12: Chapter 12 Smoke-filled, Special Police Bewildered

"Boom—!"

A dull, heavy blast, like a sudden thunderclap on level ground, instantly shattered the silence of the bank building.

It was the sound of directional explosives tearing through the alloy security door at the back.

Firelight flashed, and airwaves billowed.

At this moment, time seemed to have been pressed into slow motion.

The violent airflow, carrying shattered metal fragments like a maddened beast, crashed into the pitch-black first-floor corridor.

And right at that opening...

That seemingly ordinary flour bag that Qin Feng had "casually" kicked over finally revealed its savage fangs.

"Puff—"

Under the effect of the pressure difference, the packaging bag instantly burst open.

White powder filled the air, exploding outward.

This wasn't ordinary dust.

In the tactical vision of the SWAT assault team, it was like a sudden sandstorm—no, a white tsunami!

High concentrations of flour particles were swept up by the gale, instantly filling every inch of the corridor and spreading frantically up the stairwell.

In just half a second...

The pitch-black darkness where one couldn't see their own hand turned into a pale, chaotic blur.

...

"Assault Team One! Enter!"

"Assault Team Two! Break the windows!"

"Assault Team Three! Rappel!"

Over the radio, the SWAT commander's roar was heart-wrenching.

Several dark figures rushed through the breached back door like cheetahs, wearing the most advanced low-light night vision goggles and holding tactical rifles, their movements crisp and swift.

However...

The moment they stepped into that white mist, everyone was stunned.

"Zzzzt—"

On the night vision screens on their helmets, the originally clear green thermal imaging transformed into a mess of frantically jumping static noise.

That was the indiscriminate scattering of infrared rays by the flour particles!

"Report! Visibility lost!"

The SWAT point man leading the charge roared, a hint of panic in his voice: "Everything is white! I can't see anything! Night vision is useless!"

"What is this? Smoke grenades? Or tear gas?"

"Cough, cough, cough! It's dust! High-concentration dust!"

"Damn it! This smell... is it flour?!"

The SWAT officers instantly lost their footing.

Losing visibility in a narrow space was no different from blind men feeling an elephant for a tactical squad.

What was even more terrifying was that the white mist was too thick; even the beams from their tactical flashlights were diffusely reflected into a blinding halo, unable to penetrate even a meter ahead.

...

At the second-floor railing.

Qin Feng stood at the edge of the smoke, watching the "elite forces" below turning into a chaotic mess, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly under his mask.

"Is this effect... a bit too much?"

Qin Feng raised his hand and gently fanned away the flour dust drifting in front of him.

He had originally only intended to create a smoke screen to make it easier for him to slip into the sewer amidst the chaos.

Who knew the quality of this flour was so good and the particles so fine? This diffusion speed was simply ridiculous.

"Whatever, the atmosphere is already set. It would be a disservice to this bag of flour if I didn't act a bit more ruthless."

Qin Feng took a deep breath. Even though the flour made his throat itch, he wanted to shout this line with soul-stirring power.

[God-level Bandit Aura: Full Power.]

Qin Feng grabbed a megaphone he had prepared by the railing (swiped from the security room) and roared at the pale white void below:

"The cops are in!"

"If you don't want to die, shut up! If anyone dares to move, I'll kill a hostage!"

The voice, amplified by the megaphone and mixed with electrical static, echoed through the dust-filled hall like the whisper of a demon.

The effect was immediate.

"Ah—!!"

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"Help! I don't want to die!"

The hostages, who were already in a state of extreme terror, completely boiled over at this shout.

Screams, cries, and the sound of colliding tables and chairs mixed together, completely masking the SWAT team's footsteps and tactical commands.

The entire bank hall instantly turned into a living hell.

Only the bratty kid Qian Duoduo in the corner was excitedly slapping his thighs, laughing while coughing: "Fun! So fun! It's like being in the clouds! Uncle is so awesome!"

...

Chaos was the best cover.

It was also the opportunity Qin Feng had been waiting for.

