I am a necromancer, and I absolutely love America.

Chapter 104 Fire Dragon Burns the Granary (12K long chapter, please vote and subscribe)

Richard looked at the starlings chirping in the trees not far away.

He walked over quietly.

The magical hand stretched out, spreading into the shape of a net, and slowly moved towards a starling.

Just then, an owl flew over silently and grabbed the starling with one talon.

The starling let out a painful scream, and the other starlings scattered in fright. Owl? Even better! Richard's heart stirred, and the Touch of Pain was activated.

The owl, having successfully hunted its prey, was about to fly away when it crashed headfirst into an unseen web.

A sharp pain followed immediately from the internet; it was so painful that its muscles spasmed, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

In the dead of night, no one witnessed this scene.

Richard stepped forward and stomped the owl to death.

A moment later, Catherine arrived in her car: "Richard?"

She saw Richard emerge from the darkness and wave, then breathed a sigh of relief: "Are you alright?"

Richard waved his hand: "It's alright, you go back first, I need to take care of something."

"Should I go home and cook?"

"No need for now, we need to wait patiently tonight."

"OK. Is this car okay? The gas tank is full."

"very good."

Catherine left the car with Richard and took a taxi from the NYPD entrance.

Richard carried the dead owl into the car, placed it at the foot of the passenger seat, and quietly looked at the NYPD building.

A short while later, he saw Isabella, with her supermodel figure, rushing over and walking into the NYPD building in high heels.

Richard's lips curled into a slight smile.

It would be great if Miles killed Isabella in a moment of emotional outburst.

Miles returned to his office and paced back and forth in the room.

Richard's being taken away by his lawyer plunged him into immense anxiety.

With Murphy killed, Henry had no choice but to reveal that Murphy was an undercover agent and some information about him, and angrily investigated the mole within the NYPD.

Miles was horrified to discover that the fatal call to Murphy had actually been made from his own office!

He has deleted the call logs from the landline, but it's no use.

If the IAB retrieves all the NYPD's landline outbound call records from the database, they'll be in big trouble!

Miles sat in his seat, his temples throbbing, feeling as if he had fallen into a vicious trap.

Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Isabella walked in, wearing high heels.

Miles said with disgust, "Get out! I'm not in the mood right now."

Isabella parted her red lips slightly: "No, you'll be in the mood soon enough."

After saying that, she picked up her phone and started playing a video.

A video of an adult film, with very loud sound.

Miles slammed the door shut, then lowered his voice in annoyance, saying, "Don't look at this kind of thing here. It'll be trouble if someone finds out."

He froze as soon as he finished speaking.

The voice in the video sounded familiar. He looked in horror and realized that the male protagonist was himself and the female protagonist was Isabella!

"You bastard! You bitch! You secretly took pictures!" He lunged at her and tried to snatch the phone.

Isabella put her phone behind her back.

"You bitch! Give me your phone! Delete the video!"

Miles grabbed Isabella by the neck and slammed her against the door with a thud: "Delete that damn video right now!"

Isabella groaned in pain, then gave a seductive smile: "You're much more energetic now than in bed."

"Bitch! Did you hear me? Give it to me! I'm going to kill you!" Miles felt his anger rising, and his temples throbbed.

For some reason, he felt particularly anxious and restless today.

Isabella remained unfazed: "Kill them! This is the NYPD headquarters."

Miles forced down his anger, his hands trembling violently.

He had an urge to kill Isabella, and he didn't know why. It was probably due to the stress he had been under lately.

Isabella must have made a backup, so deleting it won't help.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Miles slumped into his seat, his hair disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, looking like he was at his wit's end.

Isabella felt a chill run down her spine; she had never seen Miles in this state before.

However, now that things have come to this, she has no room to back down.

Isabella raised her head: "I want to be the Internal Affairs Minister of the IAB."

"Impossible! Byron hasn't done anything wrong. He has three years left before retirement. You can just wait three years, right? Besides, appointing the IAB Chief of General Affairs is within the Director's authority. I'm just a Superintendent General!"

"Hmph, everyone knows you're in cahoots with Henry Carter now."

Miles clenched his fists, struggling to suppress his anger and remain rational: "Fine, I'll think of something. Byron is the Minister of the Interior; he can't be removed so easily. I swear, if there's a chance, I'll put in a good word for you! I've never broken my promise to you, Isabella, you believe me!"

Under no circumstances should the video be leaked.

"I don't believe you!" Isabella scoffed, continuing her demands: "OK, also, delete the dirt on Mike and Brian."

Miles' eyes widened: "You're playing for Brian too?"

"I like strong men." Isabella crossed her legs and sat opposite Miles.

Miles felt a pang of bitterness. Even though he knew Isabella was a promiscuous woman, hearing her admit it herself still made him unable to suppress his anger.

