Jimmy and his team, led by Grant, entered the woods and headed towards Baka's house. All the walkie-talkies were connected to the earpieces, and Jacob was reporting the surveillance details from inside.
Jacob: "Harten, take note, the number exceeds expectations. Eight people emerged from two cars: five from the front car and three from the back car, including Baka. The three men we have photos of are all there."
Harten quickly stopped Grant. "Something's wrong. Including the people in the house, there are nine of them, and we only have four. No, we need to call for backup."
Grant: "It's too late. It would take at least an hour for help to arrive from the police station. We can't guarantee how long Baka will be here."
Harten: "No way, four against nine; we are at too big a disadvantage. Call for backup. If it doesn't work, we'll have to give up on this capture."
As they discussed, Jimmy spoke up.
Jimmy: "Harten, your target is Baka, right? What about the others?"
Harten: "The others don't matter. Our only target is Baka."
Jimmy: "Then let's continue. We move around them; once we get closer, we just need to take out a few people first."
Jimmy was a bit too excited. This large-scale operation was far more thrilling than any case he had worked on before. With the Heart Eye and his revolver, Jimmy was practically unbeatable in stealth attacks. As long as he planned ahead, taking out a few people quickly shouldn't be a problem.
Looking at Jimmy, Harten recalled the information Director James had introduced to him and nodded, "Alright, let's move forward."
Harten pressed the talk button on the walkie-talkie. "Jacob, Baka is confirmed at the target point, right?"
Jacob: "Confirmed. Now, except for one person with a handgun standing guard near the door, everyone else has entered the house."
Harten: "OK, let's proceed."
Grant continued to lead the way; Jimmy, while walking, drew his revolver and took six bullets from a small pouch hanging on his belt, twirling them in his hand like old men at home play with walnuts.
Approaching Baka's house, Jimmy pulled Harten aside and asked in a low voice, "Harten, besides Baka, if the others are killed, can you handle the aftermath?"
Harten looked at Jimmy. "Go ahead."
Harten pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Jacob, we've arrived, update us on the current situation."
Jacob: "No change, one person is standing guard not far from the door, with the handgun now put away, sitting beside a sedan."
Harten: "Grant, you haven't forgotten what you learned in the Marine Corps, right? The guy outside, can you handle him?"
Grant: "No problem."
Harten and Randall walked around to the front door, while Grant approached the house from the back, with Jimmy following. He needed to get close to the house to use the Heart Eye to confirm everyone's position.
Grant, sticking close to the building, approached the car from a blind spot in the Sentinel's view, while Jimmy stayed at the side of the house. His Heart Eye clearly saw everyone inside: three were sitting, with one on the large sofa and the others side by side. If nothing unexpected happened, the man alone on the sofa should be Baka.
The rest of the people were scattered inside the house, looking relaxed, with one person busy in the kitchen emitting a strong scent of spices.
Grant was now in position. He approached the Sentinel from the rear, wrapped his arms around the Sentinel's head, pressing down hard and compressing the neck and carotid artery, rendering the Sentinel silent. The Sentinel kicked around a bit before his head drooped, knocked unconscious.
Seeing that Grant had taken care of the Sentinel, Harten, hiding behind a large tree, shouted loudly, "FBI, Baka, you are surrounded! Drop your weapons and come out to surrender."
Jimmy, watching from the side of the house, saw people inside scatter as Harten shouted, running towards the front door, windows, and other rooms.
Bang, bang, bang! Several people inside the house fired multiple shots towards Harten's shouting position, but Harten and Randall didn't show themselves; they hid behind a big tree, perfectly safe.
Jimmy watched the activity in the house, almost certain that the person previously sitting on the couch had to be Baka. This black silhouette was waving its arms, likely commanding the others. Through the wall, Jimmy couldn't hear clearly what was being said inside.
Harten commanded, "Take action."
Grant got up from behind the car and fired several shots at the door and windows before ducking back behind the vehicle. He also knew well where the car could stop bullets, hiding at the front wheel hub, using the wheel and engine for cover.
The spot where Jimmy took cover was next to a window, located at the kitchen, although he couldn't directly aim at everyone in the house, three targets were still in his line of fire—one in the kitchen constantly cooking, and two others outside the kitchen, not crowding around the window but on alert at their posts.
