Chapter 552: The Lament of Reinforced Concrete

"..."
Inside the car, deathly silence reigned.
The groaning of the reinforced concrete still echoed in everyone's ears, but their vocal cords seemed to have been severed by that terrifying moment, leaving only heavy breathing.
"Are you all alright?"
Su Hao's voice broke the frozen silence, like pressing play on a frozen scene.
The driver and Lin Fan snapped out of their daze, their souls returning to their bodies.
"We're...alive...Mr. Su, are you...are you alright?"
"I'm fine too. That big thing probably just scratched off a layer of paint."
Su Hao shrugged, speaking casually.
The driver's face was as white as if he'd just been pulled from a flour sack, his lips trembling, so terrified he could barely grip the steering wheel:
"I...if I had pressed the brake a second later, no, even half a second later...we'd be..."
Right now, their expensive high-end van would probably be crushed into a scrap metal can, embedded in that dilapidated building, becoming part of the news headlines.
Su Hao had recovered his senses. That terrifying glimpse of the illusion wasn't unfounded; it was his almost supernatural intuition issuing a top-level red alert at the critical moment of life and death!
"Mr. Su, you...you saw that truck rushing towards us in that split second?"
Lin Fan's voice was filled with disbelief, looking at Su Hao as if he were a living god with divine insight.
"Ah...I guess so," Su Hao gave a vague reply, inwardly screaming:
I saw nothing!
Our view was completely blocked by buildings. If it weren't for my gut feeling giving us a timely warning today, the three of us would be on our way to the Bridge of Helplessness!
“But something’s not right,” Lin Fan frowned, a look of suspicion on his face.
“The intersection from which that truck came isn’t a main road. What’s with this truck going crazy in broad daylight?”
“Maybe it was driver fatigue?” Su Hao guessed casually.
“No way. Look at that speed, it’s almost as fast as a high-speed train!” Lin Fan immediately shook his head.
“The accelerator was practically floored in the engine!
And look at that building, it looks like it’s been hit by a missile, completely ripped through!
This isn’t something you can make by dozing off and accidentally pressing the accelerator.
If it was driver fatigue, was the driver dreaming of driving an F1 car?”
His expression became extremely serious; clearly, things weren’t that simple.
Su Hao also felt there was something sinister about this.
Why would a large truck suddenly launch a suicidal attack?
This whole scenario smells like a cheap conspiracy.
"Chairman Su! Are you alright?!"
Before they could even figure out what was going on, the bodyguards from the convoy behind them swarmed in.
A group of burly men in black suits poured out like dumplings being dropped into a pot, completely surrounding their vehicle, each one tense and on high alert.
"Old Jiang," Lin Fan immediately ordered the head of security,
"Get Chairman Su to the hospital first. Give him a 360-degree full-body scan from head to toe, inside and out!
Make sure not a single hair is damaged!"
"Yes, sir!"
“Hey, Lao Jiang, I’m really fine…” Su Hao tried to struggle.
“No way! Chairman Su, the scariest thing about traffic accidents is the aftereffects!”
Lin Fan said firmly, “Just because you’re fine today doesn’t mean you’ll be fine tomorrow!”
“No, I’m perfectly healthy, really not…”
“Lao Jiang!” Lin Fan ignored Su Hao’s protests, his voice rising eight octaves.
“Listen to me, make sure Chairman Su undergoes all the necessary examinations!
Even if he wants to tear the hospital down, he has to wait until all the examinations are completed!”
“Yes, sir!!”
Su Hao was completely speechless. Well, it seemed there was no room for negotiation.
He felt like a lamb trying to reason with a pack of wolves, with no choice but to be carried off.
And so, he was half-kidnapped, half-escorted by a group of ruthless bodyguards and shoved into another car.
Before leaving, he glanced back at the wreckage of the truck still belching black smoke, his eyes deep.
"..."
The driver was right. If the braking had been even a fraction of a second too late...
The image—just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
***
"Where's the driver? Is he dead?"
At the accident scene, Lin Fan lit a cigarette he hadn't touched in a long time, took a deep drag, his eyes as cold as knives.
"Seriously injured. He's been taken to the hospital," Old Jiang reported.
"It's one of Fang Huan's hospitals, right?"
"Yes."
"Tell the hospital to use the best medicine, get the best specialists, and spare no effort to save him.
He absolutely cannot die, understand? Also, Old Jiang..."
"Yes, sir."
"Any more cigarettes? Another one."
Lin Fan, who had quit smoking long ago, irritably took a cigarette from Old Jiang, tucked it behind his ear, and took another deep drag.
"Chairman Lin, why don't you go to the hospital to get checked out? That commotion was huge."
"I'm fine. My old bones are still strong. This matter is more important."
Lin Fan waved his hand, his eyes coldly fixed on the accident scene.
"Let's get down to business. Have you checked that beat-up truck? What was it carrying?"
"Yes, we have. The cargo bed was empty, nothing was being transported."
"An empty truck, just charging straight at us, almost wrecked us?"
"Yes. We saw it clearly from behind. It was a situation that even a miracle couldn't have saved us.
Moreover, the angle from which it came was a complete blind spot, and the speed was outrageous. Theoretically, there was no way we could have reacted."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. To be honest, we're all wondering how our driver knew to slam on the brakes. It was like he had precognition."
Hearing this, Lin Fan exhaled a smoke ring and flicked his cigarette ash.
"You think the driver braked himself?"
"Huh? Didn't he?"
"I was having a great chat with Chairman Su when he suddenly looked like he'd seen a ghost and yelled for the driver to slam on the brakes.
No sooner had he spoken than the truck 'whooshed' past us and crashed headfirst into the wall."
Old Jiang gasped.
"This...this is impossible! The direction the truck came from was completely blocked by the building at that intersection. Unless Chairman Su has X-ray vision, there's absolutely no way he could have seen it beforehand..."
Lin Fan was equally baffled.
He clearly remembered that at that critical moment, Su Hao's gaze hadn't shifted to the side at all; it had remained fixed straight ahead.
He looked as if...possessed by something.
"Never mind, that's not the point." Lin Fan stubbed out his cigarette on the ground, his eyes growing increasingly sinister. "The point is, this truck...everything about it is eerie."
He walked to the wreckage of the truck and kicked the deformed tires with his leather shoe.
"There wasn't even a single skid mark at the scene."
"That's right. Judging from the speed, the accelerator was floored.
Besides, this isn't a highway. In broad daylight, who would believe a truck driver could be this drowsy?"
"So, you also think this was intentional, right?"
"Yes, this is definitely not fatigue driving, this is a reckless charge!
Chairman Lin, stand here and feel it, the air... it's filled with murderous intent!"
Murderous intent!
Yes, that word couldn't be more accurate.
"Find out which branch is in charge of this accident. Have them report to me every hour.
Also, I'll personally call the head of the city bureau."
"Yes, sir!"
Lin Fan scrolled through his contacts, finally stopping at one number, and sighed deeply.
Of course, before that, there was one person he had to notify immediately!