Chapter 241 46

Chapter 46

A crescent-shaped island emerged from the boundless sea. Though not large, its central expanse was covered in lush, green vegetation.

On one side of the island, faint outlines of gray buildings were visible. Among them, the largest structure—an abandoned factory—was their target. Yet, the helicopter veered away from it, turning instead towards the island's central depression.

"Estimated arrival in three minutes. Everyone, prepare for landing," He Lin announced, standing to give a final briefing to the team inside the helicopter.

Li Shang remained engrossed in communication with the command center.

All SWAT team members unbuckled their safety harnesses, their gazes fixed on the gradually sharpening coastline below.

The helicopter's arrival startled a flock of seabirds. Its destination was the foot of the ridge on the southern side of Butterfly Orchid Island.

The pilot maneuvered the helicopter to hover about twenty meters above the ground, its rotor wash rustling the trees below.

He Lin was the first to take the rappelling rope. Pausing briefly at the doorway, he assessed the landing spot before swiftly dropping out. With his left hand controlling the rope, he skillfully slowed his descent about five meters above the ground, landing firmly.

The moment he touched down, he dropped into a crouch, drew his gun, and swiftly scanned the surroundings with a vigilant gaze. "Clear," he reported into his earpiece.

Since the landing point was on the outskirts of the island, it would not alert the enemy. Soon after, several more figures slid down the ropes in rapid succession. The SWAT team moved with precision and efficiency, descending like elite forces from above.

Li Shang was the last to land gracefully. He turned and signaled "landing complete" to the helicopter above.

The pilot gestured back before ascending again. The helicopter would station itself on a nearby secure and manageable small island, ready to provide support as needed based on the situation.

The police operation was just beginning. To ensure no remaining accomplices were hiding on other islands, the police would conduct a thorough search of the surrounding islands afterward.

Meanwhile, the SWAT team in the woods had already finished organizing their gear. They quickly assembled and stealthily disappeared into the forest.

After a headcount, Li Shang led the team as planned.

A salty sea breeze brushed past them, accompanied by the sound of waves. The sky had shifted from the pale blue of early morning to a deep azure.

The team moved stealthily through the dense forest on the island, the lush vegetation providing excellent cover.

Li Shang, with his extensive combat experience and photographic memory for terrain, guided the team.

Under his command, the SWAT members avoided traps and hidden sentries. Within half an hour, they reached a point about a hundred meters from the factory’s perimeter.

This side of the island had undergone extensive modifications and was heavily guarded.

Li Shang concealed himself in the dense forest and observed through binoculars two armed security personnel stationed at the entrance. Simultaneously, technical personnel conducted thermal imaging scans, quickly identifying the number of people and weapons at the building’s entrance.

After completing his observations, Li Shang briefly consulted with He Lin. Then, his expression turning serious, he lowered his voice and issued orders through his earpiece: "Two sentries at the entrance, four armed individuals inside. Tech team, snipers, demolition team—prepare."

As per the original plan, the tech team would first disrupt the island’s network and surveillance systems. Snipers would take out the patrols, while the demolition team would blast open the eastern wall of the factory to create an entry point. He Lin would then lead the assault.

Although the team size had been reduced, the plan remained unchanged.

Precise coordination among the members was critical, with no room for error.

The two sentries, unaware of the impending danger, leaned casually against the railing, smoking.

"Operation begin!" At Li Shang’s command, the sniper hidden in the bushes a hundred meters away held his breath and fired a suppressed shot. With a faint whizzing sound, one of the sentries shuddered and collapsed silently.

The other sentry, cigarette still in hand, panicked as he saw his companion fall. He frantically raised his gun but had no clear target. Before he could report the incident, another bullet struck him in the chest.

With both sentries neutralized, the heavily armed police officers swiftly moved through the forest, reaching the building’s exterior within seconds. They secured the injured sentries and began assessing the entrance.

As Li Shang had anticipated, the main door was secured with a password lock and facial recognition. Guards were stationed inside, and any unauthorized entry would trigger an alarm. The SWAT team decided to breach through the wall instead.

He Lin leaned against the wall, tapped it lightly, and signaled to the SWAT members behind him.

The demolition expert quickly placed a measured amount of plastic explosive along the seams of the side wall. All personnel took cover and retreated to a safe distance.

"Ready… three, two, one!"

A muffled boom echoed as the explosion tore a gaping hole, large enough for a person, in the wall.

The thick, sturdy wall was blown open by the explosive. The guards inside, caught off guard, were engulfed in dust and smoke.

He Lin was the first to charge in.

Before the smoke could clear, a team of SWAT members swiftly filed inside.

"Freeze!"

"Police!"

"Hands up!"

