Chapter 184: Prison Break
Chapter 184: Prison Break
“What? How could six disappear?”
Jiang Chu was instantly startled. He sat down with Lin Mu at a round table near the door while carefully observing the situation over there.
But no matter how many times he counted, there were always twenty-three people over there, exactly the same number as when they got off the plane. Not a single person was missing, yet Lin Mu said a full six people were gone.
“That day when I saw them, I identified seven Superpower Users among them. The Alien Energy within each of them was different. But today, when I came here, I discovered that the Alien Energy of those seven Superpower Users had all become identical!”
Lin Mu explained in a low voice.
“Originally different, but now identical? What do you mean?!”
Jiang Chu repeated the words, then suddenly understood. He looked at Lin Mu with surprise and doubt.
“Correct. I suspect the other six are merely illusions created by some method, probably the work of one of the Superpower Users. These illusions are extremely realistic and cannot be distinguished with the naked eye.”
Lin Mu nodded.
“But we have no evidence right now. We can’t move against them. Moreover, these people are not simple. Taking action in the city would create too much commotion. The environment is complicated, with too many civilians around.”
Jiang Chu clenched his fist, sounding somewhat helpless.
These people had planned this from the start. That’s why they chose to stay in such a densely populated area. Even if something unusual was discovered, they were confident that the Huaxia authorities wouldn’t dare pursue them recklessly, as they had to consider civilian casualties.
“Taking action now isn’t appropriate. The other side has Superpower Users, and moreover, illusion-type Superpowers, which are quite difficult to deal with. If chaos breaks out, finding them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The arresting personnel would probably be completely disoriented.”
Lin Mu shook his head. “The main task right now is to find out where these six missing Superpower Users have gone. They are our current focus. The ones staying in the hotel can’t cause major trouble anyway; they’re purely meant to distract us.”
“True, but we’ve been monitoring for so long and didn’t even notice those Superpower Users disappearing. I’m afraid finding them will be quite difficult.”
Jiang Chu said, looking troubled.
“Indeed, the key issue is we don’t know these people’s objectives, so we can’t deduce their whereabouts either.”
Lin Mu also frowned deeply. This was indeed a problem. Since those Superpower Users had planned this early on, it meant they absolutely would not let their tracks be easily discovered. From the current situation, their operation was undoubtedly extremely successful.
“For some reason, I feel the warehouse incident is definitely connected to them. After all, Superpower Users are a minority. I doubt there are many in the entire Jingdu. If there are changes at this critical moment, there’s a ninety percent chance it’s them!”
Lin Mu concentrated, thinking for a moment, then suddenly thought of another question. He immediately looked at Jiang Chu and asked quietly, “By the way, I noticed a strange phenomenon. It seems no Superpower Users have been found among Huaxia people; almost all are foreigners. The only one I’ve seen was of mixed race.”
“That’s not your misconception; it’s indeed the case. There have never been any Superpower Users among Huaxia people, or among yellow-skinned people in general. All Superpower Users are born among white and black people. We studied this for a long time back then, but found no answers.”
Jiang Chu nodded, glancing subtly at the table of Europeans. “We suspect it might have something to do with genetics, but so far, we haven’t discovered any gene sequence that can trigger Superpower mutation.”
“So that’s how it is. No wonder it seemed so strange that all the Superpower Users I encountered were Europeans or Americans, with one being mixed-race.”
Lin Mu suddenly understood; there was this reason behind it. “If there are no Superpower Users among Huaxia people, then I have an idea.”
“What idea?”
Jiang Chu’s eyes immediately lit up. He trusted Lin Mu’s abilities greatly and knew he wouldn’t speak without basis. Since Lin Mu said this, it would surely help with the case.
“Immediately organize personnel to check the hotel surveillance from the last two days. Their body types are quite different from Huaxia people’s, so they likely wouldn’t disguise themselves as Huaxia people. They probably still look like Europeans or Americans. This is Huaxia, so naturally, Huaxia people are the majority here.”
Lin Mu said quietly at once: “So, we just need to look at all European and American tourists who checked into the hotel in the last two days besides them. Then, check if there are any unfamiliar faces that weren’t registered. Those must be the people they disguised themselves as!”
“That makes sense! I’ll have someone check right away!”
Jiang Chu’s eyes shone. He secretly gave Lin Mu a thumbs-up, then quickly walked out the door and started making a phone call.
As soon as the call ended, the Dragon Guardians Corps Base immediately began intense analytical work. They were short on staff, so they temporarily borrowed some personnel from other departments. Everyone started watching the surveillance videos together.
Using the hotel’s check-in records, they carefully compared every European and American tourist entering and leaving the hotel. Finally, they identified six unfamiliar faces. These individuals had no check-in procedures but moved freely in and out of the hotel.
