Chapter 35: Have the Fankang Gang Gone Mad?
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If not for Milton’s instinctive reaction, the sedan’s vulnerable side would have taken the full force of the off-road vehicle’s frontal impact!
Milton and Veronica, seated on the right, would have been killed instantly, and the sedan would certainly have been totaled on the spot!
“Van Kang Gang!” Milton steadied himself and bit out the words one by one. “They got here fast.”
Whatever else could be said about the gang, their ability to mobilize was undeniably impressive.
At the same time, Milton glanced at the rearview mirror.
The Jeep had overshot them but did not leave. It slammed on the brakes, wrenched the wheel around, switched on its headlights, and charged toward Milton once more at full speed.
The gang members inside had even rolled down the windows and were spraying them with submachine-gun fire!
Of course, firing under such high-speed conditions was unlikely to accomplish much.
Listening to the popping sounds behind them and feeling the engine roar beneath him, Luz was utterly stunned. “Are the Van Kang Gang insane? Racing through the streets and shooting at people? If they keep this up, Maracan Town will never tolerate them again!”
“All this over a little troglitazone? Is it really worth it? That’s a Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ! Isn’t that the kind of car only their boss can afford? They’re actually willing to use it to ram us?”
“They’re reacting way too strongly. Something’s wrong…”
“Brandon, get to the garbage treatment plant as fast as you can.” Milton had regained his composure and issued his orders methodically. “Watch for vehicles coming from other directions. Judging by the Van Kang Gang’s attitude, they may be mobilizing every vehicle they have in the entire town.”
Brandon turned the wheel in a panic and headed roughly toward Greenleaf Street. “Then what do we do about the car behind us?”
Milton reached up and opened the sunroof, then undid his seat belt. Calmly, he said, “Leave it to me.”
He picked up the FN FAL, stood upright, and thrust half his body through the sunroof!
If they dared to pursue him, Milton dared to shoot!
“Luz, Veronica, hold me steady.”
The two people in the back seat did not hesitate. They leaned forward and wrapped nearly their entire arms and bodies around Milton’s legs, seeking every bit of friction they could get.
Otherwise, inertia would certainly have thrown Milton from the car!
Milton struggled to raise the rifle and barely managed to control its swaying. Aiming in the enemy’s general direction, he held down the trigger.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang…
Without a dual-axis gyroscopic stabilizer, firing like this was bound to be wildly inaccurate. But the FN FAL in Milton’s hands could serve as a makeshift machine gun!
Suppressive fire. Reduce the enemy’s margin for error!
Milton and the car beneath him could withstand a great many pistol rounds, but the enemy could not endure the power of M80 ammunition!
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What was more, Milton could continually correct his aim using M62 tracer rounds, while the enemy could only fire blindly in the darkness.
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!
Amid the furious barrage, one round shattered the headlights of the Grand Cherokee behind them. But just as Milton adjusted his aim and tried to target the driver, his body was suddenly thrown uncontrollably to the left. The side pillar slammed into the car, sending a lance of pain through him.
A sharp turn!
There was an intersection ahead!
The screech of burning rubber and friction rang out. Milton saw the right rearview mirror strike the roadside barrier and shear past his helmet.
The car had begun to oversteer—in other words, it was drifting.
The enemy’s Grand Cherokee roared after them. Milton’s terrifying firepower had not driven it off; it was still trying to shoot back.
“Boss!” Brandon’s panicked voice came at that moment. “Two more cars are ahead of us! Damn it, those lunatics aren’t slowing down. Are they actually going to ram us head-on? What the hell is wrong with the Van Kang Gang? Why are they reacting like this?!”
“That’s the only road to the plant. We’ll have to take a detour!”
If it had been a one-on-one chase, the rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet Caprice, with its more powerful 260 horsepower and faster acceleration, could gradually have shaken off the Grand Cherokee.
But once other obstacles entered the picture, the difficulty of escaping rose exponentially!
This was not a race governed by rules. The Van Kang Gang had already gone so far as to open fire in the middle of the street. They were even willing to crash head-on simply to stop Milton!
Milton had already seen through their objective. The gang’s drivers and gunners had only one goal: delay his arrival at the garbage treatment plant, whatever the cost.
Otherwise, in an ordinary firefight, Milton—who held an overwhelming advantage in firepower—had a thousand ways to wipe out the enemy.
But he could not slow down. He could not allow himself to be delayed. He had to reach the garbage treatment plant at full speed! If the enemy destroyed the evidence there, Milton and the others would immediately lose their legal standing and be condemned beyond rescue!
Only by reaching the plant at once and securing the evidence could they stamp their assault on the hospital, their street pursuit, and their open gunfire and killings as “lawful enforcement,” thereby preserving their lives.
If Milton arrived before the evidence at the garbage treatment plant disappeared, he would be a courageous inspector fighting valiantly, and the Van Kang Gang would be terrorists. Reverse the outcome, and the same would be true in the opposite direction.
Now that they had been forced to take a detour, they were beginning to fall into a passive position…
“Then take the detour… You have decision-making authority. Don’t ask me.” Milton drew a deep breath and glanced behind him.
The detour would take them through a broad C-shaped bend.
As Milton prepared himself for the impact, his mind raced.
He had to find a way to reduce the enemy’s numbers as quickly as possible and ease the pressure on Brandon.
Bang, bang, bang…
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While Milton kept the enemy suppressed with gunfire, Brandon fought desperately for the apex of the turn and took the ideal racing line, entering from the inside and sweeping outward.
The Chevrolet Caprice tore through the sharp bend at nearly 130 kilometers per hour. Milton was once again slammed against the frame of the sunroof… Judging by the sound of the tires, the car had come within a hair’s breadth of losing control and rolling over!
But the gamble did put a little distance between them and their pursuers, buying Milton another half-second to adjust.
Milton never let an opportunity pass. He immediately straightened himself and raised the rifle… but he aimed slightly farther outward than Brandon’s line of travel.
Compared with the Chevrolet Caprice, which was prone to drifting—or oversteering—at high speed, the four-wheel-drive Grand Cherokee ZJ was more likely to plow straight ahead, suffering from understeer.
So Milton had to aim farther outward!
The instant the headlights of the pursuing vehicle appeared, Milton did not hesitate. He clamped down on the trigger once more.
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang…
The FN FAL erupted with savage firepower again. Milton could even faintly see a wisp of white smoke beginning to rise from the barrel as it overheated.
After all, this was not a true machine gun.
A hundred consecutive rounds had placed enormous strain on the barrel.
But this time, the Grand Cherokee’s position had been anticipated, and its speed had been forced down by the turn. It had no chance of dodging the bullets.
The final twenty-some M80 full-power rounds in the drum swept across the vehicle, shattering the windshield and filling the driver’s seat with a cloud of blood.
Without a driver, the Grand Cherokee immediately rolled onto its side, tumbled violently off the road, and dropped into a shallow ditch.
Clang!
The metallic crash of the bolt reaching the rear of its travel and striking the back of the receiver rang out. The gunfire ceased.
Milton had fired the last round in the drum.
An M62 tracer struck the leaking gasoline. The fiercely burning round instantly ignited the entire vehicle!
Towering flames illuminated the night.
Milton shook his right arm, numb from the tremendous recoil, and shouted into the car, “Get me a fresh drum! Hurry!”
In the firelight, Milton saw two Van Kang Gang Dodge Chargers charging toward them without slowing down… Yet another pair of expensive cars. Even the brutal death of their companions had failed to frighten them away.
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