Chief Ken Martin received a call from Chief George Stacy. After a moment of silence, he asked, "George, was there really a technical intrusion involved in this case?"
"At present, it certainly seems so. Maybe not at the bank, but there definitely was one at the traffic monitoring center—unless they had a huge number of insiders there, enough to completely control the place. But if that were the case, the organization would be far too massive. Besides, the monitoring center's internal footage was deleted, yet there wasn't the slightest trace of who did it. Deleting it required a certain level of authorization, but we can't find out who did it!" George Stacy was now utterly convinced that a technical intrusion had taken place.
Someone with that kind of skill would not need many insiders—perhaps not even one. They had no leads to pursue regarding insiders in the first place, so it was more practical to put that issue aside and investigate the technical angle directly. However, even a genius like Tony Stark could not manage it, so for the moment, George could only think of seeking help from national-level resources.
"Chief, America has quite a few agencies. There should be organizations with more powerful technology, shouldn't there?" George Stacy asked.
"How would I know? I'm only the chief of the New York Police Department, not the director of intelligence agencies like the FBI or CIA. Fine, I'll report this to the mayor and see what he says!" Ken Martin hung up, then rubbed his forehead.
The pressure from this case was considerable. As one of the six major commercial banks, Bear Stearns had no small amount of influence, and it was putting tremendous pressure on the police department. Naturally, the mayor was under just as much pressure. Those capitalists were not easy people to deal with.
If the mayor wanted to keep his position secure, he had better avoid offending them. But what could he do? Naturally, he could only put endless pressure on the NYPD. Ken Martin had received several calls from the mayor over the past few days.
To solve the case, they had to apply for support from national-level resources. Ken Martin finally picked up the phone. "Put me through to the mayor. This is Ken Martin!"
"Martin, I hope you have good news for me!" the mayor said directly.
"There is good news, but the bad news is even more serious." Ken Martin had a good relationship with the mayor; otherwise, he would never have gotten this position. The mayor had appointed him.
"What do you mean?"
"Chief George Stacy, who is handling this robbery, made a hypothesis. There may not have been any insiders involved at all. The perpetrators may simply have used advanced computer technology to infiltrate the bank's and monitoring center's mainframes, then carried out everything from there. In theory, that is entirely possible. At least it gives us a direction for the investigation," Ken Martin said.
"That's the good news?"
"Yes. As for the bad news, even Mr. Tony Stark could not infiltrate the systems without a sound and leave without a trace afterward. In other words, the technology we currently possess is nowhere near the robbers' level. I can only seek support from you."
"That really is terrible news. Are you sure Tony Stark couldn't do it either?"
"I'm sure. George had initially suspected Stark, but based on his observations, Stark could not have done it either. That's why I need stronger technical support."
"There really were no insiders?"
"Probably not. If they wanted to achieve this through insiders, they would need an enormous number of people inside the monitoring center. The cost would be too high, and it's not very likely. At this point, the most likely explanation is purely technical. With that kind of technology, they truly wouldn't need insiders. Add the three robbers, and perhaps this operation could have been completed by only four people, couldn't it?"
"That's terrifying. If that's true, wouldn't they be able to rob banks whenever they wanted?" the mayor asked in alarm.
"In theory, that is indeed the case." Chief Martin nodded and admitted the possibility outright.
"Then do you have any defensive measures?" the mayor hurriedly asked again.
"I'm sorry, but we have no way to deal with it. If they call in a report, we have to respond. New York City is too large, our police force is already undermanned, and there are countless crimes here every day. It's simply impossible to defend against an opponent like this."
"All right, I understand. I'll request assistance immediately!" The mayor hung up, took out a handkerchief, and wiped his broad forehead. After thinking for a while, he hesitantly picked up the phone again and made another call.
"You shouldn't have made this call!" The person on the other end sounded distinctly displeased. Who could speak to the mayor of New York City that way?
"I'm sorry, but I've run into a problem. I hope I can receive your help, Mr. Pierce!" The mayor still held the handkerchief in one hand, constantly wiping away cold sweat.
"Stern, I've always thought highly of you. You have a chance to run for senator, and your position as mayor of New York City is also very important. I hope you can remain calm when you encounter problems. Are you breaking out in cold sweat again?" Pierce asked.
"Yes, sir. I'll calm down, but this problem is rather serious. It's a bank robbery. I believe you've already seen the media reports." The mayor's full name was Sen Stern. In his early years, he had joined an organization and relied on its power to climb step by step to where he was today, becoming the mayor of the international metropolis of New York City. The organization even intended to have him run for senator.
That had always been the direction he worked toward. Perhaps he might even become president someday. His desire for power was extremely strong, and the person he was speaking with was the leader of that organization. Of course, he also knew that the organization's influence was immense. There was much about it that he did not understand, which was why he was so nervous and fearful.
"Tell me the details!"
"It was like this..." Mayor Stern explained the matter, and Pierce fell silent.
"There was actually technology like that? Was the NYPD's judgment mistaken?"
"Probably not. Ken Martin is very experienced. I promoted him for the sake of New York City's public safety. And George Stacy under him has an exceptionally high case-solving rate. He is the best candidate to become the next chief."
"In that case, I'm rather interested in meeting such talented people. I understand. I'll arrange for people to support you..."
"Thank you, sir. Hail Hydra!"
"Hail Hydra... Click." The person on the other end hung up, and a busy signal came through the receiver.
"Whew..." Only then did Mayor Stern put down the phone. "Even without meeting him face-to-face, the pressure is still this great. I never want to deal with him..." Stern caught his breath for a while, then called Ken Martin again and told him that support would arrive soon.