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Chapter 1137: Preparation for the Silver Bullet
Amuro Toru only then noticed that, without realizing it, they were a person short, and he hadn't even noticed. Somewhat surprised, he said, "Raki… he…"
"Boss, Raki's not here?" Vodka, hidden behind the wall with his men, was the first to ask, then laughed cruelly, "Did he go get the bomb?"
Gin didn't mind being overheard by the FBI. Staring at the cement platform, like someone toying with their prey, he said with interest, "No, he just went to the Candy Manufacturing Plant to confirm some things. But he should still have a bomb on him…"
Behind the cement platform, Jodie also grew anxious, turning to look at Akai Shuichi. "Shu…"
The key problem right now wasn't the bomb, but the Candy Factory!
"It's alright, all the necessary preparations are done," Akai Shuichi had to speak up to appease his teammates' emotions. People from the Organization had gone to investigate the Candy Factory; their purpose could indeed be exposed or thwarted. But Gin had clearly told them this intentionally, wanting to unsettle them. If they lost their composure now and showed themselves, they would be killed for nothing. "If the situation is bad, Cameron… activate the remote control in advance. During the chaos, we'll break out, following my previous route. Of course, if the situation isn't too dire, we'll stall as long as we can. It's been an hour and a half already. Our backup should arrive soon."
Jodie and Andre Camel felt slightly reassured, patiently waiting.
Soon, they heard voices faintly from behind them.
"Raki…"
"I went… citric acid…"
The other party's voices were low, and the hoarse voice was even harder to make out. However, they paid too much attention to certain words, and vaguely caught a bit.
Jodie and Andre Camel couldn't help but look towards Akai Shuichi again.
The Organization's people seemed to have really discovered what they were preparing. How to break this?
"His code name is Raki…" Akai Shuichi recognized the hoarse voice, subconsciously murmuring.
"Mr. Akai, this isn't the time to be thinking about code names," Andre Camel couldn't help but say.
"Sorry, because he's a Jeet Kune Do expert, so…"
Akai Shuichi, stared at by his two teammates with murderous glares, composed himself, and stopped talking. He then said, "There's nothing we can do if they've discovered us. Prepare to activate that…"
Holding off two people at his limit, he'd already done everything he could. There was no use in panicking.
Moreover, the preparations were already complete; it was unlikely the Organization could disrupt them in the short term. Seizing the right timing, they probably still had over a fifty percent chance of escaping…
…
Next to the factory building, Chi Feichei explained in a low voice to Gin using the communication channel, informing others of the situation.
"…A lot of citric acid was taken from the Candy Factory. The flour taken from the Flour Mill earlier is uncertain, but I suspect it's edible sodium bicarbonate…"
Amuro Toru listened from the side, turning to look at Chi Feichei in surprise. "Soda?"
"What soda?" Vodka was stunned.
"Soda is made by dissolving edible sodium bicarbonate and edible citric acid or tartaric acid in water, producing carbon dioxide gas, and then adding flavoring ingredients," Amuro Toru pondered, explaining to Vodka why he mentioned soda. "When I was searching the Steel Processing Plant, I found that the iron sand pellets used for steel surface sandblasting pretreatment seemed to have been tampered with, quite a few were missing. If you use enough sodium bicarbonate and citric acid to create a sealed container of sufficient size with constantly increasing internal air pressure, the explosive force will be much stronger than that of a shaken soda that suddenly bursts. Was the device containing the iron sand pellets mounted on a propulsion device… No, there must be other arrangements to create a launching effect…"
Bourbon, immersed in his reasoning, couldn't extricate himself, restoring the device's manufacturing plan in his mind.
Vodka understood, though. There was indeed a trap, possibly something that would explode and scatter iron sand pellets like a bomb…
Thankfully, they hadn't run to the open ground.
Gin looked at Chi Feichei and asked, "Can you confirm?"
