She was pondering how to help her thin brother regain his strength when a group of police officers burst into the teaching building, smashing open the classroom doors without explanation. A cacophony of noise and destruction erupted from inside the classroom…
Everything happened so suddenly that there was no time to react. Before long, they emerged from the classroom, kicking and hitting several people as they escorted them down the stairs. Khanyi saw with her own eyes that among those taken away by the police were Professor Brown and Victor. She didn’t know where her courage came from, wanting to rush forward and reason with them, but was held back by several cleaning staff.
In the bustling city district, the seven-story apartment building was rather inconspicuous. Khanyi gasped for breath as she climbed to the top floor, not bothering to rest. She pounded frantically on the closed iron door, the force of her knocks making the glass in the corridor rattle.
After a long time, the iron door finally opened a crack, revealing a strand of golden hair and a pair of azure eyes.
“Irina, open the door, please, hurry!”
Irina was surprised to see the girl outside, “Gianna? What are you doing here?” She opened the door and let the frantic dark-haired girl inside. This wasn’t Khanyi’s first visit to her apartment; she knew that this blonde beauty preferred a night owl’s lifestyle, usually sleeping through the day unless there was a human anatomy class.
“Irina! Save them, save my brother, save the teachers at the school! I know you must have a way!”
“Calm down, Gianna, I’ve actually heard about that incident.” She handed Khanyi a glass of water, gesturing for her to drink a bit to soothe her throat, which was already somewhat hoarse.
“They barged into the school in broad daylight, searching and arresting people indiscriminately! All the teachers were taken away! The students said a few words, and then a conflict broke out. Many were injured, and two students are still unconscious in the hospital.”
“Who did this? The SS?” Irina’s tone was very cautious when she mentioned this term.
“No, looking at their attire, they should be the security patrol.” She recognized the uniforms of the SS; although she wanted to forget, the fear of that black-gray terror had already seeped into her bones.
Irina patted her shoulder, “Don’t worry, I heard through the grapevine that the municipal official has some grievances with the principal. They have been trying to requisition the school land, but the principal has always refused. So they came up with the idea of using the military’s name…”
“But what should we do now?”
“There is a way we can try. I heard that the official in charge is a miser.”
“Are you saying we should bribe him?” Khanyi’s eyes widened.
“But… this requires a lot of money.” Irina looked somewhat troubled. “Based on my experience dealing with them, those people are as greedy as insatiable wolves.”
“Look, is this enough?” Khanyi said, pulling out a gray handkerchief folded into a package from her pocket. She unfolded the small package and revealed a necklace made entirely of diamonds, set on a platinum base filled with pure, sparkling diamonds.
Irina could hardly believe her eyes; she had never seen so many diamonds before. Each one was genuine, especially the large teardrop-shaped diamond in the center, which was at least 10 carats. Its brilliance was so dazzling that the platinum chain seemed dull in comparison. Irina noticed that the back of the chain was engraved with fine lettering and squinted to read it in the light.
“Gianna, where did you get this?”
“That doesn’t matter. If we sell it, will the money be enough?”
Irina’s eyes remained fixed on the diamond necklace. “Are you really willing to sell it? This is an invaluable treasure.”
Khanyi scoffed, “No matter how precious, it’s just a chain. The purpose of a chain is to bind—bind your hands, bind your feet, bind your neck…”
“My God, who would use diamonds to bind others? That person must be insane. This 10-carat beauty… Don’t worry, this is enough. But… are you really comfortable giving me such a valuable thing?”
“Irina, you brought my brother to me. This time, I hope you can help me rescue him from their clutches…”
Irina raised her golden eyebrows, a hint of helplessness in her blue eyes. “Alright, alright, you pure little angel, I really can’t do anything with you.”
Khanyi walked through the dark, narrow prison corridor. Fortunately, Irina had already arranged everything for her with those sparkling diamonds. Following the guard’s instructions, Khanyi saw a small solitary cell at the end of the corridor, where a young man with black hair sat on a simple wooden bed. He was only wearing a white shirt, stained at the collar and hem.
“Victor!” Khanyi called softly, approaching the iron bars of the small cell.
“Khanyi?!” He jumped up from the bed, surprised by her arrival.
“Brother, are you alright? Why are you the only one here?”
“I’m fine. Many teachers from the school have been brought in, but I haven’t seen them. They must be detained elsewhere. Khanyi, why did you come?”
