Early the next morning, the convoy set off.
The sky was gray and overcast, looking as if it could rain at any moment.
The convoy consisted of over a dozen black Lincolns. Liu Yutong sat in the backseat of the middle car, while the other vehicles carried core members of the Wanlong Syndicate and plainclothes police officers.
Yun Cheng sat in the passenger seat. Having just finished a phone call, he turned around and reported, "Miss, the hospital just called. President Bai's vital signs have stabilized for now and haven't deteriorated any further."
Liu Yutong nodded slightly without speaking, merely leaning back against the seat with her eyes closed to rest.
After the convoy had traveled for a while, Yun Cheng's phone rang. It was a call from Ma Da.
Even without the speakerphone on, Liu Yutong could faintly hear Ma Da's loud, blustering voice.
"Holy crap! Holy crap! Brother Yun! You guys look way too cool over there! I heard you even brought the big guns? I want to be part of a huge scene like that too!"
"Give it a rest, Ma Da! With your build, you'd only drag us down if you came. Besides, don't we need someone to keep an eye on the massive mess back home? The Miss leaving you to guard our home base shows she trusts you."
"Sigh! I know, but it's still such a pity!"
"I've heard all about it back here in the country. The Miss has made quite a name for herself over in America. What do those gangs call her again... Oh right, the Dragon Godmother... and the Black Phoenix. I gotta say, these foreigners aren't half bad at coming up with nicknames; they're almost as good as mine."
Liu Yutong kept her eyes closed, but the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
"Where did you hear all this nonsense?"
"That kid Jesse told me! He said the reputation of our Wanlong Syndicate brothers has spread all over abroad. Brother Yun, Chu Yang, do you two have nicknames too? The Black and White Demons or something?"
"Umm..."
"That is so cool! If I went, I'd definitely get a nickname too."
"Sunny Pigsy?"
"Screw you!"
"Just wait until I lose weight, I'll shock you all!"
"But seriously, these nicknames sound pretty badass, especially Black Phoenix. How domineering is that! When our Wanlong Syndicate expands internationally in the future, the Miss's title can totally be used as our trademark..."
"..."
Listening to her subordinates get more and more excited, even starting to discuss absurd topics like how to brand the nickname, Liu Yutong finally couldn't help but speak up.
"Are you done chatting?"
The other end of the line instantly went dead silent.
"M-Miss! You're there too?"
"Do you have a lot of free time?"
"No, not at all, I'm very busy! I'm heading to the construction site right now to check on the headquarters' progress!"
"You get back to your business, Miss. Wishing you a swift victory! Take down that Zhao Weixiang! I'm hanging up!"
Beep... beep...
The call was hastily disconnected.
A moment later.
Chu Yang, who was driving, carefully peeked at Liu Yutong through the rearview mirror and said, "Actually, Miss, your nickname does sound pretty majestic..."
Yun Cheng glared at him.
Liu Yutong closed her eyes again. After a long while, she finally said, "Focus on driving, unless you want to be sent back home to move bricks."
Chu Yang instantly shut his mouth, kept his eyes on the road, and focused on driving.
Just as the car pulled up to an intersection to wait for a red light, Yun Cheng spotted a somewhat familiar figure.
"Huh, isn't that the runaway?"
Hearing this, Liu Yutong also opened her eyes and looked out the window.
Outside a burger joint, A'wei, sporting dyed blonde hair and a Stars and Stripes t-shirt, was walking out holding a freshly bought burger and a large cup of cola.
"Thank God... no, thank America! Thank the kind people of this free land! I finally have something to eat!"
After racking up a massive fifty thousand dollar medical debt, he had started wandering the streets. He had been starving for days, basically relying on digging through trash cans for food every day.
Early this morning, an old lady out for her morning exercise took pity on him and gave him twenty bucks, finally giving him enough money to buy a burger combo.
In that moment, A'wei felt as if he had seen an angel!
No, it was the Statue of Liberty smiling down at him!
"Look at this! This is class! This is civilization!"
"Back home, who would give twenty dollars to a stranger for no reason? Only here! In this land full of love and care!"
A'wei tore open the burger wrapper, opened his mouth wide, and took a vicious bite.
"Mmm!"
He was so satisfied he almost groaned, and tears actually streamed down his face.
"Delicious! So delicious! This is what real human food tastes like! Back home, how could I ever eat such a massive, hearty beef burger? And so cheap! Twenty dollars buys all this! The taste of freedom... the taste of dreams... ah!"
He chugged a huge mouthful of ice-cold cola and let out a loud burp.
"Burp! So refreshing!"
"I knew it! When the heavens are about to place a great responsibility on a man, they first test his resolve and exhaust his muscles. All those hardships before were just a test; a test from God—oh no, from the Statue of Liberty!"
"Even though I owe the hospital fifty thousand dollars, even though I was beaten black and blue, even though I'm still an illegal immigrant—I have freedom! I have dreams! I have the boundless opportunities of this land! As long as I work hard, washing dishes, working construction... one day I'll pay off my debts, get a green card, live in a big house, and drive a big car! I'll show everyone back home who looked down on me that I, A'wei, have stood up in the free world!"
Just as he was completely immersed in the beautiful future he had envisioned, the urgent sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from down the street!
"Stop! Police! Don't move!"
"They're up ahead! After them!"
Three or four gang members were running desperately toward him, chased by seven or eight uniformed police officers. The leader was one of Sheriff Bob's deputies, and they were executing an operation to capture Rossi's remaining cronies.
These unlucky gang members were Rossi's confidants. After hiding for days, they had still been discovered.
A'wei, in the middle of eating his burger, looked up in bewilderment at the commotion.
The fleeing gang members also froze for a second when they saw him.
One of them, seeing A'wei's shifty-eyed appearance and noticing he was of Dragon descent, subconsciously assumed he was a spy planted by that Dragon country woman. He couldn't help but curse, "Fuck! It's an ambush!"
"He's just one guy, push through!"
A'wei didn't even have time to react before he was bowled over by the burly gang members. The burger and cola in his hands were knocked flying, splashing all over him.
"My burger, my cola!" A'wei screamed in heartbreak.
The gang members couldn't care less about him; they turned and sprinted down an alley.
The police arrived right at that moment, just in time to see A'wei climbing up from the ground, looking both completely bewildered and heartbroken.
"They have an accomplice! Grab him!" a police officer shouted.
A'wei's inherently sketchy appearance made him look incredibly suspicious no matter how you looked at him. But the most crucial part was that the police found contraband among the items dropped on the ground.
In truth, the contraband had accidentally fallen from the gang members when they crashed into him.
But the police couldn't care less about any of that; having the evidence was enough for them.
"I'm not... I..."
Just as A'wei tried to explain, he saw the officer pull out a stun baton.
Bzzzt—!
Blue electrical arcs flashed through the air!
"Ah—!"
A'wei's body convulsed violently. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and before he could even form a complete sentence, he collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
Watching this scene unfold from their car, Yun Cheng and the others all wore peculiar expressions.
"This guy is way too unlucky, isn't he?"
"Hahaha... The cops around here sure don't mess around. They went straight for the baton."
"How do you guys think he's going to end up?"
"I heard that the homeless in this area tend to just disappear every three to four years on average. Is that true?"
"..."
"You can survive the calamities sent by Heaven, but you cannot escape the doom you bring upon yourself!"
