CHAPTER 207: CHAPTER 205: CAPTURE

The third and sixth were escorted onto the vehicle by Leader Li, awaiting the fair judgment that was to come.

As for the nearly unrecognizable corpse on the ground, it was cleaned up by a professional body retrieval team. However, the crimson bloodstains on the snow and some remaining body fragments were hard to clear. They didn’t bother, just shoveled up the frozen red ice chunks on the ground into body bags, leaving nothing behind but a patch of dark red bloodstains.

"Although the caliber of the Chicago typewriter is about the same as those bullet holes, a submachine gun can’t create that kind of effect, right?" Watching the dragged corpse, Leader Li whispered to Qin Lan, who had just come down from the observation room.

Qin Lan, of course, knew she couldn’t hide it from Leader Li, but she simply whispered back, "We’re not the ones writing the report, as long as those above don’t know, it’s fine."

Left speechless by Qin Lan’s reasoning, Leader Li could only shake his head, "Alright, but private possession of heavy weapons is quite serious. If it’s found out..."

"Xin isn’t the type to mess around. He’s just holding it as a trump card for self-defense. No one will investigate this," Qin Lan didn’t think Chen Xin would misuse heavy weapons, nor was she worried about the situation being discovered.

After all, times have changed. In this post-apocalyptic environment, if something like this were truly pursued, there’d still be those who would, but with a reasonable cover-up, no one would stubbornly cling to it, demanding that the matter be exposed.

Leader Li thought about it and realized it was true. Bringing these bodies back for autopsy would merely result in a report stating they died from gunshot wounds. Whether it was a heavy machine gun or a submachine gun, only professionals could discern the difference.

Even if the coroner wrote it down truthfully, the superiors above wouldn’t scrutinize it, nor would they even look at the autopsy report. They’d only want to know how many criminals were shot dead.

As long as no one deliberately mentioned it, just as Qin Lan said, once it’s covered up, no one would be bored enough to check whether these terrorists were gunned down by a heavy machine gun or a submachine gun.

After all, it’s the post-apocalyptic era. Even if this group of terrorists were alive, they’d face at least ten years of hard labor or simply a bullet to end it all.

Thinking of this, Leader Li didn’t say more, just nodded, "I’ll give a heads up to the body retrieval team."

Seeing Leader Li willing to help, Qin Lan thanked him and handed him a bottle filled with "water": "Thanks for driving over, have some water to quench your thirst."

"This... I am a bit thirsty," said Leader Li, smiling as he accepted the bottle Qin Lan handed him.

While Leader Li was taking sips of "water" to quench his thirst, Chen Xin was busy inventorying the supplies Leader Li brought over.

Although this was a baiting plan, the supplies transported were real. The city officials were indeed preparing to activate a small shelter, attempting to install the geothermal heat pump designed by Chen Xin to provide heating to the shelter.

If this plan could succeed, the city government would gradually reactivate previously closed small shelters, redistributing the population from the large shelter back to them.

The reason small shelter populations were initially concentrated into large shelters was primarily due to the oxygen issue. After all, the oxygen machines only covered large and medium shelters, while small shelters lacked oxygen equipment.

Another major factor was the heating problem that was hard to resolve.

Now, with Chen Xin’s geothermal heat pump, this issue is no longer a constraint, and with heating solved, setting up growing greenhouses in small shelters to use plant photosynthesis to produce oxygen could also resolve the oxygen issue. This way, living conditions in small shelters can be improved, allowing them to accommodate survivors again.

Ever since knowing the SWAT team had a more energy-efficient heating solution than coal furnaces in the form of geothermal heat pumps, the city government has placed great emphasis on this matter, even when arranging for the capture of terrorists, not forgetting to push this forward.

Not only did they prepare enough supplies for Chen Xin, but they also gathered the raw materials needed for geothermal heat pump manufacturing. If it weren’t for concerns that Chen Xin might not have enough space, they might have brought it all in one go.

Even so, the transportation truck still brought enough materials, according to Chen Xin’s list, to make ten geothermal heat pumps.

Originally, Secretary Li was supposed to handle this batch of supplies and discuss geothermal heat pump issues with Chen Xin, but since he’s been arrested as an accomplice to the terrorists, someone else will naturally have to discuss this with Chen Xin.

And the one to discuss this with Chen Xin was, in fact, Secretary Li’s superior from earlier.

