"You may think I wouldn’t dare!" The thug said calmly, "If we get caught, our group would be executed a hundred times over, so talk of surrender is useless. Unless you kill us all, we will never be captured by you."
John Harris shouted angrily, "You absolutely cannot harm the hostages, or we will never let you get away with it."
"Haha... whether we kill the hostages or not, the outcome is the same if we’re caught. So save your breath. I’m giving you ten minutes to think. If not, in ten minutes, you’ll have to start collecting bodies."
This put John Harris in a tough spot. Agreeing to the thug’s demands would be like letting the tiger back into the mountain, leaving them with a huge responsibility. But refusing the thugs, risking harm to the hostages, also placed a significant burden on them.
"Ten minutes, it goes by fast." The thug said again, then dragged the hostage back. As he retreated inside, there was suddenly a gunshot. The hostage’s body fell forward.
However, the hostage wasn’t dead; it was just that the other leg got shot, and they were lying on the ground howling in pain.
"I’m just letting you know, we aren’t afraid to take action. This time, I shot him in one leg. Next time, we’ll definitely send out a corpse." Another thug’s voice came from inside.
"Help me! Help me!" The hostage lay on the ground, raising a hand and shouting towards the police.
John Harris raised his hand and said, "Quick, rescue the hostage."
The ordinary police officers didn’t dare go forward, but luckily there were special forces present. Immediately four of them rushed over, and James Brown also dashed forward.
Everyone was too tense to notice who he was, all eyes were on the museum entrance. If the thugs inside started shooting, those five rescuers would be in danger.
But the thugs didn’t open fire. The five quickly carried the hostage back, while James Brown didn’t help carry the hostage but swiftly checked the inside situation. However, just after entering the museum entrance, there was a decorative screen blocking the view from outside. To charge inside beyond that point, there would be no cover, making a stealth entrance impossible.
After retreating, everyone gathered around the hostage, still paying no attention to James Brown. Alice Brown was also secretly filming the rescue scene with a pinhole camera, knowing it was a rare shot.
"Chief N, what do we do now?" Several leaders surrounded John Harris, all frowning.
John Harris was agonizing over the decision. This was truly a tough order. After some thought, he said, "Let’s stall for a bit. Helen Wilson’s inside, let’s see if she can come up with something."
Alice Brown managed to film Helen Wilson inside, so clearly the police could get this information too. Given her recent major case breakthroughs, everyone’s expectations for Helen Wilson were quite high.
A special police officer quickly approached John Harris and whispered, "Chief N, Helen secretly made some gestures, telling us there are eight thugs inside, with six pistols, a submachine gun, and two grenades discovered."
John Harris was startled. The information was too critical and shocking. This wasn’t a movie, and obtaining firearms in this country was extremely difficult. Yet these eight had such an arsenal, including a submachine gun and grenades, practically forming a small combat unit.
Faced with such thugs, even a direct assault would likely incur casualties, especially with hostages at risk, they were wary of making a move.
A voice from inside shouted, "Chief N, five minutes have passed, five more minutes, then we’ll start killing hostages."
John Harris immediately shouted back, "You need to give us some time. This is not a decision I can make alone; I need to consult with city leaders."
"Whether it’s city leaders or not, you’re the Public Security Bureau chief, it’s up to you. Five minutes, get ready, or we’ll start killing hostages."
"Five minutes is too short, even if I agree now, we can’t prepare in time. Give us ten more minutes."
"Four minutes left." They ignored John Harris, continuing to count down.
"Chief N, what should we do?"
John Harris was still hesitating.
"I think we shouldn’t agree to their demands. If they escape, it’s our dereliction."
"What if they kill the hostages if we don’t comply?"
"We can only do our utmost to protect the hostages. Such vicious criminals, if left free, will commit bigger crimes. So, even at a great cost, we must bring them to justice."
"Unless we completely disregard hostage safety for a direct assault, any other action won’t eliminate all thugs at once. The rest will retaliate against hostages. If they set off grenades, casualties could be huge."
Some were for complying with thug demands, others opposed. Both sides had their reasons.
"Bang!" Just as they hadn’t decided, a gunshot rang from the museum, and a body was thrown out, rolling twice on the ground, lying still, blood gushing from its forehead.
"That’s the first one, you have ten more minutes. If you still don’t agree, we’ll kill two more. With plenty of hostages here, we could kill for hours." A thug laughed maniacally from inside.
John Harris’s face darkened as he shouted, "Fine, I agree to your demands, just stop harming the hostages."
In this situation, hostage safety had to be prioritized. Their earlier assumption that thugs wouldn’t dare kill was wrong; these thugs not only dared but did so decisively.
Alice Brown saw the dead body, feeling nausea churning her stomach, almost vomiting. Clutching James Brown’s arm, her body trembled.
James Brown grasped Alice’s hand, squeezing her thumb’s base hard, hurting her nearly into a scream, though easing her discomfort significantly.