After weighing his options, Anthony personally dialed the bank's number, but there was a long wait with no answer.

Anthony realized he'd been played, Luke had been right.

"fuck!" Anthony cursed furiously and turned on the intercom, "Luke, there's no answer from inside the bank, I'm preparing to use the battering ram to breach."

"Copy that. We're going to breach the back door as well."

Five minutes later, the FBI and the police breached the doors simultaneously.

"Bang, bang, bang!" Under the continuous battering, it took less than ten seconds to break the door's lock.

And it was these ten seconds that could determine the life or death of the hostages.

"Boom." The back of the bank was breached, and Luke led his team into the bank.

"LAPD!"

"FBI!" At the same time, the FBI also charged into the bank from the front.

Both sides searched from their respective entries.

"Clear!"

"Clear."

"The vault door is open, but there's nobody inside."

"Tied up hostages found in the lobby."

"There's a big hole blasted in the restroom!"

After searching the scene, the FBI and the police found no sign of the robbers.

Luke and Anthony both approached the hole, and a nauseating stench wafted out from it, the hole led down into the sewer.

"These damn guys had their escape all planned out," Anthony said, scratching his head and turning to look at Luke beside him.

Luke shook his head, "Don't even think about it, I'm not going down there."

Anthony had no choice but to send his men to pursue through the sewer, though the hope was slim, this clue still needed to be investigated, to at least figure out the criminals' escape route.

Luke entered the lobby where all the hostages were crouched beside the counters with white hoods on their heads, their hands and feet bound.

The police were comforting the hostages and helping them remove their hoods and handcuffs.

Luke instructed, "Verify every hostage's identity, everyone needs to give a statement..."

As he spoke, Luke saw a familiar figure, "Mr. Arthur, what are you doing here?"

Michael Arthur twisted his wrist, "I was about to leave Los Angeles, came to get some travel funds from the bank."

"What a coincidence?"

"Yes, luck isn't on my side."

"Hard to imagine you'd surrender so easily."

"There were five of them, heavily armed with bulletproof vests. If I had acted in the open lobby, even if I survived, half of the hostages would have been killed or injured.

Most importantly, they didn't rob me of my money."

"Did you see their faces?"

"No, they wore skull masks and gloves, one of them had an AK, one had a submachine gun, another a shotgun, and two had pistols."

Luke said, "They claimed they'd kill a hostage, but why haven't I seen any dead bodies?"

"Blank rounds, they didn't actually kill any hostages."

Luke let out a sigh of relief, "Did the robbers do anything out of the ordinary?"

"I don't know, they put a hood over my head, I couldn't see what they were doing," Michael replied.

"How did they open the vault?"

"You should be asking the bank manager, not me."

"Thanks for the information, have you decided where to go?"

"I plan to just wander around. America is so vast, and I've been to many places, but rarely have I had the time to stop and truly appreciate them.

I should really enjoy my retirement."

"That's a nice thought, safe travels."

"Thank you."

Luke scanned the hostages, "Who is the bank manager?"

"I am," a white man in a suit answered.

"I'm Captain Luke from the Robbery and Murder Department, Squad One. What's your name?"

"Potoby Flick."

"Mr. Flick, I'd like to take your statement."

"No problem."

Luke took him to a desk and asked, "You're in charge of managing this bank?"

"Yes."

"How many robbers were there today?"

"Five of them, all armed with guns, wearing skull masks, bulletproof vests, and they spoke in a strange voice, like they used voice changers."

"When did they enter the bank?"

"Around 9:30."

"Did you notice anything unusual before that?"

"No."

"Do you recognize any of the robbers?"

"They were all masked, I couldn't tell."

"Did you communicate with them in any way?"

"Yes, they commanded me to lock and unlock the doors of the bank, and to open the vault door...

They were threatening with the guns, I had to comply."

"I understand, you did nothing wrong," Luke consoled him and continued, "What did they take from the bank's vault?"

"I don't know, they ordered me to open the vault door and then put a mask on me, I didn't dare ask more questions."

"How many vaults does the bank have?"

"Two, one vault for the bank's cash and another for customers' valuable items."

"Were both vault doors opened?"

"Yes."

"How much cash was in the vault?"

"Around fifteen million US dollars."

"What about the bank's surveillance?"

"It's in the security room, but the robbers broke the cameras as soon as they entered, and then one of them went into the surveillance room. I don't know what happened after that."

"Anything else about the robbers?"

"Oh, one of the robbers had a tattoo on his neck."

"What kind of tattoo?"

"Hard to describe, I only saw a part of it."

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