Amidst sharp commands and a few gunshots, the guards inside were quickly subdued.

The breach was successfully executed. He Lin glanced back at Li Shang, who signaled for him to proceed. He Lin then led the team deeper into the building to conduct a full sweep.

The core strategy for clearing new areas was to secure control first, advance layer by layer, and rely on technical support.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the factory. As expected, the place had been thoroughly renovated, revealing a modern interior with state-of-the-art equipment.

As the SWAT team advanced, technicians quickly disabled surveillance cameras and deployed signal jammers.

He Lin’s team reached the largest section of the building first. Based on prior intelligence, this area had been repurposed as the main workspace.

He Lin was stunned by the scene before him. The vast hall stood six meters high, spanning over a thousand square meters. It was built on two levels, with elevated walkways on the upper floor where two armed guards stood. The lower level resembled a massive office, equipped with dozens of computers and various devices.

Some workers in uniforms were still at their computers. Though they had heard commotion, they had been ordered to ignore external disturbances. The technicians, startled by the sudden SWAT intrusion, froze in fear.

The SWAT members, seasoned and well-coordinated, swiftly secured key positions such as doors, windows, and corridors.

The situation was overwhelmingly one-sided. Neutralizing the few remaining threats was only a matter of time.

However, Li Shang frowned slightly. Xia Yan and Engineer Yuan were nowhere to be seen. Based on the timeline, Xia Yan had likely returned to the island ahead of them.

Moreover, these individuals were merely low-level programmers. They still needed to locate the main control room.

Just then, another series of hurried, chaotic footsteps echoed from outside…

***

Li Shang’s deduction was spot on.

In the main control room, Xia Yan gritted his teeth, pressing a gun against Engineer Yuan’s head. "Hurry up! How much longer?"

He was extremely tense, his forehead drenched in sweat, heart racing. This wasn’t his first time on the run, but it was the closest the police had ever been.

He and Nie Zhao had rushed back overnight, yet they had only arrived half an hour earlier than the police.

He had expected the police to come, but not this quickly.

He had barely managed to deploy some armed forces to block the office area and gather the rest outside the main control room. An emergency exit there led to other parts of the island.

At this moment, Nie Zhao was already distributing some black hard drives to his subordinates.

Although Bai Zang had been captured, he had previously prepared emergency protocols, which now came in handy.

The hard drives contained Psi's source code. If anyone got away with one, they could one day use it to make a comeback.

Upon hearing this, the subordinates who received the hard drives had their eyes lit up, carefully placing them into their bags as if they were more precious than their own lives.

Xia Yan glanced back at their greedy expressions and muttered 'idiots' under his breath.

Such important items would naturally not be handed out casually to these subordinates. Among these hard drives, only one was genuine—the one he carried on his person. The others were incomplete and required all of them to be assembled along with top-notch tech skills to restore even a fraction of the data. They were fakes meant to mislead the police.

This secret was known only to him, Bai Zang, and Engineer Yuan. Even Nie Zhao was unaware of it.

Psi alone was far from enough. Engineer Yuan had transferred some funds, but the money was scattered across various banks and required a series of operations to withdraw. What Engineer Yuan was currently working on was the key required to withdraw the money.

"Hurry up!" Xia Yan urged again, jabbing Engineer Yuan's shoulder hard with the gun barrel.

Most of the surveillance feeds in the control room had gone black, indicating that those areas had already been taken over by the police.

Engineer Yuan remained calm even now. He looked up at the anxious man and said, "The device is still writing data. If you unplug it now, it'll all be for nothing. The hundreds of millions of dollars inside will be lost forever."

"Old man, any slower and you won't be alive to spend it," Xia Yan gritted his teeth and glared at him, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He turned to Nie Zhao and asked, "Everything ready?!"

Nie Zhao replied, "Almost done!"

Bai Zang had long ago stockpiled explosives and placed them in several areas of the building to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Xia Yan decided to detonate them once the police advanced further. The bombs were placed in extremely hidden locations—some on the ceiling, others underground—making them undetectable by sight.

These explosives would destroy the control room and the core areas, causing the building to collapse and bury the police in the rubble. This would also buy them as much time as possible to escape.

On the computer screen, the numbers finally jumped to 100%. Three seconds later, Xia Yan yanked out the USB drive and gripped it tight in his hand.

Nie Zhao had also completed the preparations and was getting the underlings ready to move out. He then turned to Xia Yan and asked with some hesitation, "But Engineer Yuan..."

The old man looked up at them and chuckled, "Do you think having the USB drive alone is enough? Without me, no one can withdraw the money inside."

Xia Yan took a deep breath and said decisively, "Move it! He's coming with us!"