“Pull back first.” The men gave him no room for argument and forced him roughly into the vehicle.Kane watched the SUV speed away into the distance and spoke in a low, grave tone. “We cannot catch up. Fall back and reestablish the perimeter.”The team had barely retreated to the gate when steady footsteps echoed once more from the stairwell.A burly masked man gripped a compact submachine gun, bowed his head and muttered coldly into his earpiece. “Only three officers. Engage.”A lethal trap lurking in the shadows had zeroed in on Kane and his two companions.Footsteps echoed inside the courtyard near the west gate, drawing a tight frown from Kane.The SUV that had rescued Gannon was long gone, yet two masked hitmen had stayed behind, advancing slowly toward the perimeter wall with their firearms raised.“Open fire,” ordered the man wearing a pig mask into his communications earpiece.The assassin in the stairwell raised his folded submachine gun and unleashed a hail of bullets toward

Jude flew into a rage on the spot, berating Ezra for acting arbitrarily and launching an operation without proper approval, deliberately severing every tie to the incident.Cole spoke in a calm, detached tone. “The chief has summoned me for questioning.”Jude immediately feigned willingness to attend the inquiry, only to make up sudden physical discomfort as an excuse to back out. The second he hung up the call, he dialed his higher-up contacts to frantically shift blame. He framed the whole fiasco as Ezra’s reckless pursuit of merit and hasty law enforcement work, while subtly insinuating Cole had piled excessive pressure on him. He claimed he was still new to the position and powerless to rein in Ezra’s actions.A suffocating silence hung over the small police station conference room.Colin fixed Cole with a cold stare. “Heavy casualties have occurred within our jurisdiction, and the suspects got away. How do you explain this?”Cole openly accepted full administrative accountability

Pingdao District serves as the heavy industry heart of Zone Seven, packed with factories and automobile manufacturing workshops. Withered poplar trees line both sides of the road. Brown leans against the curb smoking a cigarette, sharp menace burning in his eyes.A snow-caked off-road vehicle pulls over slowly, and its high beams flicker off. Two bodyguards in leather jackets press gun muzzles against Brown’s skull. Brown yanks open his coat to reveal the firearm holstered at his waist.“We’re just people in the same trade. There’s no need for hostility.”A middle-aged man in the backseat gestures for the guards to stand down. Brown tosses his car keys to the driver and tells the man to drive his own vehicle away before sliding into the driver’s seat of the off-road SUV.The employer stares down at his phone. “You know the route?”“I know every inch of this territory.” The vehicle rumbles onto a dirt country road, and Brown breaks the silence. “Your cushy jobs within the system are fa

Inside the restroom of the Police Superintendent’s logistics wing, a police officer dialed numbers over and over, yet every call failed to get through. He was a mole planted by Brown within the police force. Holding critical intelligence he could not transmit, he had missed the window to send out an early warning.At the same time, Ellington headed to Black Street in three vehicles alongside Pembroke and more than a dozen loyal subordinates. Weston led his team to rush over in support via Shiyuan Avenue concurrently.Inside the car, Maeve wore a look of deep worry and urged Ellington to put the operation on hold, fearing it would jeopardize their escape plan.Ellington’s expression turned icy cold. “The checkpoints have been lining their pockets with my bribes for years. They won’t dare stop me. I’ve lost my rank and my reputation. I will avenge my son’s death, no matter what it takes.”Upon arriving at the scene, Ellington publicly posted a bounty: one hundred thousand US dollars for

The entire illegal firearms trade survived entirely on official protection. Every single link—stockpiling goods, distributing shipments, and cross-jurisdictional transport—relied on bribes and silent complicity from police officers and checkpoint staff. With Ellington’s fall, the entire profit chain had been severed at its roots.Internal affairs investigators and military provost marshals launched coordinated crackdowns. Over more than ten days, dozens of low-ranking police officers and active-duty service members were arrested. Novara’s underground gun market was completely shut down, forcing all firearms traffickers, big and small, to go underground and lie low.Cruz was swamped with dual pressures. He tracked down Ellington’s whereabouts on one front while coordinating with multi-department joint investigations on the other, working nonstop day in and day out.......At noon, after grabbing a quick meal in the police superintendent’s cafeteria, Cruz headed to Cole’s office with ca