Invasion of the United States

White Beach Town Police Station.

The phone rang incessantly.

The air was filled with the bitter aroma of coffee, and the fatigue and frustration were evident on every officer's face.

The whiteboard was densely packed with pending cases, the ink from the markers already smudged, but no one had the energy to clean it.

Kongges was forcibly suspended, and many colleagues who didn't get along with him were gloating, waiting to watch the fun.

But the anticipated scene of 'corrupt cop losing power, residents rejoicing, the town returning to peace' never appeared. Instead, crimes of all sizes exploded in frequency.

The police station's hotline rang from dawn until late at night, almost without a moment's pause.

The station only had about a dozen staff, half of whom were office clerks, like Director Matthew. The number of 'workhorses' who could go out and solve problems could be counted on one hand.

Burglaries, gang fights, shootings, robberies, high-speed chases – these incidents, which occasionally happened, now spread like a plague. Рubliсаtiоn соurtеsy оf М|V|LЕ-МРYR.

It was like the town's guardian deity had left, and all the demons and monsters came out to wreak havoc.

"Elvin." Director Matthew opened the door to his office. He motioned to his subordinate, who had just returned, to come in.

Elvin White had just returned from duty. Without even making it back to his desk, he walked into the director's office with a sour expression, and asked, "What's up?"

"Close the door." The director ordered with a darker expression, lowering his voice, "Kongges has been missing for three days, why haven't you caught him yet?"

Elvin spread his hands, angrily exhausted, "There are eight field officers in the station. One is in the hospital, one is awaiting retirement, one is on rotation, and one is suspended and on the run.

Including me, there are only four left in the field, and I haven't rested for two or three days. If you think there's too much to handle, why don't you strap on a gun and drive a patrol car yourself?"

"Enough, I don't want to hear any of that." Director Matthew glared and lowered his voice, "You were Kongges's partner, you know him best.

Kongges was always good to you. Yet you kidnapped his wife and daughter to blackmail him. Do you think he'll let that betrayal slide?

Forget the minor crimes for now, find more people and get Kongges back quickly. As long as that guy's out there, he's a threat."

Faced with this threat, Elvin's eyes reddened with anger, his fists clenched at his sides. If not constrained, he'd have shot the fat corrupt director in front of him.

If it weren't for this 'pig' taking so much money, there'd be an extra three to five officers, and the town's security wouldn't be so chaotic.

Now something had gone wrong, and he was panicking, but all he could do was sit behind his desk and issue orders, as if talking could solve the problem.

"What are you looking at me for? Will looking at me catch Kongges?" Director Matthew pointed outside, "Go catch him now."

"Yes." Elvin responded darkly. He truly wanted to find a place to sleep. But he couldn't rest; he had to hold on.

Because some things, once started, can't be stopped. Like a boulder rolling down a hill, it must move forward; a sudden stop would only shatter it to pieces.

-----------------

A month ago, that gang shootout seemed still fresh, flashing in Elvin's mind from time to time.

That night, the police station's emergency line rang urgently. He and Kongges rushed out of the office, jumped into the patrol car, heading straight for the "Scorpion" bar.

The sirens pierced the night sky, red and blue lights flashing across the streets, reflecting the frightened faces of pedestrians.

At that time, the bar was engulfed in chaos, bullets flying, glass shattering everywhere, people screaming and running in panic.

Two gangs were furiously exchanging fire inside, their screams, curses, and gunshots mixed together, stray bullets flying around.

Elvin and Kongges quickly exited the car, taking cover behind it while calling for backup on the radio and suppressing the bastards with rifles.

After the shootout, the scene was a mess, bodies lying on the ground, blood flowing inside the bar like pools of dark red liquor.

Many gang members were seriously injured in the shootout, moaning or cursing as they were carried on stretchers to the hospital.

Kongges, being the sergeant, naturally left the trivial task of recording statements to his younger partner.

Elvin was just going through the motions, following the ambulance to the hospital, planning to ask a few questions and call it a day.

However, things developed beyond his expectations.

A seriously injured gang member lay on a stretcher, his face pale as paper, breathing heavily. His chest was shot, blood incessantly oozing out.

As Elvin approached, he thought this guy was beyond saving for any statements.

But suddenly, the man grabbed Elvin's wrist, struggling to say, "I… I won't make it, but I can't let those bastards win... This was all over the 'Power Ball' jackpot."

It was that simple, nobody could resist the temptation of billions of US Dollars.

Elvin was extremely excited upon receiving the information, then he killed the severely injured man who had barely half a breath left — after all, it was normal for someone to die from excessive blood loss.

Even for the other wounded, he took measures to prevent the information from spreading further.

Elvin had already installed surveillance in the bar ahead of Zhou Qingfeng, capturing his entire process of obtaining the lottery ticket.

But...

If he handed the evidence to the FBI, Zhou Qingfeng would end up with nothing, and so would Elvin.

He thought of secretly kidnapping Zhou Qingfeng to extort and coerce him. But the guy didn't frequent bars, didn't go shopping, didn't attend parties; there was never a moment when he was alone.

And direct contact could easily drag Elvin himself into trouble.

His plan was to wait, wait until Zhou Qingfeng won the jackpot, then conduct the blackmail. But now, it had already been a month.