Chapter 167: Hidden Agent

22:07.

The joint police convoy from two cities finally reached the outskirts of Ohaï town, and the blond officer sitting in the pickup's rear seat observed the outside through the window.

Because of the power outage and ensuing chaos, the town's outskirts were unusually quiet.

One must remember, this is the United States.

When the town fell into chaos, the vast majority of residents did not curiously watch; instead they kept their firearms and hid inside their homes to protect themselves and their families.

Even though public safety in the United States has improved markedly in recent years, residents still would not risk stepping outside.

After all, some crowds love to exploit the chaos, shouting "grant us human rights" while launching a "joyful free shopping" spree, committing vandalism, looting and arson, and then, when caught, cry "police abuse of force!".

The convoy moved along Highway 33, which runs through the entire town.

At this point, the officers also noticed that at intervals along both sides of the road, there were houses and shops either burning or already reduced to ashes.

When the heavy snow was still falling, the flames could be contained, but now that the snow has ceased, the fire is growing, and row houses and buildings are catching fire in turn, flames spreading everywhere.

Consequently, residents, to save their lives, had to flee with their families; many were still in pajamas, at most wearing a coat or down jacket over them.

Local firefighters were overwhelmed, and the few local officers were maintaining order and, as best they could, helping residents evacuate to the town's sole high school for temporary shelter.

Observing the scene, the blond officer did not notice any particularly strange details.

At least for now, it appears to be merely a large‑scale fire or riot, but intelligence is still scarce, so the blond officer remained on guard.

The officer driving the pickup, as well as the co‑driver Qiao Er, also wore a grim expression, especially Qiao Er, who had been on the force for over ten years.

For a town of just over eight thousand people, the odds of such chaos are exceedingly low.

Christmas is the day when everyone lets their guard down the most, and the blizzard that delays flights, combined with power outages and internet disruption, left Ohaï unable to receive large‑scale external support in a short time.

This indicates that the incident is organized and premeditated.

Qiao Er does not believe that those who only know "freedom every day" could have coincidentally arrived in such numbers.

"Pa—, Pa—."

Suddenly! The officers inside the vehicle faintly heard a rapid succession of gunfire coming from the town center.

Immediately, the pickup driver accelerated.

Qiao Er, operating the radio mounted on the pickup, tuned it to the local officers' frequency and, picking up the handset, asked:

"I am Sergeant Qiao Er Mi Le of the Oaksnarde Police Department; our colleagues from the Wen Tula Police Department have arrived in Ohaï. Who is in charge here? Which area lacks police presence?"

"Zzz... I am Chief Ma Wensi Naisite of the Ohaï Police Department! Thank you for your support!!" the intercom crackled with an excited reply from another middle‑aged chief.

"Pa—! Pa—!"

While Chief Ma was responding, Qiao Er and the other officers could still clearly hear even more intense gunfire coming from the other side.

A brief pause.

Ma continued: "Everyone, head to the town‑center shopping mall as quickly as possible! We need… quickly! Drag Tangmu back! Damn it!

A bunch of crazy guys have kidnapped the town's residents and seized the mall, shouting that we must not interfere with their ceremony! Those guys also have fully‑automatic firepower! Shit! We need support!"

"Copy that! We're on our way!"

Communication with the other side ended.

Inside the pickup, and throughout the mixed convoy, the atmosphere was extremely tense.

It can now be confirmed that they will not be facing the "freedom every day" crowd, but rather armed militants possessing illegal weapons.

Thus, the convoy's speed increased significantly.

"Whoa—!" The snow plow at the front of the pickup pushed aside the drifts, leading the convoy toward the mall.

Soon after.

A medium‑sized shopping mall built on the east side of Highway 33 came into view for Qiao Er and the officers.

At the same time, not far outside the mall's south side, they saw a riddled police car, its surrounding snow splattered with abundant bright‑red blood.

The blood trail extended outward, reaching a "position" about a hundred meters from the south main entrance.

The so‑called position was actually seven police cars arranged in a fan formation; the officers used the engine‑equipped hoods as cover while confronting the armed militants hidden inside the mall.

Calling it a standoff is a stretch; it's more like any attempt to advance would be met with suppressive fire from the militants, forcing them to stay in that spot.

Among them, an officer leaning against a police car clutched his abdomen with both hands, yet blood continued to pour out between his fingers.

The bright red stained the snow.

Seeing this, the mixed convoy hurried off Highway 33 toward the makeshift position constructed by the local officers.

In an instant, the position's scale more than doubled.

Officers who had rushed in from the two cities quickly got out, opened their trunks, and revealed the "personal‑carried" firearms.

Qiao Er, the blond officer, and other officers from the Oaksnarde Police Department even pulled out MA5B‑style assault rifles from the trunks and donned their distinctive sport sunglasses.

As a port city of nearly two hundred thousand people, Oaksnarde and its municipal government are certainly wealthy.

Consequently, the Oaksnarde Police Department can fully afford to procure a batch of police‑spec MA5D rifles, as well as holographic glasses that provide auxiliary vision, sight‑calibration and information‑sharing functions.

With support from the two cities' colleagues, the previously demoralized local officers instantly regained their spirit.

Qiao Er and the corporal from Wenlatu made contact with Chief Ma Wensi Naisite, who is in charge of the local police.

The blond officer and the pickup driver crouched beside the officer with the abdominal wound, whose consciousness was fading.

"That wound… buddy! Hold on! Don't fall asleep! Absolutely don't sleep!"

The pickup driver shouted, fearing the victim might lose consciousness and die.

"…" Yet the blond officer said nothing, instead pulling a small white spray can from the tactical pack hanging on his right waist.

He then tore the victim's clothing open and pressed a button on the abdominal wound.

"Sss~" White foam‑like material quickly covered the wound.

When the blond officer retracted the can, the foam had hardened, completing the hemostasis.

"Huh?! Newcomer, where did you get that bio‑foam? This is something only special forces have!" the pickup driver asked, puzzled.

The blond police officer ignored the inquiry, instead stood up, showed his credentials to Marvins, Joel, and another corporal, and said in a low voice:

"Department of Homeland Security, covert agent of the Domestic Crisis Response Division, Leon S. Kennedy, I need everyone's cooperation."

(End of chapter)