Chapter 56: Unable to Locate

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Unable to Locate

Barry Quinn pointed upward, his expression growing grave.

"The surveillance in a place like this would never be out of commission. There are even dedicated personnel monitoring the feeds to prevent any incidents from going unnoticed."

The moment Evan Keller and his team came out, they were probably spotted.

"I want to try to get near the surveillance room. If I can make it, I’ll need your help." Zoe Sawyer bit her lower lip, her expression resolute.

Knowing that something could go wrong, Zoe Sawyer felt she couldn’t just stand by and watch it happen.

Heath Hale nodded without hesitation. Under these circumstances, helping was a given.

He gave the tranquilizer gun in his hand a little shake. He was holding it for Zoe, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it himself.

Barry Quinn didn’t object. He briefly explained the situation to Evan Keller over the comms, adding that they needed to close the door and wouldn’t be able to provide immediate backup. He warned them to be extremely careful.

"What’s wrong?" Sean Hughes whispered to Evan Keller beside her as she crept forward.

Evan Keller tapped his earpiece to make sure the comms were still working before explaining, "Zoe Sawyer has a bad feeling. She, Heath, and Barry are going to look for the surveillance room. Our position might be compromised. Tell the rest of the team to be on high alert."

Sean Hughes’s expression turned grim.

Because of Zoe Sawyer’s unique ability, everyone took her intuition very seriously.

So, after hearing Barry Quinn relay the message, Evan Keller and Sean Hughes were instantly on high alert.

It was then that they realized something was wrong.

’The infiltration was going too smoothly!’

Just moments ago, people had been constantly moving things in and out. But from the moment they stepped outside, they hadn’t seen a single person.

Evan Keller and Sean Hughes instinctively slowed their pace, scanning their surroundings with even greater vigilance.

Once she got their reply, Zoe Sawyer immediately closed the door and began trying to visualize the surveillance room.

But she failed, time and again.

"Don’t rush. We still have time."

Seeing Zoe’s hands trembling from anxiety, Heath Hale gently patted her on the back, his steady rhythm a calming influence.

Evan Keller was giving Barry Quinn constant updates on their situation.

After slowing their pace, they noticed even more things that were off.

Before they had gotten close to the central factory building, they had occasionally seen people dragging things inside.

But no one was coming out. It was as if they were all waiting for Evan Keller’s team to charge in, ready to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Realizing this, Evan Keller halted his team and had them start destroying the surrounding surveillance cameras.

’If someone’s watching us from a control room, then we’ll start from the outside and work our way in. We’ll destroy these cameras and create a blind spot for the backup team.’

Meanwhile, in the surveillance room, a man’s face turned foul as he watched the screens on the wall go black one after another. On the remaining feeds, Evan Keller and his team had stopped advancing completely.

’If I detonate the bombs now, at most only the few at the front will be caught in the blast. The ones in the back will be completely unharmed!’

’That’s not the result I want!’

’Since these cops have figured it out and won’t advance, I’ll just have to force them to!’

With that, the man made a call. He spoke a few words, and once he was sure the person on the other end understood, he hung up.

Just as Evan Keller and his team finished destroying most of the nearby cameras, the main doors of the factory ahead were suddenly thrown open.

Two people in white lab coats emerged, holding a megaphone. They shoved a boy, clearly a teenager, out in front of them.

The hostage’s hands were bound behind his back, and his mouth was gagged with a cloth.

One of the figures in a white coat shoved the hostage to the ground and pinned his head down with a foot. A gloating voice boomed from the megaphone.

"Hey, you cowardly cops up there! Since you’ve come all this way, why not come over for a chat?"

"What’s the matter, don’t have the guts? If you don’t come over soon, this kid’s life might just be... over~"

The other one, who had been silent until now, suddenly pulled a sharp scalpel from his pocket. His long fingers twirled the blade with unnerving, practiced ease.

Then, as everyone watched, he slammed the scalpel into the ground, the tip burying itself just inches from the hostage’s cheek.

The sharp blade grazed the hostage’s skin, and a thin line of crimson oozed from the cut.

Throughout it all, the boy being used as a hostage showed no reaction whatsoever.

If it weren’t for his blinking eyes, Evan Keller and his team would have thought he was a corpse.

"Something’s wrong with the hostage," Sean Hughes said with a frown. "He has almost no reaction to external stimuli. It’s like he’s so terrified his brain has automatically shut down in self-preservation."

’She was burning with anxiety, wishing she could charge over there and beat those two into the ground.’

But she knew the enemy had laid a trap, waiting for them to walk right into it. She couldn’t risk the lives of her teammates.

Meanwhile, Zoe Sawyer had tried to open a portal ten times in a row, only to find herself back at her starting point each time. A hint of frustration showed on her face.

’It’s still not working.’

’Without any intel, I can’t get a precise lock on the location.’

Just then, Officer Lee ran over holding a file, a look of excitement on his face.

"Zoe! Coach Hale! We’ve got new intel!"

Officer Lee handed the file to Heath Hale and quickly explained where it came from.

It had to do with the vehicles that were seen transporting goods out earlier.

After determining their route, the police had quickly set up a roadblock and intercepted the vehicles.

The driver of one of the trailing vehicles realized something was wrong, slammed on his brakes, and tried to swerve into the oncoming lane to escape, but Captain Lynch spotted the maneuver in time.

He and his men gave chase, finally forcing the vehicle to a stop.

The stop was aggressive. The front of the fleeing car was completely mangled, and the driver’s legs were pinned, leaving him unable to escape.

He could only watch helplessly as Captain Lynch and his team opened the door and took him into custody.

Because his legs were pinned, circulation had been cut off. The condition would become life-threatening if he didn’t receive medical attention soon.

Captain Lynch and his team had to deal with other matters at the scene and didn’t have time to take him to the hospital.

Terrified of dying, the suspect started shouting that he would trade information for a trip to the hospital.

And that led to the file that was now in front of Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale.

"According to the suspect’s statement, he was responsible for transporting goods. He said he once made a delivery to a building far from the old industrial park. A room on the first floor was filled with surveillance monitors, and there was a man inside keeping watch."