"Life, can you please let me go this time?"
"Sometimes I'm so tired, but I don't know why I keep going."
Humming a tune no one else could understand, Jack opened the car door and stepped onto the shattered glass floor like a hero.
Two gunmen had been about to storm the hotel, but one was knocked far away, twisted into a strange shape on the front desk counter, and the other was crushed under the wheels like a trivial speed bump.
Throwing the two MDX508 short-barreled assault rifles he had brought with him to Aubrey and Fusco, who greeted him with joy, Jack glanced at the seemingly horrific lobby. The situation wasn't that bad, after all.
The two bodies of the gunmen were the only casualties at the scene. Civilians and a security guard who had peed his pants in a corner due to fear were mostly unharmed, the most serious injuries being minor injuries from broken glass.
Both gunmen were armed with fully automatic weapons, and it was a remarkable feat for Aubrey and Fusco to hold the hotel lobby with their pistols and prevent the enemy from storming in and killing them.
Aubrey's car was always equipped with rifles and bulletproof plates, but it was clear that the incident had happened so suddenly that he hadn't had a chance to go back and get his equipment.
"Where are Reese and Dr. Turing?"
Not seeing the two main characters of this trip, Jack wondered if "Gen Sister" had already accomplished her goal. He
had the impression that Gen Sister's official appearance was aimed at the "POI" duo, and then took advantage of the chaos to kidnap the almost incapable Finch.
Could it be that because of his appearance, Finch was spared, and instead she kidnapped Reese? That would be a real joke for her in the future.
"I don't know, maybe he's still upstairs," Fusco said, his eyes glancing at the gunman still twitching and spitting blood under the wheel. "These two are just holding us back. There are five or six more guys who took the elevator up from the parking lot. We have to find them quickly."
"I'll go up alone. Evacuate the civilians and wait for reinforcements. You guys take the walkie-talkies and stand guard in the parking lot. If possible, find their car and destroy it. Finch is here too. Communication will be restored soon, and reinforcements will arrive soon."
Jack gestured to the earphones in his ears.
Seeing Jack, the two men felt like they had regained their composure, nodding repeatedly.
Jack picked up his Noveske N4 and patted the hood with great satisfaction as he walked past the car.
This captured, modified bulletproof sports car was quite durable. While it certainly couldn't compete with a fully insured semi-trailer, the front wasn't even dented after such a violent collision. All it would take was a repaint.
He didn't know when the "robot" baby would be free. He'd have to have a good chat with it then. While he wasn't too concerned about autonomous driving, it would be nice to have a "Finch" or "Justin" with him 24/7, available to respond to his needs.
Reaching the stairwell, Jack pressed the open button for each elevator, finding none occupied. He turned back to the terrified security guard and gently kicked him, bringing him back to his senses.
"Where's the hotel's freight elevator?"
"It's in the corner of that hallway over there." The security guard, still a little dazed, answered Jack's question subconsciously, his gaze fixed on the gunman's body, which was positioned at an odd angle at the hotel reception desk.
From his angle, he could see the corpse's face, its eyes still open in death. Turning his head, he saw the man vomiting all over the floor.
"Perhaps you should consider a career change." Jack glanced at the unholstered service pistol at his waist and shook his head silently.
The hotel had two freight elevators, one working and the other not. The inactive one showed it was stopped at the 26th floor. Knowing what was going on, Jack walked into the working elevator and pressed the button for the 24th floor.
"Jack, where are you now?" Finch's voice suddenly came through the headset.
"In the elevator, heading to the 24th floor. Have you taken care of the signal tower?" Jack was a little surprised by his efficiency.
"Not yet. Completely repairing these signal towers requires engineers to manually operate them one by one, but I've whitelisted this phone number in the DHS program.
Right now, I'm the only one in this area who can make calls. Mr. Reese's number is still on the line. I'll switch to a three-way call after I connect."
Finch's speech returned to his nervous, breakneck pace. "Listen, Jack. Before I lost contact with Reese, I provided him with an evacuation route.
The freight elevator in the northwest corner of this building goes directly down to the parking lot on the fourth floor below ground level. There's an abandoned maintenance tunnel there that leads to the old water treatment plant toward the port. I'll be waiting there in my car." "
Understood. I'm already in the freight elevator. Can you help me take a look at the surveillance footage on the 25th floor? I suspect Reese and the others are stuck on the 26th floor and can't get down," Jack asked.
"Sorry, I can't do that. The building's surveillance was compromised. Simmons' men must have broken into the monitoring center. Um, Reese's on the line."
Finch had barely finished speaking when Reese's deep, raspy voice rang through Jack's earpiece. "Harold (Finch), what's going on?
Simmons's forces seem endless. I've taken out two, and now I'm stuck on the 26th floor. They have men upstairs and downstairs."
"I'm coming to provide backup, Reese. Count to 20 and then take the emergency staircase." Jack had barely finished speaking when the elevator doors dinged open.
"Finch, are you sure all the surveillance cameras are compromised?" Jack asked as he quickly rushed to the emergency staircase.
Finch didn't understand why he asked, but he confirmed it. "I can confirm that all the surveillance cameras in the building are offline."
In other words, Superman Jack could be online.
"Bang!" A gunman, who had heard the noise and looked down, had his brain exploded, startling his two companions.
Before the two could react, a figure stepped directly onto the stair railing and soared through the narrow corridor as if gravity didn't exist.
Yes, it was like those movies where they soared up on a tightrope. Because the corridor was so narrow, Jack even used his feet to push off the wall to perform a beautiful flying spin.
With two gunshots, "Bang! Bang!", the three gunmen guarding the emergency staircase were all shot dead in the head, without even having time to fire a shot.
"Jack?" Reese's voice asked doubtfully from above.
"Hurry, the people guarding the elevator are coming." Jack's words had barely left his mouth when a barrage of bullets sparked off the fire door of the emergency passage.
"You? You're the IRS agent?" Caroline Turing, who was being led downstairs by Reese's hand, widened her eyes in surprise.
The surprise might have been genuine, but the pitiful expression was also a real facade.
Jack simply nodded at her, leaned against the door, and fired back a burst of bullets in the direction of the bullets from the corridor outside.
(End of this chapter)