Chapter 18
Amateur Culprits
Even though these culprits were ruthless, they were not good at shooting. After the three cops had been killed, they remained in the car to wait if they were more cops around, instead of controlling the scene.
Therefore, not only Pang Jing Dong and Jing Ling Ling had some time to chit-chat, but it also allowed Pang Jing Dong to realize these guys are not professionals.
Pang Jing Dong clearly understood it was inevitable for him to be dragged into the incident. These people dared to murder cops in public; surely, they would not allow anyone to walk away alive.
However, to rely on the now shivering Jing Ling Ling before him to resolve the danger was not an ideal strategy. The chance of that happening would be less than or equivalent to the chance of China winning the soccer"s World Champion.
"Give me the gun!" Pang Jing Dong reached out his hand toward Jing Ling Ling and said in an unquestionable tone.
"No way! I"m a cop. My gun is more important than my life…"
Without waiting for Jing Ling Ling to finish talking, Pang Jing Dong grabbed the gun from her, at such a fast speed that Jing Ling Ling did not manage to see what just happened.
The noise they made had attracted the attention of the two men who got out from the Kamaz. They immediately pointed their gun at the direction of the noise after realizing there were survivors. Despite that, Pang Jing Dong acted way faster, before the two criminals had the chance to fire their guns, Pang Jing Dong had fired two shots which penetrated their heads.
"You…" Jing Ling Ling stared shockingly at Pang Jing Dong.
"These guys were ruthless, but from their behaviors, it seemed like they were not trained militarily!" said Pang Jing Dong calmly.
"You must come with me to the criminal police department!" said Jing Ling Ling as she was trying to stand up.
Pang Jing Dong immediately pulled her down, "Don"t move! There"s more still!"
"Huh?"
"The gunshots from before were shot from two different directions by different weapons. I guess there"s still a sniper nearby!"
"Where is he?"
Pang Jing Dong pointed toward the opposite direction of the prisoners" van.
Jing Ling Ling asked again, "Be more precise!"
"I don"t know yet! But I"ve got a plan!"
Pang Jing Dong looked at Jing Ling Ling, whose uniform was covered in dust, but she still looked heroic in it. It was more impressive that she was still wearing her police cap. Pang Jing Dong reached out his hand and take her cap while saying, "Lend this to me for a while!"
"What are you trying to do?" asked Jing Ling Ling, who sort of had guessed what Pang Jing Dong"s intention was.
Pang Jing Dong was thankful toward the culprits because they executed their ambush in an reconstructing area, which felt like he was on a real battlefield, allowing him to find what he needed easily. Pang Jing Dong picked up a piece of steel rod and hang Jing Ling Ling"s cap on one side. He slowly poked the rod out from the edge of the van and kept on trying with different angles. Finally, as he was poking out the rod from the top, a gunshot was heard not far from them.
"Ahead on the left!" Pang Jing Dong told Jing Ling Ling after observing the bullet hole on the cap.
"Were you a soldier before?" Jing Ling Ling looked at Pang Jing Dong with a confused expression.
Pang Jing Dong did not answer the question, "It was an old-fashioned trick, but still a useful one after all this time!"
"From my Intel, you had just returned from overseas. Were you a soldier when you were overseas?"
"The van"s driver must be dead! He must be killed by the sniper just then!"
"Give me back the gun!" Jing Ling Ling reached out her hand toward Pang Jing Dong.
"How many cops were involved in this operation? Why aren"t the cops in the van coming out?"
"I"m going to arrest you!" said Jing Ling Ling firmly.
Pang Jing Dong slapped Jing Ling Ling"s hand away, and said with a disdained look, "If you have investigated me before, you would know that I have no criminal record! I"m doing this to keep us all alive! If you are reliable, I won"t be taking matters into my own hands!"
Jing Ling Ling rubbed her hand and stared blankly at Pang Jing Dong. She was completely shocked by the man before him.
"You haven"t answered my question yet!" Pang Jing Dong reminded her.
"Our vice squad leader was guarding the robbers" leader at the back of the van! According to our plan, no matter what happened, if he didn"t hear any signal from us, he would not open the door!"
Pang Jing Dong said, "Having a plan like this indicates you guys have received some information about the raid!"
"Yes!" Jing Ling Ling continued after pausing for a while, "This group of criminals had committed serious offenses in several areas. From the information we received, the remaining members of the group were planning to rescue their leader. Therefore, all the information regarding this escort including the time and the route are to be kept secrets. To avoid attracting attention, less number of cops are involved in this operation. Furthermore, no communication devices are allowed while the escort is taking place!"
"That means, you are unable to call for backups now?"
"Correct!" Jing Ling Ling nodded her head helplessly.
Pang Jing Dong took out his phone from his chest pocket, who then realized it was squashed into pieces when he dove onto the ground a moment ago. As a result, the two were stuck with other criminals hiding somewhere, while they had no way to call for help.
Pang Jing Dong urged Jing Ling Ling, "Tell your vice-captain to open the door!"
"Why?"
"I took out two of their men. Hence the others would know there were still survivors. According to my prediction, they would charge at us after observing the situation for a while! Although the number of people they have is unknown to us, we are surely outnumbered. It"s safer to relocate ourselves somewhere, then try to come up with a plan there!"
"What if we walk straight into them when we try to relocate?"
"If people were shooting at us from other directions apart from where the sniper was, we would be dead by now. This means that the other directions are safe. In my opinion, these idiots have made a careless mistake; they should have surrounded the whole place, to begin with."
"Then we should consider ourselves lucky!"
"It"s probably because they did not have enough people or weapons!"
Jing Ling Ling asked in a worried tone, "Even so, are we able to escape?"
"It shouldn"t be a problem if we use the van as a cover!"
Jing Ling Ling crawled to the back of the van and knocked on the door with a sequence of three long knocks, two short knocks and then another four long knocks. Following the signal, the door was pulled open, and a middle-aged officer poked his head out while nervously asking Jing Ling Ling, "What"s going on?"
"We"ll talk later. We have to leave now!"
The vice-captain and Jing Ling Ling escorted the prisoner, with Pang Jing Dong covering their backs. The four moved while bending down their heads, using the van as a cover, toward a nearby building.
"It"s easier to deal with them now!" Pang Jing Dong felt relieved, while saying to the others, "Use the building as a cover and don"t let them see us. We"ll keep moving!"
The vice-captain asked Jing Ling Ling, "Who"s this guy?" He stared at Pang Jing Dong with a doubtful expression.
"He"s… He"s sent here to help us with the mission!" Jing Ling Ling lied.
"Why have I not heard about this…" mumbled the vice-captain.
Under Pang Jing Dong"s command, the few were able to move sneakily among the buildings using the hidden alleyways. They entered another building after moving continuously for ten minutes.
"Let"s take a rest!" said the vice-captain who was wiping his sweat on his forehead and trying to catch his breath. "We"ll be leaving the shanty town soon! When we reach the city, we would be able to call for a.s.sistance!"
"Sure!" Pang Jing Dong looked around in the building and learned that although the doors and windows provided a large area of vision, they were all facing north, which meant they could only see the enemies coming from that direction.
"Young lad, what"s your name?" said the vice-captain who reached out his hand toward Pang Jing Dong.
"Pang Jing Dong."
The two shook hands with each other, enable the vice-captain to notice that Pang Jing Dong had extremely powerful grips. He continued to ask, "Which city do you work at?"
"I"m currently working here!" said Pang Jing Dong, who glanced toward Jing Ling Ling.