"So you slept with him again? I knew it—you bitch!"

Isabella licked her red lips without any hesitation: "Even at your age, you're much stronger than me."

Miles's temples began to throb again. He struggled to control himself, determined not to draw his gun and shoot the bastard: "Damn it! I'm better than him!"

"Come on, you coward. Stop talking nonsense. If I don't see that evidence deleted by tomorrow morning, I'm releasing our love video."

"If the video is made public, you'll be ruined too!" Miles gritted his teeth.

Isabella smirked and sneered, "You think I don't know that old bastard Byron was working with you and Henry? Otherwise, where did you get that dirt from decades ago? If I can't handle Byron, I'll have to get out of the NYPD. You understand, for someone like me, leaving the NYPD penniless is worse than death!"

Isabella kissed Miles' cheek and giggled, "Go for it, Miles, don't let me down. You're alright in bed, hopefully you're not so bad off the bed either."

Miles said angrily, "Even if I delete the video, the technicians can recover it! It's useless!"

"That's your problem," Isabella said casually, walking to the door. Just as she was about to open it, she paused. "Oh, right, that phone call. You know, the call that came from your office—ah? What do you think Henry Carter would think if he knew? Heh heh!"

Isabella laughed unrestrainedly.

Miles was trembling violently as he looked at Isabella, barely able to speak: "It was you who made that call! You called from my office!"

"Of course it wasn't me. That Byron guy ordered his men to check the landline call records, and guess who got caught? You. I've suppressed the news for now." Isabella smiled seductively. "You should thank me..."

,Bang!

The office door was closed.

The clattering sound of high heels faded into the distance.

"Bastard! Bitch!" Miles raged, smashing a bookshelf.

Finally, he slumped into his seat, dejected. He felt that the NYPD was a cage, surrounded by malice, and he was like a trapped mouse, unable to escape.

Anxiety crawls all over my body like bugs, making me feel uncomfortable all over.

We have to take action!

We have to take action, no matter what!

If the materials about Mike and Brian aren't removed, it will be troublesome if their videos are released.

Isabella, that crazy woman, can definitely do it; she always keeps her word.

For power, she would sleep with any man.

The public video certainly made Isabella lose face, but this bitch doesn't care about saving face at all; she might even find it more exciting.

But he can't.

He has a wife and children; if the news is made public, his family will be ruined.

If the dirt on Mike and Brian is removed, Henry and Theodore won't let him off the hook, but he won't die immediately.

We can only take it one step at a time.

Miles was like a gambler who had bet everything on losing all his chips, and he could only struggle desperately.

What's even more troublesome is that it can't be deleted!

The database must have backups.

He didn't understand how the technology worked, but he knew that deleting the data here wouldn't completely erase it.

He must find a complete solution!

What should I do?

Miles paced anxiously around the room.

You can't exactly go to the server room to unplug the hard drive, can you?

The NYPD's server room was huge, with hundreds of servers, and he had no idea which hard drive contained those damn materials.

We need to find someone to help us locate it.

But even if he wanted to do this, he couldn't find any help. No technician would be crazy enough to accompany him to delete the database.

Should we hire a hacker?

There wasn't enough time.

As an old-school police officer, he never dealt with those cyberpunk-era youngsters.

In his eyes, those people were just goblins who would hide in their rooms and dare not show their faces, completely afraid to appear in the sunlight.

Don't be fooled by those chicks who seem to have a lot of influence online; in reality, they're just weaklings weighing less than 130 pounds.

He didn't know this kind of person before, and now he can't find them even if he wants to in a short time.

What should we do then?

We can't just burn it...

A crazy idea suddenly popped into Miles' mind.

Correct!

Burn down the server room!

There were many flammable items in the server room: old paper documents, plastic cable trays, foam sound insulation cotton, and several scrapped servers piled in the corner, their shells made of plastic and rubber.

There's also the UPS warehouse next door, which stores a large number of UPS uninterruptible power supplies, all of which are lead-acid and lithium batteries, which are extremely flammable.

It was mentioned once during an internal fire drill one year.

Moreover, the NYPD's server room is very old, and the fire protection facilities have long been broken.

Nobody knows where the millions of dollars invested each year actually go.

Even Miles couldn't figure out how much those bastards in the equipment management department had embezzled; nobody knew who had been involved in the distribution of the spoils.

All he remembered was that the last fire drill went terribly wrong.

The smoke detectors were completely silent, and the expensive automatic gas fire suppression system didn't react at all. The only working fire suppression equipment was the few portable fire extinguishers at the entrance of the computer room.

Later, Henry flew into a rage and demanded changes, but Miles believed that no one would actually make changes; at most, it would just be for show.

There are surveillance cameras everywhere around the server room.

No one can bypass all the cameras to enter the server room.

