Sylas frowned. His expression was unlikely to be seen through the heavily tinted windows, so he began to scan the region, looking for a way out. The barricade was solid. Over these last few days, they had become even stronger, likely for the sake of protecting against beasts coming from the direction of Paradise.
In all likelihood, if Sylas hadn't left the volcano portal so soon, there would have been a barrier waiting for him there as well. Luckily, they still hadn't dealt with the beast situation, or else his escape would have been even more difficult.
But here, there was a clear line of defense formed from blocks of concrete. The good news was that it was a great distance from the edge of the city, likely not to bring panic to the citizens. The bad news was that the walls were five meters tall and there were only gates through every few kilometers.
The cars were lined up in single file, and the worst part was that it seemed that most of the existences leaving the city now were government officials. The number of government ID plates and heavily tinted windows ahead was quite a number.
Sylas took a breath. The more he observed, the more he felt that it was impossible to get out under normal means. He would have to do something drastic.
'No.' His eyes glowed. He could do it, it would just take a sacrifice.
The cars continued to move forward slowly and Kyle never stopped being diligent. He went through his list of questions, double and triple-checked everyone, and then let them go one by one.
It seemed that the situation with Sylas, Bloom, and Mark had made him more anal. He had always been diligent, but now he had taken it up several notches.
Sylas took deep breaths and was calm. There wasn't even the slightest flicker in his green irises. Soon, there was only one car ahead of him. From time to time, Kyle would send a glance at him, but it was impossible to see anything through the tint.
Kyle focused his attention on the car before him and eventually let them pass through. Then, Sylas rolled forward.
With a step, Kyle moved up to the window and knocked, frowning. He already felt like something was wrong and immediately went on high alert. That was because usually, the front left window would already be down by now. Only someone with something to hide would neglect this.
He put up his guard and knocked again.
"Roll down the window, then put your hands on the wheel," he said in a commanding voice. But there was still no response.
Kyle didn't hesitate. He pulled out a glass breaker on his hip and pressed it against the window.
The window hardly shook.
'Bulletproof!' Kyle realized immediately. He accelerated backward and then checked that the barrier was already up. Not only was there already a barrier, but there were spikes on the ground that came up after the previous SUV drove off.
Kyle pulled out his gun and pointed it toward the car with both hands. His feet were shoulder-width apart and his gaze was sharp.
"STEP OUT OF THE CAR!"
Kyle had already called for backup and soon the entire barrier was lit up with harsh, bright lights. In the dead of night, it felt like it might as well have been midday.
Spikes shot over and deflated all the car tires and several officers surrounded the vehicle. They were all cautious because no one foolish would dare to do this kind of thing, especially when this person had a high-class, government-
Tear gas canisters were thrown over and rolled beneath the car. At the same time, a crew wearing gas masks rushed over with slim jims, prepared to rip the doors open by force.
It was clear that they were all trained for a situation exactly one, even to the point that they aimed for the backseats and passenger seat first, as though they all had a tacit understanding to avoid the driver for now.
The sound of clicking resounded and the doors were flung open.
Several more tear gas canisters were thrown directly into the car and the violent rain of trained procedures fell one after another like an avalanche.
Kyle frowned when the driver still didn't come out after all this time. His gun was still trained forward and he hadn't wavered even a single time.
"STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE!"
He roared again, his frown deepening with each passing second.
At that moment, a squad of three, all wielding rifles, rushed up.
Kyle backed away for them and they trained their rifles onto the same location on the bulletproof glass. Bulletproof glass was more so just bullet-resistant. If the caliber was high enough, none of this would matter. Even if two misfired, it was likely that even just one of the bullets at this caliber would be enough to blast through.
Everything they did focused on minimizing risk and casualties. They had to show their competency to the general population, and for that, losses were unacceptable. They had been trained again and again, drilled again and again. Since this person didn't want to keep their life, they wouldn't be polite with them.
The three rifles shot all at once, not a single one misfiring.
The three bullets intertwined in the air and hit locations within two inches of one another.
The bulletproof glass ironically shattered like glass, the bullets bulldozing their way through.
Another squad in heavy SWAT armor rushed over and ripped the door open, reaching through the window and pulling it open from the inside.
The tear gas slowly cleared and everyone stood ready to see who it was that had done something so foolish…
Only to be stunned silly.
The car was actually completely empty. Even after searching for a while, there was no one to be found.