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Chapter 48: Confrontation

At 5.38pm, Assistant Commissioner Wood, who was promoted in a hurry, arrived at the General Grant National Memorial. After getting off the helicopter, he asked the commander at the scene, “Does the suspect have any hostages?”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” the commander replied.

“Then what are you waiting for? Get the Emergency Service Unit to throw tear bombs inside. I’m sure he wouldn’t stay in there for long.” The Assistant Commissioner finally had a chance to perform. He even brought members of the media over to close this case perfectly.

“Yes sir.” The commander left with his order.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner Wood stood far away in his bulletproof vest, letting photographers snap shots of him being in command.

Zhou Qingfeng had only been in the hall for about three minutes before the tear bomb he was waiting for was thrown in. It wasn’t just one or two bombs; it seemed like the police feared that they would not be enough. Seven or eight tear bombs were thrown in.

As he watched the tear gas emerge from the bombs, Zhou Qingfeng had no choice but to put on his gas mask. He had killed and robbed two ESU officers before this; the police equipment he had at the moment was pretty complete.

After putting on his gas mask, his sight was severely impaired. With the tear gas around him, it made it harder than ever to clearly see anything that was a few meters away from him. Zhou Qingfeng could only pay attention to any noise coming from the outside.

After waiting for about three minutes in silence, there had yet to be any reaction from either side.

Assistant Commissioner Wood watched the heavy smoke come out of the memorial’s entrance. Although he was standing quite a distance away, a gust of wind made him cough heavily as he was not wearing a gas mask. He questioned, “What’s going on? Why isn’t the criminal out yet?”

The commander stuttered, “Maybe he’s already passed out in there.”

It made sense. If Assistant Commissioner Wood was already coughing this much from a little whiff, the suspect must have passed out in the memorial hall. He waved his hand and said decisively, “Charge in and bring the suspect out here.”

Meanwhile, Zhou Qingfeng was already moving towards the entrance of the hall silently, and the gun in his hand was already switched to the semi-auto Benelli M4 Super 90. Soon after that, scattered footsteps could be heard coming from the entrance; it was light, but steady.

The tear gas was still lingering in the hall; it was hard to see anything clearly amidst the white smoke. Zhou Qingfeng stood like a pillar near the entrance as he watched four armed officers come inside.

The four armed officers moved in a diagonal formation. They quickly made a round in the hall, and… they found nothing.

“Could he be in the pit where the tomb is?” One of the officers said.

The officers approached the stone fence in the pit and aimed their guns at the Grants’ coffins. But there was nothing!

Where is he? The four officers were left confused amidst the thick smoke. This place is as good as haunted, what’s going on?

At this moment, the commander’s voice came through the walkie-talkie, “What’s going on inside? Have you found the suspect?”

“Sir, we haven’t found anything!” the leading officer replied. Soon after that, he turned around and asked a fellow officer, “Wait… how many of us came in here?”

“Four,” the other officer replied.

“One, two, three, four.” The leading officer did a headcount and asked again in confusion, “Why did I hear footsteps of five people just now?”

Five people?!

All four officers came to a realization and wanted to turn around. However, Zhou Qingfeng, who had been following them, took his shot first.

Bang… a 12′ bullet was shot out of the gun, and the semi-auto shotgun was reloaded again. Zhou Qingfeng pulled the trigger six times in a row and emptied his clip with the fastest speed.

Since he could not see his targets clearly through the smoke, Zhou Qingfeng chose to use a shotgun. Six shots later, the four officers who were attacked from behind fell to the ground.

A bulletproof vest would not be able to cover the back of one’s neck. Zhou Qingfeng, who was on high alert, pulled the trigger four times within a second. His strengthened body could now bear the heavy load of energy bursts.

After the gunshots, the commander could be heard yelling through the walkie-talkie asking what was going on in the hall. However, he never got his reply.

The hall returned to silence. Officers who were at the entrance could all hear their own breathing, and the hands they were holding their guns with were beginning to sweat.

Nothing happened to that guy in there!

The commander gritted his teeth and ordered, “Bring the mobile anti-riot shield, and push it into the hall for attack. Also, order the ESU to climb onto the top of the dome and prepare to break in for attack. That bastard must be killed.”

Within two to three minutes, five or six officers climbed onto the top floor of the hall as they walked slowly toward the skylight with their guns. The windows had beautiful religious decor on them, and they were about to break these precious windows to enter the building for attack.

Two heavy bulletproof shields with rollers were carried over by the police and slowly pushed towards the entrance of the hall. However, just as the commander was about to launch the attack, Assistant Commissioner Wood received news that his men had captured the other fugitive Leila Fox.

“Bring her here,” the Assistant Commissioner said.

Soon after that, an embarrassed Miss Fox was pushed towards the area outside the memorial hall. Wood stuffed a big megaphone in her hands and said coldly, “I don’t want anything to happen to my men anymore, get your companion out of there. This could alleviate your charges as well.”

Leila Fox had tried to drive off before getting caught by the police searching the nearby area. She was now pushed towards the entrance of the memorial hall by two officers. With a stern face, she raised the megaphone and shouted, “Victor, are you okay?”

Is this a chat?

Zhou Qingfeng was more than happy to chat. As he collected weapons from the dead officers, he replied loudly, “I’m okay. How are you? Have you been arrested?”

“Yes, without your protection, I was arrested soon after,” Leila Fox sounded pitiful as she said it. “The cops hope you can surrender, you’ll get a fair trial…”

Zhou Qingfeng checked the time. It was 5.54pm. The Catastrophe was due to begin soon. He could hold on for a while and get through it by chatting. He was not planning to surrender at this moment. What, he was supposed to be put in the back of the police car and watch the officers disappear? Was he supposed to starve to death then?

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“Okay, I’m willing to surrender, but I want to have a final meal of freedom. I want to eat something made by New York’s finest chef from its finest restaurant. If you agree to this demand, I’ll surrender.” Zhou Qingfeng was mindful of time; he was waiting for time to pass.

At this moment, one of the officers on the skylight reported to the commander saying, “Sir, I have eyes on that brat, I have 100% confidence that I can kill him.”

“Are you sure?” The commander had already lost four of his men. He was extremely pissed at Zhou Qingfeng.

“I’m positive.” Through the colourful windows, the officer on top of the skylight raised the assault rifle in his hand.

The commander said angrily, “Then do it, kill him! I don’t want to see him coming out of the memorial hall alive.”