Therefore, destroying the hard drive is not an option; once the investigation is traced back, there's no escaping it.

But burning down the server room is a different story. If the server room is burned down, the database is gone, and naturally, the monitoring records are gone too.

The problem is that even so, there's a high probability that he would be seen by others on his way to the server room, making him a prime suspect after the fire.

But for some reason, Miles instinctively ignored all the trouble.

This was his only option; he had no other choice.

There are no other opportunities left.

We have to give it our all!

Miles forced himself to calm down.

He made all the necessary preparations before mustering his courage and walking toward the computer room.

The journey went smoothly, and we didn't encounter a single person.

Security around the server room was extremely lax; no one would have imagined someone would be so reckless as to vandalize the NYPD building amidst a crowd of police.

The computer room.

He was moved when he reached the door of the computer room.

The computer room door is locked!

You need to swipe a card to get in, but he doesn't have one!

What should I do?

Miles was extremely anxious; he didn't know why he had forgotten this important information.

He had no way out.

I've been captured by numerous cameras along the way, and the surveillance data is in the server room; it must be destroyed!

Just then, a policewoman named Ida walked over. She was the supervisor of the server room, and the two knew each other well: "Hey, Miles, what brings you here?"

Miles' heart began to race.

Even if they manage to get away with it, once the fire comes to light and an investigation is launched, Ada will reveal that she was there.

"Miles? What's wrong?" Ada noticed that Miles looked strange and walked over curiously.

Immense psychological pressure came together in an instant.

Without warning, Miles punched Ida in the face.

Caught off guard, Ida fell backward.

Unfortunately, the back of her head hit a fire hydrant right next to her.

With a loud bang, blood gushed from the back of his head, and he slammed heavily to the ground, immediately beginning to twitch his limbs.

"WTF!" Miles was stunned, and he was at a loss for what to do.

"What did I do?!"

He wanted to wipe away the blood from Ida, but then stopped.

Without hesitation, he used Ida's card to open the door to the server room and dragged Ida inside as well.

There was blood on the ground, so he pulled down the curtains and wiped the blood away to avoid being discovered by passing staff.

When he finished his work and returned to the server room, Ida had already passed away.

"OMG! I don't want to kill you—Ada, I really don't want to kill you—" Miles cried, his heart pounding in his throat.

His ears were ringing. Just half an hour ago, he was the NYPD Commissioner, and now he was a murderer!

There's nothing we can do.

The surveillance cameras must have captured this scene. He could only pray that the person watching the cameras was slacking off and sleeping, otherwise someone would come to arrest him immediately.

Miles piled all the flammable materials together, including the UPS room, then took a deep breath and lit the server room and UPS room on fire with a lighter.

boom!

He closed both doors and left quickly.

Smoke billowed out of the server room.

The fire alarm didn't go off!

Miles strode to the parking lot, got into his car, and smoke began to billow out of the building.

"What's wrong with me?"

He stared in disbelief at his violently trembling hands: "How did I kill someone? How did I set fire to this place!"

Miles' heart was pounding wildly.

The most sensible choice now is to go back to the office and pretend you know nothing.

Wait until the fire is fully raging before running out with the others.

However, his fear had reached its limit, rendering him completely incapable of thinking.

He didn't know why, but he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

The moment he drove out of the parking lot, he knew he was done for.

Escaping at this time would raise serious suspicion.

Damn it, what's going on? His mind was a complete mess.

No one should have noticed me.

I am the Superintendent General of Police; no one would think I'm going to commit murder or arson.

I should go back to my office!

He knew exactly what he had to do, but the overwhelming fear prevented him from turning back.

Amid the chaos, he drove straight to the outskirts of the city.

His only rational thought prevented him from driving too fast.

An aura of death has appeared in the NYPD building!

Richard squinted, wondering who Miles had killed, whether it was Isabella or not.

Immediately afterwards, he saw flames and smoke and smelled the burning.

Then, Miles drove away quickly through the gate.

He actually set fire to the NYPD?

Awesome! Richard used 6 units of [Fresh Flesh] to revive the owl.

The flesh and blood that had been stored up for several days were all used up in one go. What a waste!

"Stay close to the driver of the car in front!"

The owl hooted twice, flapped its wings, and flew out of the car window.

There were many cars on the road at night, and Miles drove at a leisurely pace.

Richard followed the owl's sensed location at a distance.

Miles drove towards the suburbs, where there were fewer and fewer vehicles.

After a good half hour, Miles turned onto a side road and drove into a forest.

He repeatedly checked his rearview mirror along the way to make sure no one was following him.

At the beginning of the fire, the NYPD must have thought it was an accident and no one would come to arrest him until Ida's body was found, at which point the case would become a murder and arson case.

However, there was still time. Even if the NYPD couldn't find him, they would initially assume he was out on duty and wouldn't suspect him of committing a crime.

