Chapter 171 Almost Exploded

Chapter 171 Almost Exploded

Sirens wailing, lights flashing.

Alison watched the vehicles ahead pull over to make way and asked Oliver, "You seemed to know from the start that the distress call was fake?"

Oliver was about to explain when Taylor, who was driving, said, "We've run into this before. Back then, over a hundred officers were mobilized for a big operation to catch a drug lord, and our communication channel got jammed—we almost fell for it!"

Taylor chuckled, "After that, Oscar encrypted our team's communication channel over and over, and separated it from the regular police public channel. This intruder was so dumb to call for help on our team's channel!"

Only after speaking did he realize he might have stolen Oliver's chance to impress Alison. He sneaked a glance at Oliver's expression in the rearview mirror and gave an ingratiating smile.

Oliver wasn't going to fuss over such a small thing. "Just drive!"

Taylor replied, "Yes, sir!"

Alison looked worried. "If they can crack the communication code Oscar set up, they must be pretty skilled. Who could it be?"

Oliver shook his head. "If their target is also that house, we'll find out soon enough."

After ten minutes of driving without further interference, they arrived at their destination smoothly.

As soon as she got out of the car, Alison saw a crowd of people squeezed together at the front gate, making a racket.

This was a villa with a front courtyard and back garden. Though not large, it had an elegant layout. The iron railings around it were covered with vines blooming with small white flowers. People standing outside couldn't see in clearly, which added a sense of tranquility and mystery to the house.

Unfortunately, this tranquility was completely ruined by the noisy crowd at the gate.

Some people held up phones, cameras, and video cameras, while others tried to stop them from filming and live-streaming. Many onlookers stood nearby, and Oliver's team's arrival made the scene even more chaotic.

"The police are here!"

"I knew there was something wrong with this house."

"Rumor has it many people died in this house. Wonder if it's true."

Taylor sat in the car, frowning as he picked up the megaphone and shouted toward the gate. "Police investigation, no filming allowed! All unrelated persons leave immediately. Scene will be sealed off in three minutes!"

Alison rolled down her window and waved at Lowell in the crowd. Lowell nimbly squeezed out and jogged over to the car.

Alison. "What's going on with all these people?"

Lowell looked distressed. "I was waiting at the gate early for you guys. Ten minutes ago, this group of social media bloggers suddenly appeared all at once, trying to break in and film. I held onto the key for dear life and wouldn't let them grab it. Alison, thank god you came in time—they were like zombies!"

Alison thought of the strange distress call on the way here and suspected these social media bloggers were also deliberately arranged by someone with ulterior motives.

She looked around at the bustling crowd of onlookers, feeling the number of people was unusually large.

Alison took out a small pill box from her pocket, removed a red capsule, and swallowed it dry.

This was a drug that stimulated brain nerve activity, inspired by her experience being set up by Francesca at Bluesy Notes Bar last time.

Oliver had asked renowned experts to help develop it. Three minutes after taking it, her Agnosia would kick in, lasting about half an hour, with the side effect of a one-hour headache.

After taking the medicine, Alison observed the crowd while multitasking, listening to Lowell talk about the strange aspects of this house.

Three minutes passed quickly.

Although Taylor had driven those live-streamers away from the gate, they lingered outside the police line, unwilling to leave. Each one craned their neck with excited expressions, waiting to see what the police would discover in the house.

Some reporters caught wind of it and rushed over, blocking the roads on both sides of the house completely.

Alison closed her eyes and opened them again. The world had changed dramatically.

Facing such a large number of "monsters" at close range put considerable pressure on Alison. She quickly adjusted her state and focused on capturing and analyzing the emotions emanating from each person.

One person hiding in the crowd caught Alison's attention.

After seeing Alison take the red capsule, Oliver had been watching her expression, worried she might feel unwell. When Alison's expression suddenly changed, he immediately asked with concern. "How do you feel?"

"That man," Alison urgently pointed at a man, "catch him quickly! He's dangerous!"

Oliver didn't hesitate to trust Alison's words. He called Harry and Howard and quickly moved to surround the direction Alison indicated.

Because Alison couldn't clearly describe the target's features, they only locked down a general area, but they soon knew which person Alison meant—seeing things going south, the guy turned to run.

Harry and Howard lunged at the man. He dodged nimbly, pulling nearby bystanders as shields. The crowd instantly descended into chaos.

Oliver saw the man reach into his coat, trying to pull something from an inner pocket. Instinctively, he raised his gun to stop him.

Bang! Bang!

Two gunshots rang out simultaneously, hitting the man's left shoulder and right chest.

One shot was Oliver's, the other was Alison's.

The man fell to the ground, still struggling. Harry and Howard quickly subdued him. When they saw what was on the man's body, their expressions changed in unison.

"Bombs!"

Four homemade bombs were strapped to each side of the man's waist. His right hand still gripped a throwable micro-bomb that looked like a grenade, with the pin already pulled halfway out.

Harry and Howard exchanged glances, both feeling a wave of fear.

That was so close to an explosion!

With so many people around, if all these bombs had detonated, the casualties would have been unimaginable!

The injured man was sent to the hospital. Oliver organized the crowd evacuation while calling the station for backup, preparing to thoroughly search the area around the house.

Lowell, being timid, stuck close to Alison's side, asking with both fear and curiosity. "How did you know that man was trouble?"

To Lowell, Alison had just stood in place, looked around, and spotted the criminal at a glance—it was truly amazing!

"He was more nervous than the others," Alison said.

She hadn't expected the man to be carrying bombs. She had only seen emotions of nervousness emanating from him five or six times more intense than others, along with a cruel, violent emotion surging back and forth.

—She had only seen this kind of emotion before in extremely dangerous fugitive killers.

The chaotic scene gradually calmed down. The live-streamers who had refused to leave earlier were now frightened and couldn't wait to get away. Taylor stopped them with an expressionless face, and one of them voluntarily confessed without equal enthusiasm that someone had paid them to come "cause trouble"!

All the live-streamers were taken back to the station for questioning by the supporting officers. Two hours later, after the inspection work was completed, Alison and Oliver entered the villa together.

The three-story villa looked somewhat old from the outside, with an overall style popular in the 1990s that now had a retro-luxurious beauty.

A very ornate crystal chandelier was installed in the first-floor living room. Lowell, acting as guide, saw everyone looking up at the ceiling and dutifully introduced the value of this lamp. Taylor waved him off and brought over a ladder with Harry.

Lowell quietly asked Alison. "Are they going to take the lamp down?"

Alison shook her head. "There's something on the ceiling."

Lowell wondered what could be on the ceiling besides moldy water stains.

Taylor climbed the ladder and felt around the ceiling for over ten minutes before prying up a piece of plasterboard.

What was hidden inside came pouring down, nearly knocking Taylor off the ladder.

Lowell's eyes widened as he watched the fluttering, falling bills, his voice breaking with excitement. "Money! So much money!"