Chapter 791: Chapter 35: Erasing Traces, Settling Scores, and… Luck
The city’s traffic gradually began to recover, but the theater lockdown has yet to be lifted. Now the police are conducting another hazard check, gathering evidence, and cleaning the scene.
These follow-up actions are naturally handed over to second-line personnel for handling, while teams like Storm Squad and riot squads have already received orders to begin withdrawal.
The bodies of the criminals have been bagged and are being moved one by one, finally loaded onto a specialized transport vehicle. The driver had just checked a newly delivered body… Heard it was a high-profile wanted criminal?
But hasn’t he already died? The driver shook his head, watching the body movers head back into the theater, while he himself leaned on the vehicle’s front, chit-chatting with colleagues and smoking.
It was due to the driver’s negligence at this moment that he failed to notice a shadow silently slipping into the partment filled with corpses in the night.
In the darkness, this figure’s appearance remained unclear, yet it seemingly faced no obstacles moving within the partment.
The sound of a zipper being pulled.
Opening the bag revealed an evidently shriveled corpse. The corpse was still covered with blue liquid—or perhaps blood.
This was undeniably Roger’s body.
The shadow took out two items from its bosom; one was a peculiar spray, and the other, a small syringe containing silver liquid.
It sprayed Roger’s body with the mist, and immediately, the blue liquid restored its dark red color.
Then, it inserted the syringe at Roger’s heart until the silver liquid was fully injected, then placed its palm over Roger’s chest.
In the dark, the palm emitted a faint glow. Instantly, Roger’s body seemed to experience a strong electric shock, bouncing suddenly.
Once, then again, several times before it retracted its palm.
Roger’s body, when delivered, looked extremely frightening; it was pletely shriveled, veins visible, turning blue, an extraordinarily bizarre appearance. Yet, after several operations, all traces vanished.
Though the body remained shrivelled, no valuable elements could be found… The body was not destroyed, but the traces were erased.
“Cleanup task pleted, key search failed, soul gathering task failed, target’s soul has vanished, presumed to have dissipated.”
In the darkness, a voice echoed, surprisingly youthful.
Another voice quietly sounded by its ear, “Dissipated? Roger’s soul should be a Pseudo-Spirit, not likely to dissipate easily… Could Paradise Island have misjudged? The key went missing? That’s troublesome, though the key is useless on its own, as the activator is with us… Forget it, evacuate immediately and await the next task. There are others akin to Roger in this country.”
“Understood…”
It knew, according to Paradise Island, souls in the mainland are roughly divided into two types—those having genuine Holy Spirit, and the deceptive Pseudo-Spirit.
Genuine Holy Spirit may, due to falling into darkness, transform into Pseudo-Spirit but still evolve from Holy Spirit—the evaluation agency specifically set up on Paradise Island where it was born.
Of course, this agency’s assessment may not always be accurate, historically showing a success rate of about sixty-seven point eight percent, so errors aren’t surprises.
For Roger not being a Pseudo-Spirit, it felt nothing, even somewhat relieved—because retrieving and preserving Pseudo-Spirit or Holy Spirit require extreme caution, adding much hassle.
Leaving easily was naturally preferable.
“Special Matters Handling Group, Code 03, evacuate…” it whispered softly.
It then vanished into the darkness, as if it never came… Shortly after, new corpses were delivered, and the driver busied himself once more with ‘loading’.
…
…
“Mr. Billy was shot and is unconscious?”
Outside the theater, upon hearing this news, Dr. Ferenc’s face changed slightly. This matter was directly confirmed to him by Mr. Billy’s bodyguard, thus evidently correct.
“Doctor, Mr. Billy has been immediately taken to the hospital’s operations room for surgery. Shall I arrange a vehicle to send you home?” The bodyguard appeared somewhat indifferent towards Dr. Ferenc’s attitude.
In fact, he too was wounded, yet prioritized arranging matters for Dr. Ferenc before seeking immediate treatment himself, displaying utmost consideration.
“When… will he regain consciousness?” Dr. Ferenc lowered his voice after a glance around, “Our talk with Layton pany this time…”
“Doctor!” The bodyguard suddenly interjected sternly, suppressing his anger, “I understand your dedication to the satellite launch, but I implore you to acknowledge Mr. Billy’s current condition! Discuss this matter post-recovery! Additionally, those guests from Layton pany have seemingly departed, likely discontent with the negotiation, potentially altering our prior agreed terms… Should the other party’s conditions or pricing rise excessively… Doctor, best be mentally prepared, our resources after all are limited!”
“I… I understand. Can I wait at the hospital for Mr. Billy to wake up?”
“No need, I’ll arrange transport to take you home! Besides, I need treatment too, Doctor, goodbye.”
