Chapter 231: Assassination, Chaotic Battle

"Five minutes ago, the surveillance system captured a vehicle entering the Hilton Hotel, and the driver was Jack Bauer."

In the operations area of the lobby, a data engineer located Jack's whereabouts and immediately informed everyone in the conference room through the microphone, projecting the footage onto the large screen in the operations area.

The deputy director and Tony exited the conference room and looked at the image on the screen. Although it was a bit blurry, everyone could clearly recognize that the person was indeed their director, Jack Bauer.

"Why would he go there? Is there some event at the Hilton today?"

The deputy director asked. Another data engineer tapped a few keys and quickly shouted, "David Palmer's private meeting..."

"Oh no, those people must be forcing him to assassinate David Palmer. Damn it..."

Tony immediately realized what was happening, rushed to the phone in a panic, and the data support team cooperated seamlessly. The engineer quickly pulled up the contact information and name of David Palmer's head of security and projected it onto the large screen.

Tony dialed the number and immediately said, "Daniel Jones? This is CTU. Is Jack Bauer at David Palmer's venue?"

Daniel Jones, the Secret Service supervisor, was currently pointing a gun at Owen. Receiving this sudden and inexplicable call, with the caller claiming to be from CTU—just like the fugitive in front of him—he was confused. What was going on with CTU?

However, hearing the caller's question, he instinctively replied, "Yes, Jack Bauer just entered. Who are you?"

"Damn it, stop him. Stop him right now. He's going to assassinate David Palmer. Hurry and stop him...!"

…

A few minutes earlier, Owen had rushed out of the fire escape in a panic. He had driven recklessly all the way to the Hilton, giving it everything he had.

But when he reached the 18th floor, he found the hall empty. It wasn't until he ran into a hotel manager that he learned the meeting had been moved to the 10th floor. Owen hurried there, but the elevator wasn't coming. In his urgency, he took the stairs.

He finally made it to the 10th floor, only to trigger an alarm at the security checkpoint because he was carrying a gun. A group of Secret Service agents immediately surrounded him. Now, at least five guns were pointed at him, including one held by the man in front of him—Daniel Jones.

"Watch him!"

After finishing the call, Daniel Jones threw down that order and rushed toward the venue, not caring whether the call was real or not—he had to immediately get control of Jack Bauer.

Daniel Jones left quickly with several agents. Owen took the opportunity to overpower the agent watching him, pinned him to the ground, and snatched his gun.

He had just heard Jack Bauer's name, and the situation was urgent. Owen fired at the ceiling.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang~~~ Jack, stop! Your family is safe...!"

Daniel Jones had just pushed open the venue door when he heard Owen's shouting and gunfire from behind.

The gunshots sent the venue into instant chaos. The Secret Service agents around the stage immediately tried to form a human shield around David Palmer.

At that moment, the entire hall suddenly went dark.

"Bang bang bang bang~~~~"

A series of gunshots rang out. In the darkness, all that could be seen were flashes of muzzle fire—nothing else. The sudden blackout threw the crowd into panic, and screams erupted everywhere.

A second later, the emergency lights came on, and the hall was illuminated again. Several USSS agents around David Palmer had been shot. Some were lucky, hit only in their bulletproof vests, but others weren't so fortunate—their heads were blown open into a bloody mess.

Daniel Jones charged into the venue with his men and saw Jack Bauer in a gunfight with a woman. Jack had just been shot and staggered from the impact.

"Don't move~~~"

The agents shouted, both individuals now within their line of fire. Jack was hiding behind a large column. Seeing the agents aiming at him, he immediately raised his hands to show he wasn't resisting.

But the woman, wearing night vision goggles, was far less cooperative. Her Beretta 92F fired first, hitting an agent.

Gunfire erupted. The agents returned fire, and the woman shot while running, taking cover behind a column. But unexpectedly, she didn't stop there—she pushed off the column with her legs and slid across the floor, firing as she went.

Her unpredictable move caught the Secret Service off guard. Several were hit, and the rest quickly dove for cover.

Once her momentum ended, Janet did a backward roll, landing behind another column. Seeing the enemies also hiding behind cover, she swung her right arm in a wide arc, firing a curved shot.

Owen entered just in time to see this signature move. The woman's identity was obvious. Bullets flew in all directions, ricochets bouncing everywhere. Owen ducked down and rushed to find cover.

Right in front of him, Daniel Jones was half-hidden behind cover, about to say something when his body jerked—he had been hit by the arcing bullet and dropped instantly.

"Bang bang bang~~~"

Owen returned fire to provide himself with cover and dove behind a column.

He had no idea how David Palmer was doing—all he could see was a crowd of people around him. It didn't look good.

"Don't shoot! I'm CTU, friendly!"

Owen quickly identified himself, not wanting to be mistaken for an assassin and shot by accident.

His gunfire outside the venue had been meant to alert David Palmer and the Secret Service, and his shouting was to stop Jack from doing something reckless. But he hadn't expected to find this woman here.

Janet was even more frustrated. Her perfectly planned assassination had been ruined. When the shot was fired, she had two choices: abandon the mission or go all in.

She chose the latter.

But it failed. The agents had formed a human wall. She killed several, but couldn't confirm whether she had hit her actual target.

According to the plan, she had to retreat immediately. But someone appeared in the corridor ahead. That person reacted quickly and hit her. Though the bullet was stopped by her vest, it slowed her down enough for more agents outside the hall to join the fight.

Janet had killed the Secret Service commander with a curved shot, throwing them into brief disarray. Now she just needed to kill the person blocking her and escape through the utility passage.

Thinking this, Janet again swung her right arm in a wide arc and fired another curved bullet—this time aimed at Jack behind the column.

Jack Bauer had no idea he had unintentionally blocked someone's path and was now on her kill list.

At that moment, seeing the agents fighting the female assassin, Jack seized the chance to pick up a gun and return fire against the woman. As far as the agents were concerned, the threat levels between the two were very different.

Although Jack was a suspect, he hadn't taken any hostile actions and was clearly engaging only with the female assassin. She, on the other hand, had already killed several of them and was a valid shoot-to-kill target.

Owen, watching from the side, saw Janet's curved bullet aimed at Jack. He didn't understand how the two had ended up in conflict.

But the situation was urgent. Saving lives came first. Acting on instinct, Owen activated bullet time, took aim at lightning speed, and fired a shot that grazed the outer side of Jack's thigh.

Jack was hit suddenly, his body jerked, and he collapsed to the ground—just barely dodging Janet's lethal strike.

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