From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

56: Chapter 56 Police, FBI, and the ”Legal” CounterattackOn Wednesday afternoon, in the surveillance room of the San Fernando Valley shooting range base, police radio frequencies broadcasted constant communications.

”...The crime scene of the shooting has been cordoned off. Seven attackers were found: two dead, five seriously injured, and none were conscious when apprehended. Weapons used were MP5 submachine guns with filed-off serial numbers...”

Alex listened to the police reports intercepted by Rex. Four hours had passed since the ambush outside the courthouse at noon. Both the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) and the FBI had arrived at the scene—using fully automatic weapons on the street meant this was no longer an ordinary criminal case; it involved domestic terrorism or professional hitmen.

”The FBI is pulling all surrounding surveillance footage,” Rex said, switching screens to show aerial footage of the police cordoning off the scene. ”But they haven’t found us yet—Hank handled it very cleanly. The car we drove had cloned plates, we switched cars three times along the way, and for the last leg of the journey, we used an off-road vehicle without license plates to come in from the mountains.”

Hank’s arm was wrapped in a bandage—a bullet had grazed him, just a flesh wound, and with his rapid healing ability, it would scab over by tomorrow. His expression was stern: ”But we can’t keep hiding. Sooner or later, the FBI will find out you attended the hearing today and will come to question you.”

”Then let them come,” Alex said calmly. ”We aren’t criminals; we are victims. Besides... the FBI’s arrival might actually be an opportunity.”

He pulled up the system interface. His popularity had surged again because of the courthouse shootout:

Current Popularity: 3,450,920 points

Exchange points were sufficient, but what he needed most right now was strategy.

”Rex, who is in charge of this FBI case?”

Rex quickly searched the database: ”Agent Ethan Miller, FBI Los Angeles Field Office, Violent Crimes Unit, fifteen years of experience. Background... his wife is an environmental lawyer, and his brother serves in the Air Force. No obvious political leanings.”

”Contact him,” Alex said. ”Provide an anonymous tip—just say the attackers might be related to a security contractor for Northrop Corporation. Don’t give evidence, just give a direction.”

”Why? Won’t this bring trouble upon ourselves?”

”Because after the FBI intervenes, Northrop won’t dare to easily deploy force at the level of the Guardians of Truth again,” Alex analyzed. ”The FBI will investigate a street shootout to the end, but if it’s an ’accident’ or ’disappearance,’ they might not be as invested. We need to nail this matter down within the category of ’violent crime’.”

This was a counterattack on a legal level. Muddy the waters, get more official forces involved, and increase the opponent’s operational costs.

Hank nodded: ”At the same time, we will continue to push your bounty plan. The effect of today’s live stream is already showing—I just received news that Northrop’s stock price has fallen by 4.2% in after-hours trading.”

”Not enough,” Alex said, pulling up his computer. ”I want to raise the stakes.”

He logged into his encrypted email to check the emails received for the bounty. In addition to the previous three, five new ones had been added—there were former Northrop engineers, aviation insurance investigators, and even an email from Europe claiming, ”NT-7 technology originated from a laboratory in Germany, and the raw data itself was problematic.”

The authenticity of the information needed verification, but the trend had already formed: when a $100,000 bounty was linked to a ”$20 billion contract,” those in the know began to calculate the pros and cons.

Alex filtered out the two leads most likely to be verified and had Rex’s team follow up. Then, he began preparing the second wave of content for tonight.

”Rex, do you have a green screen and filming equipment here?”

”There’s a simple studio, used for filming tactical training videos in the past.”

”That will do.” Alex stood up. ”I need to record a video to be released at 8 PM tonight. The theme is: ’How to Continue Creating Under the Gun’.”

This wasn’t playing the victim; it was showing resilience. It was to tell his supporters ”I haven’t fallen,” and also to tell his opponents ”Your attacks are ineffective.”