But the more he said this, the more the officers from the New York Police Department felt embarrassed, as if they had been slapped in the face.

Jillian, however, was typing in the live stream chat on her phone.

At the same time, she ordered, “We need the NYPD’s cooperation to share all information regarding this chain explosion case and investigate the surveillance near the shopping center’s ventilation outlets!”

“Understood!”

Nevia responded seriously. At this point, only through full cooperation could they erase the “shame” of this capture operation.

As soon as the NYPD officers left, Jillian’s phone popped up with a call.

It was Ciri.

“Jillian, the perpetrator’s computer skills are extremely advanced. The bureau’s tech department hasn’t locked down the IP address, and the National Cybersecurity Center is forming an expert team to crack it, but it’ll take at least an hour!”

“Is it possible to control the live stream backend, such as contacting the suspect directly, without the perpetrator noticing?”

Jillian wasn’t surprised by this news, and she calmly proposed other queries.

There was no immediate response on the other side, seemingly consulting with technicians.

After a long pause, Ciri spoke, “That’s not possible either; the Tik live stream backend and server are completely in the terrorists’ control. My God, I’ve never encountered such a formidable hacker in my years with the FBI—combining assassination, bomb-making, I suspect it’s more than one person.”

“You make a good point, Ciri. Since hackers are difficult to tackle, let’s start with the ‘bomb.’ Check records of retired defuse experts domestically over the last five years, especially those with military backgrounds residing in New York State.”

After a brief thanks, Jillian assigned Ciri new tasks.

Quickly, the police shared all case information and surveillance footage.

The group opened the video.

The surveillance camera was positioned at an intersection, facing the side of the shopping center, capturing the moment the ventilation fan suddenly fell off, and a figure in burgundy clothing jumped out. Only after some passersby walked by did he emerge from the bushes and quickly leave the scene.

The commanding officer suddenly spoke up.

“The surveillance time coincides with our arrival; he must’ve escaped right before us. The suspect has evidently received special training. If he’s not an accomplice of the terrorists, he’s at least involved in espionage or a similar profession.”

“Saflo Baron, 17 years old, born in Florida. His mother was a chemistry teacher at the University of Florida, and his father was a retired USMC scout. Both parents died in a car accident when he was seven, and he was raised by an uncle, with multiple juvenile delinquency records…”

Jamie read out the information just released by the police.

Early in the morning, a forensic team had extracted fingerprints and bloodstains from the taxi, allowing for a quick match in the judicial system if there was a criminal record.

Jillian took the phone.

It had a detailed record of the various cases tried by the Florida juvenile justice system, mostly involving theft, fraud, or swindling. The most severe was a street robbery, earning him eight months in a juvenile detention center.

Looking at the lengthy criminal record.

It seemed he was an old hand at such activities.

But this still wasn’t enough to explain his skills. Just because his parents had chemical and military backgrounds didn’t mean Baron himself possessed such skills. Would you really teach a five or six-year-old how to defuse a bomb?

That’s more outrageous than “Dunklin claiming never to have cheated.”

While catching spies typically falls under the CIA’s jurisdiction, given this target’s connection to a terrorist attack, the commanding officer immediately analyzed:

“The target went to great lengths to flee from Queens District to Brooklyn District, indicating that the next bomb is buried here. Based on the scale of the first scene, the densest locations in the area are the commercial CBD and the tech business district.”

HRT is not only responsible for carrying out missions; they also provide tactical solutions for hostage situations and other high-risk law enforcement activities.

In other words, they provide tactical analysis and strategies.

“We can pre-emptively stake out these two locations. There are less than 20 minutes until the next exposure of coordinates. Since the target claims to be coerced by the bomber, we can use signal jammers at that time to negotiate with the target and seek cooperation.”

At this point, the commanding officer couldn’t help but look at Jillian.

From her earlier inquiry to Ciri about circumventing the bomber’s surveillance to contact the suspect, it was clear this was a thought she also had.

“The Xia Kingdom’s greatest military strategist once said: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We must seize the opportunity to cooperate with him, and even if we fail, we must not shoot to kill. We must capture him alive!”

Jillian especially emphasized the last word.

The commanding officer shrugged his left hand, indicating he’d follow orders. After all, all they needed to do was carry out the tasks given.

“Time is of the essence, move out!”

With an order, Jillian and Jamie went in different directions, each leading a team of six HRT special police, as two assault vehicles roared to life.

The wheels slowly turned.

The taxi stopped near York College.

After Gu Ji paid the fare, he got out and walked toward the nearest alley, hiding behind a tree on the lawn until the taxi drove away. He quickly took off the burgundy hoodie, revealing a black T-shirt, and pulled a brown-green baseball cap from the front pocket of the hoodie to put on.

Since the FBI was already on the move, it wouldn’t take long to lock onto him through surveillance footage. This burgundy hoodie was too conspicuous.

He casually tossed the hoodie into a trash can and walked to the roadside to hail another taxi.

“Central District Mentuo Street.”

The location Gu Ji called out wasn’t the closest to Volut Company; in fact, it was quite a distance away.

However, it was the most prosperous commercial center of the Central District, comprising 31 buildings of varying heights, with dense streets and complex traffic and people.

With little time left before the second set of coordinates would be exposed, and because bomb defusing and disposal is a task that cannot tolerate any interruptions, he planned to first shake off the police and FBI using the dense building environment before figuring out a way to reach Volut Company.

At this moment, his phone vibrated.

It was the bomber reminding him there were only 15 minutes left.

Gu Ji hadn’t planned to pay attention, but the barrage of comments brought him some surprises.

[Whoa! Was the streamer caught, or has he already escaped the shopping center? I see from the NYND live stream that the police have lifted the lockdown.]

[Do you even need to ask? The fire alarm’s been going off for ages, it’s so fake!]

[Amazing! How did the streamer manage to escape?]

[Being able to escape the encirclement of 70 or 80 people, does the streamer have invisibility powers?]

[Hahaha, he used the same method twice, and the police fell for it both times. The New York police are really dumb!]

[Actually, the police aren’t necessarily dumb; the streamer’s personal skills are impressive. Just watch the high-speed chase part, no ordinary person could pull that off!]

[Stream on, streamer! Don’t get caught! It seems the special police assault vehicles have split up on the streets and are likely planning to ambush you!]

…

Most of the live stream audience was asking how he successfully escaped capture, though some were providing crucial information.

Like the last comment.

The live stream not only exposed his information but also revealed the police’s capture plans. It was like a double-edged sword.

From “his” perspective, it might be advantageous.

But from the government’s perspective, excessive media freedom could actually hinder judicial actions.

If it were back home, your TV station would have been shut down long ago.

Gu Ji pulled out a map, his mind racing.

The tech triangle in Brooklyn isn’t big, with the three divisions close to each other. As long as one location is confirmed, another team can be there in five minutes to support.

HRT chose to split up, probably to simultaneously occupy the central district’s commercial CBD and Dampo Technology Enterprise Center.

“Then, I need a way to maximize the limitation of police vehicle mobility, right here!”

Gu Ji pointed at a red dot on the map, which happened to be Brooklyn’s largest super mall: City Point!

He chose this location because it was a commercial complex.

Besides the large number of people, there were many passageways, densely packed like a beehive, making it very suitable for outmaneuvering the police.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep