The sweet girl was struck by a glass shrapnel. The left side of her back, except for the part protected by her bulletproof vest, from her shoulder to her proudly perky buttocks, was shattered by the tempered glass shards, a bloody mess. It was a horrific sight.
Hannah hadn't completely dodged the suicide drone, but she concealed her injury during the team's comms to avoid distracting the others downstairs.
Jack should have noticed it at the time, as Hannah's failure to provide support after taking up the sniper position was unusual.
However, he was distracted by the armored vehicle and didn't dwell on it, let alone after seeing the remote-controlled bomb.
Fortunately, this was New York, not Los Angeles, because it was cold and everyone wore more clothes. Furthermore, tempered glass doesn't shatter at the sharp angles that ordinary glass does, so the injury was merely a visual hazard.
While this was more terrifying than a serious injury for a girl who loved beauty, Jiejie had also sustained a cheek injury before, and it quickly healed to its former glory, even better, thanks to a supposed "secret recipe" passed down from an ancient Eastern palace, so she wasn't overly worried.
Jiejie and Alice accompanied Hannah to the hospital. Jack, who remained at the scene, was still furious, especially when Jon Michaels, the head of the international department, had the nerve to intervene.
Fortunately, he was still clear-headed and didn't try to drag the wanted criminal team, who had come to help, into the situation. However, watching him desperately shift the blame onto the NYPD was infuriating.
Frank Reagan, who arrived at the scene in person, was as black as the bottom of a pot and remained silent the entire time, completely ignoring the man.
Only after sending the man away did he wave his hand to dismiss his attendants. He then approached Jack, who was sulking at the sewer entrance, and offered him a cigar. "How big of a problem are we in?"
"Let's get your Internal Affairs Department moving first," Jack said, refusing to smoke until the problem was solved.
While he was theoretically the only person who could see the ESU member escorting Zhang Mingjun out of the armored vehicle through the dissipating smoke, the three bodies inside couldn't deceive anyone. A mole
in the NYPD wasn't a terrible thing; what was terrifying was that this mole had executed his own three brothers without hesitation.
"I'll personally draft a report and submit it to the Department of Justice to explain my actions," Frank said gravely.
Jack stared at the steam rising from the manhole for a moment before shaking his head. "Don't jump to conclusions. Let's notify the CSI lab to collect evidence. Finding out who those guys are is paramount.
I'll fight for this case. You'd better go to the hospital to see Danny; he's not doing well."
Hearing Jack mention his eldest son, Chief Frank's expression faltered. "My people told me Danny's life isn't in danger. Could it be..."
Knowing he'd misunderstood, Jack quickly corrected himself. "Of course not. Danny was trapped in the car, witnessing the events that followed, surrounded by his deceased colleagues. He'd probably have some psychological issues."
Jack's words were euphemistic, but he'd noticed Danny had mild PTSD long ago, likely caused by his experiences in the military.
But since he always put on a tough front and the situation wasn't serious, he didn't bother to intervene. After all, everyone has their share of psychological issues these days.
Frank hesitated, looking at his attendants, who were staring longingly at him. He hesitated, then whispered, "I'll go see him later."
"If that doesn't work, have Linda talk to him," Jack hesitated, but then offered a suggestion. Frank advocated a paternalistic approach, albeit a more open-minded one, but the most emotionally intelligent member of the family was Danny's wife, Linda.
At this moment, a portly senior police officer who had accompanied Frank finally stepped forward after putting down his phone. "Sir, the city technicians say the steam pressure in the sewers here is unstable. You'd better stay away from the explosion site."
New York City's sewers are full of urban legends. Besides those meticulously cultivated through remote breeding by East China University experts, who call them the "conscience of the city," crocodiles and turtles are the most famous.
The legend of crocodiles in New York City's sewers is more widespread than the numerous versions of the human meat bun legends in East China University's metropolitan areas.
As for the turtles, they were naturally referring to the famous comic book "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." It's a pity that this world hasn't integrated American comics, otherwise the four pizza-loving guys would have made their appearance later in the story.
For most people who know this country through Hollywood movies, the scene of steam gushing from a manhole lifting a beautiful woman's skirt is likely a memorable one.
As early as the 19th century, in 1882, the Edison Company began constructing steam pipes beneath New York City. A complex 169-kilometer steam pipeline still operates beneath Manhattan Island today.
This steam is used for high-temperature disinfection in hospitals and provides winter heating for nearly 100,000 homes, including the luxurious penthouse Rosie lent Jack.
It's not that Jack didn't want to pursue, but after the explosion caused the road to collapse and rupture the steam pipe in the sewer, he would have been scalded to death if he had gone down.
As for trying to track down the source through a different sewer entrance, sorry, the blueprints of New York City's sewers and underground pipelines are both confidential documents and centuries-old artifacts.
Entering that complex and ancient underground system without careful planning and preparation would be a recipe for disaster, except for getting himself filthy and smelly.
His only hope now was to uncover some clues by blocking and checking all major traffic routes, but he held little hope for that either.
Since the enemy had bribed the ESU SWAT officers, obtained the FBI's route for transporting the wanted criminal, and had prepared RPGs, specialized suicide drones, and high-yield explosives in advance without triggering the ATF's warnings, they shouldn't have made any mistakes in their evacuation plan.
The ATF (Agency of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) is a powerful federal law enforcement agency in the United States, with a large number of undercover agents and informants in important cities like New York.
The FBI and ATF exchange intelligence frequently, so Jack and his team would have been informed of any signs of trouble on the road by these reports.
This suggests that the weapons and equipment used at the scene, and even the explosives used in the final explosion, were of extremely secret origin. They couldn't have been purchased locally, but rather transported in through an unknown, clandestine route.
If this secret route could bring in so much dangerous goods, it might also have been able to smuggle people out.
(End of Chapter)