Dr. Ferenc sighed, watching the bodyguard leave, obliging himself to follow the newly arrived driver.
“Doctor, are we heading home?” Evidently familiar with Dr. Ferenc’s schedule, the driver spoke lightly, smiling.
Dr. Ferenc shook his head, contemplating, “No, take me back to the university’s lab. There’s some data I wish to review.”
The driver praised, “Doctor, you are truly a remarkable person!”
Dr. Ferenc said nothing, closing his eyes—but upon closure, he seemed to witness endless flames, obliterating everything instantaneously.
Ruins and desolation, alone he knelt at the explosion’s site, everything fading into nothingness…
…
Outside on the street, a directive vehicle received an elderly guest at the moment.
This guest was the Senate Speaker, Poway.
The Security Minister appeared somewhat uneasy at the time… The elderly figure possessed tremendous authority, and his family exerted a formidable influence over the nation.
For someone like him, who rose purely through his efforts and although now capable of resistance, he must prudently safeguard his reputation…
“Senate Speaker, Roger’s theater hijacking this time revealed our inadequate intelligence efforts, causing you distress… Upon returning, I’ll rigorously overhaul the department, weed out those idle ones!” The Security Minister conveyed, albeit ineffectively, just enough to express remorse.
“What about the President and others?” Poway calmly queried while seating, aided by a panion.
“Post-hostage resolution, the President and Cabinet promptly withdrew,” the Security Minister replied urgently, “Given external insecurity, unaware of residual criminal elements.”
“Did they retreat, or never even appeared?” Poway abruptly questioned.
The Security Minister stammered silently, eventually suggesting, “Senate Speaker, considering your condition, should I arrange an immediate check-up for you?”
Poway snorted, “No need, I’ve engaged a family doctor already. I’m here for some matters with you.”
The Security Minister, prehending, quickly vacated other personnel from the directive vehicle, leaving only himself and Speaker Poway, then earnestly said, “Speak.”
Poway extended two fingers, “Two matters. First, Jose’s demise leaves the Rio Police Department’s chief position vacant, I have several candidates to remend, evaluate whom fits.”
The Security Minister’s expression turned slightly displeased—in reality, prior to the senior’s arrival, multiple other figures municated similar notions.
“Is there an issue? Or perhaps, do you hold a candidate? If so, I’ll refrain from remending,” Poway benevolently glanced at the Security Minister.
“No, none,” the Security Minister quickly replied, “Anyone you remend must be a rare talent, I’ll consider carefully… Now, what is the second matter?”
Poway squinted, “I heard four severe criminals were released this time, one named Moria, correct?”
“He’s dead.”
Poway said: “For people who pose a great danger to society like this, why should we keep them? Simply sentencing them to prison is meaningless to them! Therefore, it’s best if they’re dead.”
“You’re right.” The Minister of Security nodded, having no objections to Poway’s viewpoint.
“However, it’s a pity that only one of them died.” Poway sighed and shook his head, saying: “If the other three had died in this fight, it would actually be a good thing for us.”
It was heard that when the Senate Speaker was rescued, he was in the same room as Crocodile, seemingly having been tortured? It looked like it was a case of revenge… The Minister of Security made some calculations in his heart and quickly made a decision.
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, “Oh, how could I forget about this matter! I’ve heard that Crocodile was seriously injured as well, probably beyond rescue!”
“Oh? Is that so?” Poway smiled and then stood up, supporting his knees, “Oh dear, I fell today, I’m not sure where I got hurt. I must go back and check it out.”
“Please, take care…”
“By the way, is Crocodile the only one who couldn’t be rescued?” Poway asked suddenly before getting off the car.
The Minister of Security gritted his teeth and said: “It seems that Bucky is also in a similar situation. As for Doflamingo… in fact, he was the insider which allowed us to successfully plete the rescue operation.”
Poway gave the Minister of Security a meaningful glance before nodding lightly and calmly saying: “This old body of mine… I hope the Congress can operate normally next Monday.”
“Please, take care…”
After Poway left, the Minister of Security finally breathed a sigh of relief… At last, he managed to send away this great Buddha.
He shook his head, called over the waiting secretary, and instructed in a low voice: “Crocodile, Bucky… deal with them.”
The secretary quickly nodded, “Understood!”
…
Delivering prisoners back is totally different from sending them in – the crisis was resolved after all.
Nonetheless, the escort cars were still tight, with police cars guarding both front and back. However, pared to the initial armed helicopter escort, it naturally couldn’t pare.
Yet the military won’t be casually mobilized – the factors involved are many, it is better not to elaborate.
Inside the prisoner car.
Crocodile hadn’t e back to his senses yet.