They only realize there's a problem when they can't contact themselves anymore.

Miles was very familiar with the NYPD's procedures, and he had at least 4-5 hours of golden escape time.

If the fire is large enough, and the fire rescue is not timely, it may even be delayed until noon tomorrow.

The northern part of New York State borders Canada directly, with a total border length of 716 kilometers. It only takes a little over 6 hours to drive into Canada.

The Rockham Trail, a rural road running between New York State and Quebec, is a classic border crossing point.

New York State has increased controls and patrols to prevent unauthorized crossings, but the road is in such poor condition that it's impossible to completely block it off.

Miles had also been involved in planning patrol routes and was confident that he could get into Canada.

Once you enter Canada, your chances of being arrested will drop significantly!

Miles drove along the path, turned onto a side road, and at the end of it was a cabin in the woods.

He had to change cars here to escape.

Miles hurriedly drove to the entrance of the cabin, jumped out of the car before it had come to a complete stop, and slipped and fell in the snow.

"Damn it, what did I do today? Was I crazy? It's all that bitch Isabella's fault, she framed me!"

His mind was in complete disarray. He knew he had made a terrible mistake, but it was too late to regret it now; all he could do was run away.

The cabin has a garage.

Miles unlocked the garage door with his key, revealing a gray pickup truck with a full tank of gas—his escape vehicle, which he had prepared long ago.

Various supplies were prepared in the safe house, and Miles loaded high-energy food, tents, and other items onto the pickup truck.

After Miles finished moving the items, he quickly took off his police uniform and put on the civilian clothes that had been prepared for him.

He shaved his beard, put on a fake sideburn, and wore a brownish-red wig.

In the blink of an eye, he seemed like a completely different person.

Miles' car accelerated, and the owl also began to accelerate.

Richard was still following about 200 meters behind.

The owl stopped.

We've finally arrived.

Richard parked the car 100 meters away to avoid scaring Miles away with the engine noise, and got out to walk over.

The snow is getting heavier; Christmas is approaching.

Richard's feet crunched on the snow.

He quietly walked around the corner, went around a grove of trees, and saw a cabin in the woods.

Miles' car was still parked at the entrance, its lights on and the engine running, masking Richard's footsteps.

I have to be quick; tonight is the golden time to escape. The NYPD hasn't reacted yet.

After tomorrow, the wanted notices will be issued nationwide, and that will be troublesome.

While changing his clothes, Miles quickly thought about what to do next.

Boom boom boom!

There was a sudden knock on the door.

Miles was startled.

"Who?"

Why would someone knock on the door in this cabin in the middle of the night?

He was already in a state of panic, his heart was pounding wildly, and his hand was already on the gun.

The door creaked open.

A yellow-skinned man wearing rubber gloves walked in, shook the snow off his clothes, and chuckled, "The snow is really heavy."

It's Richard! Miles was shocked: "How could it be you?! How did you...?"

""

Before he could finish speaking, everything went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Richard didn't kill him; instead, he roughly handcuffed him to a heavy table leg with Miles's handcuffs.

Miles was jolted awake by the pain and was horrified to find himself handcuffed. He struggled violently, yelling, "What's going on? What are you doing?!"

"Shh, be quiet." Richard stepped on Miles' face.

An unimaginable force pressed down, and Miles felt as if he had been trampled by an elephant. He fell heavily to the ground, unable to move.

Richard took out a dagger and slashed a deep wound in Miles' back.

"Ah!" Miles screamed, panicking, "What do you want! Just say it! I have money! It's all yours! As for what happened today..."

Richard ignored him and activated [Flesh and Blood Control].

Fresh flesh and blood flowed into the Blood and Bones Chest as swiftly as water.

Miles felt as if something was pulling his flesh out, his back was cold and numb, as if his life was flowing out of the wound in his back.

"What are you doing?" Miles cried out in terror, "Don't kill me! Help!"

He had no idea what had happened to him.

Richard had never absorbed so much fresh flesh and blood from a single person, and so brazenly.

Miles trembled violently.

Just seconds later, Miles' cheeks sank in.

Miles turned his head and saw his palms, which were shrunken and withered, as if he had aged decades.

In an instant, fear gripped his brain, and he screamed like a child, "What are you?! What are you?!"

He's going crazy. This guy from Dongda University isn't human!

"Vampire! You're a vampire! Help!"

A strange owl stood on the window, tilting its head to look at the two of them, without moving.

All of this made him feel that the world was unreal.

Richard was in a very good mood.

The Blood Remains Chest is now full for the first time, totaling 13 units.

With so much fresh flesh and blood, if it were for blood or liposuction, I wonder how long it would take to collect it all.

He can't take too much from one person, that would give him away.

Isn't it great like this now?

Miles wasn't even completely dead, yet the bank was already full.