He turned around, his eyes peering through the mask's eye holes, precisely locking onto Gui Jianchou, who was huddled in a corner clutching his head.

By now, Gui Jianchou had been scared out of his wits by this series of events.

The explosion just now, combined with the white mist everywhere, made him think the police had actually thrown in some kind of biochemical weapon.

"Bi... Big brother..."

Gui Jianchou felt someone approaching and was about to look up.

A powerful hand grabbed his collar like a steel pincer.

It was Qin Feng.

"Get up."

Qin Feng's voice was very soft, but to Gui Jianchou's ears, it was no different from an imperial decree.

Gui Jianchou's legs were as weak as noodles as Qin Feng hauled him up.

"Big brother, are we doomed?" Gui Jianchou said with a sob, the scar on his face trembling. "These cops aren't playing fair; they're even using gas bombs!"

Qin Feng didn't answer.

He just looked deeply at Gui Jianchou with a profound, complex gaze that carried a hint of "entrusting a heavy responsibility."

Even though it was through a mask, and even though the surroundings were a vast expanse of white...

Gui Jianchou swore he understood his big brother's gaze!

It was determination! It was trust! It was the pride of leaving one's back to a brother!

"Old Gui."

Qin Feng leaned into his ear and spoke rapidly: "Train an army for a thousand days to use it for one. Now is the time for you to show your value."

"Go."

"Block them for me."

Gui Jianchou was stunned.

Block... block them?

Just me? Empty-handed?

Before he could react to the logical loophole in this, Qin Feng's arm suddenly exerted force.

"Off you go!"

Using the strength from his core, Qin Feng performed a standard judo push.

The hundred-and-fifty-pound Gui Jianchou was like a thrown sandbag, stumbling headlong into the thickest part of the white mist ahead.

And that direction was exactly the second-floor stairwell, the only path the assault team was about to charge up.

The moment he pushed him out, Qin Feng didn't forget to add an ambiguous roar:

"Catch him! Don't let him get away!"

These words were shouted at the charging SWAT officers.

But in the chaos, who could tell who had shouted it?

...

At the stairwell.

Several SWAT officers, their vision obstructed and their nerves strained to the limit, were groping their way upward.

Suddenly.

A dark figure carrying the sound of wind suddenly crashed out of the white mist.

"Contact!"

"Target engaged!"

The SWAT officer in the lead reacted extremely quickly, subconsciously raising his riot shield to brace, then using a grappling move to lock the dark figure's arm.

"Ah—!! Big brother! I can't do it!"

Gui Jianchou screamed as he slammed into the shield, feeling as if his bones were falling apart.

He instinctively wanted to struggle, wanted to explain that he was just fodder who had been thrown out.

But in the eyes of the SWAT, this struggle was desperate resistance!

"Target is resisting fiercely!"

"Pin him down! Quick! This is the bandit leader!"

"Catch the one wearing the mask... wait, this guy isn't wearing a mask!"

"Doesn't matter! Control him first!"

Four or five SWAT officers swarmed forward like a human pyramid, instantly pinning Gui Jianchou firmly to the floor.

With a cold "click," handcuffs locked his hands.

"Report to command! Second-floor assault team successful!"

The SWAT Captain pressed down on Gui Jianchou's head and roared excitedly into his microphone: "We have the suspect! Repeat, he's caught! The scene is under control!"

This voice traveled back to the command center.

Zhao Shanhe suddenly sprang from his chair, spilling his fast-acting heart relief pills all over the floor.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhao Shanhe's face was flushed with excitement as he pumped his fist hard: "Beautifully done! I knew justice would prevail! What high-IQ bandit? In the face of absolute power, they're all paper tigers!"

"Ventilate immediately! Disperse the smoke! I want to see what this Qin Feng actually looks like!"

...

Two minutes later.

The roar of giant exhaust fans sounded.

The white flour mist filling the air was forcibly sucked away, and visibility inside the bank hall gradually became clear.

Second-floor corridor.

The SWAT Captain let out a long breath, took off his dust-covered night vision goggles, and wiped the sweat from his face.