But even if he did e back to his senses, it wouldn’t help, because he was surrounded by heavily armed officers, and moreover wearing a straitjacket, pletely cutting off the possibility of struggle.
The leading police car suddenly stopped, causing the entire convoy of escort cars to naturally stop as well. All around was desolate land – as this was the highway leading to the suburban prison.
“Let’s get out and grab a smoke, take a break.” The driver captain suddenly suggested.
Everyone readily agreed, leaving only one guard in the prisoner car. Seeing everyone chatting outside, he nodded, then took out packs of tissue, placing them layer by layer on Crocodile’s face.
Only after finishing covering with four packs of tissue did he unscrew the bottle of mineral water, slowly soaking the tissue!
In his unconscious state, Crocodile suddenly came back to his senses, trying with difficulty to move his body – but he couldn’t move, as the straitjacket didn’t allow his hands any freedom, and his body was being pressed down.
He made angry sounds from his throat, trying to use his tongue to pierce the damp tissue covering his face… however, the thickness of dozens of sheets left him helpless.
His legs struggled, showing extreme pain, yet the officer held down his body tightly.
Finally, Crocodile’s legs stopped moving.
Silently.
Only after more than ten minutes did the officer remove the tissue from Crocodile’s face, then acted as if nothing had happened.
By this time, the captain returned to driving, the group continued as usual towards the prison.
…
Bucky attempted to get into good relations with the people on the car; he was excessively thirsty and hoped for some water. Besides, the escort seemed to have dead-fish eyes and didn’t speak, which made Bucky, who liked lively conversations, feel bored to the point of moldiness.
“Hey, are you new here? Why haven’t I seen you before?” Bucky looked at the lad next to him.
This prison car came from the prison he was originally at, and he even recognized the driver. But this guard lad next to him seemed unfamiliar – speaking of which, besides this lad, he didn’t seem to have any impression of the others either?
“Yes, is there a problem?” The guard lad replied.
Bucky shrugged at this: “Listen, as soon as I get back, immediately prepare hot water for me; I want a good wash and a late-night snack, or I won’t sleep well. Also, have Bona e to my room tonight.”
“Who is Bona?” The guard lad asked curiously.
Bucky casually said: “She’s the secretary from the Warden’s office, don’t you know her?”
The guard lad didn’t respond, merely furrowing his brows. At this moment, Bucky suddenly said: “Stop the car, stop the car!! Cage, stop for me!!! Did you hear me!”
The driving captain looked back through the grid, “Boss Bucky, we’ll be at the prison in half an hour, why stop now?”
“Shit! I have to pee!!” Bucky grimaced and said: “I just realized, when I was at the theater, I intended to go to the toilet but haven’t gone until now!! It’s no good, I’m unable to hold it!! Stop quickly, or I’ll lose control of myself!!”
“Boss Bucky, can you hold on a bit? We’re almost there after all…” The captain tried to persuade.
Bucky said fiercely: “Do you want to die? Damn it, I’m about to pee my pants!! Cage, I’m telling you, if you don’t stop and let me wet my clothes, you can pack up and get out!! Don’t think about taking your pension either!”
“This… it’s hard to stop here.” Cage looked at the guards in the prisoner car with difficulty.
The guard lad said calmly at this moment, “Let him deal with it, otherwise it will dirty the place.”
“Alright then…”
The prisoner car stopped beside the highway.
As soon as it stopped, Bucky hurriedly ran out. His hands were handcuffed but it didn’t hinder him from unbuttoning his pants. Bucky looked around at the desolation, with only an advertisement board nearby.
He shook his head and went straight to the advertisement board, taking out his stuff, ready to relieve himself – however, just as the urgency was resolved, Bucky suddenly felt intense abdominal pain.
Shit… did he eat something unclean at the theater café?
His stomach was upset, Bucky turned back, “Do you have any tissues… SHIT!!!”
At the moment he turned back, Bucky saw the guard lad pointing a gun at his back. Startled, he rolled on the ground without a second thought, not minding the patch he had just wet, rolling to the other side of the advertisement board.
“Damn!!” The guard lad stomped his foot, just missed by a second! How did this guy suddenly turn back?
But this wasn’t the time for frustration, he hurriedly led people to chase.
When several guards rounded the corner, they found no trace of Bucky, but the guard lad saw another shadow quickly board the prisoner car!
“It’s him!”
And Bucky indeed returned to the prisoner car, and even to the driver’s seat. He looked at the panicked driving captain Cage and quickly said: “Listen, Cage! I don’t care if you want to kill me, but I can give you money! I have tons of money! If I can safely escape here, I can give you enough money to spend for a lifetime! So… drive!”
The driving captain Cage took less than a second to decide between capturing Bucky and earning Bucky’s gratitude, resolutely choosing… to drive!
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