The Ultimate Epic Fail Influencer

Chapter 6

Ella Rogers swiftly pulled her standard-issue smartphone from her tactical vest. Her fingers flew across the cracked screen as she rapidly accessed the police department's secure internal database. Bringing up the high-resolution mugshot attached to the active warrant for the notorious criminal, she held the glowing device downward. Her sharp eyes darted back and forth, meticulously comparing the digital image of the rugged, fierce face on her screen with the agonizingly contorted features of the injured thief groaning in a heap on the cold asphalt.

A sudden, sharp gasp escaped her lips. "Hold on a second!" she commanded, her authoritative voice suddenly trembling with a mixture of sheer disbelief and adrenaline. "This man who just got run over is absolutely not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill pickpocket! He is an incredibly dangerous, Class-A Wanted Fugitive! His name is John Baxton!"

The moment that infamous name echoed against the brick walls of the narrow alleyway, an absolute, suffocating silence instantly descended upon the entire scene.

"Wait, what did she just say? Did I hear that correctly? This guy is not just a petty thief?" a bystander finally stammered, shattering the eerie quiet. "He is a federally wanted fugitive? And a Class-A one at that?"

"John Baxton! I have definitely heard that terrifying name on the news before!" an older man shouted, his eyes widening in horror as he pointed an accusing finger at the squirming figure. "He is the exact same monster who committed all those massive, high-profile robberies across multiple provinces a few years ago!"

"Yes, you are absolutely right! I remember reading those horrible headlines too!" another woman chimed in, shivering slightly as she glared at the discarded weapon on the ground. "No wonder he was carrying such a massive, lethal blade on him! He was fully prepared to violently fight to the bitter end and drag innocent people down with him if he was ever cornered by the authorities!"

The surrounding crowd completely erupted, their previous whispers escalating into a cacophony of furious, chaotic discussion.

"I vividly remember reading a heartbreaking article about him," a young mother said, her voice shaking with righteous indignation. "He maliciously stole the entire college tuition f*e from a poor, hardworking teenage girl who had just traveled from a remote farming village to study in the big city. Even though the actual amount of money was not astronomically high, maybe just a few thousand dollars, it represented an entire year of agonizing, backbreaking labor and strict frugality for her destitute family. The poor girl was so terrified and overwhelmingly guilty that she did not even dare to tell her parents what had happened. She suffered from such extreme, unbearable grief that she actually went into acute heart failure and tragically passed away in the back of a rushing ambulance!"

"Oh my god, I read that exact same news report! I think the stolen amount was barely even two thousand dollars!" a man replied, his face flushing crimson with anger. "In today's modern society, what can two thousand dollars even buy you? Yet, that meager amount was enough to completely extinguish the bright, promising life of an innocent high school girl!"

"Are you serious? I cannot believe something so profoundly evil actually happened!"

"It is the absolute truth! And it was exactly this sickening bastard, John Baxton, who committed that unforgivable atrocity! It seems this rabid dog has committed a mountain of wicked, irredeemable deeds in his miserable life!"

"He is an absolute animal! A total, irredeemable monster!"

The crowd seethed with an intense, burning fury. While the average citizen might easily forget the obscure names of typical criminals mentioned on the evening news, the infamous moniker of John Baxton was permanently seared into their collective memory. Although his extensive criminal record technically lacked direct charges of cold-blooded murder or armed bank robbery, his chosen methods were uniquely despicable. Every single one of his carefully selected targets was an incredibly vulnerable, defenseless person in desperate need of societal protection.

He preyed mercilessly on exhausted single mothers who were battling chronic illnesses yet still working multiple jobs to keep their fractured families afloat. He targeted elderly men who had spent over half their lives painstakingly collecting discarded cardboard and scrap metal just to afford a modest trip to see the outside world. He even robbed blind, homeless beggars playing the erhu on freezing pedestrian overpasses, callously snatching the meager coins from their donation bowls. John Baxton exclusively directed his malicious intent toward these tragic, pitiful individuals. He was the absolute, textbook definition of a cowardly bully who viciously terrorized the weak while actively avoiding any confrontation with the strong.

As these sickening memories resurfaced, the palpable rage radiating from the dense crowd reached a boiling point. The collective desire for immediate, brutal retribution hung heavily in the air. Several furious men actually bent down, their hands trembling with rage as they picked up heavy, jagged stones from the dirty pavement, fully prepared to execute this absolute parasite of society right there in the alleyway.

