death of hope

Chapter 50 "Flying Windfall" (50) Headquarters
(Unbelievable, I'm in a den of masked vigilantes.)
From the mouth of the black cat, I learned that the dwarf who came to open the door turned out to be a tough masked vigilante. This man was nicknamed "Little Steel Cannon". He was agile and good at using darts and crossbows. In the neighborhood, protect the safety of civilians.

The round table in the center of the conference room was made of a broken wooden board buckled on four waste bar stools. Many seats were empty, and each empty seat represented a masked vigilante who died or quit.

With the increasingly fierce conflicts among all parties, non-governmental organizations spontaneously organized by the grassroots, such as the York City Avengers, were unsurprisingly brutally suppressed by various forces. There was a lot of lamentation in the room, and morale was low.

Until now, Roy still doesn't know why he was invited to this strange place to attend the meeting, but he has a faint feeling that he has been involved in a vortex about life and death.

He waited silently like the others, taking Anna's hand.

The door opened again, and a tall man over two meters tall walked into the meeting room. He bent down slightly in order not to touch the roof. The kerosene lamp cast a long shadow for him, and several people who followed were shrouded in shadow.

After the big man approached, Roy could see his face clearly, with thick hair, high cheekbones, protruding forehead, and thick limbs, he looked like a gorilla in a zoo, or a model of hominids in a museum. Atavism is still mutant.

Susan whispered, "That's our spiritual leader—the superhero Syndicate Deperaska known as 'Ape Man'."

"The ape man... the one that is often mentioned by news anchors?"

"Yes, it's me."

"A gentleman of common people, a man of justice." Anna showed a reverent expression.

Until the ape-man was seated, no one stood up or said a heart-warming greeting. Everyone leaned on their backs and leaned lazily on the back of the chair.

Roy, who was originally looking forward to superheroes, seemed a little disappointed, thinking: (Get a monkey-like guy as the boss, with this organizational ability and cohesion, no wonder it can't be done.)
The black cat walked over and whispered something to the ape-man. The big man nodded, cleared his throat, and said in a rough and deep voice:

"Friends, sad news. Mr. Dyson died in battle. Although he did not have time to join our collective, he is worthy of respect. I suggest that everyone observe 20 seconds of silence for him."

The listless crowd stood up. This was obviously another blow to morale. After a while of silence, they sat down again.

A masked vigilante dressed as a clown pointed at Royana rudely, and asked the ape-man, "Boss, who are these two guys?"

"I ordered the black cat to bring them to the meeting. They are civilians who were involved in a storm caused by money and urgently need our protection."

With an uneasy expression, Roy stood up and asked, "Excuse me...how did you know?"

"It's a long story, don't worry, come on, let's say hello first, you are Mr. Roy, right?"

"It's me, I've known you for a long time, Mr. Syndicate, the most famous masked vigilante in this city."

The ape-man Syndicate stretched out a large, hairy palm and extended it friendly. Roy felt that the palm was much softer and warmer than expected, which made him feel at ease.

Numerous news reports showed that although the hairy ape monster in front of him was ugly, he was indeed a warm-hearted and good person who had done many good deeds and held a high status in the hearts of the city's common people.

Anna was terrified by the hairy ape palm, and stretched out her hand tremblingly: "Hello..."

"Miss Anna, it's a pleasure to meet you, you are so beautiful." The ape-man's eyes were kind, and there was a kind of calming power in the plain black pupils.

"You asked me how I knew about the money, because our organization got the gossip that the notorious terrorist group, the Hessians, was looking for a missing sum of money."

Roy had already vaguely thought of something related to this matter, but he still seemed quite excited:
"After such a long time, I thought it was calm. I don't understand how those guys tracked me. I checked every stack of money. There was no hole in it, no tracker."

"Look at this." The ape-man took out a banknote from his jacket pocket, and gently tore it open from three-quarters of the banknote, revealing the silver anti-counterfeiting metal strip:
"There are several special banknotes mixed in that box of money, and the integrated circuit is hidden in the metal anti-counterfeiting thread, which is the most advanced micro-tracking device."

Roy was covered in cold sweat and slumped on the chair. The strange things that had tortured him in recent days finally had an explanation. The note with threatening words was stuffed into the door by the person he least wanted to offend. "

"Excuse me, ma'am, you don't mind smoking." The ape-man Syndicate took out the cigarette case.

Anna said, "Please."

"Give me one too," Roy said.

His legs were shaking, his arms were shaking, he was afraid of making a fool of himself, and wanted to cover it up, but the shaking was even worse, even his lips with a cigarette in his mouth were shaking, until the clown next to him took out a lighter and lit the cigarette for him,
Taking a deep breath, the harmful smoke was exhaled from the mouth through the lungs, and the uncontrollable trembling finally got better.

The reason why they are so frightened is because of the name mentioned by the ape-man - the Hesse family.

In York City, if you mess with any street gang, you probably won't be able to get around, but if you mess with the notorious Hessian family, known for their brutality and madness, you don't even have to think about your life. Was chopped into eight pieces.

"Calm down, take a deep breath, Mr. Roy, you are safe, at least for now."

The ape-man's dark eyes were like an abyss, staring at Roy's face, piercing through the body and soul. He knew that facing these eyes, all lies would have nowhere to hide, so he had better tell the truth.

"Dare to ask, Mr. Syndicate, did you find me through Miss Susan?"

"It's like this. The black cat found you through the relationship of her boyfriend. Combining the two things, we know that the person the Hesse family is looking for is you."

"Thank you for saving my life. I know in my heart that it is very difficult to survive if I offend the Hesse family. Although I am thick-skinned, I still ask for your help! I am about to immigrate, and I am willing to do anything in order to survive !"

With that said, Roy stood up and bowed deeply to the masked vigilante sitting by the round table.

The clown slapped his hands: "Hey, this kid is not simple, he is smart and knowledgeable about current affairs, I kind of like him."

"Shut up, clown, you disgusting fag!" The dwarf "Steel Cannon" standing on the chair made a contemptuous expression.

"Stinky dwarf! You are not as tall as I am when you stand on a chair. What are you looking for!"

"Try to say something again, faggot! Believe it or not, I jumped up and smashed your knee?"

The ape-man knew that the two were just joking and not arguing, but he stopped them anyway:

"Okay, everyone, please be quiet. We are going to discuss something very important today. Our intelligence expert is back. Listen to him."

(End of this chapter)