In the direction of the airport, the LAPD Chief pressed the answer button, and on the other end was one of his police captains.
Several escape methods from the LAPD mentioned by Luo An earlier had been seemingly disregarded on the surface by the captains, but in reality, after the Chief left the Federal Bank, they immediately dispatched officers to search the multiple routes from the bank to the airport.
Upon careful inspection, some patrol officers really discovered a pile of explosives under a certain overpass, enough to blow up that section of the bridge.
"Excellent! Very good!"
The LAPD Chief kept praising this police captain; his old face was all smiles as he said:
"The time demanded by the robbers is almost up, right? We can let them drive to the airport now! We can catch them all in one fell swoop on the road or at the airport!"
Upon hearing his boss's words, the police captain on the other end of the phone seemed somewhat embarrassed.
After a few seconds of pause, he reported that the robbers had already been dealt with by the FBI, who sent a very young Deputy Group Leader from the Special Investigation Team alone into the bank, coordinating inside and out, taking down four robbers in one fell swoop.
The smile on the LAPD Chief's face froze, and he slowly fell silent.
After several seconds of contemplation, the police captain was about to speak when the LAPD Chief interjected once again:
"Then you should immediately contact the media; hold a press conference right now! We're better at this than the FBI!"
It was the FBI who killed the robbers, but the LAPD had been in control of the scene from start to finish, and they had discovered the explosives prepared by the robbers beforehand; there was credit to claim, so they had to make a big deal out of it now.
It didn't matter how big or small the work was; it had to be made known and seen.
As an old hand who had held the position of LAPD Chief for many years, it only took him a moment to come up with the speech he would give at the press conference.
And that Deputy Group Leader from the Special Investigation Team, Luo An Greenwood – the LAPD Chief found that he was an excellent talent worth more contact in the future.
The "Federal Bank" robbery case came abruptly and ended swiftly.
When Luo An boldly stepped out of the bank's main entrance, the case was smoothly declared closed.
Standing in front of the bank, Luo An lifted his head, looking toward the SWAT officers inside the police line, the rescued hostages; beads of sweat, dust on their faces; they were like stage lights, making Luo An's handsome face even more dazzling.
Frenzied like madmen, reporters nearby were furiously snapping away with their cameras, capturing the scene, with the occasional curses like "Where's my camera?" interspersed among them.
Reesi, standing behind Luo An and without a word, glanced over there, lifting her head and puffing out her chest, her expression unchanging; she knew nothing.
By that afternoon, the entirety of this bank robbery had reached the newspapers, news, and magazines.
After all, this is Hollywood, where being a minute late with news is disrespectful to the speed of the reporters here.
This bank robbery case, with the sincere cooperation between the FBI and LAPD, was cracked successfully, with the significant achievement of no casualties, all criminals deceased.
Due to the special request by Luo An and his team leader Potante Byrne, there were no photos of Luo An in the newspapers, only the line "Deputy Group Leader Luo An Greenwood of the FBI's Special Investigation Team" and a series of on-scene command reports.
The report also devoted a great deal of space depicting the eight robbers, and how Deputy Group Leader Luo An Greenwood alone entered the bank, taking down four of them single-handedly.
The journalist who wrote this piece seemed as if they might have scripted movies previously; through his writing, Luo An practically became a superhero right out of a film – valiant, fearless, brave, and cunning…
The federal culture has always revered the hero who single-handedly saves the world, and as soon as this report was published, the name Luo An Greenwood instantly echoed throughout Los Angeles, skyrocketing newspaper sales.
There were those who scoffed, saying that the reporters exaggerated and couldn't be believed.
But the hostages who witnessed the entire confrontation between Luo An and the robbers subsequently spoke out in force, emphatically stating that the reporters didn't lie, and even their descriptions paled next to the real Luo An; Luo An's handsome face was in no way inferior to those movie stars, with several female hostages even initiating love declarations from afar.
Because of these female hostages' words, the name Luo An Greenwood became even hotter, completely overshadowing the LAPD Chief's press conference, with nobody caring about the LAPD's discovery of the robbers' backup plan, let alone criticizing them.
As for the interior of the FBI Los Angeles Branch building, although Luo An's photos had not been published, with the word spreading among the participating SWAT team members, everyone in the building came to know of the young and handsome Deputy Group Leader who was Luo An.
So when Luo An, accompanied by Mona and Reesi, returned to headquarters, when he parked the car, and walked from the parking lot into the building's interior, the eyes of all the agents looked at him differently.
Some were fearful, some admiring, some frightened, some curious.
But regardless of what they were thinking deep down, when Luo An walked past them, all those emotions immediately turned into respect.
"Good afternoon, sir!"
"Sir, good afternoon!"
One by one, the agents greeted him.
Luo An nodded: "Good afternoon."
Without stopping, he took the elevator up to the Special Investigation Team's office area, and casually grabbed a chair to sit down in, stretching lazily.
"Now no one will look down on our Special Investigation Team anymore."
Mona and Reesi followed closely behind; Reesi casually poured herself a cup of coffee and smiled:
"But Luo An, with the fame you gained this time, solving cases might prove a bit troublesome in the future."
"Please call me Deputy Group Leader, thank you."
Luo An responded offhandedly, then shifted his chair closer to Mona.
Mona had hardly spoken to Luo An throughout the journey home, clearly because she was angry, worried about his safety during the operation.
He reached out to wrap his arm around Mona's slender waist, pressing down on her struggle of displeasure, and with a few sweet words dropped in, Mona's annoyance quickly dissipated by seventy to eighty percent.
Seeing this couple so blatantly affectionate in front of her, Reesi rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone to send a message to the landlord who had lent her the motorcycle.
Last night, she had learned something new at someone else's place, and Reesi wanted to show it to her landlord tonight.
Reesi quickly focused on her phone, wearing a smile and immersing herself in her own world, while Mona, having wriggled free from Luo An's embrace, said earnestly:
"Luo An, this operation was really too dangerous."
Luo An was just about to explain when Mona continued:
"I know you want to say you're confident, but bullets don't have eyes. How can you guarantee you won't get hurt every time?"
"Don't worry, Mona, it won't happen again."
Luo An blinked, with the system in his mind—a matter he would never tell anyone but himself—so he reassured Mona:
"After this incident is over, our Special Investigation Team will definitely be recruiting.
We can hire a few guys with great skills and sharp shooting, then I can just coordinate like Augustus from the main stage, and won't have to get my hands dirty."
Mona silently nodded and then gave a light kiss on the corner of Luo An's mouth.
Luo An held Mona in silence for a few seconds, then suddenly remembered the little thing he had found under the feet of the hacker's body.
Just as he was about to ask Mona, there came a knock on the door of the Special Investigation Team's office area.
Mona immediately separated from Luo An, and Reesi also lifted her head.
Luo An picked up his coffee and called out loudly:
The visitor pushed open the door with a serious face; it was the team supervisor, Potante Byrne.