Immediately afterwards, Richard was surprised to find that the space inside the Blood Remains Box had slowly increased in size.

"Ding! The Blood Remains Chest is fully charged for the first time. You have discovered a way to increase the capacity of the Blood Remains Chest: Completely consuming and filling the Blood Remains Chest will slowly increase its maximum capacity. As the maximum capacity increases, the number of charge/discharge cycles required also increases."

"Ding! You have explored [Flesh and Blood Control] and discovered a method to improve [Blood and Bones Chest]. Reward: [Flesh and Bone] Knowledge Progress: 96% → 99%"

Richard was pleasantly surprised.

Is this how it was improved?

He thought that the capacity would be increased based on the mental value.

If that's the case, I don't know when we'll have enough capacity to revive human flesh puppets.

However, if you rely on "repeated charging and discharging" to improve, it will be much faster!

Miles felt his consciousness growing increasingly blurred, and his flesh and blood shrank, making him look like a living, dried-up corpse.

He couldn't even cry, because all the fluid in his body had been almost completely drained.

He was severely hypothermic, his whole body was ice-cold and trembling violently, and the way he looked at Richard was as if he were seeing a demon from hell.

"Devil...you are the devil..."

'

"Don't worry," Richard comforted him. "It's alright, it's normal to feel cold, you'll feel warm soon."

A magical hand reached out and pinched Miles's carotid artery.

A few seconds later, he died completely, and deathly aura emanated from him.

Richard touched Miles's body and obtained two memories, both of which were insignificant scenes.

One of the scenes involves a fight between him and Isabella in bed.

From a first-person perspective, Isabella does have a great figure.

After examining it several times, Richard activated the spell [Curse of Withering].

"The Touch of Withering".

In just a few seconds, Miles's body, like a withered tree that had rotted for countless years, shriveled up, collapsed, and finally turned into smoke, disappearing completely, leaving only his clothes and belongings in the same place.

The Withering Touch had no effect on external objects. Richard silently concluded, then found a travel bag, packed all of Miles's belongings, and took it with him.

Once these clothes are burned, Miles will be completely wiped out from this world.

Richard tossed his travel bag into the car, and the owl flew in after him.

To erase all traces, the owl must be taken far away before being killed.

Waaaaah~

The owl hooted twice.

Richard chuckled and gave it a rub, then saw the owl's perspective as it flew.

From the sky, there is a river near the hilltop not far away.

"Hmm? This hill looks familiar."

He suddenly realized that the shape of the hilltop was somewhat similar to the location where Emmon-Damas buried the black box, with one side of the hillside being particularly flat and conspicuous.

However, Eamon's memory was short and contained little information at the time, and the heavy snow had altered the landscape, making it impossible for Richard to be certain.

Richard simply sent the owl out to take a look and then back.

This time, Richard was basically certain it was that place.

The owl even found the location where Amon buried the box. There were many trees on the mountain, but only one spot was relatively sparse, allowing a view of the hill on the other side.

It looks like it's not far from here, maybe only six or seven hundred meters away.

In other words, Emmondamas also took this path when he buried the black box.

What a coincidence! Richard found a shovel in Miles's cabin, took it with him, and drove to the location indicated by the owl.

The car could only go two hundred meters before it could not go any further.

The owl's location is deep in the forest, requiring a walk.

Richard activated his desire sensory ability.

Tiny flames of desire floated everywhere in the woods: hunger, fear, and cold.

That's animal desire.

Richard didn't find any particularly dangerous large animals, so he headed towards the owl.

A moment later, he arrived at that spot.

"This is it." Richard repeatedly compared his memory of Eamon in the snow and finally pinpointed the location.

Only from here can you see the hill on the flat slope opposite.

Richard started digging.

His immense strength allowed him to dig the soil away in just a few minutes.

Sure enough, a black box was unearthed about one meter underground.

Richard did not see any signs of death on the body, indicating that it was not a box used to hide the body.

He tested the weight; it wasn't too heavy, but it probably wasn't a bomb or anything like that.

Richard put on a new pair of rubber gloves and carefully opened the black box.

Click.

The box was unfolded, revealing large bundles of old US dollar bills and a thick ledger.

At least 100 million in cash.

Richard opened the ledger and found it contained transaction records between a person and Henry Carter.

Henry Carter even used his real name!

How does Emmon-Damas have trade records involving Murphy and Henry?

Was he also investigating Murphy behind the scenes?

Or did he discover that Murphy was an undercover agent, but didn't tell the BG gang leader, pocketed the money himself, and even tried to obtain evidence against Henry to blackmail him?

The BG gang is full of talented people!

Richard filled the hole again, took out a plastic bag, put all the money and transaction records inside, and then found the river nearby.

Richard lit the black box and Miles' clothes with a lighter, and the flames roared. He watched until everything was burned to ashes before throwing the unburnt metal fragments into the river.

