Chapter 345: Disappearing Again!

At the same time!

On the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House!

The live broadcast camera turned to Brian.

He took two steps forward, his leather shoes clicking against the wooden floor of the stage with a dry, creaking sound.

"Everyone."

He said these two words, then paused, his Adam's apple bobbing once, "I am truly sorry for what you have endured, truly, I swear to God..."

No one in the audience spoke.

"All business operations of UnitedHealth Group are conducted within the framework of United States law. Our policy terms have been reviewed and approved by insurance regulatory departments in every state. Our claims review standards are strictly executed in accordance with contract agreements. Every single one of our claim denial decisions is based on law and supported by evidence."

As he said this, his voice gradually steadied.

"I myself do not wish to see those cases of denied claims. But the essence of the insurance industry is risk management. We collect premiums, assume risks, and provide compensation within the scope agreed upon in the contract. If it exceeds the scope of the contract, we cannot provide compensation. This is not my personal decision; it is the rule of the entire industry. To all the families who have been harmed by this, I can only say—sorry."

Sorry.

When this word spilled from the mouth of Brian Thompson, it was like a spark thrown into a pile of dry firewood.

In the southwest corner of the auditorium, the young woman holding her mother's portrait—Emily—was the first to stand up.

She did not scream, did not cry, and did not make any violent movements.

She simply stood up with tears streaming down her face, holding the frame above her head, turning the black-and-white photo of the old woman toward the stage, toward Brian.

Immediately after, in the third row behind her.

An old man with graying hair also stood up.

He held nothing; in his hands was only a gray hat, which he had crumpled into a ball.

His lips were trembling, but his voice was as steady as a stone.

"It was because of your denial that my daughter lost the best window for treatment!"

After he finished speaking, a fourth person stood up.

The fifth!

The tenth!

The fiftieth!

The hundredth!

The guests in the auditorium, like wheat in a field swept by the Wind, rose simultaneously from every corner of the seating area, one after another!

In less than ten seconds, at least a thousand out of the two thousand eight hundred people had stood up, their faces turned toward the stage, toward Brian, toward the man who had just finished saying "sorry."

The security personnel in the theater realized the danger at the first moment.

Sixty burly men in black suits rushed out from the aisles on both sides of the stage, quickly forming a human wall between the stage and the audience.

Their hands pressed against their waists, but what they drew were not guns.

Drawing guns in front of two thousand eight hundred people was a public relations disaster that no security company dared to shoulder.

What they drew were walkie-talkies and batons.

Seeing these security guards, the long-suppressed emotions of the audience could no longer be contained!

They were like a surging wave, rushing toward the human wall of security!

Seeing this scene, Brian nervously hurried back several steps.

His leather shoes made a rapid, chaotic sound on the wooden stage floor, like the tapping of Morse code!

At this moment, the standard CEO smile on his face finally vanished completely!

Replaced by an expression he had likely never shown in public before—fear!

Brian retreated in a panic to the side of the cardboard sign.

The sign with "1 billion" written on it wobbled behind him and nearly fell over.

His back was already pressed against the edge of the cardboard.

He had no way left to retreat.

Watching the tide of people rushing onto the stage, he looked left and right, desperately calling for his bodyguards!

But at this moment, those bodyguards of his were nowhere to be seen!

On the stage, it had also turned into a complete mess!

The crowded throng surrounded Brian, with voices of questioning rising one after another!

Some were shouting at the top of their lungs, while others were spitting at him!

Beyond that, people in the audience were still continuously standing up, rushing out, and surging forward!

The human wall of security had been completely scattered; the sixty burly men in black suits were engulfed in the crowd, like six stones swept away by a flood, pushed helplessly in different directions on the stage!

Someone was shouting "Requesting backup" into a walkie-talkie!

But the voice was swallowed by the roar of the theater; even the person himself could not hear what he was saying.

The lights on the stage were still on!

The crowd was a sea of black!

When everyone's attention was on the crowd and Brian, no one noticed that Chu Chen was no longer there!

He had disappeared.

Like a drop of Water melting into the ocean.

By the time the viewers in the live stream room realized it, the broadcast camera had long since lost track of Chu Chen!

【Holy crap, where is God Chu?】

【Yeah, where did he go?】

【No way, wasn't he just on the stage?】

"My God, this guy has actually disappeared again!"

At the same time.

In the corridor behind the opera house stage!

Agent Drake was jogging while shouting frantically into his headset: "Lock the front door immediately! Lock all the doors! Don't let them get out!"

Drake was the field commander dispatched by the New York Branch!

Just moments ago, when the crowd was in chaos, he had been watching Chu Chen's every move on the monitor!

He was terrified that some accident might occur!

But just now, he suddenly discovered that Chu Chen had inexplicably vanished from the screen!

It was as if he had been erased!

The situation was urgent.

He ran straight out from the backstage passage, crossed the hallway of the actors' lounge, pushed open the iron door marked "Stage Entrance," and plunged into the wings of the theater!

The stage was less than twenty meters to his left.

That cold white beam of light was still shining, illuminating the chaotic stage.

But there was absolutely no sign of Chu Chen!

On the stage, there were only security personnel being jostled about.

"Hank, this is Drake!"

Amidst the chaotic noise, the voice on the other end of the walkie-talkie carried a static hiss: "Drake, what happened?"

"The guy disappeared. I've searched the entire stage area and found no trace of him. I'm not sure when he left."

In his office in Washington, Hank held his coffee cup suspended in mid-air.

He set the cup back on the table, the bottom hitting the solid wood surface with a dull thud.

"Are you sure? Did you check backstage? The dressing rooms, the prop warehouse, the passage to the parking lot—search everything."

"We're already searching."

There was something taut in Drake's voice, like a rubber band stretched to its limit, "But I have a bad feeling—"

"This guy loves to create chaos and then leave while it's happening! This is his usual tactic! You keep searching, I'm going to report this situation to Henry!"