Leo held Sophia tightly and reassured her, “Sophia, I’m sorry I arrived late and scared you.”
Sophia didn’t speak, she just clung to him.
“Sophia, don’t be afraid. As long as I’m here, no one can harm you,” Leo gently patted Sophia’s back.
Chasel rushed in and first kicked Ken, who was lying on the ground. Then he said to Leo, “Leo, everything’s taken care of.”
Leo let go of Sophia and helped her up from the ground. He said softly, “Sophia, it’s alright now. Let’s go.”
Sophia nodded, holding Leo’s hand tightly.
Before leaving, Leo glanced at Ken, who was screaming in pain on the floor, and said to Chasel, “Chasel, you know what to do next, right?”
“Don’t worry, Leo. I know what to do,” Chasel replied.
Leo nodded, “We’ll go now, and handle this cleanly.”
“Don’t worry,” Chasel watched as Leo and Sophia left.
In the car, “Leo, who is this Chasel? He’s not going to…”
When Sophia heard Leo say, “handle this cleanly,” she became a bit frightened.
Leo smiled and said, “He works for a friend of mine, working under me. Don’t worry, they’re just teaching Ken a lesson, nothing illegal.”
“Friend? Are you talking about the guy with the scar on his face?”
“No, that friend is Bob, he owns a convenience store near the Golden Leaf Shopping Plaza. After dropping you off at work, I used to go there to buy some drinks. Over time, we became friends,” Leo explained.
“A convenience store owner?” Sophia looked skeptical. “Leo, you shouldn’t get too involved with those people on the streets. It could lead to trouble.”
“I understand, don’t worry,” Leo started the car. “By the way, about the Dreamland incident, you’re not mad at me anymore, are you?”
“Hmph, why wouldn’t I be mad?” Sophia playfully crossed her arms. “You still haven’t explained to me what happened.”
“That night, I was with Bob to find someone.”
“Find someone? Like a girl?” Sophia teased.
“Don’t be ridiculous. With a beautiful wife like you, why would I go find a girl? Bob had his eye on someone, and he wanted to recruit them. Coincidentally, that person had some health issues, so Bob wanted me to check on him and build a rapport,” Leo explained with a wry smile.
“Alright, I believe what you’re saying, but in the future, you should stay away from these things. Just be a proper stone gambling consultant and a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, alright?” Sophia’s face lit up with a smile.
“Understood!”
As they drove away, Leo continued, “Oh, and make a call to your parents and Karen. They must be really worried about you.”
Sophia quickly took out her phone and called Jessica.
After driving for a while, they suddenly hit a traffic jam ahead. Many cars were trying to turn around, even squeezing through tight spaces.
Leo looked up and saw that not far ahead, an old residential building was on fire, billowing thick smoke, and the fire was spreading rapidly.
Sophia, ending her call, looked ahead and exclaimed, “It’s on fire, what do we do?”
Leo wanted to turn around, but it was too late, and the cars behind them had already blocked their way.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and said to Sophia, “Wait for me in the car. I’ll go check.”
“Be careful!”
After getting out of the car, Leo walked up to the front and saw that the fire was on the fourteenth and fifteenth floors of the building, and it was spreading rapidly to the sixteenth floor.
Some firefighters were trying to extinguish the fire, while others rushed into the building to rescue people.
Fortunately, the fire was discovered early, and most of the residents had escaped unharmed.
Just then, a deafening “boom” echoed, and an explosion occurred on the fifteenth floor.
Because the people who had managed to escape didn’t evacuate in time, the explosion caused heavy debris to fall from the building, injuring several more people and damaging some private cars in the vicinity.
The explosion added to the chaos at the scene. If it weren’t for the efforts of the police and firefighters in maintaining order, the situation would have been even worse.
Soon, firefighters continued to rescue people from the building. Due to the congestion, ambulances couldn’t enter the area, so medical personnel had to carry the severely injured out while providing immediate treatment to those with minor injuries within a safe area.
With a large number of casualties and limited medical personnel, the sounds of moans and cries filled the air. Although there were five or six hoses working simultaneously, the raging fire couldn’t be controlled in such a short time.
After more than ten minutes, all the firefighters who had rushed into the building to rescue people had withdrawn. The fire brigade captain saluted a man who appeared to be in charge and reported, “Captain, all the people who could be rescued from the building have been saved.”
The captain’s statement carried another layer of meaning, implying that there were some individuals who couldn’t be saved and might have perished in the fire.
Even though aerial ladders could reach the floors where the fire had spread, the fierce flames kept billowing out, preventing the firefighters from getting close, let alone entering.
Leo’s senses were incredibly sharp. Even in such a chaotic environment, he could faintly hear the cries of a child coming from inside the building.
He raised his head, activated his spiritual powers, and focused on the direction of the cries.
Though the thick smoke made it impossible to see anything, Leo could roughly judge the source of the cries.
The fire had already spread to the sixteenth floor, and there were people inside!
“My child, my child is still in there!”
A shrill cry suddenly rang out, and a woman in her thirties, regardless of everything, was about to rush into the burning building but was firmly held back by firefighters.
“Let me go, my daughter is still upstairs, I need to save her!” The woman cried and struggled.
The woman never expected that she was just going to the market to buy groceries, and when she came back, the building suddenly caught fire.
“Miss, please calm down. The fire is too intense now, and rushing in would be suicidal!” one firefighter said with a solemn expression, trying to persuade her.
As a mother, her child was in danger, and she had lost her reason. “I don’t care, if you won’t go in, I’ll save her myself. Let me go!” she cried out.
One firefighter who was holding her back was moved by her display of maternal love, but the fire showed no mercy, and allowing her to rush in would mean sending her to her death.
The situation drew the attention of the fire brigade captain, who rushed over and asked urgently, “What’s going on?”
“Captain, this lady’s child is still in the building!” one firefighter reported anxiously.
The captain asked with concern, “On which floor is your child?”
The woman pointed towards the raging fire, her voice trembling as she said, “On the sixteenth floor, room 1601. Please, save my child. I beg you.”
Tears streamed down her face as she knelt before the firefighters, pleading desperately.