The snow was falling heavier and heavier, completely covering the tire tracks.

Richard drove back.

On the way, when they passed another river, they threw the owl's carcass into the river again.

It floated on the water for a few moments before sinking to the bottom and disappearing from sight.

The vehicle slowly drove along the snow-white highway.

Richard picked up his phone and called Brian Anderson: "Miles won't be showing up anymore. Take care of the follow-up issues."

Brian exclaimed excitedly, "Yes, Master! The NYPD is on fire; most of the building is burned down!"

Unable to contain his excitement, he exclaimed, "The archives and computer room burned down too! All the incriminating materials are gone!"

Richard neither confirmed nor denied it: "I don't know what happened, the rest is your problem."

Brian, of course, didn't believe it; he was filled with shock.

The owner is so amazing!

He simply couldn't imagine how Richard could have set the fire.

For a god, this might be an easy task, but he's just too lazy to do it.

Until Miles recklessly provoked Richard.

NYPD headquarters building.

Thick smoke shot straight into the sky.

Numerous fire trucks and police cars surrounded the scene, and high-pressure water cannons continued to spray water.

The fire continued to burn until the early hours of the morning, showing no signs of abating. The exterior walls of the NYPD headquarters building were blackened by smoke, and dozens of fire trucks were still spraying water onto the roof.

Countless satellite broadcasting vehicles blocked the entire street.

Reporters from various television stations had already set up their cameras.

A group of reporters stood outside the yellow police cordon, passionately addressing their cameras: "This is live news from New York. I'm reporter Lena Carter. A three-alarm fire has broken out at the NYPD headquarters building. The entire building is engulfed in flames and thick smoke. The plumes of black smoke can be clearly seen rising into the sky from Manhattan, several kilometers away..."

"I am reporter Louise, and I am outside the NYPD headquarters building where the fire is taking place. The FDNY has deployed more than 30 fire units and hundreds of firefighters to suppress the fire on the perimeter."

"Breaking news! The NYPD headquarters building has burned down! This is gang retaliation! Police officials are remaining silent about it. Was it arson or an accident? The questions are: what kind of fire could precisely target and destroy the headquarters building? Why didn't the fire alarms and fire suppression systems work?"

A blonde Fox News reporter stood outside the police cordon, speaking rapidly into the camera: "This is Fox News, I'm Kate McCoy. As you can see behind me, the building is still smoking. The NYPD headquarters server room is completely destroyed. According to internal sources, the fire may have originated in the server room, but it's unclear whether there was any human intervention. Police officials have not yet issued an official response."

A CNN reporter of Latina then held up the microphone to a disheveled senior police officer: "Sir, could you tell me about the situation inside? There are rumors that the fire system isn't working at all, is that true?"

The police officer remained silent and blocked the camera with his hand.

This fire became the most embarrassing moment for the NYPD: just as they were aggressively cracking down on gangs, their own "home base" was robbed!

No one can be sure whether it was an accident, arson, or gang retaliation.

Henry Carter stood pale-faced in front of the building, his lips trembling slightly: "Why did the fire alarm go off last?! Where are the fire suppression systems?! Where are the millions of dollars in fire protection budgets going every year?!"

Cassius Rhodes, the head of the equipment department, was slumped on the flowerbed, his face pale and his body trembling, his crotch already soaked.

Byron was furious: "We spend millions of dollars every year on fire safety, where did the money go? Tell me! Tell me! How did the fire get so big?"

'

Cassius kept wiping the sweat from his brow, unable to utter a single word.

Byron stared at the flames, his face dark and unreadable.

It is said that the fire started in the server room, and no one knows why. By the time it was discovered, it was completely out of control.

The data center is definitely down; a lot of data has been lost.

I don't know how long it will take to clean up this mess.

For Byron, the most troublesome thing was that all the criminal evidence he had hidden deep inside the server was gone.

Back then, he played a trick of keeping things hidden from view. To prevent the evidence from being exposed elsewhere, he simply encrypted the key incriminating evidence and placed it in the IAB's database.

For so many years, things have been peaceful, but today, with this fire, everything is over.

Thankfully, there's an off-site backup, but I don't know if those old files can be recovered...

"Where's Miles?" Henry Carter asked, his voice barely audible as he watched a group of firefighters battling the blaze.

"I don't know." A police inspector named Warren Fletcher made no attempt to hide his malice: "We haven't seen him yet. Could he have burned to death inside?"

He had coveted the position of Chief Superintendent of Police for many years.

"That good-for-nothing!" Henry was furious.

If the Commissioner General were to burn to death in the NYPD fire, that would be a huge political disaster.

Isabella's expression was stern, but her eyes sparkled with a strange light.

She knew Brian was about to make a move, but she didn't know how he would do it.