Jimmy kept his focus on the people inside, who were primarily concentrated on the front door and the main windows. No one was watching the side window where he was; Jimmy moved next to the window, aimed at his pre-assigned targets, bang bang, bang bang, six rounds in total, and all three were brought down. He didn't glance at his handiwork, immediately running away from that window.
After reaching the back corner of the house, Jimmy began to eject the spent casings and reload. Then he realized he had overthought it; although the people inside knew someone had taken shots from the side window, none came to check. They simply fired a few shots towards the window and then redirected their attention back to the front door, with only one or two occasionally turning their heads.
Jimmy checked their positioning from the back of the house, noticing one person crouching at the corner. If he shot through the wooden door and the trajectory didn't alter much, he could shoot through and kill him.
Jimmy raised his revolver, aiming at the torso of the man behind the door. To ensure a kill and prevent the door from deflecting the trajectory, Jimmy aimed at the same spot and fired three shots. From the Heart Eye view, he could see the crouched man dropping to the floor, twitching slightly before going completely still.
Out of Baka's nine men, Jimmy had already killed four. Including the one Grant had knocked out, only four were left inside the house.
Baka, whom Jimmy could now locate using Heart Eye, looked very agitated. He stood up, waving his hands wildly. Jimmy could hear noises from inside but couldn't comprehend them, probably in Hindi or some local language.
Jimmy pressed the radio, "Harten, four killed. You can call for surrender now," then he began reloading the unfired bullets, ejecting the three spent rounds and reloading six fresh ones.
Having received the message, Harten completely relaxed, the odds were four against four, with their side in a favorable position—perfect. He shouted at the front door again, "FBI, Baka, drop your weapons and come out to surrender. You can't escape. Drop your weapons, and we assure your safety."
As gunfire continued at the front door, Jimmy knew that merely shouting was pointless. Harten only needed Baka alive; it was better to clear out the rest first.
Jimmy pulled at the back door; it didn't open, so he returned to the side window by the kitchen, carefully reaching through the broken glass to open the window, then used both hands on the sill to climb into the kitchen.
Grant saw the entirety of Jimmy's entry. Though Jimmy's movements weren't smooth, looking a bit amateur, the people inside didn't notice him, at least they didn't shoot at him—his boldness and luck were off the charts.
Grant continued to shoot towards the windows and front door to draw their attention, aiding Jimmy. Harten and his team did the same, but until now, the only result was the Sentinel Grant had knocked unconscious.
Hiding in the kitchen corner, Jimmy could finally see the people inside; the commanding figure was indeed the bearded Baka, fitting the description of the fully bearded face from the photos. The three individuals at the window were all looking outside, not noticing the intruder behind them.
Jimmy entered a sneak attack mode, aiming at the position of the three men, firing a bullet into the left chest of each, "taking" them away. Then he shifted his target, and a bullet struck Baka's thigh.
"Drop the handgun, Baka, throw the handgun over!"
After firing, Jimmy hid behind the kitchen wall. This wasn't an open-plan kitchen, there was a corner allowing Jimmy to hide. If it had been a hallway and kitchen combined into an open-plan kitchen, the people inside would have been picked off by Jimmy from the window at the start.
Baka, shot in the leg, slumped over the couch, firing several shots at the wall where Jimmy was hiding and screaming as he threw his handgun aside.
"Harten, it's settled, you can come control Baka now. He's shot in the leg, on the couch, I didn't see any other weapons," Jimmy said.
Jimmy rose, peering over the wall with his revolver aimed at Baka, not yet approaching to handcuff him. For safety, who knew if Baka was hiding anything else on his person.
Outside, Grant and Harten heard the voice through the radio, both quite surprised. This is it? Harten signaled Grant, then gestured for him to go inside. Grant entered the house first, gun at the ready, scanning left and right to ensure everyone was down before approaching the couch.
Baka was on the couch, hands clutching his thigh, weaponless. Grant swung his rifle behind, pulled out plastic handcuffs from his back, grabbed Baka's hands, twisted them behind his back, pressed him face down on the couch, and secured his hands.
"Harten, all clear, come in," Grant notified Harten, then pulled a tourniquet from his bullet-proof vest and tied it around Baka's injured thigh, tightening it to slow the bleeding.