CHAPTER 95: CHAPTER 90: COVERING THE SKY WITH ONE HAND, ATTACK! (SEEKING FIRST SUBSCRIPTION)_1

In the pitch black, two dark red spots of light flickered uncertainly.

Surrounded by smoke.

Harry tossed away his cigarette butt, saying earnestly, "Dean, I do know a few things, but trust me, knowing these things is not good for you."

"It’s precisely because I trust you that I’m able to smoke with you calmly," Dean said without looking at Harry, his head down as he fiddled with a bullet. "Harry, you know my personality; I don’t like being lied to!"

"Alright," Harry said, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, sighing deeply. "Actually, I’ve wanted to tell you for a while, but I was afraid of getting you guys involved."

"I know who attacked Lincoln Farm!"

Dean was taken aback. He stopped fidgeting with the bullet and looked up at Harry in surprise. "Who is it?"

"Annan’s brother."

"Annan?" Dean was even more astonished. "Harry, are you saying that the person who attacked Lincoln Farm is Annan’s brother?"

Annan was Harry’s friend, the one who made fake IDs. He was of Chinese descent. Unfortunately, he’d taken in those two men from the Turing Gang and was subsequently killed.

"Yes, it should be him," Harry said, leaning somewhat helplessly against the back of the car. "Before, in Texas, I was having a good time when Annan’s brother showed up. He wore a black robe and a white mask that only showed his mouth and eyes, and he asked me for information about those two Turing Gang members. I told him that the two of them, using the Dagger Gang’s channels, had been smuggled to Mexico."

Dean was still somewhat skeptical. After all, according to the sniper, the person who hired them had offered over one hundred million US dollars—a high price—which made them take the risk. If Annan truly had such a wealthy brother, why on earth would he be making fake IDs? It’s not exactly a promising career.

"Dean, don’t look at me like that; I’m telling you the truth!" Harry started pacing, clearly agitated. "He’s a terrifying person. After finding out the whereabouts of those two, he was going to leave, but then the pimp managing those smuggled women saw him during a room check."

Harry held up a finger. "I didn’t even blink. Annan’s brother just opened his mouth, breathed out, and the pimp died, as effortlessly as crushing a bug!"

"He breathed on him?" Dean quickly asked. "Did you check the body?"

"No."

Harry shook his head. "Annan’s brother took the pimp away immediately. There wasn’t a drop of blood left on the ground, and I still don’t know how he did it.

"Such a person is terrifying. That’s why I didn’t talk about it after coming back.

"But a few days ago, he found me again. He said that the two weren’t sent away but were detained by the Dagger Gang. They were being held in a place where special chemical substances were made, and he wanted my help to locate it.

"I didn’t dare offend him, so I had to stealthily investigate based on the information he provided, and then..."

Harry, looking distressed, lit another cigarette and took a deep puff before continuing, "Then, I discovered that the Dagger Gang was actually working as a black glove for the Carmen Family. I used this clue, followed a particularly frequent farm order record, and located Lincoln Farm."

"After I found out that Senator Snetter was a member of the Carmen Family, I really didn’t want to deal with it anymore. So, I told Annan’s brother the investigation results and asked him not to disturb me again, and he agreed.

"But just four days had passed, and then such a big incident happened at Lincoln Farm."

Harry’s face showed a hint of guilt. He felt a great responsibility for the injuries Phoebe and the others had suffered. He was also a little frightened. He was the only one who knew information about Annan’s brother. If the other party had made such a big scene, would they suddenly show up, breathe on him, and silence him—the only witness? After revealing his inner secret, Harry couldn’t help but let his thoughts run wild.

Dean, however, turned his gaze towards the now-silent farm. The SWAT team was already cleaning up the bodies, but no sign of Dagger Gang members was found. Harry’s words had settled his previous curiosity. If the person who hired these mercenaries was truly Annan’s brother, then his motive was to avenge his own brother. Now, only one question remained: why would the Dagger Gang secretly move those two Turing Gang members to this hidden underground base? Coincidentally, this base was built to military standards, which was why the expendable mercenaries couldn’t breach it and were all wiped out. This reminded Dean of the heavy artillery he saw in Las Vegas, and the missile that finally obliterated the Turing Gang!

At this point, his heart skipped a beat. Santoni, the one who forged his father’s death certificate, couldn’t possibly be working for the Carmen Family, could he? That guy’s garage was also producing some kind of drug-related chemical! And the Dagger Gang had taken those two fleeing Turing members to such a location, likely for harsh interrogation. They probably wanted to force out details about how Santoni’s heavy artillery had been exposed.

If that was the case, wasn’t he in danger? This meant that the other side had cleaned up the issues Dean had caused earlier and were now on the trail of whoever disrupted their plans.

No, whether it’s true or not, I must find a way to test it!

Dean crushed the burnt-down stub of his cigarette and walked towards the farm.

Upon approaching, he realized that the atmosphere was a bit strange. A group of policemen dressed as patrol officers curiously watched the SWAT team carry bodies in and out. Some wanted to help but were directly stopped by the SWAT members guarding the door.

Dean noticed that all these bodies were dressed as armed mercenaries, but there was not a single one that resembled a civilian. This was different from what the sniper had said before he died. The mercenaries had killed all the people outside before attempting to breach the underground base. They were only held back by gunmen from the surrounding towns, which bought time until the police arrived. Where were those bodies?

