Emergency Situation

After stuffing themselves, drinking had been a pleasure, but paying the bill was the pain of chopping off a hand. Only a few bills remained from the thick stack of cash.

Miao Mu tossed the remaining bills to Jerry and watched him happily tuck them into his own wallet.

Beside them, Otis held a piece of honey cake and fed it to the big light-brown rat, Bastian.

A light rain had just fallen outside, leaving the streets wet and glistening. The headlights of passing cars spilled across the pavement, making for a lovely sight.

Dense white steam billowed from a sewer drain by the roadside not far away. It was already a late-autumn night, and a gust of wind made it feel a little cold.

"Otis, get in. I'll take you home."

Miao Mu took the police car keys from his pocket and was about to head over to the car when Otis, following behind him, shook his head.

"Um, I'm not going back yet. The person that gentleman mentioned earlier... I might be able to find some clues."

"Huh?" Miao Mu turned to look at him.

Otis held the big rat, a delighted smile on his face. He had even gotten a neat buzz cut for the dinner gathering, slicking it up with mousse until it stood like a brush.

"Miao Mu, thank you. Thank you for not looking down on me and for treating me like a friend. I can help you too. Let me go."

Otis spoke with a serious expression.

Miao Mu gripped the car keys and looked at him. Their gazes met for a moment before they finally smiled at each other.

"Take this. Be extra careful!"

Miao Mu drew a Glock 17 from his waist and handed it to Otis. "We're friends. We always will be!"

"Mm!" Otis clenched the pistol and nodded hard.

"We're heading back."

Jerry opened the car door and waved at him.

Miao Mu sat in the driver's seat, started the police car, and switched on the lights. Red and blue police lights began flashing.

"Here. You're not used to using a revolver." Jerry smiled and handed his Glock 17 to Miao Mu.

Miao Mu did not refuse. He took it and slipped it into the holster at his waist, backed the police car out of the parking lot, honked twice, and drove down the road.

Watching the police car disappear into the distance, Otis raised a hand to stroke Bastian's fur, smiled, and headed in the opposite direction.

In a dark alley, a group of rats came running over, carrying a briefcase.

Otis opened the briefcase, changed out of his suit, carefully placed it in a moisture-proof bag, and took out leather waders, boots, and gloves for going into the sewers.

He also put on a portable lamp and a yellow gas mask, then finally took out a coil of rope and hung it from his belt.

He lifted the sewer cover from the ground and jumped down.

In the dark sewer, Otis carried the lamp as dozens of rats gathered from every direction, converging around him as though on a pilgrimage.

"Go find him! Search! Find that person!"

Otis swept up a hand. His voice was muffled by the gas mask, but the rats all darted away at once.

On the way back to Arkham District, Miao Mu saw fellow officers out in police cars, operating around the area at night.

Police cars with flashing lights sped toward the same location. Just as Miao Mu and Jerry were about to enter the main road, a voice came through the car's communications system.

"Which district are you officers from? Respond."

A somewhat hoarse male voice rang out, rough and raspy, as if his throat had been damaged from shouting.

Miao Mu reached for the radio and called forward, "We're officers from the Arkham Police Department, currently on our way back."

"This is James Gordon of the Gotham Police Department. I'm temporarily requisitioning your patrol car. Get to 46th Street in Coventry District immediately. Move!"

The transmission cut off.

Miao Mu and Jerry exchanged a glance, then quickly turned the wheel. The police car made a U-turn on the road and sped toward Coventry District along the main road. There were an unusually large number of police cars along the way.

There was also a special operations unit from the Gotham Police Department, driving black armored police vehicles with sirens blaring as they caught up from behind.

"What the hell is going on? Has Gotham turned upside down?"

Jerry grew nervous at the sight. More than a dozen police cars filled the entire street, lights flashing and sirens screaming. It was quite a spectacle.

"Quit talking nonsense. Something huge must've happened. Get your guns out! Fuck, what's going on?"

Miao Mu cursed as he tossed the Enforcer Revolver from inside his jacket to Jerry. That guy had never been in the habit of carrying a backup gun.

Jerry hurriedly disengaged the safety and checked it before tucking the gun into his belt and starting to take off his clothes.

They were still wearing the suits they had worn to the hotel. In a situation like this, not being in uniform was definitely a bad thing.

Coventry District was a relatively prosperous middle-class residential area. With Robinson Park nearby, Gotham University close at hand, convenient transportation, and a beautiful environment, it was an ideal place to live.

Tonight, however, its peace was shattered by piercing police sirens. Miao Mu and Jerry had just reached 46th Avenue in their patrol car when they saw a bus barreling wildly past.

"Pursue them! Don't let them get away! Bomb squad, come this way!"

An anxious voice sounded through the car's communications system.

Miao Mu spun the wheel and drove straight beneath a nearby office building, taking a shortcut through it before flooring the accelerator.

The patrol car shot forward as though it had been kicked, launching into sudden acceleration. If Chief Maide saw this, he would definitely pull out a gun and kill Miao Mu, that bastard.

Inside the bus speeding ahead, a group of robbers wearing red hoods were celebrating with stacks of cash in their hands.

"Woo-ha!"

"So much money! This is awesome!"

One Red Hood member grabbed a fistful of green bills and tossed them overhead. He wore a string of necklaces around his neck and rings on all ten fingers.

Even his AK rifle had a gold chain wrapped around it. The bus was filled with bags containing gold, silver, jewelry, and cash.

Three hours earlier.

They had looted a middle-class neighborhood. Those people who worked at major companies and were called elite white-collar and gold-collar professionals had been tied up, while the robbers used clubs to take every bit of their property.

The gold, silver, jewelry, and boxes full of cash on the bus were just small change. They had also stolen tens of millions in assets from overseas bank accounts in one fell swoop.

"Boss! Cops are chasing us from behind!"

A member in a red hood and jacket, with the number 5 painted on his chest, pointed toward the back of the bus.

More than a dozen police cars were in hot pursuit behind them.

The Red Hood boss, seated on the bus and staring at a computer as he transferred assets from overseas accounts, turned around. The number 10 was painted on his chest.

Even through the red hood, the blinding police lights behind the bus remained crystal clear. "Lose them!"

At the command, Red Hood Number 3, who was driving up front, immediately accelerated. This bus had been modified by them.

"Mumu, be careful!"

In the front passenger seat of the patrol car, Jerry grabbed the steering wheel, stretched out a leg to press the accelerator, and shouted at the person beside him, "Be careful!"

Half of Miao Mu's body was directly outside the car window. He held the Glock 17 in both hands, and the patrol car still maintained its speed.

What a joke. Street-racing robbers? If he were in command, he would have brought out the heavy firepower and learned from Russian counterterrorism tactics.

The bus drew closer and closer. Only a strip of greenery separated them, and Miao Mu could already see silhouettes through the bus windows.

Those red hoods were made of reflective material, making them stand out like lightbulbs. His finger pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets burst from the Glock 17's muzzle, and the recoil made Miao Mu's unstable body sway violently.

Jerry reached out from inside the car and grabbed his waistband, keeping him from falling out.

The people inside the bus had it worse. Red Hood Number 7 was shot directly in the head and collapsed onto a bag of cash, blood flowing over the green bills like a winding stream.