Chapter 5

ps. Here's the update for May 1st. After reading, don't rush off to play; remember to cast a monthly vote first. Starting today, the 515 Fan Festival on Qidian offers double monthly votes, and there are also red envelope giveaways and other activities to check out!

The black Chevrolet moved very slowly, passing by another lane near the accident site. Murphy kept his eyes on the scene, where the crashed car was already on fire, with flames shooting out from the front hood, illuminating the surroundings. Firefighters, undeterred by the potential explosion, were busy extinguishing the fire, while others were trying to rescue the trapped victims.

All of this reminded Murphy of scenes he had seen on TV news, and of the videos stored in the notebook by the previous Murphy. His eyes involuntarily turned to the handheld camera on the passenger seat.

A voice in his head told him that this was a very valuable news scene and that he should start filming immediately.

The car passed the accident site, and Murphy stepped on the brake, stopping on the side road. He grabbed the handheld camera, got out of the car as quickly as possible, and, while running towards the accident site, skillfully turned on the camera.

It was as if he had rehearsed this countless times.

Two patrol officers had already set up a yellow police tape, creating a simple restricted area to prevent people from entering. Inside the restricted area, the fire was slightly under control, and several firefighters were dismantling the deformed car doors to rescue the driver.

Just as Murphy decided to film the accident, several cars also stopped nearby, clearly drawn by the spectacle, a universal phenomenon.

More people walked over, apparently wanting to get a closer look, and the two patrol officers quickly moved to maintain order.

This gave Murphy an opportunity.

By the time he arrived, he had already started filming with the handheld camera. As a film school student with a proper education and the memories of the previous Murphy, he had the necessary skills. However, due to the poor lighting at night, the footage from outside the police tape was not very good.

The moment the two patrol officers were distracted by other onlookers, Murphy did not hesitate to bend down and crawl under the police tape. He then took a few quick steps, hid behind a fire truck, found a good angle, and, using the light from the flames, captured the scene near the car.

The memories of the previous Murphy told him that there were many people in Los Angeles who did similar work. Whenever there was an emergency, these people, like sharks sensing blood, would quickly swarm to the scene.

Therefore, he had to hurry and capture scenes that others could not see.

The fire was getting smaller, and the footage began to blur. Murphy turned his head to the left at ten o'clock, where the two patrol officers were still maintaining order. The other firefighters were focused on rescuing the trapped driver, and no one noticed him.

At that moment, the deformed car door was finally pried open, and a long-haired woman was carried out of the car.

Even without professional training, Murphy knew this was the most valuable footage. Without hesitation, he turned on the front light of the handheld camera and rushed to the injured woman on the stretcher, capturing her face through the gaps between the firefighters and medical personnel.

The woman lay on the stretcher, moaning weakly. Her long golden hair was stained with blood, and the left side of her face was a bloody mess, looking extremely terrifying.

"Blood pressure 95-65, slow heartbeat..."

A medical professional was conducting a necessary examination, "Dilated pupils..."

Despite feeling a wave of nausea, Murphy's hands were steady. He immediately switched to a close-up lens and accurately recorded the scene, which resembled a gory American horror film.

However, Murphy's filming lasted for less than ten seconds.

A person with a handheld camera and a light source was hard to ignore.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

A rough voice sounded, and then a firefighter in uniform blocked the camera lens, "What are you doing?"

"Back up, back up!"

A patrol officer maintaining order also quickly approached. Unlike the firefighters and medical personnel, he was not polite, pointing at Murphy and sternly saying, "You! Leave here!"

As someone who had been in prison, Murphy knew that American police were not as good as portrayed in the media. He quickly turned off the light on the handheld camera, raised one hand, and said, "Okay, okay, I'm leaving."

Seemingly dissatisfied with how slowly Murphy was retreating, the patrol officer followed and pushed him hard, "Back up a hundred feet!"

The push was strong, and Murphy, who was already retreating, stumbled on the broken car debris behind him and almost fell to the ground.

Although he was annoyed, Murphy knew he couldn't tangle with the police. Fortunately, he was a mixed-race person, not a black person, or the police might have drawn their guns.

