"Hang in there, buddy..."
Owen and Jimmy personally carried Carter into the ambulance. After shutting the door, Owen gave the side of the vehicle a firm pat, and the sirens blared as the ambulance sped off.
In every operation, someone gets hurt—it was par for the course. But the thing they all dreaded most was losing someone. Carter had taken two rounds—one to the abdomen, one to the thigh. He'd likely suffer long-term effects. Even if he recovered, he probably wouldn't be able to stay with CTU.
Owen, Jimmy, and Heartbeat were also injured, but their wounds were superficial. The quick first aid they received in the ambulance had stabilized them for now.
"Boss, you've gotta see this—it's definitely something special..."
Members of the tactical team were escorting Zheng Anshun onto a BearCat. His leg was bandaged. Heartbeat stopped him, yanked off his body armor, and casually tossed it to Owen.
The moment Owen caught it, he noticed something was different. The vest wasn't standard issue—it was a model Owen had never seen before.
Beneath the ceramic plates, the inner filling material felt unlike the typical CRISAT body armor. Owen didn't know the exact composition, but one thing was clear: the vest had been hit multiple times without a single penetration.
During the earlier battle, several White Mask members had taken hits and stood back up—unless they were shot in a vital area. That vest had definitely saved lives. Owen found himself intrigued—this was the kind of gear that could mean the difference between life and death.
He looked at Zheng Anshun, but Zheng turned his head away, clearly unwilling to talk. Owen knew he wouldn't get anything for now and waved the tactical team on. Zheng was loaded into the vehicle.
Owen and his team climbed in as well, returning with the tactical unit to CTU headquarters.
In the interrogation room, CTU agents were getting nowhere with Zheng Anshun.
The man had an iron will and extensive counter-interrogation training. No matter what was said or done, he remained completely silent—like a mute.
Heartbeat glanced at the monitor and gave a slight shake of his head. With a master's degree in criminal psychology, he had plenty of interrogation tricks—but they all required the subject to open their mouth.
From a psychological standpoint, any form of verbal response signaled a crack in the mental defenses. Once that happened, it was just a matter of time. But Zheng didn't say a word. Heartbeat had no angle to exploit.
Tony looked to Owen, who also shook his head. He'd even tried some off-the-books methods—but still nothing.
Unfortunately, California had recently ramped up investigations into illegal interrogation practices. Jack Bauer had a long history in this regard and was already flagged in the state prosecutor's office. They were watching CTU closely.
To make matters worse, the CIA still hadn't resolved the satellite failure. Avril and the rest of the White Mask team had completely vanished from view. That's why CTU was desperate to extract information from Zheng. But he was tighter-lipped than a dead duck.
Not long ago, Conklin had left with a vague excuse.
Since there was nothing more to get from Zheng at the moment, Tony shifted focus to the evening's operations.
CTU had recovered some valuable intel on the Cruel Angels from Bernie's corpse—information on locations and personnel. Bernie had intended to use it as a bargaining chip, but he'd been killed by White Mask before he got the chance.
Upon reviewing the intel, they learned that the Cruel Angels had bases not only in Los Angeles, but also in Boston and New York.
Because Owen and his team were injured, they didn't participate in the evening raid. The tactical squads handled it alone.
The operation was a complete success.
That night, CTU branches from Los Angeles, Boston, and New York launched simultaneous raids on the Cruel Angels' secret hideouts.
Nine core members were captured. A massive cache of weapons and explosives intended for terror attacks was seized. Resistance was light. CTU killed or arrested over twenty low-level operatives.
By night's end, the Cruel Angels were wiped out from U.S. soil.
As the victory report rolled in, Aisha from the data unit completed a background check on the White Mask body armor.
"We contacted Rheinmetall's U.S. division. They confirmed the vest worn by White Mask is a stolen prototype from their research program..."
"Stolen?"
Owen was skeptical. He suspected the company might have ties to White Mask.
Aisha understood and shook her head. "There's no indication of collusion. This armor was a special commission from the U.S. Special Operations Command.
The theft was reported immediately—this was about a week ago. The FBI has been following up.
And it wasn't just the prototypes. The thieves also destroyed their lab's experimental data. They only had four samples in total, each worth over a million dollars."
Owen shrugged. If SOCOM was involved, then it was probably legit.
Tony turned up the TV volume. The news was on.
The whole city of Los Angeles was still mourning the premiere bombing. In addition to following the investigation, the media was now heavily promoting the idea of "Los Angeles Spirit."
When the explosion occurred, the Die Hard film crew didn't panic or flee—they helped each other. That kind of spontaneous solidarity had won over the hearts of the nation.
The media wasn't going to miss a chance to polish Hollywood's image—after all, they were part of it. Both the state and city governments were happy to let the media portray L.A. as strong and resilient.
And this wasn't just for show—it was genuine. In a time of crisis, people had shown their best side. The media dubbed it "The Spirit of Los Angeles."
The nationwide attention gave CTU enormous pressure. Originally, they had planned to continue investigating White Mask. But Tony decided it was time for a public statement.
CTU needed to show results before the media backlash hit. Even if the report wasn't perfect, it would offer some measure of closure for the victims.
At 10:00 a.m. the next day, Los Angeles CTU held a press conference at the Hilton banquet hall, joined by Benjamin Affleck from the L.A. FBI branch.
Tony didn't want to hog the spotlight. He had invited Conklin too, but Conklin declined, citing CIA protocol about avoiding public exposure.
Under the flashes of cameras, Tony stood solemnly. "As of 9:00 p.m. last night, CTU divisions nationwide launched devastating operations against the Cruel Angels' strongholds. Founder Anthony Berman is dead.
CTU and the FBI together arrested and neutralized a total of 34 members. We also foiled two planned terrorist attacks targeting train stations and shopping malls. In addition, the direct perpetrator of the premiere bombing, Phoenix Zheng, is now in custody..."
Tony accepted the applause beneath the spotlight. The FBI got its moment too.
Per Conklin's request, no information about Avril or White Mask was mentioned publicly. All the blame was placed squarely on the Cruel Angels.
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