Chapter Five: The Road Encounters Bandits

  What chapter are you referring to?

  Late at night, the streets were empty, and the night wind of Huangpu River swept through the Bund in a rolling motion, with scraps of paper rustling loudly, occasionally accompanied by the sound of rolling wine bottles.

  With a screech of brakes, a truck with a canvas cover came to a stop not far from the Shanghai Branch Bank building at No. 24 Waitan in Pudong.

  Under the dim kerosene street lamps, a dozen or so figures jumped down from the truck. They were all dressed in black and carried boxes of guns, explosives, ropes, and bags, rushing towards the entrance of Zhengjin Bank Building.

  They were obviously preparing for an armed robbery of the Chinatown Bank.

  There have been four bank robberies this month, with the perpetrators striking once a week. They always commit the crime at around 3 or 4 am, when the security guards on duty are most tired and sleepy.

  The first three bank robberies all took place on the Bund, where more than 50 banks from around the world were concentrated, with each bank's vault containing tens of millions of dollars in gold and cash reserves.

  Making a fortune by robbing a bank is obviously the most convenient way.

  Interestingly, all three previous bank robbery cases occurred in banks run by Japanese people, apparently this group of bank robbers has a grudge against the Japanese.

  However, their techniques were extremely sophisticated. In the first three times, they did not use explosives to violently open the vaults, but instead relied on highly skilled lock-picking techniques to open the vault doors. Moreover, there was no evidence of firearms being used, and security personnel were subdued with either tranquilizer darts or close-range knockout blows, without even leaving any signs of intense struggle.

  All this proves that the bank robbers had superior techniques and powerful personal martial arts.

  For Inspector James of the Old Gate Police Station on Nanjing Road, it's been a headache for over a decade. Three bank robberies have shaken the Shanghai Concession, and the Municipal Council has ordered James to crack the case and capture the robbers within a time limit. Most importantly, he must recover the stolen funds totaling $7 million.

  After careful investigation, James found that these robbers appeared at night and were very regular, committing crimes once every seven days, and they all targeted banks run by Japanese people.

  As a result, James believed that the scope of protection he needed to provide had narrowed down to just a few Japanese banks.

  The next targets of the robbers were the Shanghai branches of Chiyu Bank, Sakura Bank and Sumitomo Fire & Marine Insurance Bank. James led his men to lie in wait near these three banks.

  Today just happened to be the seventh day, James guessed that the hijackers should appear, and as long as they were caught, he would not only be promoted but also receive a reward from the Japanese bank that would make him rich for life.

  It was already 4:00 a.m. when James was nodding off with fatigue that his subordinates suddenly discovered something suspicious.

  "Inspector, over a dozen suspicious individuals have appeared near Zhengjin Bank!"

  "Wait! Let's wait until they rush into Jingu Bank and then we'll make our move!"

  James was suddenly excited and hastily ordered his men to cheer up.

  The police officers in the concession areas were basically Sikhs from India, the loyal running dogs of the British, who would often bully Chinese people in their daily lives. The Shanghai dialect referred to them as "red-headed Ah San".

  These red-headed constables saw the robbers appear, saw the robbers holding weapons, and were all a bit nervous in their hearts. However, there were many of them, and this time James had made a big investment, applying to the Chief Superintendent for more than 200 patrolmen, almost concentrating all the police officers within the public concession.

  With that, Ah San and his men saw that their side had the upper hand, so they quickly calmed down and waited for James to give the order to make arrests.

  A dozen or so bank robbers looked around, but did not discover the red-haired Ah San and others who were lying in ambush all around.

  At the sound of one of them giving an order, several robbers suddenly appeared at the entrance of the bank and took out lock-picking tools.

  Only to see the robbers struggling with the lock for half a day, unable to open it. The leader immediately became impatient and ordered one of his men to use a crowbar to pry open the gate directly.

  A dozen or so robbers swarmed into the bank's lobby, Japanese security personnel were already alarmed, sounding the alarm while firing back.

  Due to a string of recent robberies targeting Japanese banks, the security personnel at Chong Kim Bank have been increased significantly and are heavily armed. Tonight, they received advance notice from James that robbers may be coming, so they are on high alert.

  When the robbers rushed in, more than 20 security guards in the hall immediately raised their guns and opened fire fiercely.

  A burst of intense gunfire suddenly shocked the entire Shanghai Bund.

  A dozen or so bandits were suddenly blinded, and in an instant they were killed by the other side, with only five or six people left running out, only to be blocked by the police who had arrived.

  The robbers were obviously fugitives who knew they would be killed if caught, so they resisted desperately.