Murphy steadied himself and quickly retreated. The patrol officer, with his hands on his hips, looked intimidating.

After another glance at the police, Murphy turned around, bent down, and crawled under the police tape. He parted the crowd that had gathered and walked back to where he had parked his car.

Back in the car, he took two deep breaths, started the engine, and left the accident site. He drove for a short distance and found a parking lot, where he parked and took out the handheld camera from the passenger seat. He opened it and watched the footage he had just shot.

From the beginning of the filming to being chased away, Murphy had shot nearly three minutes of video. It included scenes of the burning car and the firefighters' rescue efforts, as well as close-up shots of the injured woman, which were visually impactful.

For someone with a certain level of professional skill, this kind of shooting was relatively easy for Murphy.

Since he had shot the video, he couldn't sell the handheld camera anymore. Murphy left the parking lot, turned a corner, and drove home.

The video would only have real value if sold, and to sell it, Murphy needed the contact information of the TV station personnel left by the previous Murphy, which was stored on his home computer.

Moreover, the video needed some initial editing.

Rushing home as quickly as possible, Murphy, ignoring his growling stomach, went straight to the studio, turned on the laptop, and opened the editing software. Although the previous Murphy was foolish, the equipment he used was decent. The handheld camera used the latest digital storage technology, not the old tape.

Taking out the heavy storage disk from the handheld camera, he connected it to the computer via a data cable. Using the editing software, Murphy cut the footage, removing the unnecessary parts and mainly keeping the scenes shot inside the restricted area. He then saved the edited footage on the storage disk and opened a folder on the laptop to find the contact information of the TV station personnel. He made several phone calls.

Perhaps the contacts were too old, or perhaps his luck was bad, but most of the calls went unanswered. Those who did answer were not very interested.

"Did all my hard work turn out to be in vain?"

Murphy scratched his short brown hair and dialed another number. After a few rings, a voice came from the other end, "Hello, this is Fox Los Angeles Channel 6."

"Hello," Murphy said as simply as possible, "I'm a freelance journalist, and I have a video I just shot..."

The person on the other end seemed very busy and spoke very quickly, "Alright, bring the video over. Do you know our address? You do? Then come as soon as possible."

After hanging up, Murphy took the storage disk and drove directly to Burbank, where Fox Los Angeles Channel 6 was located. Due to the time spent on the road, it was already late when he arrived.

Fox Los Angeles Channel 6 was in a white building with a tall TV signal tower next to it. Murphy got out of the car, entered the building, and explained his purpose to the security guard at the entrance. Following the directions, he went to the news department on the third floor.

The entire third floor was a large news hall, bustling with activity even at this late hour. Murphy, somewhat lost, entered and politely asked someone who approached, "Excuse me, I have a video of a car accident I just shot."

The person didn't even look up, pointing to the left corridor, "Go in, the first door on the left."

Following the directions, Murphy found an office. Through the glass door, he could see several people sitting in front of screens, apparently discussing something.

Murphy gently knocked on the glass door. When the people inside looked over, he opened the door a crack and said, "I have a video of a car accident to sell."

"Freelance journalist?"

A woman with long brown hair turned to look at him, "Who do you work for?"

Murphy hesitated for a moment and then walked in, "I work alone."

He could tell that this woman was the leader of the group. He added, "It's a video of a car accident that happened tonight on Sunset Boulevard near Hollywood. A woman was in the accident, and half her face is destroyed, with blood everywhere. If she survives, I would be very surprised."

These words clearly piqued the interest of the brown-haired woman. She nodded and said, "Alright, let me see."

Murphy took out the storage disk, stepped forward, and handed it to the woman. A staff member, following her instructions, connected the storage disk to the screen. After a second of static, the carefully edited video Murphy had shot began to play.

"Oh, my God!"

When the close-up of the injured woman appeared, the bloody scene made the staff member exclaim involuntarily.

Standing to the side, Murphy observed the brown-haired woman's expression. Unlike the staff member's surprise, her blue eyes showed a clear interest and excitement.

"This can be the top story for the morning news!"

She seemed to have completely forgotten about Murphy behind her.

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