"It's difficult to make the iron sand pellets sufficiently destructive using only chemical reactions. However, the Sewage Treatment Plant has air pumps used for sewage treatment aeration, which can be used to pressurize the inside of a container…" Chi Feichei said in a hoarse voice, looking towards a factory area across the way. Given the layout of the sewage treatment plant, the air pump was probably located there. "Moreover, the air pump can be controlled by an on-off mechanism. As long as the internal pressure of the container reaches a certain point, using a remote control mechanism, it can be controlled at any time."
Gin looked in the direction Chi Feichei was looking, thoughtfully saying, "The third FBI agent came out from that place before…"
Once you looked at it this way, the location the three FBI agents had chosen wasn't just for cover from their bullets, but also allowed them to observe if anyone approached that place. This explained some of the previous questions.
The FBI, outnumbered and outgunned, had devised a bomb-like device.
They came along the riverbank under the bridge because there was no sewage treatment plant on the riverbank near the Paper Mill, and upstream were mostly temples and shrines. Only this area had usable resources.
Upon arrival, they immediately split up, quickly gathering materials and entrusting them to one person for preparation, while the other two lured them over.
Their plan was that instead of hiding, it was better to concentrate them together, then activate the device. After causing casualties, they would escape in the chaos.
If the situation was dire, the pursuit would cease.
However, the FBI's device shouldn't be lethal.
Firstly, those fellows wouldn't do that.
Secondly, if the speed and force of the iron sand pellets were enough to pierce the human body, it would also easily ignite flammable items. In a place with unknown chemicals nearby, whether it was a bomb or firelight, it was best to keep it under control. Scattering iron sand pellets would be uncontrollable, easily leading to everyone's demise.
Then…
"To prevent a power outage of the air pump, they specially tampered with the power supply line," Chi Feichei looked towards the lights in front of the factory building, hoarsely saying, "When I came over, I already cut off the original power supply line, but it was clearly useless. The power is still on."
After going to the Candy Factory, he found the power supply line of the Sewage Treatment Plant and cut it.
But the power was still on, which meant Akai Shuichi must have changed the power supply line, perhaps using a nearby factory's line, or perhaps using the factory's generator…
"Next time, say something in advance about cutting the circuit…" Gin reminded, staring at the factory building where the air pump was suspected to be.
That bastard Raki, not even giving advance notice about cutting the circuit.
But the problem now was how to deal with the FBI agents.
Whether they charged forward or the three agents discovered something amiss, it could cause the three agents to activate the device, which was known to have a wide range of lethality.
The surrounding area was a large open space, and they were watching that factory building. Their people approaching the agents or the factory building would be discovered, and the agents could activate the device, causing trouble, and perhaps escaping in the process.
Disabling the device would be best; they wouldn't have to worry about the unknown traps nearby, and could kill as they pleased.
But the agents had changed the circuit, cutting off the nearby circuits was too time-consuming, and if they used a generator as a backup, it might not even be effective.
It was just like what they had considered before: bypass the trap and use other methods to solve the problem.
Also, it would be best to know where Akai Shuichi would run after activating the device…
Chi Feichei also looked over there, silently thinking about countermeasures.
The wall of this factory building wasn't high. If he were in Akai Shuichi's position, activating the device would cause chaos. He wouldn't choose their side, nor would he run towards the riverbank. The remaining two sides connected to the factory building… which side would he choose…
Gin withdrew his gaze, turning to look at Chi Feichei. "Raki, you still have bombs, right?"
"Two left…" Chi Feichei pondered, taking out two bombs, throwing one to Gin, suddenly asking in a low, hoarse voice, "Rum, do you have any gasoline prepared?"
Rum?
Amuro Toru was surprised, but his face didn't reveal it.
Rum was also on the Action Comms Channel…
Gin caught the bomb. Since he already knew Rum was mixed in their communication channel, he wasn't surprised.
However, Chianti was clearly somewhat surprised. "Rum… Rum?"
She remembered Raki was also mixed in the communication channel, silent for a long time. Did they all like to silently listen in on the Action Comms Channel?
A mechanical voice, clearly using a Voice Changer, came from the other side, "In the car at the Shop Entrance of the Auto Parts Store. What do you want it for?"