Seeing the situation rapidly deteriorating toward violent vigilante justice, Ella Rogers immediately sprang into action. She stepped protectively in front of the bleeding suspect, raising both of her hands high in the air to establish a firm physical barrier.

"Everyone, please step back and listen to me! I need all of you to refrain from acting on your immediate impulses!" she shouted, her commanding voice cutting sharply through the chaotic roaring of the mob. "Look closely at his current state. He has already been severely incapacitated and practically crippled by the delivery rider's vehicle. I give you my absolute, solemn guarantee that we will ensure he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and return a sense of rightful justice to every single one of his countless victims!"

Her powerful, impassioned words resonated deeply within the hearts of the furious onlookers. The heavy stones were slowly dropped back onto the pavement, and the crowd collectively nodded in reluctant, yet trusting agreement.

It was precisely at this emotionally charged moment that a staggering, collective realization suddenly washed over the entire gathered crowd.

"Wait a minute. If this crippled man bleeding on the ground is actually a highly dangerous, federally wanted fugitive, then does that mean this young delivery rider just caught him?" someone murmured, their eyes slowly widening.

As if entirely synchronized by an invisible conductor, every single pair of eyes in the alleyway simultaneously snapped away from the criminal and locked directly onto Sam Sparks. The crowd stared at him in absolute, dumbfounded awe. Nobody could quite comprehend the surreal reality of the situation. How could this seemingly ordinary, physically scrawny young man possess such an astronomical amount of raw courage?

It was a universally acknowledged fact that wanted fugitives were strictly categorized into three distinct threat levels. A Class-A designation was the absolute highest and most severe tier. It was exclusively reserved for deeply hardened criminals who had committed incredibly serious offenses and posed an active, extreme threat to public safety and social stability. Yet, against all logical odds, this humble food delivery rider had managed to violently apprehend a Class-A Wanted Fugitive entirely by himself!

"He truly is an outstanding pillar of our great nation!" an elderly man praised, his voice trembling with genuine admiration. "Even though he works a grueling job delivering takeout food, he still possesses the burning, righteous heart of a true hero! I bet this brave young brother instantly recognized the criminal's face from the wanted posters and deliberately struck him with such incredible, uncompromising force!"

"Just a few minutes ago, I was actually criticizing him for riding his scooter way too fast and recklessly. But looking at the situation now, I honestly think he was being far too gentle!" another bystander deduced, nodding his head in profound respect. "He should have completely snapped the bastard's legs in half to ensure he could never run again!"

The alleyway suddenly erupted into a thunderous, echoing round of spontaneous applause.

Simultaneously, the live chat on the shattered smartphone screen was undergoing an absolute, nuclear meltdown.

[Holy crap! John Baxton! I have definitely heard that terrifying name on countless true crime podcasts!]

[This is the exact same bastard who has been fleeing across the entire country, committing crimes that make people grind their teeth in absolute hatred!]

[I read somewhere that this guy possesses incredibly advanced anti-reconnaissance skills and knows exactly how to evade police tracking! That has to be completely true, otherwise, there is absolutely no logical way he could have evaded a nationwide manhunt for so many years!]

[I simply cannot believe that his reign of terror finally came to an abrupt, violent end at the hands of our streamer today!]

[This is way too incredible! I genuinely thought the streamer had just accidentally bumped into a random, unlucky pickpocket, but he actually managed to reel in an absolutely massive, legendary catch!]

[He actually had the raw guts to forcefully ram his vehicle straight into John Baxton! The streamer is not just creating entertaining internet content, he is literally putting his own life on the line for justice!]

[Hold on, I remember hearing that John Baxton usually restricted himself to theft and robbery, right? With the massive mountain of severe charges stacking up against him now, if he goes into a maximum-security prison, he is probably never going to see the light of day again!]

[You all know the old saying. When a desperate dog is pushed into a corner, it will furiously jump over the wall. When a vicious criminal is pushed to the absolute brink, there is no telling what kind of horrific violence they might unleash! Just look closely at the fact that he was carrying a massive, concealed blade in his pocket! That proves he fully intended for this hospital robbery to be his final, bloody masterpiece before going down fighting!]

[Oh my god! My entire scalp is tingling with fear! If the streamer had not struck him with such devastating, bone-shattering force, that criminal would have undoubtedly drawn his blade and started stabbing everyone in sight!]

