Chapter 1066 Successful Escape (Patreon)

Even the best bulletproof glass can shatter under sustained machine gun fire—
but bulletproof steel plating does not.
After all, the Mk46 is just a squad-level light machine gun, not an anti-armor weapon.

And so, the fully-armored Suburban passed this deadly test with flying colors.

Under typical conditions, a Mk46 can sustain continuous fire for about 400–500 rounds,
but in reality, the barrel overheats after 300 rounds.
The rifling wears, the barrel glows red-hot, and accuracy plummets.

Proper machine gun use requires short, controlled bursts to manage heat—
or better yet, a barrel swap.

Modern MGs feature quick-change barrels.
Open the top cover, release the latch, lift off the steaming barrel, and slot in a fresh one.
A trained gunner can do it in under 20 seconds.

Of course, old-school water-cooled heavy machine guns didn’t have this issue.
As long as the water in the barrel didn’t boil off, you could fire until your fingers blistered.

Back on Guadalcanal, one man did exactly that:
John Basilone, holding off hundreds of charging Japanese soldiers with two Browning M1917s.
Chinese netizens would later dub him “The Machine Gun Immortal.”

Fortunately, the gunner Jack now faced was no Basilone, not even close.
Definitely not in Sonny's league, either.

After dumping 200 rounds from a drum mag into the advancing Suburban,
the Mk46 barrel began to glow unnaturally,
and the gunner finally retreated behind the truck, frantically replacing the barrel.

Meanwhile, “Shotgun Immortal” Jack continued his rampage,
blasting another drone out of the sky before it could even accelerate.

Clay, from his vantage point, launched several 40mm smoke grenades, blanketing the area.

Aubrey, crouched in the rear of the Suburban, flung the door open and shouted to the dust-covered ESU officers:

“Fall back! Fall back!”

Jack and Clay raked the street with alternating full-auto bursts from their HK417s,
timing their reloads perfectly to keep a continuous wall of lead going.

The ESU officers stumbled through the opened vehicle doors,
dragging their wounded comrades to relative safety.

Crack!
The enemy sniper fired again—
hitting the last ESU trooper just before he climbed aboard.
The round failed to penetrate his heavy armor, but the impact forced a bloody cough from his mouth.

Aubrey yanked the door shut just as the second shot pinged off the door armor.

“Go!”
Before Jack could say more, Jubal was already accelerating.
The hulking Suburban shielded the injured officers as they retreated behind the immobilized Bearcat.

“Get out of the open! Jubal, take the injured and pull out! Everyone else, find cover!”
Jack barked orders while tamping down rising frustration.

All 12 ESU officers were wounded.
Heavy body armor had saved their torsos, but arms, legs, and heads had taken damage.
Several were nearly unconscious from blood loss.

Still, they were lucky compared to others.

Two motorcycle teams sent ahead had been entirely wiped out in the ambush.
Their bodies were obscured behind the box truck, but odds of survival were slim.

Only one motorcycle officer had made it back.
The lead patrol car had been hit by the cart-bomb, then rammed into a wall.
Danny Reagan’s fate remained unknown.

The second cruiser’s driver had been killed by machine gun fire.
The passenger had taken two bullets and was now unconscious,
dragged out by ESU before the retreat.

No one even considered fighting their way back to the Bearcat in the intersection.
It only held a prisoner—Jang Min-jun, the man being extradited.

Crack!
The sniper on the right was still taking potshots.
One ESU officer, just reaching the safety of a side alley, got hit in the calf, howling in pain.

“Brrrt! Brrrt!”
Suddenly, HK417 fire burst from an upper window in the commercial building.
Then came Hannah’s gleeful voice:
“I got him!”

“Hannah, look out!”
Before anyone could warn her further,
a suicide drone swept in from a wide arc, having deliberately avoided Jack’s shotgun range.

It smashed into the office building’s glass curtain wall.

The explosion sent the whole panel crashing straight down—
a sheet of glass and steel, landing with a thundering wham.

Jack’s heart sank like stone, seized tight in a phantom grip.
“Hannah?! Hannah! Do you copy?!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
Her voice crackled in through the headset, surprisingly casual.
“I moved to a different spot just in time.”

Jack exhaled, relief flooding his chest—
but new movement across the street caught his eye.

The machine gunner opened up again—
but now, smoke grenades rained down, shrouding the Bearcat completely.

Gunfire abruptly stopped.

Out of the smoke, a motorized cart rolled into view.
Unlike the earlier one used by a fake homeless man, this cart had built-in propulsion—
and on top sat a blue plastic drum, wrapped in wires.

“Shit! IED! Fall back! Fall back! Move!”
Clay reacted instantly—his instincts from special ops kicking in.

“We can’t let them take Jang Min-jun!”
Lin Zheling suddenly emerged, gripping an AK-variant taken from the earlier ambush.
Lt. Park followed him, face tense with panic.

Bang! Bang!
Jack, still “pretending not to understand,”
shot out the cart’s motors, leaving it frozen mid-street—then turned and sprinted.

He didn’t owe “General Usury” anything.
No way he was dying here to repay some imaginary debt.

Police sirens howled louder, echoing from all directions now.
Clay, still running, shouted into his radio:

“There’s an IED here! Keep reinforcements at least one block out! Get the bomb squad!”

“Jang’s still inside the Bearcat—they won’t detonate with him there!” Lin Zheling yelled.
But his legs still carried him just as fast as Jack’s.

After nearly a hundred meters,
Jack and Clay dove into a nearby shop for cover.
Jack radioed Hannah again:
“Get somewhere safe. That blue drum’s packed with enough C4 to level the block.”

Time froze.
The wail of sirens felt distant, as though on another planet.

Early spring winds swept through New York,
clearing the smoke from the street.

Through the thinning haze, Jack saw it—
the Bearcat’s rear door swung open from the inside.
Jang Min-jun, now unshackled, emerged with an ESU officer at his side.

BRRRT!

Jack didn’t hesitate—
he raised his HK417 and let off a tight burst.

The bullets ripped into the ESU officer’s back, the one “escorting” Jang.

The Mk46 machine gun roared to life again—
but this time, Jang himself grabbed the gun from a startled comrade and opened fire at Jack.

Bullets spattered across the wall, sending sparks flying.
A few lucky ricochets blasted into the store,
shattering a display case and sending terrified store employees and shoppers screaming.

When Jack peeked out again,
the last attacker had vanished into the storm drain at the curb.