However, once they entered the hotel, it was impossible to see which room they entered or where they came from. It was only known that they always appeared at the left corridor corner in the lobby, and that was also where they disappeared each time.
After reporting this result to Jiang Chu, Lin Mu immediately took Jiang Chu to that corner on the first-floor lobby. Sure enough, there were very few surveillance cameras in the entire stairwell, averaging only one camera per five floors.
And every four floors, there was a ventilation duct entrance leading to the stairwell. At one of these ventilation duct entrances, Jiang Chu found signs that the cover plate had been moved.
Lin Mu struck upwards with his palm. A surge of air instantly knocked the cover plate down, and he caught it. Then he jumped lightly, directly entering the ventilation duct. Jiang Chu jumped in right after him.
Following the traces left inside the duct, the two felt their way forward and found ventilation duct entrances in six different rooms. After confirming the room numbers, they verified with the Dragon Protection Corps personnel. These rooms were indeed among those booked by the group of Europeans.
“Activate the facial recognition system. Mobilize big data for cloud computing. Immediately analyze all surveillance cameras within the city, including the footage from the last two days. I want to know where these six people have been!”
After emerging from the ventilation duct, Jiang Chu issued another order via phone.
The Dragon Guardians Corps Base became busy again instantly, thoroughly checking all surveillance cameras in the city while also performing facial recognition. This placed extremely high demands on computer performance; one could say no single computer could handle it now.
That’s why Jiang Chu had them mobilize big data for cloud computing, utilizing thousands of computers simultaneously for analysis. Distributing the data evenly improved work efficiency and reduced server pressure.
In just twenty minutes, Jiang Chu received a map on his Mobile Phone. The movement tracks plotted on it showed the places those six people had visited over the last two days.
Lin Mu looked it over carefully and noticed that although the six people’s final destinations were different, the positions where they ultimately stopped formed a hexagon that encircled one specific place.
He pointed his finger at the map. That place was exactly where the Jingdu Heavy Prisoners Penitentiary was located!
“Sure enough, their target is the Heavy Prisoners Penitentiary!”
Lin Mu’s gaze sharpened. “There must be someone imprisoned there that they need to rescue!”
“I know who they want to rescue!”
Jiang Chu said immediately. “That hijacking incident you accidentally resolved last time was because the police from Guangdong and Hong Kong conducted a joint operation, intercepting a batch of drugs and arresting some drug traffickers. Now, they and the drugs have been transferred from Guangdong to Jingdu.”
“Those drug traffickers are imprisoned in the Jingdu Heavy Prisoners Penitentiary?”
Lin Mu immediately added.
“Correct. They, along with the people from that hijacking, are all imprisoned there.”
Jiang Chu confirmed with a nod.
“Let’s go to the Heavy Prisoners Penitentiary immediately. Notify the relevant personnel to surround the area at once and evacuate the surrounding crowds!”
Lin Mu decided promptly and left the hotel quickly with Jiang Chu.
A prison break event is serious. Moreover, once conflict erupts, it basically equates to a small-scale gunfight. For ordinary people, this is already a very terrifying event.
After receiving Jiang Chu’s call, the Dragon Protection Corps side immediately arranged relevant matters. In less than three minutes, the People’s Armed Police and Special Police Forces were ready and swiftly moved to surround the Heavy Prisoners Penitentiary. All ordinary residents within a three-kilometer radius were evacuated.
Of course, the reason given was a bomb disposal drill, not a potential outbreak of unrest.
While everyone was still on the way, Jiang Chu suddenly received a phone call. After just a few seconds, he hung up directly.
“A riot has broken out at the Heavy Prisoners Penitentiary! Just one minute ago! Almost all the prisoners have guns!”
Jiang Chu said to Lin Mu beside him with a grave expression, pressing the accelerator hard, instantly increasing their speed.
Such a major incident happening in Jingdu, and they had no preparations beforehand? If it caused significant losses or had an extremely negative impact, none of the relevant departments would escape punishment from above.
When they arrived at the scene, they could hear intense exchange of gunfire from inside and outside the prison from afar. The prison was already in chaos. Countless rioters had gathered and were assaulting the prison’s defensive installations from all sides.
Many checkpoints had already been breached by them, and prison guards had been tragically killed. None of the prisoners incarcerated here were simple; they were all here for committing serious crimes. Now, with guns in their hands, the riot was practically a foregone conclusion.
“What’s the current situation inside?”
Jiang Chu asked a Special Police Forces commander on site.
“The situation is chaotic. We attempted several assaults but couldn’t break through the main gate. The prisoners have very strong firepower. We don’t know where they got these weapons; almost none are standard prison equipment!”
The commander wiped sweat from his forehead and said, panting.