"Dean?"

Hearing someone call his name, Dean looked towards the voice and saw Hawk, the bald patrol officer. He greeted him with a smile, "Buddy, how’s it going? Did you wet yourself earlier?"

"Didn’t wet myself, but got soaked pretty bad. All I want now is to get off work, take a hot shower, and have a good night’s sleep," Hawk said, elbowing his way through the crowd to reach Dean. "Got a cigarette? Mine are all wet."

As he spoke, he gave Dean a knowing look. Dean followed his lead. "Let’s go. You’re in luck, I’ve still got two on me."

Avoiding the eyes of others, Hawk took the cigarette from Dean and muttered, "Dean, take my advice and stop looking for excitement. It’s best you forget all about this."

"Why?"

"You arrived late, you don’t know," Hawk whispered. "Did you know about the TV station’s helicopter earlier?"

"Yeah, but it seems like it wasn’t very lucky; it got shot down."

"Luck?" Hawk scoffed. "Cut it out. That chopper wasn’t brought down by criminals. I saw with my own eyes that the rocket was fired by one of the SWAT members who entered the farm. Someone wants to suppress this whole thing, so it’s better we don’t go looking for trouble."

Dean nodded and didn’t say anything.

Because there were too many bodies, someone eventually brought over a truck. Like it was collecting dead pigs, all those piled-up corpses were carted away.

There weren’t many injuries on the police side, partly because the mercenaries who broke out were few in number and also low on ammunition. Therefore, the Homicide and Robbery Division, Fourth Squad, ended up with the most injuries from the operation.

Before the retreat, apart from those taken away with injuries, everyone was gathered together. Two men claiming to be from the NSA produced confidentiality agreements for everyone to sign, forbidding those involved in the operation from disclosing any details.

Dean showed no reaction and signed the agreement along with everyone else.

After signing the agreement, everyone left one by one. And the ’dutiful’ SWAT members were still holding their positions, as if those war-torn, Syria-like buildings on the surface were some precious evidence.

This chaotic night battle finally came to a complete close.

「Ten o’clock at night.」

Detectives Bureau.

Dean, Harry, Lawrence, and Daisy, who had stayed behind, sat in the smoke-filled office, watching the news on the TV overhead, in silence.

They had witnessed firsthand an audacious cover-up.

The news said nothing about the TV station’s helicopter crash. The identities of over a hundred armed mercenaries were changed. They were stripped of their combat gear and dressed in ragged Middle Eastern clothes, their identity changed from mercenaries to refugees from Z-east.

Refugees who had sneaked in, seized the town’s gun store, and then attacked the innocent family at Lincoln Farm.

Luckily, the Los Angeles SWAT responded swiftly. Coordinating closely with various departments, they killed this inhumane ’refugee’ group within just two hours, upholding the safety and property of United States citizens.

In the meantime, a tall, fat man even held a press conference. He mourned the Lincoln family, who had died in the incident, and announced he would hold a charity event to arrange a grand funeral for them. This earned him quite a bit of public approval.

As for over a hundred heavily armed mercenaries or the Dagger Gang’s secret underground base?

Such a thing never existed!

The bustling Los Angeles had not undergone any terrorist attack!

It was all just a false alarm!

Harry, watching the moving, tearful, fat man on television, spat disdainfully. "That bastard, that’s Snetter."

Hearing that, Dean took a good look at the man on TV and memorized his appearance.

"He does look disgusting, but Harry, could you not spit everywhere? You’re pretty disgusting too," Daisy said as she turned off the TV, nursing a headache. "Now the captain and the others are in the hospital, and it’s just the four of us left in the Fourth Squad. What do we do if a case comes up?"

"If we can handle it, we handle it. If not, we pass it to another squad," Lawrence drawled, lounging nonchalantly in his chair. "Besides, we have Dean. I think he commands quite well."

Daisy thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. It seemed Dean had indeed found breakthroughs faster in the last few cases.

Dean was now preparing to go see Anthony to learn about some things, so he clapped his hands together. "Alright, guys, it’s getting late. Time to head off and rest."

Daisy scampered off. Lawrence planned to visit the hospital to check on Phoebe and the others. Harry, afraid of being silenced by Anbei, didn’t want to mess around anymore and decided to go along with Lawrence.

Dean waited for everyone to leave. He used Daisy’s access to look up some information, then shut down the computer and headed for the parking lot.

The Snet Family might be investigating the Las Vegas incident.

Dean now had some ability to defend himself and didn’t want to passively wait for potential danger. Anthony had specialized intelligence sources and might be able to offer some help.

Underground parking garage.

Dean walked through it. The CLICK-CLACK of his shoes on the cold concrete floor echoed around, adding to the emptiness and quietness. At this time, apart from the bureau’s on-duty staff, no one else could be seen.

Approaching his car, Dean took out his keys, about to get in.

Suddenly, his gaze swept across the gap in the car door. His pupils contracted. Without any hesitation, he rolled for cover behind a column, his hand now clutching a handgun!

Someone had tampered with his car!

Almost the instant he dodged, a steel needle whizzed through the air. It struck where Dean had been just moments before, grazing the car door and making a sharp, metallic PING...