  The three of them were about to be killed by the robbers when James suddenly remembered something.

  "Leave one alive!"

  After a few minutes of fierce gunfire, there was only one hijacker left and he soon ran out of bullets.

  James let out a sigh of relief and shouted "Seize them alive!" Several red-headed Ah San plucked up the courage to rush forward and capture the robbers.

  All eyes were on the bandit as he had become the protagonist of tonight, a money tree in everyone's eyes.

  However, no one noticed a bright light source on the rooftop of a building hundreds of meters away, which was an optical phenomenon caused by the sniper's scope reflecting light onto the target.

  The sniper didn't hesitate and fired his gun.

  Bang!

  A single gunshot rang out, and the forehead of the hijacker was instantly hit by a 7.92mm bullet, which exited from the back of his head, leaving a bowl-sized blood hole.

  In an instant, brain matter and blood splattered everywhere, covering several red-headed thugs nearby who were left with it all over their faces and bodies.

  Everyone was stunned at that moment until several red-haired men couldn't help but vomit, and then the crowd came back to their senses.

  The only hijacker was shot in the head, obviously a case of murder to silence him.

  "Who fired the shot? Get him out here right away!"

  James was furious at the moment, and he still hoped to find out where the stolen goods were through this robbery, but now it's all ruined.

  However, they only searched within a hundred meters nearby, as his experience told him that the visibility was poor at night and it was impossible to shoot accurately beyond a hundred meters. Who would have thought that there would be snipers involved in a bank robbery?

  After searching for half a day, they still couldn't find that gunman. James suddenly turned into an eggplant that had been struck by frost.

  Next thing is to investigate the origin of these corpses and then find the stolen loot.

  "Fall in!"

  At James' helpless order, the police officers who were ambushing near several banks all retreated. Except for more than 20 police officers from the old Lao Gate who followed James back to the police station for further investigation, other police officers returned to their respective police stations in the public concession area. After all, they still had to go on duty early tomorrow morning, and there were too many things to do in the public concession area. They couldn't just hang around one Bund.

  Fortunately, the robbers had been shot dead and everyone left safely. The security guards of various banks also learned about the robbers being wiped out in the first place, and they finally breathed a sigh of relief. Many bank security guards even thought that everything was safe and sound, and they lay down in the rest room and fell asleep quickly.

  However, James seems to have been blinded by the victory in front of him. He didn't even think that tonight's robbery seemed too ordinary and unremarkable compared to the previous three robberies. Tonight's robbers seem to be far inferior in terms of technology and IQ.

  James returned to the police station with his men and the bodies of a dozen or so bandits, and the Bund soon quieted down.

  The wind on the Huangpu River still whisks through the icy streets with a whooshing sound.

  Before long, several black Ford sedans and a black canvas-covered large truck stopped near the entrance of Sakura Bank.

  Under the dim coal oil street lamps, a dozen more black figures emerged.

  They were all wearing black shoes and clothes, but this group of people were all wearing black hoods with a steel helmet on top, which had a special mesh woven to prevent reflective light, only exposing their eyes. They all wore black leather gloves, and the gun holsters on their thighs held M1911 Colt pistols. On their bodies, they wore a special black vest, which was bulging with various weapons, equipment, and tools. Most notably, on the left chest of the vest, at the position of the heart, hung an object slightly larger than a modern-day pager - the latest product from Motorola in the United States, the Max 1927 walkie-talkie.

  Unlike the lazy and scattered actions of a dozen or so bandits before, this time the dozen or so black-clad men who jumped off the car immediately formed a three-three combat formation, with their Thompson submachine guns aimed at any direction that could pose a threat to them.

  If it were in the 21st century, someone would definitely recognize their origins. Their attire would clearly be linked to the famous Hong Kong Flying Tigers.

  Who were they, a military organization that suddenly emerged in the 1920s?

  "Safe!"

  "Safe!"

  As several groups separately determined that the surrounding situation was in a safe state, one of them came to the side of the sedan, stretched out his hand and opened the car door. A tall, powerful man slowly emerged from inside.

  This person's equipment is roughly the same as everyone else, the only difference being that his two hands are empty, holding nothing. From the respectful movements of these people towards him, it's clear he's their leader.

  He waved his hand and everyone dispersed quickly.

  Who else could have created a Flying Tigers in the 1920s besides Zhang Meng?

  No doubt, the tall and powerful man in front of him was Zhang Meng. And the dozen or so people beside him were the elite selected from more than 500 people through three months of hellish training.

  They have a common code name - Blue Fox Special Forces.