Amuro Toru wasn't disappointed to hear Rum using a Voice Changer. He hadn't expected Rum to reveal his real voice anyway.
Chi Feichei looked towards the cement platform, the disguise mask's azure eyes, calm to the extreme, carrying a chilling coldness. "To determine where the FBI will ultimately run…"
Three minutes later, Gin had someone aim at the angle and throw a bomb.
Akai Shuichi leaned against the cement platform, using his black-screened Mobile Phone as a mirror. Although it was blurry, he observed the bomber's movements, instructing Jodie and Andre Camel to hide behind the cement platform. He risked being seen by the Sniper, suddenly getting up and firing a shot to the rear before quickly crouching down.
When the bomb was halfway, it was hit by Akai Shuichi's bullet and exploded violently.
From a high place nearby, Stout stared through the scope. The instant he saw Akai Shuichi get up, he subconsciously aimed, but soon, his line of sight was blocked by the firelight from the explosion. He sighed, "The FBI's Silver Bullet is indeed not simple," saying, "I couldn't fire in time…"
"Keep watching."
A hoarse voice spoke from the earphone, then fell silent.
Stout could sense that they didn't care much about the outcome, but he wasn't sure. Staring through the scope, he feigned regretful sighs, "That guy who shot the bomb while getting up is really confident in his marksmanship. He crouched down immediately after firing. He's probably not dead…"
Yingqu Yan Nan, wearing the Bearded Man's disguise mask, stood aside, observing the gradually diminishing firelight and the vicinity of the cement platform where the FBI was hiding through binoculars. He intentionally added a Kansai Accent to his speech, "That FBI guy… Calvados really deserved it."
"By the way, I heard Calvados…"
Stout tried to find a topic, to build rapport, preparing to extract intelligence later.
That bastard Raki had killed their newbie Colleague. He still remembered that enmity.
This time, he was transferred from Britain to cooperate with Raki. There would be many opportunities to contact Raki in the future. He could first find out the personality, temper, and style of Raki's people, then find a way to seize that fellow Raki!
End of Chapter
Amuro Toru only then noticed that, without realizing it, they were a person short, and he hadn't even noticed. Somewhat surprised, he said, "Raki… he…"
"Boss, Raki's not here?" Vodka, hidden behind the wall with his men, was the first to ask, then laughed cruelly, "Did he go get the bomb?"
Gin didn't mind being overheard by the FBI. Staring at the cement platform, like someone toying with their prey, he said with interest, "No, he just went to the Candy Manufacturing Plant to confirm some things. But he should still have a bomb on him…"
Behind the cement platform, Jodie also grew anxious, turning to look at Akai Shuichi. "Shu…"
The key problem right now wasn't the bomb, but the Candy Factory!
"It's alright, all the necessary preparations are done," Akai Shuichi had to speak up to appease his teammates' emotions. People from the Organization had gone to investigate the Candy Factory; their purpose could indeed be exposed or thwarted. But Gin had clearly told them this intentionally, wanting to unsettle them. If they lost their composure now and showed themselves, they would be killed for nothing. "If the situation is bad, Cameron… activate the remote control in advance. During the chaos, we'll break out, following my previous route. Of course, if the situation isn't too dire, we'll stall as long as we can. It's been an hour and a half already. Our backup should arrive soon."
Jodie and Andre Camel felt slightly reassured, patiently waiting.
Soon, they heard voices faintly from behind them.
"Raki…"
"I went… citric acid…"
The other party's voices were low, and the hoarse voice was even harder to make out. However, they paid too much attention to certain words, and vaguely caught a bit.
Jodie and Andre Camel couldn't help but look towards Akai Shuichi again.
The Organization's people seemed to have really discovered what they were preparing. How to break this?
"His code name is Raki…" Akai Shuichi recognized the hoarse voice, subconsciously murmuring.
"Mr. Akai, this isn't the time to be thinking about code names," Andre Camel couldn't help but say.