Too bad!

Setting it on fire, what a great idea!

She admires strong people, especially ruthless ones.

So what if you get old?

An old lion is still a lion.

She even felt her body was wet.

O'Connor's expression was serious, but his mood was excellent. He had received a secret message from Brian: the position of Commissioner of Police had become vacant!

Miles is dead! O'Connor was ecstatic.

That bastard is finally dead!

Once Miles' death is confirmed, the competition for the position of Commissioner of Police will intensify dramatically. He is the only one who knows this news now, and he must find a way to gain the upper hand.

Although Brian promised to help him, he was not the director of the NYPD and could only assist from the sidelines.

O'Connor glanced at Warren Fletcher, his main rival, and another bastard named Samuel Stone, the Inspector General of the Water Police.

The three of them will be the chief inspector's main rivals.

O'Connor tried to direct the officers in a rescue effort, attempting to retrieve as many important documents as possible.

These documents are all classified, but they had to be moved out of the archives; they are all decades old.

The fire grew stronger and stronger, and no one could get in anymore. Countless documents were burned, and no one knew how much damage had been done today.

Firefighters worked until dawn before finally bringing the flames under control.

Henry Carter was deeply saddened as he waited in vain for Miles.

If Miles dies in the fire, his responsibility will be immense.

He desperately needs a scapegoat.

The best scapegoat would be Miles, but Miles' fate is unknown. Perhaps he knew he would become the scapegoat and hid in advance.

asshole!

Henry cursed under his breath, thinking that since that was the case, he would have to find someone else to take the blame.

The head of the equipment department, Cassius, is too low-ranking; adding Byron would probably be about right.

"Restore the database immediately! I need to see the surveillance video to see how the fire started!"

Cassius trembled violently, and this time even Byron started shaking.

Henry Carter frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I, I..." Cassius was almost paralyzed, the stench from his crotch growing stronger and stronger.

A bad feeling rose in Henry Carter's mind: "Don't we have an off-site backup? We need to restore it quickly!"

Cassius stammered, "Yes, of course—but maintenance might not have been timely, and some data probably wasn't backed up. I don't know how much data was backed up, or which data wasn't—"

With such a perfunctory explanation, how could Henry Carter not know what was going on?

MF's off-site backup didn't work at all, or maybe they didn't even buy it!

That bastard overstated equipment costs again!

Henry's heart was about to stop beating.

Data loss is far more devastating than direct material loss.

Countless cold cases and historical data have been destroyed, which will have an unimaginable impact on the NYPD!

The worst part is that that damn Miles has disappeared. He's probably already gone to Theodore or Manderson to curry favor and badmouth me!

Henry Carter spat out each word through clenched teeth, his chill seeming to freeze the air: "Cassius! Tell me, is there a backup on another location?!"

Cassius broke down: "It's not just me—it's not just me—many people took it—"

"FXXK!" Henry Carter was furious and kicked Cassius to the ground.

"Byron! How did you monitor this?! Where's the money for the off-site backup server?!"

This damn makeshift team doesn't even have a proper off-site backup.

Cassius, drenched in sweat and covered in grease, made a final, desperate attempt: "Yes, there is an off-site backup, right next to the server room."

In fact, two backup all-in-one machines are simply not enough.

"Put it next to the server room?" Henry Carter was incredulous.

Now, won't they all be burned together?

"What's the point of this garbage off-site backup?!"

"Byron! How could you not have discovered such serious corruption! This is dereliction of duty! Serious dereliction of duty! I'm going to send you all to prison and never let you out!" Henry Carter roared in fury.

Byron also collapsed to the ground.

Oh no, all the data is lost.

As the head of the IAB, he failed to detect this situation, so the responsibility lies with him.

My phone suddenly rang; it was Mayor Manteson calling!

Henry became anxious.

I finally managed to deal with Menterson (and got a severe scolding).

Governor Alger also called.

Henry was scolded again.

Next came the heads of each department.

Henry was in a terrible predicament.

Antonio sat in a dark factory and burst into laughter.

"The NYPD is on fire! That's amazing! God has punished them!"

Even while on the run, Antonio was always impeccably dressed in a suit.

He now only has about thirty people left around him.

After Murphy's death, the situation immediately improved, and the NYPD could no longer track them down.

The remaining people are the core members who dare to fight and take risks.

These people were his loyal followers whom he had brought from Cuba and Mexico and trained for over a decade.

As long as these core members remain, the BG gang can continue to grow.

As he smiled, his eyes turned cold.

That damn Henry Carter planted a mole right next to me.

And that bastard Dali, he must have been working with the police.

The situation for the BG gang is very critical, but it hasn't reached the worst point yet.

As long as he has these subordinates, he can still make a comeback.

However, the name BG is no longer usable.

