerged.
Loading signal emitter... Signal emitter loaded... Starting target lock... Target locked.
Luke pressed the fire button.
BANG!
An oval-shaped metal block flew out of the barrel and adhered to the steel bumper on the bottom right corner of the gray van.
The event happened silently. The gangsters, focused on shooting, didn't notice it at all.
After confirming the signal emitter was working, Luke slowed down. A few seconds later, the gray van disappeared from view.
Barbara understood what he was doing, but her face still registered shock.
"Did you modify this car?"
"Clever!"
"How did you modify it?"
"Secret!"
It was time. Luke accelerated again, following the information on the display screen, keeping a safe distance behind the gray van.
"Barbara, I have a way to rescue your stepmother completely unharmed. However, my effort isn't without cost. What are you prepared to pay in return?"
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