Chapter 957: Hostage Crisis
Translator: Min Editor: Rainystars
The hostage situation alerted the Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarters and the Malayisa federal government 20 kilometers away. The Chief Sheriff of Kuala Lumpur rushed to the scene, followed by the head of the National Anti-Terrorism Office, the anti-terrorism experts from the military, as well as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Miesba.
Not far behind the police’s explosion-proof vehicles, these people urgently convened an operational meeting to discuss how to deal with the terrorists in the mall.
“There are nine terrorists in the mall who control the fourth, fifth and sixth floors. They captured a total of 79 hostages,” Chief Sergeant Meyaki anxiously reported.
“When is our anti-terrorist force coming?”
“They are on the way. What about the cameras in the mall? We need to confirm the location of the hostages and the layout of the mall. Where are the contractors who built the building? Find them, I need the drawings of the building.” The anti-terrorism expert examined the map provided by the person in charge of the mall, then said with a deep frown. “This is useless.”
The map for tourists didn’t offer any value. It didn’t identify the location of the cameras, let alone the building’s load-bearing structure and other critical information. Without knowing the load-bearing structure, if they encountered any situation where they were required to blast through, the amount of charge used and the risk a.s.sociated would be up to their own judgement, which undoubtedly increased the risk of action.
“We have already contacted the building contractor. They said that they will send the drawings within half an hour. The hostage location… This is a bit difficult,” Meyaki answered while sweating profusely.
“Difficult?” Gafael, the head of the National Anti-Terrorism office, frowned.
“The terrorists planned this carefully. They not only cut off the power to the building, but also cut off all connections between the monitoring line and the outside. We can’t see anything…” said the person in charge of the mall building.
These terrorists were prepared.
The chief of staff, Miesba, looked at his watch and looked at the direction of the Hilton Hotel. He took a deep breath and walked over to Gafael.
“Listen, I need you to solve this problem in the shortest possible time and in the cleanest way.”
Gafael immediately shook his head. “The shortest time? Don’t bullsh*t me, there are 79 hostages. Unless the Prime Minister is willing to take responsibility for the safety of the hostages, there’s no way this will be quick.”
Miesba lowered his voice, “I know it’s hard to do, but there is a foreign guest in the Hilton Hotel next door, and an extremely important one.”
“A foreign guest? Which one?” Gafael frowned.
“The rich man from the New Malaysia Special District, you should know who it is. And just now, he and the Prime Minister agreed on a big deal involving more than one billion dollars in value related to electricity and TNB.” Miesba took a deep breath and looked to the mall. “We can’t let the other party be concerned about our investment environment. We must solve this hostage crisis in the shortest time, otherwise… Someone has to stand up and take responsibility in the end.”
Gafael’s scalp felt a little numb as he cursed out.
“These d.a.m.n sc.u.ms, why did they pick this time and this place!”
“Ask them this question once you capture them, if you can take them captive in the first place.” With a sigh, Miesba looked at his watch again and then looked at the Chief Sheriff, “Have someone appease the foreign guest’s emotions. At least let him know that this is just an accident and does not represent the security of the country…”
…
On the twenty-first floor of the Hilton Hotel, which overlooked the entire situation, Jiang Chen moved a chair over and sat beside the gla.s.s window to examine the situation with great interest.
It was much more interesting than the movie.
The police force surrounded the entrance to the mall with police vehicles. They nervously hid behind the vehicles that acted as covers. Police officers wearing bulletproof vests and used megaphones to speak to the terrorists inside the mall behind the explosion-proof vehicles.
The Kuala Lumpur Police closed the scene and evacuated the street. The entire street was blocked off, including the entrance to the Hilton Hotel.
There were still many people unafraid of death.
Outside the police line, the crowd surrounded the scene and formed a dense circle. In addition to reporters, many citizens filmed the situation. With so many cameras directed at them, the police officers were feeling the heat. As a major metropolitan in Southeast Asia, the hostage situation was going to make international headline!
Jiang Chen called the bodyguard downstairs and asked him to learn more about the situation.
Not far away, the police force and the terrorists entered a stalemate, the hostages in the mall forced them to be extra cautious, but the demands of the terrorists were simply unacceptable.
Soon, the bodyguard called back and reported the situation downstairs to Jiang Chen.
In short, those terrorists were no ordinary terrorists at all, but equipped with automatic weapons and bulletproof vests. A total of 79 hostages were held in the mall, most of them were mall staff and shopping tourists. The terrorists demanded that the police immediately release 110 people who were detained in prison for being suspected of planning and partic.i.p.ating in terrorist attacks. If the police didn’t release the prisoners, they would kill one person every hour.
The Malayisa government would never release those prisoners.
If they established the precedent to compromise to terrorists, it would be a nightnamre in the future. And the terrorists inside this mall clearly did not intend to escape. If they confirmed the safety of their a.s.sociates, they would probably explode everything the next second.
The Malayisa Police were helpless and requested reinforcements from the anti-terrorist forces stationed in Kuala Lumpur. Soon, two armored vehicles arrived and two Black Hawk helicopters hovered around the mall. Anti-terrorist units wearing black combat uniforms entered the scene and surrounded the mall.
There seems to be no further actions?
Jiang Chen yawned, and when he was about to go back to his room, his watch shook twice.
The holographic screen opened, and the bodyguard standing at the door appeared on the screen.
“The Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Miesba, and Kuala Lumpur’s Chief Sherrif, Meyaki, are at the door and they want to see you.”
Jiang Chen took a second to think of the reason and immediately understood their intentions, so he nodded.
“Invite them in.”
“Yes.” The bodyguard wearing sungla.s.ses nodded and ended the communication.
Soon, the door opened, and a slim man with a European face in a suit walked in. Behind him was an Asian in a police uniform.
Miesba apologized as soon as he entered the room.
“Mr. Jiang, I am sorry that we meet again in this way. There is a hostage incident in mall across the street. I am sorry that our mistakes have affected your travel. If you have any arrangements to go out at night, we can arrange an armored vehicle to escort you from the door to the police line.”
“No need. I understand your difficulties and I sincerely hope that the hostages in the mall will be safe and sound.” The apology of the chief of staff was very sincere, and Jiang Chen did not give him any trouble. He expressed that he didn’t mind the situation.
But at this moment, Jiang Chen focused on the sheriff behind him.
His eyes moved around and an idea suddenly appeared, so he smiled and said.
“Can I learn more about the situation? Are the hostages in the mall still fine?”
Meyaki’s heart clanked as Mr. Jiang asked about the situation.
Meyaki had to bite the bullet and respond with honesty. “The situation is already under control. After the anti-terrorist forces arrive, we will soon start the rescue operation. It is only because of the monitoring system-”
Miesba glanced at Meyaki, and the sheriff immediately realized that he said too much and quickly closed his mouth.
Although the sheriff quickly closed his mouth, Jiang Chen had already heard the information he wanted to hear.
Jiang Chen smiled and nodded, then looked at the chief of staff.
“Monitor? Maybe Celestial Trade can help you.”