Legendary FBI Detective-Chapter 279: Nearly Ten Billion US Dollars and Eight Million US Dollars

Behind a police car diagonally opposite the entrance of "Federal Bank," Luo An was preparing to continue briefing the senior officers on the clues in front of him.

But before he could begin, he was interrupted because several bank executives had arrived at the scene, and Reesi led them to the leadership group.

The leading bank executive was an elderly white man in a suit, slightly overweight with a slicked-back haircut. He clearly knew the LAPD Chief and the head of the Special Investigation Team, Potante Byrne. After briefly exchanging pleasantries, he immediately inquired about the situation at the scene.

Upon hearing from the two that the real target of the robbers was likely the bank's internal server, the elderly man quickly turned his gaze to another executive behind him. Upon hearing the news, this executive's forehead broke out in a cold sweat, and his lips trembled as he said:

"The servers contain several accounts linked to the foundations of major Hollywood studios!"

These servers in the bank are not connected to the internet, nor are they connected to any external network cables, so hackers can only access the internal network by physically breaking into the bank and manually connecting to the servers.

After all, even the most skilled hackers cannot break into a computer that isn't connected to any network.

The bank's servers were protected by the highest grade of firewall available on the market, complete with encryption and protection measures.

But how long these protective measures could hold off a world-class hacker, no one knew.

Moreover, the servers also contained a large number of secretive accounts whose owners preferred anonymity, and the money in these accounts far exceeded that of the foundations.

The funds in these accounts totaled nearly ten billion US dollars.

Seeing the look passed by the executive, the elderly man also realized this point and instantly turned pale, clutching his heart.

Beside him, the LAPD Chief and Special Investigation Team head, Potante Byrne, exchanged a grave look.

They were unaware of the secretive accounts, but they had heard of those Hollywood studio foundations, all of which were large foundations with funds exceeding a hundred million dollars.

"What a big appetite!"

Several officers, Detective Albert, and Morton York, along with Reesi, were all astounded, as this was the first time they encountered bank robbers with such audacity.

Holding his laptop, Luo An silently nodded. The leader of this gang of robbers was indeed a clever individual; stealing cash or gold was nothing compared to directly transferring money from other people's accounts!

Seeing the elderly white man, who kept pounding his chest with open mouth, Luo An suspected there might be something else in the server that was not fit for the public eye.

"Please, catch these robbers as quickly as possible!"

The elderly man took several pills out of his pocket and popped them into his mouth, which slightly improved his condition, then he promptly said:

"Our bank is willing to donate eight million US dollars afterwards!"

Compared to a potential loss of nearly ten billion US dollars, eight million dollars really wasn't much.

And while the elderly man did not specify whether the eight million dollars was for the LAPD or the FBI, everyone present knew that whoever caught the robbers would naturally claim the money.

Upon hearing this, the LAPD Chief and several officers started breathing a bit faster, but FBI Special Investigation Team head Potante Byrne remained unchanged in expression, as if he didn't care at all about the eight million dollars.

Seeing this, Luo An felt surprised and began to grow curious about Potante Byrne's past.

But before Luo An could reflect further, Potante Byrne turned around and said sternly:

"Luo An, you mentioned earlier that you discovered some clues. What exactly are they?"

Looking up and catching the sharp look in the team head's eyes, Luo An went silent.

It seemed Potante Byrne did care about the money, just that he was better at maintaining appearances.

"Cough cough, it's like this."

Luo An cleared his throat twice to draw everyone's attention and explained:

"Ladies and gentlemen, observing the calm demeanor of these robbers inside the bank, it's clear they came well-prepared."

No one spoke for the time being, as it was an obvious situation.

Luo An paused for a moment and continued:

"Since the adversaries came prepared, they must have contemplated our law enforcement's response strategies beforehand.

Therefore, if we meet their demands and allow them to go to the airport with the hostages in a school bus thirty minutes later... twenty-five minutes later, to be precise, during the transportation... a contingency will definitely occur!"

By the end of Luo An's speech, his eyes were brimming with confidence, presenting a hypothetical deduction as a certain answer.

Luo An was sure because by putting himself in the shoes of the bank robbers, he could think of no less than a dozen escape strategies.

Hearing this, both the group supervisor Potante Byrne and the LAPD Chief felt a chill, having sufficient experience to see the high likelihood of Luo An's speculation.

The LAPD Chief didn't say much, but one of the police officers, seeing Luo An from the FBI attracting attention, unconsciously frowned and said:

"We can enhance our precautions during the escort process, they will not escape from our hands!"

"What if a crane suddenly appears on the road and lifts their school bus to another street?"

Luo An closed his notebook and calmly named four or five escape strategies, including but not limited to car crashes blocking roads, bombing tunnels, blowing up bridges, and lifting school buses by airplane.

"..."

After hearing this, those from LAPD, along with Reesi, Morton York, and others, stared at Luo An with wide eyes and faces full of amazement.

Group supervisor Potante Byrne's mouth twitched several times.

If it weren't for Luo An's clear identity as the deputy leader of the Special Investigation Team, they might have suspected that Luo An was an accomplice to the bank robbers.

"This is Hollywood."

Luo An handed his laptop to Reesi, casually mentioned his past dream of becoming a director, and then concluded with a serious face:

"Therefore, we cannot currently determine what the backup plan of these robbers is, and to prevent them from escaping, we must keep these guys in the bank forever!"

"That's right!"

The nearby bank executives came to their senses and clapped loudly in approval of Luo An's words, while group supervisor Potante Byrne also gave Luo An a look of appreciation.

"But what about the bombs the robbers have?"

The LAPD Chief briefly pondered, finding Luo An's analysis reasonable, remained silent, while another police officer asked again:

"These bombs are now strapped to the hostages!"

"First, we think of a way to defuse the bombs, then we handle the robbers!"

Before Luo An could speak, group supervisor Potante Byrne gave the police officer a cold look and answered the question.

Undoubtedly, Luo An's analysis was the best solution to the current situation; having a habit of being direct, Potante Byrne really had no patience to squabble with LAPD on this matter.

Potante Byrne took out his phone from his pocket, ready to call the Los Angeles Branch of the FBI's Counter-IED Department, asking them to quickly arrive at the scene, as they were the experts in bomb research.

"No need, sir."

Just as Potante Byrne was about to press the button, Luo An indicated that he had already called the Counter-IED Department when he arrived at the scene and saw an LAPD officer who got injured by the bomb taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Luo An grabbed Reesi's wristwatch to check the time and said with a smile:

"They should be arriving at the scene any moment now."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a black van from the Counter-IED Department pulled up on the road behind everyone.