Greedy Demands

Gunfire could be heard intermittently in the distance. For United States, this was nothing new, if not commonplace.

But even if they were very familiar with that sound, it didn't mean they weren't afraid. Perhaps because they knew the power of guns even better, they understood the principle of leaving the battlefield as quickly as possible.

The path the Tinkerer led was mostly well-lit, except for the occasional unlit straight sections that made the followers nervous. This was a boon for the people traversing the warehouse district at night.

It was especially reassuring that they seemed to be far from the battlefield. However, not all of those who followed were blind followers; a few had different ideas, which was why they were with the Tinkerer.

Seeing that the group had walked quite a distance, and although they hadn't left the warehouse area yet, they should be safe, a middle-aged Black man called out to the Tinkerer, saying, "Hey, brother, wait a minute."

"What's wrong?" the Tinkerer, stopping to answer.

"Look, you betrayed our employer, and now we don't even know who to ask for our pay today. We accompanied you through surgery, working tirelessly and worrying constantly; we can't just get nothing in return!"

The black man spoke quickly and in broken sentences, but not in a way that the Tinkerer couldn't understand. He even grasped the meaning behind his words: it was just a matter of money.

Without a word, the Tinkerer tossed one of the bags of money in front of the crowd, saying, "You can divide this bag of money among yourselves; I don't care about the rest. Nobody's seen me, understand?"

The Black man who spoke grinned and said, "Hey buddy, you're on the right track. We know what to say and what not to say."

As he answered, the middle-aged Black man was also the first to rush to the money bag, unzip it, and see what he had received.

Once the first one was there, others who had initially only wanted to escape also crowded around the money bag, eager to get their share.

They'll agree to assist with this surgery, isn't it all for the money? They can't compete with the surgeon for the lion's share, but can't they at least demand an equal share with everyone else?

So whether they were bold or timid, once they saw the money, they would sit down and divide it up.

This shows that they didn't have much experience with this kind of thing. There's no Reason to divide the loot before finding a safe place first; it's just that the sight of piles of cash blinded everyone.

Just as everyone was happily handing out rolls of money, each eyeing the larger bill to ensure the other took less, a group of police officers, guns drawn, surrounded them from the front and rear, shouting, "LAPD! Everyone, hold your ground!"

For a moment, everyone who had distributed the money on the spot was at a loss for what to do, and they just stared at the police in disbelief.

They clutched their share of the money, reluctant to put it down; a large bag of money lay undistributed on the ground, and they were unwilling to run away. As a result, they were surrounded by police, with no way to escape.

Then they remembered that there was still one person who hadn't received his share. Why hadn't he reminded everyone?

Turning around to look, the Tinkerer was nowhere to be seen... They had been abandoned.

Immediately, someone shouted, "There's one more person! One more person has escaped!" The middle-aged Black man who had first asked for money was the loudest.

The police didn't hold back. The group of people were still wearing bloodstained clothes, and there was stolen money on the ground and in their pockets. Even if it had nothing to do with Andrew Saxon's case, there must be something going on behind the scenes. Of course, they were handcuffed first.

The police officer handcuffing the group, while restraining those who were unwilling to be arrested, said, "Don't worry, no matter who it is, they can't escape the police's net."

"You're all highly educated people, you don't need me to read out the Miranda Warning, do you? You understand your own rights, right? Or do you want everyone to go through the formal process?"

However, there wasn't just one police officer present. Some, unable to bear the veteran officer's mockery of the suspect, directly issued the full Miranda Warning, which essentially stated, "You have the right to remain silent," and so on.

This kind of thing doesn't need to be announced to each suspect individually; as long as someone says it at the scene of the arrest, it's assumed that everyone knows.

Not listening carefully or not concentrating falls under the category of mental illness and is not the responsibility of the police.

In the United States, being convicted of mental illness doesn't mean you can live a carefree life as if nothing is wrong.

Instead, they're locked up in a mental hospital until they die, which is essentially a life sentence—the outcome is even more terrifying. Even if they weren't truly insane at first, they'll eventually be driven mad by confinement.

Among those arrested, a few were unwilling to accept their fate and desperately shouted the Tinkerer's name. However, they only knew the word "Tinkerer" and not his real name.

Moreover, the police have enough personnel for this operation, so they can naturally divide the work. Other fugitives can be handled by others, and they only need to take care of the people they have caught.

So things didn't turn out as the middle -Old Black thought, that he could shift most of the attention away from them and onto the escaped Tinkerer, thus freeing up most of the police manpower to pursue them and making it easier for them to break free and escape.

Besides, with so much money on the ground, if it's proven to be illegally obtained, it can be confiscated by the police and become part of their bonus pool.

When the time comes, the reward money for solving the case and the incentive bonus will be given out under various names as welfare benefits for the police officers, so that everyone will be happy to receive the money.

Who says the United States doesn't have legal money laundering channels? Such money laundering methods simply prevent the money from returning to its original owner, but the illicit funds instantly become legal.

As long as the person who received the bonus doesn't forget to pay taxes, the money is no longer considered illicit. Of course, counterfeit money still needs to be checked and rejected.

As for this kind of extra income, if the FBI agents were smart, they wouldn't compete with the LAPD for it.

Because of Andrew Saxon, that big fish, the FBI was rewarded. If they didn't give the lower-ranking police officers a little something, who would be willing to support them in the future?

The Tinkerer, who was nowhere to be seen at the scene, had already fled at Super Speed after confirming there were no witnesses nearby. Even a tight police and FBI operation couldn't stop him from seemingly walking through walls.

Having been followed by a group of people, he couldn't use his Super Speed, so he reluctantly led them through the gap in the police encirclement.

The police cordon appeared tight, but the warehouse area was simply too vast; there were still gaps to slip through before they completely closed in. With quick reflexes, there was a chance to escape.

Unexpectedly, they asked for money, but the Tinkerer didn't hesitate at all, throwing out a bag of coins. He diverted their attention and got an easier result for himself—why not?

Don't just focus on whether throwing away half the payment was a profit or a loss. From the beginning, the Tinkerer never expected to receive this income. Moreover, it was shady money, and how to use it was another question.

So he gave it to them; getting out of there was the most important thing. The Tinkerer really didn't care how much money it was.