"Sorry, because he's a Jeet Kune Do expert, so…"
Akai Shuichi, stared at by his two teammates with murderous glares, composed himself, and stopped talking. He then said, "There's nothing we can do if they've discovered us. Prepare to activate that…"
Holding off two people at his limit, he'd already done everything he could. There was no use in panicking.
Moreover, the preparations were already complete; it was unlikely the Organization could disrupt them in the short term. Seizing the right timing, they probably still had over a fifty percent chance of escaping…
…
Next to the factory building, Chi Feichei explained in a low voice to Gin using the communication channel, informing others of the situation.
"…A lot of citric acid was taken from the Candy Factory. The flour taken from the Flour Mill earlier is uncertain, but I suspect it's edible sodium bicarbonate…"
Amuro Toru listened from the side, turning to look at Chi Feichei in surprise. "Soda?"
"What soda?" Vodka was stunned.
"Soda is made by dissolving edible sodium bicarbonate and edible citric acid or tartaric acid in water, producing carbon dioxide gas, and then adding flavoring ingredients," Amuro Toru pondered, explaining to Vodka why he mentioned soda. "When I was searching the Steel Processing Plant, I found that the iron sand pellets used for steel surface sandblasting pretreatment seemed to have been tampered with, quite a few were missing. If you use enough sodium bicarbonate and citric acid to create a sealed container of sufficient size with constantly increasing internal air pressure, the explosive force will be much stronger than that of a shaken soda that suddenly bursts. Was the device containing the iron sand pellets mounted on a propulsion device… No, there must be other arrangements to create a launching effect…"
Bourbon, immersed in his reasoning, couldn't extricate himself, restoring the device's manufacturing plan in his mind.
Vodka understood, though. There was indeed a trap, possibly something that would explode and scatter iron sand pellets like a bomb…
Thankfully, they hadn't run to the open ground.
Gin looked at Chi Feichei and asked, "Can you confirm?"
"It's difficult to make the iron sand pellets sufficiently destructive using only chemical reactions. However, the Sewage Treatment Plant has air pumps used for sewage treatment aeration, which can be used to pressurize the inside of a container…" Chi Feichei said in a hoarse voice, looking towards a factory area across the way. Given the layout of the sewage treatment plant, the air pump was probably located there. "Moreover, the air pump can be controlled by an on-off mechanism. As long as the internal pressure of the container reaches a certain point, using a remote control mechanism, it can be controlled at any time."
Gin looked in the direction Chi Feichei was looking, thoughtfully saying, "The third FBI agent came out from that place before…"
Once you looked at it this way, the location the three FBI agents had chosen wasn't just for cover from their bullets, but also allowed them to observe if anyone approached that place. This explained some of the previous questions.
The FBI, outnumbered and outgunned, had devised a bomb-like device.
They came along the riverbank under the bridge because there was no sewage treatment plant on the riverbank near the Paper Mill, and upstream were mostly temples and shrines. Only this area had usable resources.
Upon arrival, they immediately split up, quickly gathering materials and entrusting them to one person for preparation, while the other two lured them over.
Their plan was that instead of hiding, it was better to concentrate them together, then activate the device. After causing casualties, they would escape in the chaos.
If the situation was dire, the pursuit would cease.
However, the FBI's device shouldn't be lethal.
Firstly, those fellows wouldn't do that.
Secondly, if the speed and force of the iron sand pellets were enough to pierce the human body, it would also easily ignite flammable items. In a place with unknown chemicals nearby, whether it was a bomb or firelight, it was best to keep it under control. Scattering iron sand pellets would be uncontrollable, easily leading to everyone's demise.
Then…
"To prevent a power outage of the air pump, they specially tampered with the power supply line," Chi Feichei looked towards the lights in front of the factory building, hoarsely saying, "When I came over, I already cut off the original power supply line, but it was clearly useless. The power is still on."
After going to the Candy Factory, he found the power supply line of the Sewage Treatment Plant and cut it.
But the power was still on, which meant Akai Shuichi must have changed the power supply line, perhaps using a nearby factory's line, or perhaps using the factory's generator…
"Next time, say something in advance about cutting the circuit…" Gin reminded, staring at the factory building where the air pump was suspected to be.