The police have their sights set on this gang, pinning Mike's death on the BG gang. As long as the NYPD recovers from the fire, they will continue to be targeted, perhaps even more severely.

Since Dali always kept his face covered and no one knew what he looked like, why can't I be Dali? Antonio grinned maliciously.

He had been patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Dali and he fought for many years.

He finally found Dali's hiding place. As long as he kills Dali, the BG gang can be resurrected under the guise of the Ghost Gang!

As for those peripheral members, what difference does it make who's the boss?

As long as you provide them with enough drugs and weapons, whoever does that will be their boss!

Now is a good time.

Under the NYPD's relentless crackdown, not only was the BG gang severely damaged, but the influence of all gangs was also drastically reduced.

In many places, there are huge power vacuums at the grassroots level.

As long as he can seize the Ghost Gang's shell, he can live off that shell and remain New York's underground arms dealer.

"Boss, Dali's convoy is here," the subordinate whispered.

A convoy of three or four pickup trucks slowly drove up from a distance.

Antonio silently watched the convoy: "Fire. Kill them. The cops in New York are all putting out fires in their own backyard. Today belongs to the darkness!"

Half an hour later, the scene quieted down.

Shell casings and corpses were everywhere, and all the vehicles in the convoy were overturned on the side of the road, billowing black smoke.

Not a single person escaped.

Antonio's face turned grim after examining all the corpses.

Dali doesn't seem to be on the team?

Did we miss them?

Because Dali always wore a mask, even he didn't know what Dali looked like.

However, Dali did not have his close confidants by his side.

It's very likely we'll be disappointed!

This missed opportunity not only resulted in a failed attempt, but could also lead to Dali's fierce revenge.

"Fk! Let's go!"

Not only is the BG gang taking action, but the NYPD has also drastically reduced its strength in order to put out the fire, finally giving the gangs, who have been suppressed by the NYPD for a long time, a chance to breathe.

Flames, explosions, gunfire.

The whole of New York was like it was on fire, with smoke and gunfire everywhere.

The NYPD, which was barely managing to maintain order, was severely understaffed. The loss of a large number of documents and files and the burning of the server room led to the paralysis of the communications management system, effectively paralyzing the NYPD.

As dawn broke, the fire was finally extinguished.

Once the temperature dropped slightly, the police entered the fire scene to search, and more information was subsequently discovered.

A policewoman died in the server room; it was probably the server room supervisor, Ada. Her body was burned to a crisp.

Forensic pathologist Simon squatted on the ground, frowning as he analyzed, "People who die from fire don't usually sit like this, and there's no ash in their lungs, which means she died before the fire started."

"What?" Henry Carter exclaimed in shock. "So, this fire was arson?"

"Yes."

Henry clutched his head: "Someone actually dared to set fire to the NYPD?!"

The scene was chaotic, with many areas in disarray, and it was still impossible to determine whether Miles had died in the fire.

The bodies of three more police officers who died at the scene because they were unable to escape were later found.

What's more troublesome is that a prisoner was handcuffed in the interrogation room waiting for his interrogation. When the fire broke out, all the police ran away, and no one cared about him. As a result, this unfortunate man was burned alive in the interrogation room.

His entire body was twisted into a grotesque mess; it was a huge scandal.

The reporters went wild with excitement, frantically posting all sorts of sensational topics online, as if they were afraid the story wasn't big enough.

However, Miles was still not found at the scene.

However, as dawn broke, more information was discovered.

Miles' car was not in the parking lot.

Traffic police surveillance footage revealed that Miles' car drove out of town just as the fire broke out last night.

Because there are very few cameras on the road, no one knows where Miles ended up, and further investigation is needed.

Due to the heavy snow, the camera quality was very poor, making it impossible to determine whether the driver in the car was Miles.

Henry Carter immediately grasped at this lifeline.

Whether Miles started it or not, the fire burned all night, and as the Commissioner General, Miles didn't even show up at NYPD headquarters. He's definitely going to take the blame.

He finally knows how to deal with reporters.

As soon as Henry Carter appeared outside the yellow line, a dozen microphones were shoved in his face: "Chief Carter! What is the extent of the damage caused by this fire? How many people have died?"

"Chief! Why aren't the fire-fighting systems activated? Has someone misappropriated the fire-fighting budget?"

"I heard that Chief Inspector Miles hasn't shown up. Did he burn to death? Please answer!"

"A bunch of bastards who profit from human suffering!" Henry Carter's face was ashen as he spoke into the microphone, enunciating each word clearly: "This fire was arson. All the evidence points to one person, Commissioner Miles. He fled the scene immediately after the fire. We have reason to believe that Miles is the mole; he not only betrayed our heroic undercover agent Murphy, but also attempted to destroy evidence by burning down the server room. The NYPD will stop at nothing to bring him back!"

The reporters were in an uproar.

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