America: The Gear-Up Detective

Northwest corner of San Pedro Bay.

Several police cars were parked not far from a few shipping containers.

The area was cordoned off, and to avoid alerting the suspects, the police cars did not turn on their sirens; only the red and blue flashing lights were used intermittently.

Among them, two armored police cars were parked on the outermost perimeter, with the word "SWAT" painted on them, indicating that this group of people were not ordinary police officers.

The LAPD SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics Team) is a full-time, specialized tactical unit within the Los Angeles Police Department dedicated to handling high-risk situations. It belongs to the Metropolitan Division and is widely considered the progenitor of all modern SWAT teams.

As soon as Rod got out of the car, he saw several well-equipped SWAT team members, armed with MP5 submachine guns and assault rifles, surrounding Connor and discussing something.

As they approached, Connor saw Rod and waved.

"Captain, what's going on?"

Connor explained in a deep voice, "Simon Brand only told us the location was here, but he didn't know which container it was. He only said it was a red container near the central area..."

"Red containers?" Rod's lips twitched as he looked at the several haphazardly placed red containers around the perimeter. Red, gray, and blue were among the most common colors for containers. "That's so vague? Does he really not know?"

"He was called in temporarily to provide the vehicle and earn some extra money. He wasn't part of Darian Weaver's team and didn't know the terrain at all," Connor explained.

It seems that in this short time, Simon Brand has told Connor everything he knows, just in case he's afraid of being blamed.

Then, Connor pointed to a bald, muscular black man standing next to him and introduced him: "This is Daniel Hondu Harrison, the captain of the SWAT team sent by the police department to support us."

"Hongdu, this is Rod from our squad."

A well-equipped black man in a dark blue SWAT team uniform nodded to Rhodes. "Just call me Hongdu. We're working on a battle plan. The terrain here is complicated, with too many and too messy containers. We have to be careful."

As he spoke, he looked at the drones that were constantly patrolling high in the sky and said, "We now have several potential targets, but there are quite a few of them, so we need your cooperation."

Connor nodded and said in a deep voice, "No problem. How do you want us to cooperate?"

"We'll handle the searches of the containers with the highest probability of being searched; the rest are up to you." Hong Du held a tactical tablet, looking at the footage transmitted from the drone. "Of course, your main task is to observe from a distance. If you spot anything unusual, notify us immediately and minimize the risk of firing your weapons."

Connor nodded, and Rod also expressed his understanding. Time was of the essence now; every minute wasted increased the danger to Jackson.

Taking separate actions and employing a two-pronged approach is the optimal solution.

After Connor and Honduran confirmed the more detailed battle plan, Honduran headed towards his team's gathering place.

Connor looked at Rod, Hank, and Jose. "Let's get ready too. Remember, focus on observation. Don't reveal yourselves unless absolutely necessary. I don't want to lose any of you when we find Jackson, understand?"

Hank and Jose nodded solemnly to indicate that they understood, while Rod was a little nervous, as he had never experienced anything like this before.

However, considering that they were just observing from the sidelines, nothing unexpected should happen.

Then, the men went to the trunk of the police car, put on bulletproof vests, each took an AR-15 rifle, and, in accordance with police regulations, attached body cameras to their chests.

"Beep~" The body camera started working.

According to drone observations, there are currently seven locations matching the red containers described by Simon Brand.

Hongdu's special police team was responsible for searching the four containers in the very center, where the search was most likely to be conducted, while Rod and others, along with other support patrol officers, were responsible for the three containers closer to the outer perimeter.

Fortunately, the LAPD requires all officers to participate in at least two dedicated tactical training days every year, so although Rod and his team's coordination was not as proficient as the SWAT team from the neighboring Hongdu, they still knew the necessary tactical operations.

Everyone was ready to go. After checking the weapons and equipment one last time, Connor crouched down and raised his gun.

"OK, let's go!"

Connor crouched low and moved forward, hugging the edge of the container.

Rod followed closely behind, his gun slightly pointed downwards, his eyes quickly scanning the gaps between the containers. Jose and Hank positioned themselves on either side, the four of them forming a loose diamond formation as they advanced along the narrow passage between the containers.

Before long, we arrived at the first target container.

Connor stopped a short distance away, raised his hand to signal the others to cease their actions, and then pressed his earpiece, "This is Connor's team, approaching the first target."

Then Hongdu's deep voice came through the headset: "Roger. We are approaching the second target in the core area. Maintain communication."

Connor made another gesture, then moved first and stopped at a corner. Rod followed closely behind, patted Connor's shoulder from behind, indicating that he was in position.

The group walked slowly forward.

Three or four meters away from the container, Rod's nostrils twitched slightly, and a faint stench wafted into his nasal cavity.

"Can you smell something?"

Connor said with a puzzled look, "This smell..."

Behind him, Hank added, "Why does it smell a bit like a rotting corpse?"

The group of men frequently dealt with corpses and were very familiar with the smell.

"Be careful, concentrate!"

The group slowly moved to the side of the container, and Connor waved again, saying, "This shouldn't be the container."

There was a hole about half a person's height on the side and back of the container, and it was unclear when it was broken open.

An even stronger stench emanated from inside the container.

"Jackson might have already started to stink..." Hank said.

This was obviously a joke. Such a strong smell would only be produced by a corpse after it has been decomposing for at least several months.

After thinking about it, Connor decided to go inside the container to take a look.

Then he crouched down and crawled into the shipping container, followed closely by Rod, while Hank and Jose stayed outside to keep watch.

Inside the container.

The smell was even stronger.

The two men turned on the tactical flashlights on their AR-15 rifles.

Inside the somewhat cluttered container, there were scattered pieces of badly damaged clothing and shoe boxes.

It looks like a shipping container for clothing, but I don't know why it was abandoned here.

Above a pile of clothes, two large black suitcases caught Rod and Connor's attention.

The smell became increasingly pungent as I got closer to the suitcase.

After looking around and finding nothing else unusual, the two of them worked together to drag the suitcase outside the container.

As the outside air circulated around the container, the foul odor lessened considerably.

Then Connor opened the first suitcase, and an even stronger smell of decay hit him.

What came into view was a corpse completely wrapped in transparent plastic wrap!

Judging from the shape of the corpse, it did not resemble the physique of an adult.

Behind him, Jose, being further away and less impacted, reacted first, instinctively exclaiming, "What the hell!"

Hank, who was standing nearby, opened another suitcase, which contained yet another corpse.

Then, Rhodes suppressed the urge to vomit, and another semi-transparent panel appeared in front of him.

[Mission Update: Two sets of skeletons, never to see the light of day, have been discovered by chance. Behind this case lies a moral decay, and the truth seems chilling.]

A reward will be given for solving this case.

Completion Rewards: Hidden