Inside the building…
Aside from the two gang members who had pulled weapons and were swiftly shot dead, the rest now knelt on the floor with their hands behind their heads, visibly shaking.
"Boss, it's done," Sean reported, stepping up as Lynn Hall entered the room. "These low-life punks actually tried to fight back. Two didn't make it."
"Good work."
Lynn gave a small nod, then walked over to the gang members, who now looked less like hardened criminals and more like terrified schoolboys.
From the moment the explosion site was confirmed to be in Bruno's apartment Number Three in the Numbers Gang Lynn had already made his decision.
This bombing would be officially classified as a gang conflict over leadership.
The truth? Irrelevant.
What the media and public needed was a clean, simple story especially with the election just concluded and half the country's elite still lingering in New York. There was no room for ambiguity.
>
[Favorability Updates]
Eric Vinson: -6
Cody Jeffries: -4
Austin Moulton: -5
...
Lynn glanced at the favorability ratings displayed by his system. None of them were above zero. No remorse required.
He shot Sean a look.
Sean, understanding instantly, signaled for his team to begin searching the room.
Another agent plugged Eric's phone into a portable laptop and began digging through its data.
Lynn grabbed a nearby chair and sat down directly across from the group of detainees. Calm, casual. Deadly.
"Let's talk. Why'd you orchestrate the Brooklyn bombing?"
Eric, kneeling on the far left, stiffened. His pupils dilated for a fraction of a second but he quickly lowered his head and said nothing.
"Oh? So it was you."
That involuntary reaction was all Lynn needed.
He smiled, pulled his sidearm from his holster, and aimed it at one of the gang members Cody Jeffries.
"I don't like people wasting my time," Lynn said evenly. "You've got five seconds."
Cody's entire body trembled under the cold steel of Lynn's barrel. He opened his mouth, hesitating.
"I—I don't know what you're "
Bang!
A single shot rang out.
The bullet punched through Cody's skull. He collapsed instantly.
> +20 Experience
Lynn didn't flinch. He simply turned the gun toward the next man in line.
Killing people with negative favorability? Always worth the reward. Whether you called it loot or inheritance, Lynn saw it as a system-granted gift.
From the start, only Eric was meant to walk out of here alive to serve as the story's fall guy. The rest were expendable.
"I know! I know, I swear!" Austin Moulton blurted out, nearly in tears. "We did it—it was us! Eric gave the order to take out Bruno, who was challenging him for control of the gang."
"You piece of—"
Eric exploded in fury, lunging toward Austin, but didn't get far. One of the tactical agents behind him slammed a boot into his back and drove him to the ground.
"You open your mouth again before the boss says so," the agent growled, "and I'll start pulling out your teeth one by one."
The pressure of the boot and the weight of that cold voice made Eric glance up—eyes wide with terror as they settled on the three letters stitched onto the vest in front of him: FBI.
"Boss! Jackpot!"
Sean came over carrying a heavy safe, grinning as he cracked it open. "Thirty grand in cash and three fat bags of white powder."
"As usual," Lynn said with a calm smirk, "we turn over the powder, but the cash? Use it for the team's midnight snack."
The agents around the room shared knowing smiles.
Technically, it broke federal protocol—but this was Lynn Hall's crew. His rules applied.
Sean started peeling off stacks of bills, handing them out. "Hide it well, boys. Internal Affairs doesn't miss a thing."
"Relax, Sean. We've been with the Boss long enough to know the drill."
"Yeah, it's all in the family. No one's dumb enough to let this trace back to him."
"F--- Internal Affairs," someone muttered. "They checked the reimbursement forms three times just because we requested an extra 20% in ops funding."
Sean bundled up the remaining five stacks, wrapped them in a tablecloth, and slipped outside. Moments later, he tucked them into a hidden compartment beneath Lynn's Chevy.
Meanwhile, Lynn said nothing. He stayed seated, gun still casually aimed at the remaining gang members.
"Where'd you get the bomb?" he asked. "That wasn't something you find on the street."
One of the thugs sank to the floor, paralyzed with fear. "I—I don't know… I swear…"
Bang!
> +25 Experience
The lower the favorability, the higher the reward. Another one down.
Lynn turned to the next man.
But before he could even speak, the gang member stammered, "It—it was Eric! He bought it through some special channel. I—I don't know much else, he never told us the details."
Lynn let out a disappointed tsk, almost theatrically.
The sound alone made the rest of the kneeling gang members visibly shrink in place.
Lynn waved to one of his agents, who stepped forward and activated the bodycam. They turned the lens squarely toward Eric.
"Start talking," Lynn said.
"The bomb came from the dark web," Eric muttered. "Payment first, pickup after. We retrieved it from a drop site. And yeah—the bombing was my order. Bruno was coming for my position. I wanted him out."
"And?"
"I have a stash… in another location. Weapons… gear…"
He kept talking—everything Lynn needed, no resistance.
Once it was all on tape, Lynn gave a subtle nod.
The agent shut off the recorder.
Lynn stood up, calm as ever, and without a moment's hesitation—
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three clean shots. One after the other.
Every gang member—except Eric—was executed where they knelt.
> Experience +35
Experience +22
Experience +28
As the system notifications rolled in, Lynn finally holstered his weapon and nodded for his agents to take Eric—now white as a sheet—outside.
"Boss, we've got something," one of the agents called out, handing over a tablet. "We accessed the dark web using Eric's phone. Got full transaction logs."
"Good," Lynn said. "Track down whoever sold him that bomb."
"On it."
And just like that, the hunt moved to the next target.
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