On the ring road in Los Angeles.
Geraldson’s eyes were closing as he leaned back in the passenger seat.
The soft rocking of the vehicle, in addition to the fact that he had not slept all night, caused him to feel that his upper and lower eyelids were constantly fighting back a heavyweight, while fatigue was hitting him like a series of shockwaves…
According to the existing procedure, as long as his subordinates drove the cars and followed the truck to the airport, his task would be considered completed. Geraldson did not even have to wake up. He could just enjoy sweet dreams throughout the journey.
His subordinates would even send him to his door before waking him up.
Unfortunately, things were not destined to go so smoothly…
In a murky stupor, Geraldson seemed to hear a muffled explosion, followed by a violent screech of friction as if someone was scratching the floor with metal!
At the same time, Geraldson was thrown forward quickly by inertia. Still, he was held back by the seat belt, so he did not directly crash into the front windshield.
After he opened his eyes instinctively, Geraldson found that the car he was in had stopped. Not only that but also less than thirty meters ahead, the truck carrying the sculptures had flipped over in the middle of the road.
In addition, dozens of containers had been flung out, blocking the entire highway.
“What happened?”
Geraldson asked reflexively.
“It seems that the truck suffered a puncture while driving and rolled over,” one of the men in the back seat explained, “Boss, shall we get off and take a look?”
“Yes.”
Geraldson frowned, swiftly got out of the car, and walked toward the overturned truck.
In a similar reaction to Geraldson’s, the other teams that were following the truck also got out of their vehicles and came over to check the situation.
“Geraldson, what happened?”
A large man with a bushy beard rushed up from behind and asked loudly.
“I don’t know. Let’s take a look.”
Of course, Geraldson knew the man. This heavily-bearded man was called Sean, a team leader of another division in the FBI. Both of them also had a competitive relationship.
Currently, a large number of containers were strewn across the road, completely blocking the way. The scene seemed like an ominous premonition to Geraldson.
Why did the tire have to get a puncture now, of all times?
However, when Geraldson saw that the truck’s tire had completely exploded, his pupils suddenly contracted!
He noticed that both the outer tread and inner tube of the tire had been fully stripped away from the wheel. At this point, only a bare steel rim was left on the left front wheel of the truck.
“This isn’t a natural puncture…”
Geraldson drew his pistol instinctively and shouted at everyone, “This is caused by a shooting. Everyone, take cover!”
As he yelled, he rolled over and swiftly hid behind a fallen container.
Everyone was taken aback and hastened to hide behind some cover.
Nonetheless, unlike what they expected, everyone simply kept hiding for a few minutes. Even the road behind was starting to get congested with vehicles and no one was attacked.
“Geraldson, do you see the enemy?”
Sean was hiding behind a container and he spoke grimly.
“I don’t. You?”
“Me neither,” Sean replied.
“We can’t go on like this. More and more cars will get stuck behind!”
Someone warned them.
“D*mn it!”
Geraldson steeled his nerves and walked out again. “Everyone, clear up the congestion first while protecting the sculptures we’re transporting. Don’t miss anything.”
“Got it.”
Everyone replied. The FBI’s excellent training was immediately apparent. As they requested backup from the branch office, they began to unclog the traffic congestion. The driver of the truck was also rescued from the truck cabin at this time. Fortunately, he was not injured.
Even after the blocked road had been cleared of congestion, nothing had happened.
“Was it really just an accident?”
Geraldson could not help feeling bewildered. He turned back to look at the overturned truck again and suddenly noticed a gentle distortion before a container that was half the height of a person.
It looked like a transparent human figure…
What the h*ll?
Geraldson quickly rubbed his eyes and looked again with greater focus, only to find that there was nothing there.
“Is it because I’m just too tired?”
Geraldson murmured. Even so, he seemed to abruptly realize something and rushed to the container that was half a person’s height.
This was because he remembered that this container was the container that held the three sculptures!
However, when he ran to the container, he was astonished to find that a circular hole with a diameter of half a meter had been cut out in the container at some point!
Within this hole, the three sculptures he was in charge of had vanished without a trace!
How could this be!
Geraldson exclaimed in shock.
“Boss, what’s wrong?”
Three of his men, noticing his odd behavior, hurried over.
“Someone has stolen our sculptures!”
Geraldson’s face was extremely sour. He kicked the container open, exposing the huge round hole in it.
Everyone saw that the iron shell of the container had been cut open by something. The cut was extremely smooth.
Everyone was stunned by this. “Impossible, I’ve kept watch since just now. No one approached this place. Who could have cut this container under our noses?”
“If it didn’t just happen, was it cut on the truck?”
“That’s even more impossible. From the time these sculptures were loaded onto the truck, we were watching the truck the entire way. It was impossible for anyone to enter the truck!”
“Even if someone sneaked in at the start, what about when the truck rolled over? If someone was flung out as well, we’d definitely have seen them!”
All at once, everyone debated and refuted each other, trying to shirk responsibility.
Only Geraldson stared at the container, completely silent.
“Sean, why did you step on my foot?”
“I didn’t!”
Just then, a squabble between two men broke out. Geraldson looked up instantly. At this moment, he could see a distortion twisting slowly in the air just behind the two of them!
“Freeze!”
Geraldson quickly raised his pistol and aimed at the two of them. “Raise your hands right now and get down on all fours!”
“Geraldson, have you lost your mind?”
Sean yelped and quickly raised his hands. “Calm down, man! I definitely didn’t steal them!”
Everyone turned toward Geraldson in puzzlement and shock.
“I don’t mean you, Sean, but behind you!”
Geraldson gritted his teeth and said, “Freeze! If you don’t stop, I’m going to shoot!”
“What are you on about…”
“Bang!”
Before Sean could finish speaking, a sharp gunshot rang out. The bullet directly grazed past Sean’s face and zipped forward!
Instantly, the preserved order of the highway broke out into chaos again!
At this moment, Geraldson and the others were utterly flabbergasted — in the air where the bullet had passed, a splatter of blood had blossomed.
It was as if an invisible figure had been wounded by the bullet…