Raised From The Wild-Chapter 370: Killing The Hostages
Princess Amaya raised her slender wrist and, with a quick flick, activated the holographic screen emanating from her wristwatch.
"Princess Amaya’s gentle voice resonated through the van as she said, ’ExZee, please play the recording.’"
General Jones observed the playback of the engagement party with keen attention, scrutinizing the events unfolding at double speed. A frown formed on his face as he studied the captured faces of the waiters who had been caught on camera.
"ExZee, can you tap into Athena and do a match?" Leon commanded while typing something into his cellphone.
General Jones glanced at him briefly. He was no longer surprised that he knew about Athena when he saw the tattoo on his wrist.
"I am sorry. Voice not recognized. Command not executed." ExZee’s cute cubby face appeared magnified on the holographic screen. She rejected Leon’s command. Her voice was no longer robotic but sounded like a seven-year-old child’s.
Leon’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the face on the blue screen. The intensity of his glare felt as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees. How could that AI Assistant dare defy his command?
Princess Amaya couldn’t help but laugh. ever since the most recent upgrade, ExZee’s appearance and behavior have become strikingly similar to that of a real child.
"ExZee, do as he says," Princess Amaya’s gentle voice dissipated the chill hanging in the air.
"Princess, they are waiters working in the Crystal Hotel except for the Chef. I cannot find his record in Athena’s database." ExZee recited in a cute voice.
General Jones appeared puzzled. "How could it be? Something seems amiss. Those individuals couldn’t possibly be ordinary waiters," he said with a furrowed brow. "Princess, could you please send me the recording?"
"ExZee, send the videos and photos to General Jones," Princess Amaya enunciated clearly.
Her wristwatch had an auto-update feature, which was automatically updated monthly. Three months after Marx disappeared, she got her AI assistant.
"General Jones, I’ve completed the transfer. Upon conducting a facial scan of the waiters, it’s evident that they are wearing hyper-realistic masks. Additionally, I calculated their body mass index and found that it is higher than that of the hospital waiters."
General Jones looked at the chubby face on the screen. That was also his guess. He was getting desperate. It seemed that he was back to square one. He typed something on his tablet, and after some time, a video of people crawling on the air duct showed on the screen.
ExZee connected to his tablet and projected the images on the holographic screen.
"They are our only chance now." General Jones sighed in frustration.
In the storage room, the door blocked by a few tables burst open. The four men and the woman fiddling on the ropes around their waists looked back at the broken door. They did not have a chance even to blink when a barrage of bullets sprayed on their bodies. Blood splattered on the wall and the floor.
Princess Amaya, who was intently watching the feed projected by ExZee, shuddered when the monitor turned red because the camera attached to the bodies of those who were killed was covered with blood.
One of the hostage-takers took out his cell phone and took a video of the five people sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. He uploaded it on the internet and captioned it. "We will kill hostages for every hour that our demands are not met."
The Uropan security experts acted quickly, blocking the video promptly. However, despite their swift action, netizens were even quicker. They took a screenshot of the post and swiftly reposted it across various platforms.
The online community was abuzz with news of a leaked hostage situation at the renowned Crystal Hotel. Reporters and photographers hurried to the scene in hopes of obtaining exclusive details, but they encountered stringent security measures. Individuals with vehicles were prohibited from approaching within a kilometer of the hotel due to the tight security.
Soon, rumors spread that two royals were killed during the siege at the Crystal Hotel at the engagement party of the daughter of the defense minister of Uropa. The rumors, of course, reached Asteria Palace in Lireya.
"What do you mean you lost contact with the Princess?" King Duncan was mad. He roared at the people sitting around a rectangular wooden mahogany table.
The people in the throne room hung their heads low. The last time they saw their king agitated and angry was eighteen years ago when Princess Danaya and her daughter’s plane was hijacked.
"Your Majesty, calm down. I am pretty sure that Amaya is all right. Her personal guard, Layla, said that Vasquez and Leon were with her, and she would not be harmed." Crown Prince Ibarra sounded calm but clenched his fists while speaking words of comfort to his father to calm him. He was seated beside his father on a luxurious golden throne.
Prince Ibarra felt terrible, but he was comforted by the fact that the woman who was bathed in her blood was not wearing Amaya’s traditional dress that he had seen earlier.
King Duncan made a difficult decision. "Prepare the ransom that the hostage-takers are asking for." He announced in a loud voice.
"But, Your Majesty, we should not bend to the terrorists’ demands." Three of the king’s advisors spoke at the same time.
"I said prepare it. My granddaughter’s life is worth more than 50 billion Usturian dollars." King Duncan’s voice boomed. He spoke so much authority that his advisers could only look down and keep their curses to themselves.
He wanted to continue berating his advisers, but the ring on his middle finger gave off a faint glow. He excused himself and went to his private room behind the throne.
Inside the black van, General Jones was scanning the monitor propped up in front of him. His brows were furrowed with deep concern. He made a call on his cellphone and instructed to block all information related to the hostage situation.
"The IP address of the website that published the photos is traced here in Uropa, but then it changes to Usturia, and it continuously changes," Amaya announced after reading a message from Ren.
Princess Amaya frowned when she read Ren’s incoming message.
"I can’t believe it!" the princess suddenly blurted out.