"Sorry, Comrade Xiao Chen, it’s our fault for not doing our job well. This matter must have startled you," the leader arrived at Chen Xin’s shelter shortly after the body retrieval team left, greeting him very cordially.

Chen Xin didn’t really take the leader’s politeness seriously, just returned the greeting with a slight smile and similarly cordial words, "No need to be so polite, leader. Cooperating with the city to combat terrorists is also to protect my own safety. It’s something I should do. It’s cold here, should we go inside to talk?"

Chen Xin spoke, then invited the leader to join him in the shelter to discuss the details of the geothermal heat pump.

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While Chen Xin was negotiating with the city government’s leader about the geothermal heat pump, Azu and his brothers were being besieged by SWAT and armed police.

"What the hell is going on! How did these cops find us?" Old Four, while holding back their forces from resisting, loudly advised Azu, "Azu, let’s run! If we keep this up, all the brothers will get caught here!"

"I don’t believe it! How could they have possibly found us here!" Azu was in a frantic state at this moment, full of unwillingness and disbelief.

It was no wonder Azu felt unwilling. Before the police blocked the door, he was still plotting how to take over Chen Xin’s shelter, how to utilize its production and resources to grow his power during the city’s resource shortage, and eventually control the entire city.

But as soon as he turned around, the police came to the door, not only blocking off the shelter but also killing many of his subordinates in the resistance just now, with even three of his brothers dying under police gunfire.

Azu had a total of six brothers; Old Three and Old Six went to Chen Xin, and now they were likely captured by the police, leaving only Old Four, who was still organizing resistance.

As for the subordinates he brought back from Southeast Asia, several were already lying lifeless on the ground, with only a few remaining, simultaneously resisting under Old Four’s commands and cursing in Vietnamese, urging Azu to flee.

The shelter where they were trapped was just a regular town shelter, designed with only the main entrance as the exit. However, Azu’s men had dug an escape tunnel for emergencies, and now was the time for this tunnel to come into play.

Yet Azu was extremely reluctant; he was unwilling to see his brothers die like this, unwilling for his grand ambitions to end this way, and unwilling to crawl like a dog through a tunnel to escape.

He simply couldn’t fathom how the police managed to find them and how he got exposed.

"Azu! The police are everywhere outside, let’s go!" Old Four pleaded with Azu, not wanting both himself and Azu to go down with three brothers already dead, and Old Three and Old Six likely in dire straits.

They only had a few inferior pistols and some homemade guns, no match for the well-equipped SWAT and armed police in a shootout.

Their current resistance was only possible due to their strategic position and the police’s reluctance to force a direct assault, which could cause extensive casualties, especially considering their previous two suicide attacks demonstrated their use of homemade bombs and their willingness to deploy human bombs.

However, Azu and the others no longer had any homemade bombs; their stock was depleted after the three explosions earlier.

Their resistance now stemmed from the knowledge that capture would mean death anyway, and because an escape tunnel still offered a chance for survival.

"But does this mean Old Two, Old Five, and Old Seven died in vain?" Azu still couldn’t bring himself to just run away, despite knowing further resistance would only lead to capture or death.

"Run, Azu! Surviving is the only way to avenge them! If we die here, everything is lost!" Old Four urged Azu, nearly dragging him along to leave.

Watching another subordinate fall to a bullet through the head, Azu gritted his teeth, finally letting Old Four drag him toward the secret passageway, albeit unwillingly.

Seeing Azu and Old Four begin to flee, the men they brought back from Southeast Asia quickly followed, retreating while firing, with only the pawns they used as cannon fodder remaining to resist.

But as Azu’s core men withdrew, their resistance waned, and it wasn’t long before a team of SWAT officers stormed in.

The bodies of the slain terrorists drew little attention from these SWAT officers. After checking if there were any survivors or bombs on them, they moved on, swiftly searching the entire shelter to capture Azu and his leaders.

The SWAT officers quickly discovered the escape tunnel Azu was using, reporting the situation to Uncle Ding, who was commanding outside, as they pursued the fugitives.

"Escaped? They do know how to save their skins, don’t they? But can they really escape?" Uncle Ding, upon hearing the report, showed no expression, but his heart was filled with rage.

For the sake of the SWAT officers who had sacrificed themselves earlier, he had long resolved to capture Azu and his gang.