Louis

Pittsburgh South, inland port phase 2 construction site.

This is the heart of the entire revitalization plan.

Dozens of pile drivers roared at the same time, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly.

Louis hung up on Luna and then immediately dialed Barney's number.

The phone rang once and was answered.

"Barney, Luna said the FBI is in," Louis said. "The state troopers have sealed off the door, the SWAT teams are on the side, and the mayor is surrounded inside." There was a two-second silence on the other end of the line.

"Understood," Barney's voice came through. "Louis, don't act rashly yet. I need to check the situation. Give me ten minutes." The call ended.

Louis stared at the blacked-out phone screen, his heart racing.

He didn't know what Barney wanted to confirm, nor did he know what would happen in those ten minutes.

But he knew that Leo Wallace was in that surrounded precinct.

The young mayor, the one who gave them jobs and dignity, is now facing a behemoth from Washington alone. "If they take them away, Pittsburgh will probably be plunged into darkness again."

Louis muttered to himself.

Every second of those ten minutes felt like an eternity.

Ten minutes later, the phone vibrated again.

It's Barney.

"Let's do it."

Barney's voice had a hint of ruthlessness in it.

"Hold them back," Barney ordered. "Don't let any more cars with government license plates get close to that block. Buy Leo time. As long as Leo is still talking inside, block those cars."

"clear."

Louis hung up the phone.

He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air.

He put his fingers in his mouth.

"Shh!!!"

A sharp, long whistle echoed through the construction site.

This is a specific signal.

Several foremen nearby immediately looked up in Louis's direction.

The workers operating the tower crane stopped using their control levers, and even the workers mixing cement in the distance turned off their machines.

The noise from the construction site quickly subsided.

Dozens of eyes were fixed on the fat foreman standing on the high place.

Louis simply waved his thick arms and made a few simple gestures.

That was the tacit understanding they had formed through countless strikes and confrontations.

No explanation or mobilization is needed.

Stop working.

Assemble the team.

Prepare for battle.

"Stop working for a moment!"

Louis roared.

"Fleet number three! Fleet number four!! All the dump trucks, and those extra-wide flatbed trailers!"

"Bring them all out!"

A dozen or so drivers poked their heads out of the cabs or ran out of the rest sheds and quickly climbed onto those massive steel behemoths.

"Boss, where are we going?" a burly man with a full beard asked.

"Go fix the road!"

Louis pointed north.

"I've disliked that main road leading to the Pittsburgh branch office for a long time. The road surface is so bad, it affects the appearance of the city and seriously threatens traffic safety."

"Let's go fix it now."

"Make the repairs more thorough."

The big man paused for a moment, then grinned, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow from smoking.

"Understood, boss."

"That road definitely needs repairing. I think it would take at least a dozen cars to block it before it could be fixed."

"Then send twenty trucks," Louis said coldly. "Bring cement pipes and roadblocks. If we're going to build a road, we should make it look like we're building a road."

"Get moving!"

The engine, which had been silent for a moment, roared to life again.

More than twenty heavy trucks started up at the same time, and black plumes of smoke shot into the sky.

These enormous machines lined up in a single file and, starting from there, drove out of the construction site gate in a grand procession.

Fifth Avenue leading to the Pittsburgh branch office.

This is the main road connecting the city center and the southern district, and it is currently the morning rush hour.

Three black armored personnel carriers with flashing lights were struggling to navigate through traffic.

They received orders to seal off the entire block and ensure that the suspect, Luigi, had nowhere to escape.

Suddenly, the lead armored vehicle slammed on its brakes.

The driver frowned, staring ahead.

Right in the middle of the intersection, a heavy flatbed trailer fully loaded with precast concrete pipes was making a left turn extremely slowly. The truck was so long that it spanned the entire intersection, blocking all the lanes.

"Beep! Beep!"

The sirens of the armored vehicles blared wildly.

The driver leaned out and yelled at the truck, "Get out of the way! These are federal agents on official business! Get out of the way right now!"

The truck driver seemed not to hear at all.

He was still slowly turning the steering wheel.

Then, in the very second that the car was completely blocking the middle of the road.

"puff"

A muffled thud.

The truck stopped.

The black smoke stopped billowing out, and the engine shut down.

The driver opened the car door and jumped out.

He was wearing dirty overalls, and with an innocent expression, he spread his hands and shouted loudly to the police behind him:

"We've broken down!"

"Damn it! The clutch is burned out!"

"I can't move!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" The FBI agent jumped out of the car, furious, his hand on his holster, and strode over. "Get out of there now! Right now!"

"Sir, I want to move it too!" The driver kicked the huge tire. "But this thing weighs tens of tons. Once it's broken, it's broken. What can I do? Could you help me push it?"

The detective looked at the truck, which resembled a city wall, and then at the heavy concrete pipes on it; his face turned green.

推？

Even a tank can't break through this thing.

"Call a tow truck!" the agent yelled at the driver.

"Calling won't do any good." The driver slowly took out a cigarette, lit it, and said, "There are more to come."

The detective turned around abruptly.

He saw several more of the same heavy trucks, centered around the intersection, experiencing various breakdowns in the same way.

The bed of a dump truck unexpectedly rose and got stuck on the crossbar of a traffic light.

A cement mixer truck accidentally skidded, with half of its body riding on the road embankment, blocking the right-turn lane.

Two dump trucks had a minor collision in the middle of the intersection, and the two drivers, who were standing in the middle of the road, started a long argument over it.

The entire intersection came to an instant halt.

Traffic flow on Fifth Avenue was completely cut off.

The cars, buses, and taxis behind formed a long line, and horns blared incessantly.

The federal vehicles that had come to provide support with great momentum were now stuck in the middle of the traffic, unable to move forward or backward.

They were surrounded.

Surrounded by steel, noise, and the city's most primal industrial power.

The detective looked at the smoking driver and the workers pretending to argue in the middle of the road.

He got it.

This is not an accident.

This is a lockdown.

Damn Pittsburgh.

The detective cursed and kicked the roadside guardrail hard.

He gave new orders over the walkie-talkie.

"All vehicles remain in place, the scene is cordoned off, and we await tow trucks."

Then, he opened the door of the armored personnel carrier behind him.

"First squad, second squad, all disembark!"

The agent's voice was icy.

"Fully armed, proceed at full speed. Destination: Pittsburgh Precinct."

Louis stood a short distance away, looking at the intersection that had been turned into a parking lot.

"here you go."

Louis said in a low voice.

He took out his phone from his pocket and typed a short message.

"The outside is blocked, and federal reinforcements can't get in. No one can disturb you for at least half an hour."

send.

Recipient: Kevin.

Louis looked at the "Sent successfully" message on his phone screen and let out a long sigh of relief.

That's all he can do.

The rest depends on whether the young man inside can withstand the pressure from those important figures.

"Mr. Mayor."

Don't let us down.