Powerful Reinforcements

"Make way, everyone. Move aside."

The reporters heard the shout from behind them but could not be bothered to react. Then a faint sting suddenly pricked their necks, as if they had been injected. Instinctively, they moved aside. Once enough people did so, the crowd naturally opened a path, allowing Wang Khan to easily reach the police cordon.

"Stop! No entry beyond this point. Leave immediately!"

Two police officers noticed the disturbance and hurried over to block him. Their hands moved to their guns, ready to draw at any moment.

"Tell Chief Winter that I have a way to deal with the problem upstairs."

"Whoever you are, leave now, or we'll arrest you!"

The two officers refused to budge. Wang Khan sighed, and a silver blur suddenly darted past the police cordon and vanished beneath the police cars. The officers saw only a shadow and had no idea what it was.

"What did you do? Put your hands up!"

The two officers immediately drew their guns and aimed them at Wang Khan. At that moment, two Mechanical Spiders swiftly crawled onto their gun hands. A sharp electric shock followed. The men groaned in pain, their right hands went numb, and their pistols dropped straight to the ground.

"Relax, gentlemen. Chief Winter will invite me in shortly. If you don't want to embarrass yourselves, don't point guns at me again."

As he spoke, the two thumb-sized Mechanical Spiders leaped from the officers' wrists onto Wang Khan's shoulders.

The reporters around them immediately lit up. Marvel reporters had seen plenty in their time. Although Iron Man was still tinkering with armor at home and the Iron Man suit had yet to make its debut, journalists had seen their fair share of high-tech products. Wang Khan's Mechanical Spiders were clearly advanced technology, and coupled with what he had just said, the reporters instantly realized they had another major story.

"Sir, may we have your name? You just said you could solve the problem upstairs. Are you talking about rescuing the mayor?"

Wang Khan turned and saw that the question came from a Daily Bugle reporter. This outlet was practically the face of Marvel media. Its owner, Jameson, was both Spider-Man's boss and his nemesis, with a bit of a goofy streak as well. He was quite the character.

"My name is Wang Khan. You can call me Wang. I'm preparing to start a technology company. As for rescuing the mayor, that is no problem at all for these little fellows. They can not only bring the New York City Mayor out safely, but also rescue everyone inside the Golden Restaurant. Of course, that depends on whether Chief Winter believes me. Still, with Chief Winter's judgment, I'm sure he won't turn me down."

Several more reporters came over to interview him. Just then, several officers arrived, separated the reporters, and escorted Wang Khan past the cordon toward the Communications Van where Winter was located. The reporters immediately knew Wang Khan had not been bluffing. The director of the NYPD was truly inviting him in as outside help.

The reporters reacted quickly, uploading the videos and photos they had just taken along with their own analyses. In no time, everyone following the Golden Heist knew Wang Khan's name, as well as the highly technological Mechanical Spiders on his shoulders.

"Hey, is this Chinese guy here for laughs? Does he seriously plan to use those toy spiders to take down the armed criminals upstairs?"

"Those spiders look pretty good. How much is each one? I'm thinking of buying a few for my figure display case."

"Are you all idiots? Didn't you see the NYPD officers drop their guns? Those spiders aren't toys. They're high-tech weapons. If there are enough of them, maybe they really can handle this."

The keyboard warriors got to work, pushing Wang Khan's popularity even higher. Before long, searches for Mechanical Spiders and Wang Khan shot to the top of New York's trending lists. Now it all depended on whether he could solve the crisis and rescue the hostages. If he succeeded, Wang Khan would have pulled off a successful marketing campaign—and a free one at that.

By then, his company's products would surely sell like hotcakes. But if he failed, his reputation would be ruined, and starting a company would leave him broke beyond belief.

Just as Wang Khan became an overnight internet sensation, he was brought before Chief Winter. Before Winter could question him, Wang Khan spoke first.

"Chief Winter, were you satisfied with that earlier surveillance support? I believe that footage was the clearest you've seen so far, wasn't it?"

"You hacked it? You've got some nerve. Do you know I can arrest you for that?"

Winter put on a stern old face and assumed the posture of interrogating a criminal, but Wang Khan was not having any of it.

"Enough, Winter. This isn't the time for you to play bad-cop routines. You should be out of options by now. Give me one chance, and before long, your people can head upstairs to clean up the mess. The credit for rescuing the mayor will still belong to the NYPD. I'm not here to steal your glory."

"Are you insane? How dare you interfere in a police operation?!"

"I'm not interfering. I'm getting you out of a jam. You don't honestly think that if you release the person they demanded, they'll obediently let the mayor go, do you?"

Winter's expression turned ugly. Of course he knew that criminals bold enough to kidnap the New York City Mayor would never honor their agreement.

They would not take the NYPD's threats seriously either. Against people like that, total elimination was the only path.

"Director, take a look at this!"

An officer ran over and handed Winter a tablet. When Winter looked at it, his face darkened further.

The media had already reported on Wang Khan. Many people regarded him as the NYPD's outside support, while even more saw him as their hope. Some were even worried that Winter, as director, would put on airs and reject Wang Khan's proposal.

In other words, if the case was not properly resolved in the end, Winter would not only bear responsibility for failing as the on-site commander, but would also be accused of failing to recognize and make use of talent, wasting a chance to carry out the rescue.

It could be said that Winter was now riding a tiger and could not get off.

"What exactly do you want?"

Wang Khan glanced at the tablet in Winter's hand and smiled.

"Isn't my purpose already obvious? My company's paperwork will be approved soon. When that happens, I'm sure the NYPD will become one of my valued clients."

"Hmph. I'll give you only ten minutes..."

Wang Khan turned and walked toward a police car, shaking his left hand as he went.

"I don't need ten minutes. Five minutes will be enough."

He placed the Silver Safe in his hand on the roof of the police car, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and opened it. Twenty identical Mechanical Spiders immediately leaped out and rapidly climbed the exterior wall of the commercial building at eighty kilometers per hour. The building's smooth glass was no different from level ground to the Mechanical Spiders.

Winter and the NYPD officers stared in stunned disbelief. The media reporters who had been watching from afar caught sight of the Mechanical Spiders racing across the building's surface. At that moment, the eyes of every onlooker in New York—and even throughout the United States—were fixed on this place.

This newcomer's new book has already been signed internally. Please add it to your collection, and if you have recommendation votes, send a few my way. Thank you for your support.