At that moment, Director George stood outside the bank, clearly stuck. He faced two difficult choices:
He could negotiate with the robbers, let them leave with their demands met, and focus on rescuing the other hostages.Or he could take a hardline approach and storm the bank, risking both hostage lives and a public outcry.
Neither option looked great for the New York Police Department's reputation, and George was feeling the pressure. He leaned toward the first option—getting the hostages out safely was his top priority.
As he weighed his choices, his phone buzzed with an order from his superior. They wanted tough measures taken. Absolutely no concessions were to be made.
Just then, a rapid series of gunshots echoed from inside the bank, making George's heart skip a beat. All the interior security cameras had been destroyed by the robbers, so he had no clue what was happening. Nervous, he assumed the robbers were signaling him to act faster.
The recently arrived negotiation expert quickly grabbed a microphone and began addressing the robbers: "Listen up in there! We're working on meeting your demands. Please don't harm any hostages! We can talk through this!"
Inside, Noah, splattered with blood, waited calmly as the bank teller transferred the money into his account. Once that was confirmed, Noah's job was technically done; the funds were officially his, and any chaos left behind would no longer be his responsibility.
Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the blood from his face, washed his hands in the bank's restroom, and walked toward the main entrance, his composure eerily calm.
The police officers waiting outside were tense, exchanging nervous glances. When they saw someone exit, they quickly focused their attention—only to find it was the same young man, Noah.
However, he was almost unrecognizable. Gone was his clean plaid shirt; now, he was smeared with dark red patches of blood, looking as if he'd just walked out of a horror scene.
George's heart raced, his mind conjuring the worst possible scenarios. Did the robbers massacre the hostages? But Noah lifted his phone and called out, "Officer, you can relax! The robbers are dead. You can head in."
"What…what did you say?" George asked over the intercom, almost doubting his ears.
"They're dead. I handled it. You can come in now," Noah repeated.
"They…you mean they were all beaten to death by you?" The police officers around him were in shock.
"Let's say most of them were downed by me. The last one lost his fight after taking a few shots, so I left him alone," Noah explained.
He then dropped his phone casually and walked toward the police line. The nearby officers caught a strong scent of blood as he approached, and they instinctively tensed.
Still stunned, George approached him, trying to piece together what had happened. "Are you hurt?" a police officer asked, seeing Noah covered in red.
Noah shrugged, "I'm good. No injuries here."
It was true. While he had endured some serious strain and broken a few bones in the battle, he'd balanced his attributes before the fight began, putting all 0.2 remaining points into physique, evening out his strength and defense.
At that moment, Noah's current stats looked like this:
Name: Noah
Lifespan: 18/400
Strength: 1.7
Constitution: 1.7
Spirit: 1.5+
Charm: 1.4+
Inside the bank, police officers who rushed in to assess the scene called out in horror, reacting to the grisly sight within.
When George walked in, he was hit by the smell of blood and was greeted by a disturbing sight: scattered bodies, shattered faces, and the hostages, huddled in a corner, looking terrified but alive.
George stumbled back out, issuing strict orders to seal the area, forbidding media from entering. He approached Noah again, his expression grim. "You really killed all those people in there? Are you some kind of…mutant?"
Noah kept his expression calm. "Mutant? Nah, I'm just a fitness enthusiast."
George scoffed, "A fitness enthusiast? Do you expect me to believe any 'fitness routine' could help someone tear armed robbers apart?"
"Hey, I was only defending myself. Besides, I'm the victim here, remember?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow. "I had every right to defend myself."
For a moment, George was speechless. As brutal as Noah's approach seemed, the facts aligned with his version. Noah had no connection to the robbers, and from a legal standpoint, he was just a civilian acting in self-defense.
As Noah took a seat, waiting for the situation to be sorted, reporters began flooding in, cameras and microphones ready. Spotting them, Noah smiled, "Could you take turns with questions? One at a time works better."
The first reporter, from the Daily Bugle, shot her question: "Mr. Noah, what happened inside the bank? And why are you covered in blood?"
Noah kept his answer calm and concise. "This blood isn't mine; it belongs to the robbers. Things got intense, and I had no choice but to fight back."
The reporter seemed shocked. "You single-handedly took down all the robbers?"
"Yes, it was close," Noah replied. "One wrong move, and I would have been the one full of bullet holes."
"Are you sure you're not a mutant?" another reporter chimed in.
Noah laughed, "Nope, all human here. My strength comes from fitness, that's it."
The disbelief was evident in the reporters' faces as they tried to process how any "fitness enthusiast" could overpower a group of armed criminals.
Meanwhile, George intervened, deflecting questions with rehearsed official responses, and he ordered Noah to be taken in for a statement and medical examination.
Elsewhere, in a New York City hospital, Matthew was lounging on a hospital bed, recovering from a recent injury, when he heard hurried footsteps outside his door. Moments later, his friend Amy burst in, a glint of excitement in her eyes.
"Hey, Matthew! Remember that guy I told you about? The one you asked me to find?"
"Yeah, vaguely…" Matthew muttered.
"You won't believe this—he's all over the news! Apparently, he just saved an entire bank of hostages!" Amy exclaimed.
Matthew's eyes widened, his mind flashing back to that haunting memory. "Wait, that guy? On TV?" He could barely process it.
"Yeah! And they say he took out an entire gang of robbers…on his own!" Amy's tone was almost star-struck.
Matthew: …
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Alright, got some complaints about mistakes in the previous chapters...I will fix them; don't worry.
So, this is my first time doing this. I hope you guys can help me improve by providing your feedback, and some stones would be nice. (づ ◕‿◕ )づ