[No wonder his initial impact was so unbelievably aggressive and fast! I finally understand the sheer brilliance of the streamer's tactics! When he yelled 'You go left, and I go right', it was actually a highly calculated psychological trap!]

[John Baxton was playing checkers on the first level, we viewers were playing chess on the third level, but the streamer is playing multi-dimensional chess in the absolute stratosphere!]

[This legendary rider is definitely not just delivering boxed lunches to hungry customers! He is literally delivering hardened criminals straight to the prison cafeteria!]

Sitting on the pavement and reading the wildly speculative comments flying across his screen, Sam Sparks felt his entire body go completely numb. His brain was practically short-circuiting from the sheer absurdity of the internet's imagination.

What in the world did they mean by 'striking him with deliberate, uncompromising force'? He had desperately squeezed the brakes with every ounce of his strength, frantically trying to stop! But that heavily modified electric scooter simply refused to cooperate! From the very second he twisted the throttle, that mechanical beast had launched forward at blinding speeds! The initial acceleration was so violently powerful that it could have easily flipped a stubborn mule straight onto its back, let alone a fragile human being!

Furthermore, was this mysterious system seriously playing things on such an astronomically dangerous scale?

"My very first broadcasting challenge directly involves violently crashing into a Class-A Wanted Fugitive?" Sam Sparks screamed internally, his heart hammering wildly against his ribs. "I honestly thought I was just going to be dealing with some minor, insignificant misfortune! Instead, I ended up catching a terrifying, bloodthirsty shark!"

He possessed absolutely zero prior knowledge regarding John Baxton's identity or his extensive criminal history. But based on the sheer panic and hype flooding his live chat, was it truly necessary to describe the man like some kind of mythical, unstoppable demon? Why were they suddenly bringing up life-and-death stakes and hidden blades? Even though he did not fully understand the exact depth of the criminal's wicked nature, the simple fact that the man had earned a Class-A fugitive designation guaranteed that his dangerous capabilities were absolutely nothing to be underestimated.

As the adrenaline of the situation continued to peak, the live broadcast chat transitioned from frantic text into a mesmerizing, overwhelming visual spectacle.

[User 'Snow Falling Listens to the Wind' has generously gifted: Dream Hot Air Balloon!]

[User 'Cloud Walker' has generously gifted: Romantic Fireworks Display!]

[User 'Sweet Heart Cookie' has generously gifted: Heartbeat Rose Bouquet!]

[User 'Gentle Night Breeze' has generously gifted: Dreamy Bubble Machine!]

The digital gifts raining down upon his screen this time were entirely different from the cheap, basic icons he had received earlier. Every single one of these premium items triggered a massive, screen-shaking visual effect that illuminated his display in vibrant colors. Based on his extensive past experience of quietly watching popular female streamers late at night, Sam Sparks knew for an absolute fact that these specific special effects were incredibly expensive to purchase!

"The sheer, unrestrained power of the internet is truly terrifying!" he murmured to himself, his eyes reflecting the flashing digital fireworks. "There are barely over five hundred concurrent viewers currently sitting in my room, yet the sheer volume and monetary value of the gifts they are throwing at me is absolutely staggering! If my viewer count miraculously breaks past several thousand, or even tens of thousands, the profit will be insane!"

He aggressively clicked his tongue, a wave of dizzying greed and excitement washing over him.

"No wonder so many people flock to this highly competitive industry, desperately fighting tooth and nail to become a successful streamer!" he realized, a bright smile slowly creeping onto his face. "Earning money like this is infinitely better than slaving away in a suffocating cubicle at a standard corporate job!"

In the brief span of just thirty seconds, the luxurious gift animations flashed aggressively across his screen dozens of times in rapid succession. Doing some quick, rudimentary mental math, he conservatively estimated that he had already accumulated several hundred dollars in pure, unadulterated profit!

But far more important than the immediate influx of cash was the massive surge in digital clout. Riding the crest of this incredible, unprecedented wave of viral attention, his total likes and channel follower count were skyrocketing at an absolutely terrifying pace. The private message inbox running in the background of his application instantly maxed out, displaying a bright red notification that simply read '99+'.

There were even a handful of wealthy, highly enthusiastic viewers who actively reached into their own pockets, spending premium digital currency to forcefully promote his channel onto the platform's trending front page! Attracted by the explosive controversy and the irresistible lure of a high-speed criminal takedown, numerous official news agencies and local media outlets began pouring into his live room, fully prepared to capture firsthand footage and secure exclusive quotes for the inevitable breaking headlines.