That bastard Raki, not even giving advance notice about cutting the circuit.
But the problem now was how to deal with the FBI agents.
Whether they charged forward or the three agents discovered something amiss, it could cause the three agents to activate the device, which was known to have a wide range of lethality.
The surrounding area was a large open space, and they were watching that factory building. Their people approaching the agents or the factory building would be discovered, and the agents could activate the device, causing trouble, and perhaps escaping in the process.
Disabling the device would be best; they wouldn't have to worry about the unknown traps nearby, and could kill as they pleased.
But the agents had changed the circuit, cutting off the nearby circuits was too time-consuming, and if they used a generator as a backup, it might not even be effective.
It was just like what they had considered before: bypass the trap and use other methods to solve the problem.
Also, it would be best to know where Akai Shuichi would run after activating the device…
Chi Feichei also looked over there, silently thinking about countermeasures.
The wall of this factory building wasn't high. If he were in Akai Shuichi's position, activating the device would cause chaos. He wouldn't choose their side, nor would he run towards the riverbank. The remaining two sides connected to the factory building… which side would he choose…
Gin withdrew his gaze, turning to look at Chi Feichei. "Raki, you still have bombs, right?"
"Two left…" Chi Feichei pondered, taking out two bombs, throwing one to Gin, suddenly asking in a low, hoarse voice, "Rum, do you have any gasoline prepared?"
Rum?
Amuro Toru was surprised, but his face didn't reveal it.
Rum was also on the Action Comms Channel…
Gin caught the bomb. Since he already knew Rum was mixed in their communication channel, he wasn't surprised.
However, Chianti was clearly somewhat surprised. "Rum… Rum?"
She remembered Raki was also mixed in the communication channel, silent for a long time. Did they all like to silently listen in on the Action Comms Channel?
A mechanical voice, clearly using a Voice Changer, came from the other side, "In the car at the Shop Entrance of the Auto Parts Store. What do you want it for?"
Amuro Toru wasn't disappointed to hear Rum using a Voice Changer. He hadn't expected Rum to reveal his real voice anyway.
Chi Feichei looked towards the cement platform, the disguise mask's azure eyes, calm to the extreme, carrying a chilling coldness. "To determine where the FBI will ultimately run…"
Three minutes later, Gin had someone aim at the angle and throw a bomb.
Akai Shuichi leaned against the cement platform, using his black-screened Mobile Phone as a mirror. Although it was blurry, he observed the bomber's movements, instructing Jodie and Andre Camel to hide behind the cement platform. He risked being seen by the Sniper, suddenly getting up and firing a shot to the rear before quickly crouching down.
When the bomb was halfway, it was hit by Akai Shuichi's bullet and exploded violently.
From a high place nearby, Stout stared through the scope. The instant he saw Akai Shuichi get up, he subconsciously aimed, but soon, his line of sight was blocked by the firelight from the explosion. He sighed, "The FBI's Silver Bullet is indeed not simple," saying, "I couldn't fire in time…"
"Keep watching."
A hoarse voice spoke from the earphone, then fell silent.
Stout could sense that they didn't care much about the outcome, but he wasn't sure. Staring through the scope, he feigned regretful sighs, "That guy who shot the bomb while getting up is really confident in his marksmanship. He crouched down immediately after firing. He's probably not dead…"
Yingqu Yan Nan, wearing the Bearded Man's disguise mask, stood aside, observing the gradually diminishing firelight and the vicinity of the cement platform where the FBI was hiding through binoculars. He intentionally added a Kansai Accent to his speech, "That FBI guy… Calvados really deserved it."
"By the way, I heard Calvados…"
Stout tried to find a topic, to build rapport, preparing to extract intelligence later.
That bastard Raki had killed their newbie Colleague. He still remembered that enmity.
This time, he was transferred from Britain to cooperate with Raki. There would be many opportunities to contact Raki in the future. He could first find out the personality, temper, and style of Raki's people, then find a way to seize that fellow Raki!
End of Chapter
