Chapter 26: Whoa, This Is a Big One!
Something was wrong.
Lynn watched the robbers negotiating with FBI Agent Gell over the phone.
One minute they were demanding the mayor show up, the next they wanted lawyers.
This was obviously just a stalling tactic.
Logically, the longer this dragged on, the worse it was for the robbers.
But they were still doing it. Unless... they had a guaranteed way to escape.
At this thought, a golden light flickered in Lynn's eyes, and he activated his Phantasm ability.
A mindless spirit appeared in front of him.
Phantasm allowed him to command spirits to fight, and just as easily, command them to be his "eyes."
He mentally guided the spirit to drift across the street and into the bank.
***
Inside the bank.
The glass doors were locked, and all the cameras had been cut.
Over thirty hostages and bank employees were lying on the floor.
The three robbers with guns were hiding in the bank's blind spots, clearly wary of snipers.
Lynn observed the positions of the three robbers and felt something was even more wrong.
'What kind of bank robbers hit a bank and don't go for the vault or the safe deposit boxes, but instead just stay in the lobby controlling hostages?'
He commanded the spirit to explore deeper inside.
Just as Lynn suspected, there weren't just three robbers.
Over by the vault, three other masked robbers were working efficiently, loading gold bars from the vault into pre-prepared cases.
Two others were using special tools, prying open one safe deposit box after another.
They stuffed diamonds, jewelry, and other valuables into their bags, ignoring any documents or photos.
They lowered the filled cases one by one, down a rope, into a hole dug in the floor.
Beneath the vault was New York's complex underground sewer system.
And in that tunnel, three more robbers were loading the gold and jewels onto inflatable rafts.
Seeing all this through the spirit's eyes, Lynn raised an eyebrow.
'So, the three robbers in the lobby are just a diversion.'
But what really caught Lynn's attention was a red gemstone that the robbers had put into a case.
The stone looked ordinary, but it contained a massive amount of death energy.
For Lynn, this was a huge temptation.
This was way faster than helping a spirit fulfill an obsession.
'No, I have to get that gem. Even if I have to "return" it, I have to absorb the death energy first.'
As time ticked by, Fox News and other media outlets got the story and started broadcasting.
Just then, a red and gold suit of armor descended from the sky, landing in a very cool pose.
"Wow, this is a pretty big scene."
The faceplate opened, and Tony Stark, with his usual playboy expression, threw up his hands. "Gell, looks like you're in deep trouble."
Seeing Tony Stark arrive, the crowd of spectators erupted in cheers.
Even FBI Agent Gell looked relieved. He stepped forward to greet his "old acquaintance." "Stark. Thank God you're here."
After Gell explained the situation, Tony Stark immediately had JARVIS scan the bank's interior.
At the same time, a micro-drone launched from his suit and flew into the bank.
Lynn paid no attention to this. He was still controlling his spirit, following the jewelry case that was radiating death energy.
He went back to casually chatting with George Stacy.
"You've been tricked!"
After scanning the bank, Tony Stark immediately revealed what was really happening inside.
With Tony Stark on the scene, the situation was resolved quickly.
Lynn didn't pay much attention to the aftermath. After Tony used his tech to incapacitate the three robbers in the lobby...
...the first ones to rush in were the FBI.
Lynn's focus was still on that red gem.
He did notice Tony Stark glance over at him, specifically, several times.
Lynn had the spirit mark the gem. After the incident wrapped up, he and George Stacy returned to the precinct.
"All sizzle and no steak."
George parked the car, came back with burgers and Cokes, and started eating. "But I prefer this kind of sizzle-and-no-steak operation."
"Resolving this without a single shot fired... saves the our brothers from getting hurt."
Lynn grabbed a burger and ate. When he finished, he leaned back in the passenger seat and yawned.
"George, I'm gonna crash for a bit. When we get back to the precinct, can you return my SMG and vest to logistics?"
With that, Lynn closed his eyes, pretending to nap, but his consciousness remained focused on the spirit, which was still watching the red gem.
***
The gem was returned to the safe deposit box—which had been forced open—by the Citibank staff.
Then the staff notified the owner of the box and explained what happened.
They couldn't hide this. It was up to the owner whether to leave the item at Citibank or take it.
So far, this anticlimactic operation had given Lynn two leads.
First, the red gem. Second, the red-level spirit of obsession floating next to FBI Agent Gell.
***
Lynn had no intention of letting either of them go.
Back at the precinct, Lynn reclined his seat all the way and continued his "nap" in the car.
It was then that he saw an old man arrive at Citibank and retrieve the red gem from the safe.
When the old man got in his car, Lynn had the spirit follow him.
The car drove all the way to a villa in the Upper East Side.
The old man went into a luxurious mansion.
He didn't put the jewelry in his home safe. Instead, he opened a hidden door and entered a secret room.
He took a painting off the wall, revealing an electronic keypad.
After he entered the code, the floor in the middle of the room split open, and a platform rose up.
The old man rode the platform down about ten meters. He walked along a tunnel for a hundred meters. Lynn then realized... there was a massive, hollowed-out fortress hidden underground.
When the old man entered the fortress, his expression became extremely respectful.
Inside the fortress's enormous living room, dozens of vampires with fangs were chatting and holding wine glasses.
On the round table in front of them, a young girl with two puncture wounds in her neck lay dead, her face frozen in terror.
It was obvious that the "wine" in the vampires' glasses was this girl's blood.
Seeing this, Lynn was stunned.
Not because there were vampires hiding in New York.
But because, surrounding those vampires, were over thirty female spirits, all staring at their murderers with looks of pure, obsessive hatred.
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