He looked down at the trophy pinned beneath him.

"Hmph, weren't you acting all arrogant just now? Wanted to judge the world?"

The SWAT Captain sneered, reached out, and grabbed the man's hair, forcing him to lift his head.

With just one look...

The SWAT Captain's smile froze on his face.

In front of the large screen at the command center, Zhao Shanhe's smile also froze.

The bullet comments from tens of millions of viewers across the internet experienced a bizarre gap at this moment.

The person pinned to the ground...

...was a middle-aged man with a face full of scars, covered in tears and snot, looking so aggrieved he seemed ready to shatter.

Gui Jianchou.

That unlucky Class A Wanted Fugitive.

"Bi... Big brother..."

Gui Jianchou looked at the ferocious SWAT officers before him, his lips trembling as he finally broke down into loud sobs: "Big brother lied to me... He said he'd let me block bullets, he didn't say he'd let me take the fall!"

"What big brother?!"

The SWAT Captain felt his head buzzing. He grabbed Gui Jianchou's collar and roared: "Where's Qin Feng?! Where's the man in the Clown Mask?!"

Gui Jianchou sniffled and pointed toward the empty corridor behind him.

"Go... Gone."

"When he pushed me out just now... he vanished."

Gone?

The SWAT Captain looked up sharply, his gaze sweeping across the entire second floor.

Aside from the flour on the floor, where was there any sign of a person?

The Qin Feng who was just shouting about "killing hostages," who was commanding hostages to do radio gymnastics, and who was playing psychological warfare with them...

...was like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

He had vanished into thin air.

Leaving behind only a mess and a group of police officers questioning their lives.

"I... damn it all!"

The SWAT Captain was shaking with rage. He slammed his riot helmet onto the ground.

"Clang!"

The helmet bounced a few times and rolled to the side.

Inside the command center.

Zhao Shanhe slumped back into his chair, his eyes hollow.

He had been fooled again.

Hundreds of police officers, a land-sea-air blockade, directional explosives, and a SWAT assault.

In the end, they only caught a... weeping Gui Jianchou?

If this got out, where would the Jianghai City Police Department put its face?

"Check..."

Zhao Shanhe's voice was weak, as if he had just finished a major surgery: "Check for me... how he escaped... even if he crawled through a crack in the ground, find that crack for me!"

...

Meanwhile.

On the second basement level of the bank building.

At the entrance of the sewage-filled sewer.

Qin Feng was squatting in front of a thick sewage pipe, holding a small flashlight and shining it on the nauseating black water.

The Clown Mask had been taken off and was in his hand, revealing a clean-cut face that was written all over with resistance.

"Do I really have to go in?"

"This is the path to the septic tank..."

Qin Feng pinched his nose, his brow furrowed deeply enough to crush a fly.

He glanced back at the ceiling.

He could still faintly hear the angry roars of the SWAT officers from above.

"Forget it, five thousand yuan is still money. As for dignity, I can still have it after a wash."

Qin Feng sighed.

He carefully tucked the slip of paper with Su Tang's WeChat ID into his inner pocket.

Then, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes...

...he slid into the foul-smelling, dark pipe like a slippery loach, without making a sound.

And behind him...

The bullet comments in the livestream finally reached a true climax at this moment.

"Holy crap!! What a legendary golden cicada shedding its skin!!"

"Throwing a wanted criminal out as a meat shield to take the fall? That move was too dirty! But I love it!"

"SWAT Captain: I caught him! I caught him! Eh? Why is it a scarred face?"

"Gui Jianchou: In the end, it was all misplaced trust..."

"Bandit Bro is awesome! Not only did he trick the police, but he even tricked his teammate! This is true ruthlessness!"

"Stop talking, I just want to know, did he really crawl into the sewer? That's an idol-image-shredder right there!"

"Upstairs, that's called professionalism! That's the self-cultivation of an actor!"

"City-wide wanted order incoming! This time, it'll be hard for Qin Feng not to be famous!"