The military Humvee suddenly lost power and, with inertia, slowly moved forward. Another sharp whistle followed, leaving a hole in the left rear door. Jack could clearly see a plume of smoke rising from the road on the right side; the shot had pierced through!
"Anti-materiel sniper rifle, get off the road!!!"
Terrified out of his wits, Jack yanked the still-stunned Angela and dragged her off the road, rolling and crawling. He finally understood what had caused the discomforting sense of being watched earlier.
Someone had indeed been watching from the nearby hill. The other officers quickly followed suit, hiding beside him.
Lying on the road's reverse slope, Jack pulled out his binoculars, scanning the direction of the gunfire. The shooter was calmly and methodically shooting at the military Humvee, one shot at a time.
While counting the shots in his head, Jack also reported over the radio.
"Don't come over yet. Someone here is using a powerful anti-materiel weapon. The distance is nearly a kilometer. Tell the SWAT armored vehicles to stop; their thin armor won't hold up. The shooter is likely targeting the Southern Front. The people in that Humvee are doomed."
By the tenth shot, Jack located the shooter through his binoculars. Seeing the familiar handsome face and the even more familiar omega-shaped chin, he almost blurted out, "Holy, Batman!"
Alright, this world has both DC and Marvel, but the actors playing those superheroes weren't the familiar faces from his previous life. So, this is a TV drama world, not the Marvel or DC universe.
Then who is this guy? Jack wasn't familiar with most male actors from his past life, whether domestic or foreign, except for a few famous ones.
But the guy in the binoculars, using a Barrett, looked so familiar. He was flamboyantly dressed in a dark blue suit with a tie, looking more like an insurance salesman than a killer.
Seeing his indifferent expression, muttering to himself, and carefully collecting the shell casings one by one into a small box, Jack pieced it together. OCD, killer, chanting nursery rhymes—these keywords gave Jack a clue. This movie wasn't as popular as Batman, but it was a profitable low-budget film, especially with countless AI-narrated clips on Bilibili. It was hard to forget.
Seeing the shooter start disassembling the Barrett, Jack stood up and dusted himself off, startling Angela.
"Jack, what are you doing?"
"It's okay, I saw him. He's disassembling his gun. This guy probably isn't interested in us."
Looking back at the miserable military Humvee, blood was already seeping out and dripping onto the road.
Tsk, Jack quickly ran to the front of the car, not daring to open the door. From two or three meters away, he could already smell the mix of diesel, blood, burnt protein, and other indescribable odors.
Peering through the shattered window, Jack suppressed his urge to vomit and silently walked to the side. The only part of a body still intact was the upper half of a corpse hanging from the machine gun turret on the roof. He couldn't tell how many people had originally been in the car.
"All the fleeing suspects were killed by an unknown gunman, but I can't confirm their identities. The medical examiner might have to help."
A bunch of police cars roared up. Tim and Lucy, who were responsible for the blockade on the other side, arrived first. Mischievous Tim drew his gun and signaled Lucy to check.
Silly Lucy really went up and opened the door, then turned and threw up. Kind-hearted Uncle John quickly helped her aside.
Alright, Tim, this straight-laced guy deserves to be single. The writers dragging out this couple's plotline for so long isn't without reason.
Several big shots arrived, with Ben Secora, the anti-gang and narcotics chief, looking the worst. His undercover officers clearly hadn't discovered that the Southern Front's lair hid a modified military Humvee. If not for the SWAT sniper's timely response, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Hondo repeatedly confirmed the situation with Jack. Being able to accurately hit a car traveling at 70-80 km/h from nearly a kilometer away, and directly blow up the engine—if such a person showed up in the city causing trouble, even SWAT would be helpless.
Chief Gray didn't look too good either. Although the M2 heavy machine gun had only fired for a few seconds, several officers were injured by shrapnel, and two police cars were wrecked.
However, he was relatively the least stressed. Successfully dismantling the Southern Front, the largest white supremacist gang in California, would earn the Wilshire division significant merit.
Jack guessed the most miserable would be the FBI, absent today. Investigating the runaway accountant would probably trouble them for a long time.
"The shooter was a pro. The first two shots were armor-piercing rounds, likely aimed at the engine. Since the first shot did the job, the second didn't target the engine but pierced the car."
Hondo's experience allowed him to analyze the scene quickly. The SWAT team sent to investigate reported that they found nothing at the location Jack indicated—no shell casings, no footprints, only flattened grass and a few broken branches showing someone had been there.
Of course, Jack slyly withheld other information. He couldn't provoke someone operating in the gray area. Moreover, he couldn't explain how he knew so much. Let the FBI deal with it.
He wasn't some hot-blooded, justice-driven young man. In the original show, didn't the accountant even cooperate with the IRS? Maybe someday, Jack would try to contact him. After all, accountants and lawyers are the two professions every American hates but can't live without.
The following events had nothing to do with the patrol officers. Back at the station, all officers who fired their weapons were given a week of administrative leave, including Chief Gray, the on-site commander. Zoe would have to coordinate police forces from other districts.
The next day at noon, Jack woke up in his bed, feeling satisfied. He kissed Maureen's tear-stained cheek.
Last night, he did yoga with the bespectacled girl, exhausting her. Due to the incident involving the Barrett sniper, the FBI had been alarmed, keeping Zoe busy all night.
Jack gained an unexpected bonus—the system settlement gave him two gold coins, and his psychology skill leveled up to proficient.
He now had an unprecedented ten system coins, enough to upgrade a proficient skill to master level at any time.
Just as he finished making breakfast, the doorbell rang. Zoe, in plain clothes and looking exhausted, stood at the door.
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