Welcome to the Wasteland

Chapter 19: High Alert

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Within five minutes after the incident, Catarina drove past the street where it happened. The beautiful pair of women had their eyes peeled as they looked for traces of Zhou Qingfeng from the car and they happened to see four or five police cars parked outside the doner kebab outlet.

Around seven or eight policemen were yelling and rushed into the store. They re-emerged with two policemen that were stripped naked. The poor wretches still had their hands and feet bound, handcuffed to a table with their faces pressed against each other. The scene was nasty and indescribable.

When the black people of Brooklyn, who were used to oppression by the police, saw what happened, they were delighted. A large number of people gathered at the entrance of the kebab shop to have front row seats of what was happening, and they whipped out their cell phones out to take pictures. Within minutes, the pictures were circulating all over the internet.

When everyone saw the naked policemen from the New York Police Department (NYPD), the police assault case immediately went viral. In three minutes, the news was all over Brooklyn. In ten minutes, it had got over to the entirety of New York. After twenty minutes, CNN began to follow up and reported on the news. Half an hour later, Zhou Qingfeng’s mugshot had spread all over the world.

“It seems like your friend’s going to be famous.” After making one round around the entire block, Catarina was still unable to locate Zhou Qingfeng but she received the news from her mobile phone. She easily found out about all the things that Zhou Qingfeng had done in detail from the news reports. Not only did she read about the news of Zhou Qingfeng stripping the two policemen, but she also saw the video of Zhou Qingfeng killing a black man outside McDonald’s, noting in particular the part where he turned around to dodge and stabbed his assailant with a knife.

Of course, anyone who saw the instant-kill would be shocked by Zhou Qingfeng’s dexterity. Catarina was no exception, she was surprised beyond words!

As a former mercenary, Catarina was extremely sensitive to the act of killing and seeing people being killed. She could easily visualize herself in his position, but she was shocked by the result. That was because she realized that if she was in the shoes of the black robber, she would not have been able to defend herself from Zhou Qingfeng, even if she was on high alert.

‘He’s too fast. Way too fast. No one would be able to react to his speed! This kid sure has his tricks up his sleeves. He’s stronger than he looks.’

“I need to find that kid. He’s piqued my interests a little.” Catarina had always been well-known for her agility but she felt a little threatened and challenged by Zhou Qingfeng’s eye-catching performance. She asked Angie, “That wanted friend of yours, where do you think he’d hide?”

“Uh…” Angie thought about it hard but shrugged helplessly in the end. She said, “Victor doesn’t really like going out. He’s usually at home.”

“A shut-in?” Catarina looked at her screen that repeatedly showed Zhou Qingfeng killing the man. She shook her head and said, “No, no, no. Your friend’s definitely not one of those. He’s much more powerful than you think. ”

Angie saw the screen with Zhou Qingfeng murdering a person. Even a fool could see that Zhou Qingfeng’s method of killing was extremely natural. His actions were fast and brutal. A deadly move indeed!

The little girl could not bring herself to accept it. She watched the video with confusion etched on her face. “I never imagined that Victor would kill a man. He promised me that he would never hurt anyone.”

“Let’s just leave it be until we find him.” Catarina hacked into the police’s channel with a tapping device, listening to the news report by the NYPD as she drove.

At that moment, Catarina and Angie were not the only people who were looking for Zhou Qingfeng. In fact, the entire Brooklyn Police Department was becoming frustrated because of the young man. Criminals in New York had deceived the police, beat them up, shot them, but no one had ever stripped them naked after taking their police equipment.

That stunt was obviously an insult to defame the NYPD and the chief of the police department was furious that the news media took the liberty to add fake details.

“Investigate this suspect and find out who he’s linked to. Order all patrols to take to the streets immediately. We must find that bastard, no matter what. I hereby authorize any officer to shoot him on sight. We will not tolerate such a blatant crime against the police.”

The chief’s orders spread throughout Brooklyn and thus, the police officers in the entire area were fully mobilized. In North Brooklyn in particular, where public security was the most chaotic, many police riot teams had started appearing on the streets. The army of heavily-armed police officers could scare any street gangster out of his mind.

The NYPD’s combat effectiveness was ranked near the top in the United States. In order to suppress the increasingly violent crimes, the cops there were as fierce and domineering as they needed to be. Some would even call them cold-blooded, given the way they were armed to the teeth.

Due to Zhou Qingfeng’s extremely violent tendencies, the heavily funded NYPD even dispatched five or six helicopters that carried a heavily armed special police force. They circled at low altitude, ready to give Zhou Qingfeng a thunderous blow the moment they spotted him.

“Where’s the bastard? Find him! I want to either see his dead body or see him crying in court.”

The chief officer of the Brooklyn Police Department even personally announced to the media, “No one will humiliate the police like this. We will make him pay. If anyone can provide information on his whereabouts, we gladly offer a reward of fifty thousand US dollars to the person.”

Of course, the lucrative reward caught the attention of many a brave soul. The reward of fifty thousand US dollars had the city brimming with excitement. Various bars, shops, supermarkets, and even the typical pedestrians on the road began to pay more attention to their surroundings, hoping to chance upon the Chinese kid worth fifty thousand dollars.

Zhou Qingfeng’s identity was quickly discerned and the news media posted his information on the Internet as soon as they found it. However, the information on him was extraordinarily basic—apart from name and age, all they found was a mere home address.

There was no information on his parents, his education, his relatives, or his friends. Apart from his registration for social relief, there was no other information on the mysterious boy.

“This is a violent criminal with an impulsive personality disorder. He may usually appear mild and harmless, but he is in fact a ticking time bomb. You won’t know when he’ll hurt you.

“The NYPD reminds the general public to pay attention to this violent criminal. From the investigation and evidence collected on the spot, we can tell that he has terrifying killing capabilities—he can dispatch victims in an instant.”

“This young man named Victor Hugo is most likely a terrorist. He is probably lurking in New York City after being professionally trained. We should be vigilant of possible attacks from him in the future. We can only pray that the police capture him and bring him to justice as soon as possible.”

As time went by, media reports of the story became more and more exaggerated. Although violent battery cases occur daily in New York, this particular criminal who committed continuous crimes while displaying impressive killing skills easily drew the attention of the general public of New York. Zhou Qingfeng’s image had eventually been demonized in the hearts of the public.

Moreover, what baffled people the most was that even with more and more officers mobilized by the NYPD, blocking almost all the intersections and streets, Zhou Qingfeng was still never caught. Everyone began to question, where was this terrifying criminal hiding?