**Chapter 22: Assassination**
Tang Song sat bored on the bench, looking at the other men holding shopping bags.
Whether rich or poor, no man likes accompanying women shopping.
When it comes to endurance, a woman out shopping is practically a mutant gene awakened.
A slightly balding middle-aged man, acting familiar, took out a pack of Marlboros and offered cigarettes around.
Anyone who could accompany their female companion to such a brand store was no ordinary person.
As the men puffed away, they quickly closed the distance between them.
Among them, two worked in finance, one was a rich second generation with a family trust fund, another reportedly had a stake in Las Vegas, and then there was Tang Song, the Gang Boss.
It's not that women care about money, but with enough money, you'll never lack women around you.
Tang Song fiddled with a string of prayer beads on his left wrist that resembled white jade, smoked his cigarette, and, along with the others, admired the beautiful women passing by on the street.
"Whoever can get me out, one hundred million US Dollars, I will pay him one hundred million US Dollars, believe me!"
At this moment, on an extra-large TV screen not far from Tang Song, a live TV broadcast was playing.
A young prisoner in an orange prison uniform suddenly pushed past the guarding Police Officer and shouted loudly towards the camera.
Two Police Officers hurriedly pulled him away, and at the same time, the live broadcast feed was cut off, replaced by an advertisement for the Victoria's Secret show.
"Are criminals in the Federation this brazen now?"
Even Victoria's Secret models flaunting themselves couldn't resist the temptation of one hundred million US Dollars.
As far as Tang Song could see, many people stopped in their tracks upon hearing this news.
That was one hundred million US Dollars. You know, even in New York, the most prosperous city in the Federation, an annual salary of a million was already considered upper-middle class wealth.
One hundred million US Dollars, even for a professional manager on Wall Street earning a million a year, would take a hundred years of struggle to save up.
By then, their bones would be drumming.
Tang Song could feel the struggle and fanaticism in these people's eyes. If the prisoner on TV wasn't in Los Angeles, Tang Song estimated they would directly assault the police station with guns.
Tang Song even saw a few people hurriedly get into cars and leave. If he remembered correctly, that direction was towards the airport.
"Indeed, this world only has one sickness,"
There was nothing more terrifying in the world than poverty.
Skye, having changed outfits, walked out of the store carrying the latest model handbag.
She linked arms with Tang Song and snuggled up to him.
For women, bags cure all ailments, and they can also ignite their passion.
Tang Song waved goodbye to his fellow sufferers sitting on the bench, put his arm around Skye, and walked towards the Rolls-Royce parked by the street.
"Huh?"
Tang Song tilted his head, and a bullet grazed his cheek and shot past, shattering a store window.
"Sniper!"
Tang Song looked in the direction the bullet came from and met the gaze of a sniper on the Rooftop of a tall building.
The sniper looked through the scope at Tang Song's gaze, which felt almost tangible, and his heart trembled.
He always had the feeling that the other party could see him, but the distance from the target was at least eight hundred meters.
Never mind, kill the target first.
The sniper couldn't bother with so much, aimed at Tang Song, and pulled the trigger.
At this moment, the shattering glass had already alarmed quite a few people on the street.
Two gunmen got out of the Mercedes-Benz car that had been following the Rolls-Royce. Along with the driver and bodyguard, four people pulled out their handguns and protected Tang Song and Skye in the middle, moving towards the Rolls-Royce.
"Bang bang bang!"
The sound of intense gunfire instantly caused chaos on Fifth Avenue.
Many people fled in panic towards the stores on both sides. Quite a few cars on the street even crashed into each other due to hurried acceleration.
"Hey, mister, put down your guns, hands on your head and squat down!" Fifth Avenue was New York's most prosperous shopping street and commercial center, where police cars often patrolled.
Soon, a police car stopped by the roadside, and two Police Officers, one black and one white, pulled out their guns at the same time, aiming at Tang Song and his group.
At this moment, the four bodyguards were protecting Tang Song and Skye, hiding in the blind spot of the Rolls-Royce.
They were holding M9 military handguns. Although theoretically the bullet range could reach 800 meters, the actual effective range was only around 50 to 100 meters.
Facing the sniper's long-range suppressive fire, the four well-trained bodyguards could only rely on the Rolls-Royce's bulletproof capability to stand off against the sniper for the moment.
"Boss?"
The two Police Officers, one black and one white, raised their guns from behind them.
The two German Men turned around at the same time, half-crouching, and raised their guns at the Police Officers.
With both sides in a standoff, one bodyguard asked Tang Song for instructions.
"Kill them!"
Tang Song showed no panic from being assassinated at this moment. He took a flat, silver cigar case from his suit pocket and slowly and methodically took out a thin, long cigar.
At this moment, his right thumb was empty.
Although Skye beside him was pale, she knew Tang Song's methods. She reached into her latest model handbag, took out a gilt lighter, lit the flame, brought it to Tang Song's mouth, and lit his cigarette for him.
Tang Song smoked his cigar, didn't even look at the two Police Officers, and reached out to stroke Skye's hair.
"Bang bang bang bang bang!"
The two Police Officers, one black and one white, hadn't even reacted before they were directly shot to death in a hail of bullets fired by the two bodyguards.
"Are they also killers?"
Skye was held in Tang Song's arms, listening to his strong and steady heartbeat, feeling especially safe.
Because she had been in foster homes, Skye had always lacked a sense of security. She had stolen things and had even been sent to juvenile detention because of it.
As a hacker, she struck hard on the internet, joining the so-called Rising Tide organization. Part of the reason was the so-called sense of responsibility to reveal the truth of the world to society, and another part was that she indeed lacked care and recognition in the real world.
"They came too fast!" Tang Song stroked Skye's hair, seemingly explaining to her.
But he sneered inwardly. Whether they were real Police Officers, Tang Song didn't care.
At this time, in this place, standing behind him and raising guns, regardless of whether they were Police Officers, they had to die.
What if he killed the wrong people? He was a Gang member; wasn't killing a few Federal Police Officers a normal thing?
Besides, those lawyers he hired weren't useless.
...
"Let's go!"
Tang Song stroked the Black Jade Thumb Ring on his right hand. Two bodyguards shielded Tang Song and Skye with their bodies, protecting them. One bodyguard opened the Rolls-Royce's car door, and the two of them got in.
A Rolls-Royce and a Mercedes-Benz drove away from Fifth Avenue, one in front and one behind, leaving behind a messy scene.
"Police Chief, they're not from our precinct?"
Several police cars with flashing lights stopped by the roadside. Several Federal Police Officers began to cordon off the scene, record information, and the forensic examiner examined the two Police Officers' corpses.
A Police Officer, holding the copied badge numbers, walked up to the Police Chief leading the team.
"We checked, the badge numbers aren't right either!"
The white Police Chief, who looked around forty years old, was wearing a pair of sterile gloves and holding a bullet casing in his hand.
"7.62 high-precision sniper rifle bullet, an assassination!"
George Stacy casually handed the bullet casing to the evidence Police Officer beside him.
"Bart, you take two people to the nearby brand stores to retrieve surveillance footage and find out who the owner of the Rolls-Royce is."
"House, take a team and come with me to the tall building opposite to take a look!"
(end of chapter )