Chapter 378: Bomb Disposal

Could this be the legendary sound‑location?

Han Fei and Li Chen stared at Xu Mo with bewildered expressions.

No one could have imagined that Xu Mo could locate the Timed Bomb hidden on the bus merely by listening; they had thought finding the Timed Bomb would take a long time.

They even immediately evacuated the staff at the first sign of danger, pulling everyone back beyond the safety line to prevent those not wearing Explosive‑Proof Suits from being injured by the Timed Bomb.

Who knew that right after the staff were evacuated, Xu Mo "heard" the locations of all the Timed Bombs… it was absurd!

The Special Police in Explosive‑Proof Suits, following Xu Mo's directions, located nearly ten Timed Bombs placed under the bus chassis.

After finding these Timed Bombs, the Special Police's first action was to check the detonation times.

"The two bombs I found have about thirty minutes and two hours left before exploding."

"The three I found each still have over fifty minutes before exploding."

"Damn… mine is only fifteen minutes left!"

"On the Explosion‑proof Container vehicle, there's still fifteen minutes left—what are you scared of? That's plenty of time; just toss it into the Explosion‑proof Container."

"The one I found still has three hours before exploding… no, that's not three hours, that's three minutes!"

"??? Two minutes fifty‑nine seconds left… two minutes fifty‑eight, two minutes fifty‑seven…"

One of the Timed Bombs had less than three minutes before detonating, while the Explosion‑proof Container was still inside the vehicle.

Less than three minutes was nowhere near enough to run back to the vehicle and toss the bomb into the Explosion‑proof Container.

The Special Police realized the seriousness of the situation.

"Two minutes and some seconds—I'll try to defuse it. You all stay back, evacuate the crowd, and toss the other bombs into the Explosion‑proof Container," the Special Police Captain leading the team decided.

He intended to attempt to open this Timed Bomb within the remaining two‑plus minutes, but there was no open space nearby; buses were parked everywhere, leaving no suitable spot to discard the about‑to‑explode Timed Bomb.

As for the Explosion‑proof Container they had brought, it was still inside the vehicle, and there simply wasn't enough time to move the bomb into it, making a risky defusal unavoidable.

"That's not enough time, Captain. It's too dangerous—maybe we should find a place to toss the bomb."

"There's no open space to toss it; we have to defuse it now. You all move quickly, don't waste time!" He said, giving his comrades a shove, then carefully examined the Timed Bomb in his hand that was about to explode.

"I am the Team Leader; my word is an order—move!"

The remaining Special Police complied, grabbed the bomb in their hands, and left.

"Back up, back up—there's a bomb about to explode!" the Special Police, pushed aside and holding bombs, shouted while running outward.

"Spread out, everyone retreat!" Seeing this, Han Fei shouted the same and turned to run backward.

The officers standing beside Han Fei and the bus company's staff also stepped back at that moment.

Only Xu Mo, however, did not step back; instead, he rushed toward the Special Police Captain who was defusing the bomb.

At this point, less than two minutes remained before that Timed Bomb would explode.

The Special Police Captain in charge of defusing was already drenched in sweat; his lips had lost their color from anxiety, his breathing was rapid, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

At such a critical moment, no one can stay calm.

Even now, he hasn't fully studied the bomb's construction, let alone defused it.

One minute forty seconds…

One minute thirty‑nine seconds…

One minute thirty‑eight seconds…

At that moment, Han Fei and the others, who had retreated to an absolute safety zone, also noticed Xu Mo.

"What is he doing?"

"Xu Mo, you're running the wrong way!" Li Chen was stunned; everyone was fleeing outward, but Xu Mo, of all people, ran inward!

There's a Timed Bomb about to explode in there—he's risking his life!?

"What the hell… are you crazy? Come back!" Han Fei said while preparing to rush forward to pull Xu Mo back.

But before he could get out, officers behind him grabbed him; if they hadn't seen, it would be fine, but now they were watching, so how could they just stand by as Han Fei ventured?

They hadn't grabbed Xu Mo earlier because they were all focused on retreating and hadn't realized Xu Mo had gone forward; otherwise they would have stopped him from acting foolishly.

Xu Mo had already reached the Special Police Captain who was defusing; running over at this critical moment wasn't foolish, nor was it to cause trouble,

The system had just granted Xu Mo the Bomb Disposal Expert talent; he was there to help defuse, and he was confident.

After closely examining the Timed Bomb the Special Police Captain held, Xu Mo already knew how to dismantle it.

"Cut the blue and yellow together."

"Cut both wires together? That can't be right…" the Special Police Captain muttered instinctively, then snapped his head up: "What are you doing here? Get out! This area is dangerous!"

The Special Police Captain, wearing an Explosive‑Proof Suit, would survive even if the bomb detonated; at worst he'd sustain some internal injuries from the blast.

But Xu Mo wasn't wearing an Explosive‑Proof Suit; he was standing directly beside the bomb, and at that distance, an explosion would be enough to kill him outright!

This delay left only thirty seconds on the timer.

Each tick of the numbers on the Timed Bomb felt like the King of Hell urging death.

"You're not wearing an Explosive‑Proof Suit, get out!" Seeing Xu Mo didn't move, the Special Police Captain gave him another shove.

"Cut both wires together—no time left, let's gamble," Xu Mo said, then turned and ran away.

After Xu Mo ran a short distance away, the Special Police frowned slightly, scrutinizing the Timed Bomb in his hand, still hesitant.

"Cut both wires together… will it work?"

While he hesitated, the countdown on the bomb had dwindled to the final twelve seconds.

Eleven…

Ten…

Nine…

With the countdown down to single digits, there was no time to hesitate; cutting the wrong wire would trigger an immediate explosion, but not cutting it would also cause the bomb to explode in a few seconds—either way, the result was the same: detonation.

Realizing this, the Special Police gritted his teeth and prepared to follow Xu Mo's instruction, cutting the blue and yellow wires together to try.

He took out scissors, joined the blue and yellow wires together, then with a Snip! of the scissors, closed his eyes, leaving life and death to fate!

One second, two seconds, three seconds, the imagined explosion of the bomb did not occur.

He opened his eyes and looked, finding that the bomb's countdown was gone, the crisis averted.

"Huh…", the Special Police let out a deep breath, then picked up the Timed Bomb in his hand, waved it toward the distant people, indicating the crisis was over.

He didn't expect Xu Mo's judgment to actually be correct.

The Special Police Captain turned his head, glanced at Xu Mo in the distance, already full of interest in the young man…