Finally, everything was ready. They had spent a lot of effort and secretly transported their equipment to the United States. With the conditions met, the prison break plan finally commenced.

The Federal Prison wasn't completely sealed. Although Heidel's identity was quite sensitive and DHS had assigned people to keep an eye on him, they couldn't prevent him from using others to establish contact with the outside world.

According to the detailed briefing from the black doctor, Heidel had made extensive preparations. On one hand, he used money and threats via his mercenary brothers outside to secure a certain degree of freedom in prison by winning over a prison boss, which also allowed him to use some underground channels for material exchange with the outside. On the other hand, he actively kept in contact with his brothers outside and adjusted their plans based on investigation results.

This month felt very fulfilling, and most of their communications were not detected by DHS and the prison officials. The saying that cats are good at finding clever ways holds true for people with capability, manpower, and money; they can do well anywhere.

A special agent was delivered to Heidel through gang channels. Shortly after injecting himself in the abdomen, he was diagnosed with appendicitis by the prison doctor, requiring an appendectomy, and thus came the information from Jimmy via Mahong.

Heidel arranged for someone to investigate the hospitals partnering with the prison and identified the target doctor. When the doctor left the hospital, they impersonated him, giving Heidel a shot of a special drug and a painkiller upon his arrival. They left during the examination, and then, with the help of other mercenary corps members, prepared to head to the US-Canada border. Using the time difference in international coordination, they could smoothly exit from Canada and return to their base.

The operation proceeded smoothly. With the mercenaries' assistance, Heidel escaped the hospital and entered the suburban woods. Others took him to a pre-arranged doctor for emergency treatment, and finally, they began their westward and northward escape.

That was when DHS started to shut down transportation. After sustained contact, Agent Raymond arranged to lock down the Albany line, cutting off the northern route. Heidel and the others began moving west toward Lake Ontario.

Later, they were spotted near Snow City. Agent Raymond's judgment was correct. He concentrated most personnel to intercept them at Snow City, forcing them to flee via land into the northeast forest, leading to news of different agents being attacked in Snow City—a deviation from their expectations.

The last person seen in the forests was actually arranged at a transfer point during their preparations. He had received notification from Heidel to change the escape route but didn't meet them at the expected time.

Unable to reach Heidel for an update, he could only retrace their path in reverse until he heard a helicopter. Initially just scouting the forest's edge to see if Heidel had been captured, he was instead spotted by Jimmy, preventing a possible helicopter attack, and managed to capture someone alive in the forest.

It's now beyond their original timeframe; at subsequent transfer points and near the border, standby personnel likely escaped. Agent Raymond can only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

DHS's special squads arrived at the command center only last night. Raymond communicated with the squad leader about the current situation, gave them a few hours of rest, and early today, two helicopters took off again. They carried two teams to the transfer point and border revealed by the captured person, attempting to seize the last few people; no news has come yet.

Agent Raymond did not withhold any critical information this time and shared all their leads with Mahong and Jimmy. But given the amount of information they received, it's almost certain that the captured person Jimmy brought back yesterday must be having a tough time now. The quickest method to extract a confession involves coercion, violence, and torture, possibly leading to physical harm.

Since DHS was integrated from multiple departments, including some special divisions like certain CIA offices and other intelligence agencies, they are certainly skilled and familiar with interrogation. Referencing the CIA's style, one could imagine what kind of mess these people might make; for instance, the notorious Guantanamo Prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a U.S. naval base.

Guantanamo Prison is the most infamous and well-known overseas prison of the United States. Besides some proclaimed terrorists, the CIA also detains their targets here, subjecting them to waterboarding, electric shocks, beatings, physiological punishment, asphyxiation, and various imaginable and unimaginable forms of torture.

Jimmy originally wanted to see the suspect, but hearing so much from Raymond, he decided against it to avoid nightmares. Raymond would reject such requests outright.

Seeing that everything seemed to be ending, Mahong inquired when their mission could conclude, but the response was that they needed to wait a bit longer, preferably until the case ends here before leaving.

However, Raymond did hope Mahong and Jimmy could visit the hospital to see the wounded FBI SRT group members on his behalf, not representing DHS, but just as a personal gesture. The formal appreciation would come from him personally at the SRT training base.

It wasn't too big a deal; since they couldn't return yet, wandering around was better than idling at the command center. Mahong and Jimmy left Raymond's tent, headed to the car park, and Mahong opted for Jimmy's car instead.

They bought some flowers and gifts and arrived at the hospital address Raymond gave them. Roy, whom they had met before, hadn't left yet and was still there, though the other two team members were absent, likely having returned to their base.

Roy was quite courteous when he met Jimmy and Mahong, greeting the two wards members in the ward. Then, talking about the deceased team member, Roy's face turned very somber, his expression pained, even slightly despondent as if he might cry. After a few consoling words, Jimmy and Mahong left the hospital.

On the way back, Jimmy and Mahong chatted a bit. The honeymoon had just ended recently, and it was the perfect time to show off in front of friends, inevitably.

But after a while, Jimmy suddenly remembered something: "Mahong, can I ask you a personal question, about that woman you were with last time..."

Mahong quickly interrupted Jimmy: "OK, let's end this topic. We have no special relationship, just friends and work-related."

Jimmy glanced at Mahong, then looked back at the road, thinking to himself that he thought Mahong wanted to start anew after the divorce, only to find out it wasn't so.

Jimmy: "Alright, let's change the topic. How's Neil doing now?"

Mahong sighed: "Well, he's alright now."

Jimmy asked in surprise: "Shouldn't you be happy that he's alright?"

Mahong: "There's nothing happy about it. He still isn't free, just jumped from one quagmire into another."

Jimmy thought for a moment and understood: "Is he going to Washington, D.C.?"

Mahong nodded: "I've been in touch with Peter, we met up, and what followed was handled by Peter and Neil. I don't know what methods they used, but Neil is indeed okay now. When his sentence is over, he'll go to DC as a specially appointed consultant for headquarters, teaming up again with Peter."

Jimmy: "Heh, they found him especially useful and can't bear to let him go, right?"

Mahong: "Yeah, not to mention other cases, in art theft cases, his role is indeed significant. Sometimes you have to admit, some people are real geniuses in certain areas."

Jimmy: "Alright, since the outcome is already determined, you should cherish the remaining time you have together. By the way, since he's leaving New York, you should try to get some contacts from him. You don't need to always keep in touch, but they can be crucial in key moments, like Mosquito."

Mahong glanced at Jimmy, thinking this kid is somewhat dark-hearted. Neil's friends mostly naturally stand opposite the FBI; contacting them would scare off a bunch of people.