When Peter and his team arrived at the scene, NYPD's ESU support unit had already been in position. ESU is NYPD's Emergency Services Unit, akin to LAPD's SWAT, and they were definitely expected to deploy for an incident like this one, involving the suspect taking residents of an apartment building hostage.

Peter arrived with Jimmy and the others at the FBI's location, which was very conspicuous with people wearing suits and jackets emblazoned with "FBI" amidst a crowd of officers in black uniforms.

Peter: "Ruiz, how's it going?"

Ruiz: "NYPD's negotiators have already entered the building, and now we are waiting for updates. The walkie-talkie he carried was taken away by the suspect upon entering; it's all on his progress now."

Peter nodded and moved aside. Jimmy followed Peter, observing the situation on the scene. The crowd was standing far from the apartment building, a distance from which Jimmy couldn't see anything inside.

Jimmy looked around. The road had been completely cut off by NYPD, sealing the whole area. A cleared space lay in front of the apartment building, where police and ESU's bomb-disposal vehicles formed an arc-like barrier for the officers. FBI personnel were on the periphery of the cordon; in cases of shootings occurring in NYPD's jurisdiction, NYPD was definitely the primary agency in charge. Even though the FBI was present and one of their agents was injured, they couldn't directly take over command.

Jimmy approached Peter and said in a low voice, "Peter, let me do a recon."

Peter turned, his brow furrowed as he shook his head, then turned back to look at the apartment building.

Jimmy: "Peter, trust me, I can at least ensure my own safety. Let me do the recon; I'm more suitable than anyone else."

Peter shook his head, "Stay here and wait for NYPD's action."

Peter was quite principled, and although he often adjusted those principles based on the situation at hand, under the current procedural constraints, he couldn't possibly let Jimmy act alone.

Jimmy could only wait, but it was boring doing nothing. He thought for a moment, "Peter, is the Bullet-Proof Vest still in the trunk?"

Peter handed the car keys to Jimmy. He fetched the Bullet-Proof Vest, removed his suit, and left it in Peter's car. He also took off his shoulder holster, put on the Bullet-Proof Vest, left the holster off, placed six spare bullets in his trouser pocket, and held the revolver in his hand.

After Jimmy put on the Bullet-Proof Vest, he returned to Peter's side. "Peter, do you know who among the FBI agents has .357 Magnum bullets? I didn't bring many."

Peter took Jimmy to Ruiz. Ruiz was surprised to see the young Asian man in an FBI Bullet-Proof Vest next to Peter; when Peter had spoken to him earlier, he hadn't noticed there was an Asian member in Peter's group.

Peter: "Ruiz, does anyone in your group use .357 Magnum bullets? We need to prepare some spare rounds."

Ruiz: "No, all our people use Glocks."

Peter nodded and returned to their prior spot with Jimmy. Jimmy felt the six bullets in his pocket. That should be fine; there were only three suspects. The only reason he had run out last time was that there had been nine people involved.

Soon, a man left the building, an NYPD negotiation expert, but he only had a shirt on—his Bullet-Proof Vest was missing.

After the negotiation expert liaised with the NYPD officers, ESU teams began to move—two squads approached the apartment building from different sides. Once notified, one squad entered the building, while the other remained on standby below. Since the interior of the apartment building was small with limited space, it was more sensible for only one squad to enter to avoid congestion and potential interference with each other's operations.

Jimmy also approached the building, from where he could now see inside. The suspects hadn't holed up on the first floor but the third, which was evident because the lower floors had been evacuated, leaving no one on the first or second. On the third floor, he could see five people in one room, and on the floors above, residents seemed to be barricaded inside their apartments.

One of the ESU members waiting below spotted Jimmy approaching. Recognizing the "FBI" on his vest, the officer did not aim his weapon at Jimmy but frantically waved his hands, signaling for him to retreat.

Jimmy gave him a gesture for silence and looked up again. The ESU team inside had reached the third floor. One member, shielded by a Bullet-Proof Shield, got ready with a ram, and upon receiving a nod from the front shield bearer, he swung the ram hard against the door lock.

With a "thud," the ram had barely made contact when the suspects inside began shooting at the door. Fortunately, the rest of the team was to the side and out of the line of fire. As the gunfire ceased momentarily inside, the shield-bearing officer struck the door with his shield, creating an opening for the team to begin shooting at the people inside the gap.

Seeing the actions of those upstairs, Jimmy knew he wasn't needed today and turned away from the building, returning to Peter's side. "Heard the gunfire inside; looks like we won't be needed today."

Peter: "We should trust in their expertise. ESU trains every day for situations like this—we're different from them."

Jimmy nodded, looking at the ESU team in action. They were indeed professionals with helmets, Bullet-Proof Vests, Shock Bombs attached to their vests, carrying MP5s and M4s, one person wielding a Shotgun, and at the forefront a Bullet-Proof Shield—unbeatable gear. His only advantage might be his Heart Eye ability to see the enemy's location, essentially like turning on a wallhack cheat. But for firepower, it was only his Magnum revolver; he couldn't compare, and knew he needed more training.

A few minutes later, the ESU squad descended the stairs. The police below surged forward—clearly, the three gunmen above had been neutralized.

The paramedics from the ambulances also followed the police upstairs. Their job would likely be to collect the dead.

Ruiz and his team also went up. Their main job would be evidence collection.

However, Jimmy had guessed wrong. The police and paramedics carried down four people, and another was guided down by the police, apparently injured. Was that a collateral damage? Jimmy thought there had been five people upstairs—three gunmen, so there should have been two hostages.

Jimmy looked again at the ESU squad, wondering how they would write their final report. The killing of a hostage would certainly be attributed to the three gunmen, but there would definitely be internal processing within ESU. From what Jimmy had seen, at least both hostages were alive before ESU tried to breach the door.

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