I enlisted four times! My former unit blacklisted me.

"Commander Zhang! Commander Zhang!" Li Jianguo turned and rushed towards the command vehicle, grabbing the vehicle-mounted radio and shouting:

"Scene escalation! The target is a robbery of a military SUV. Four male suspects, armed with firearms, have taken a six-year-old boy hostage. They possess extremely strong counter-surveillance capabilities and show signs of fleeing!"

"Request immediate reinforcements to block off all main and secondary roads surrounding Kangzhuang Avenue. We absolutely cannot allow them to break through!"

In the city bureau's command center, Zhang Zhengtao had just picked up his thermos to drink some hot tea to soothe his throat when he heard Li Jianguo's trembling voice reporting over the radio. His hand trembled, and the scalding tea spilled directly onto the back of his hand.

"Robbery of a military vehicle?!"

The atmosphere in the command center froze once again.

The operator, Xiaolin, turned pale—she had only heard that it was a kidnapping, but she never expected it to escalate to stealing a military vehicle.

If these people were to drive military vehicles onto the main road, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"Attention, all personnel!" Zhang Zhengtao walked to the command screen, pointed to the Kangzhuang Avenue area, and said, "Activate Level II response immediately! All patrol and special police units will be deployed to Kangzhuang Avenue."

"The traffic police detachment has implemented traffic control at all intersections within a three-kilometer radius, prohibiting any vehicles or pedestrians from entering the core area!"

"Notify the police stations along the route to immediately organize officers to evacuate residents from surrounding shops and communities, informing everyone not to gather around or take photos, and to return indoors!"

"All participating units, shut down sirens and lights, and quietly encircle the suspect! Absolutely do not alert him and lest he become desperate and harm the hostages!"

Orders were issued one after another, and the entire command center began operating at high speed.

The sounds of telephones, keyboards, and walkie-talkies mingled together, and everyone's face was solemn.

Having been a police officer for so many years, no one has ever seen ruthless bandits robbing military vehicles on the street in case files. When it actually happens to them, no one dares to be careless.

---

Along Kangzhuang Avenue, the traffic police were the quickest to act.

When the traffic police officer on duty at the intersection received the instruction, he thought he had misheard.

He was affixing a parking ticket when he nearly dropped the POS machine.

"What? Road closures? And they're turning off the police lights and sirens? Wait, bro, what case is this for? Why are they making such a big fuss?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Just close the road! An armed robbery of a military vehicle, and the hostage is a child! Immediately, turn back all the cars at the intersection, don't let a single one in!"

Xiao Zhou's heart skipped a beat. Without asking any questions, he quickly called his colleagues to move the roadblocks.

Traffic was heavy at the intersection during the evening rush hour, and the sudden road closure immediately drew complaints from drivers.

"Officer, what's going on? Are you checking for drunk driving? I haven't been drinking, I just had a bowl of noodles for lunch!"

"It's not drunk driving, there's temporary traffic control ahead, please turn around and take an alternate route."

The driver pursed his lips, about to complain, when he caught a glimpse of several unlit SWAT vans emerging from a distant alley. Their dark windows obscured the interior, exuding a menacing aura that kept strangers at bay.

He immediately shut up and quickly turned the steering wheel to turn around:

"My God, what's happened... Could it be that an escaped convict has escaped?"

The man in the SUV next to him saw the traffic police blocking the road and spotted figures in bulletproof vests in the distance. He quickly locked his car windows tightly and said to his wife in the passenger seat:

"Honey, hide your bag quickly! Don't show off your wealth! It might be a bank robber on their way here. Look at this setup, they're heavily armed!"

His wife was so frightened that she quickly stuffed her designer bag under the seat and didn't dare to breathe.

Delivery driver: "Officer, this order is going to be late in three minutes! The customer ordered milk tea, and I'll be fined if it's late!"

"You can't go in even if it's past your allotted time; it's dangerous inside."

"Is your life more important or a bad review? Quickly take another route; customers will understand if it's later."

The delivery driver made a U-turn while calling the customer: "Hi, your milk tea might be a little late... It's not that I'm slow, it's just that there seem to be some thugs ahead, and the police have blocked the road... Really! Why would I lie to you! Please don't give me a bad review!"

---

The shops and pedestrians along the roadside were even more lively.

"What's going on, sis? What did the police say?"

"I don't know, they just told us to close the door, saying it was dangerous."

"I just saw a reflection on that rooftop over there. Could it be a sniper?"

"Wow! That's exciting!"

"Could this be a wanted criminal hiding here? I keep seeing police arrest scenes on short videos, I never thought I'd run into one today!"

"Keep your voice down! Don't take pictures like that, what if you anger the bad guys? I heard they kidnapped a child, that's terrible."

"Kidnapping? Kidnapping in broad daylight?" The aunt next to her looked frightened. "Luckily, my grandson's grandma picked him up today, otherwise he'd be walking this way after school right now, how scary would that be!"

"I heard—" an old man said in a low, mysterious voice, "it wasn't a regular kidnapping, it was a group of mercenaries who got into a shootout with the military, stole a military vehicle, and ran this way!"

"Look at that car, it's camouflage, the front bumper is all smashed, it must have just been hit!"

"My God! Mercenaries?"

"Wouldn't that mean being caught in a hail of bullets?"

"Quickly move back, don't get hit by stray bullets!"

The more it's spread, the more bizarre and outrageous it becomes.

The rumor started as "kidnapping," then progressed to "armed robbery," then to "mercenaries fighting and stealing military vehicles," and finally, some people said "terrorists planted a bomb."

The owner of the stationery store next door was about to open for business when he heard from next door that there was a bomb. He was so scared that he quickly pulled down the roller shutter door and moved a cabinet behind the door to block it, for fear that it would be blown up.

A few middle school students who were passing by on their way home from school wanted to join in the fun, but their homeroom teacher grabbed them by the back of the neck and dragged them into the residential area.

"What are you looking at! Go home and do your homework! Didn't you hear the police say it's dangerous? Getting so close, what if you get hurt!"

Several students stuck out their tongues, turned back every few steps as they walked away, and didn't forget to take out their watches and phones to call their classmates.

"Hey! Something terrible has happened on Kangzhuang Avenue! There are robbers! And military vehicles too! This is so exciting! You'd better get your mom to bring you here right away... oh wait, I mean, take a detour, it's dangerous!"

---

Inside the encirclement, the deployment of special police and armed police has reached its final stage.

Li Jianguo, wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet, crouched behind a van, using binoculars to look in the direction of the target vehicle.

Unfortunately, it was a bit far away, and there were roadside trees blocking the view, so we could only vaguely see the outline of the camouflage off-road vehicle.

The new police officer next to him, Xiao Zheng, was handling such a major case for the first time. He was so nervous that his palms were sweaty, and he even fastened the buckle on his bulletproof vest backwards. It was the veteran detective next to him who helped him fasten it correctly.

"Captain Li, should we... should we just charge in?" Xiao Zheng's voice trembled slightly, his grip on his gun tightening. "Four men, and guns too, do we have enough manpower?"

"What's the panic?" Li Jianguo said calmly, but he was actually quite nervous inside. "The armed police assault team has arrived, and the snipers are in position. We're just cooperating."

"Remember, the safety of the hostages is the top priority. No one is allowed to fire without my order."

The veteran detective chimed in, "Xiao Li, stay behind me and don't show your face. These guys are ruthless; they even dare to rob military vehicles. If things get really tense, make sure the hostages are safe first."

Xiao Zheng nodded quickly, mentally reciting the tactical maneuvers from the onboarding training eight hundred times, and even thinking about "how the compensation will be paid after an honorable death".