The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

185 Be Careful

Who opened the safe? There were various important documents inside. Those were certificates of his houses and lands. Then with shaking hands, Oscar reached into his coat pocket to retrieve the cell phone he had forgotten about.

His brows furrowed as he saw the many notifications of incoming messages and missed calls on his cell phone screen. He opened the message which showed a pile of messages from Tony Lin and Eddy Norman.

Boss! My base is under attack! – Eddy

Boss, we lost. My headquarters is no longer there. – Tony

Boss, is it true that you pawned my base building? RJC come and attack us. What should I do? – Tony

Boss! Where are you? RJC finished off all my men! – Eddy

Oscar’s eyeballs shook as he read the messages. It felt as if his feet didn’t touch the floor. His entire branch headquarters had also been attacked by RJC. Although from the beginning he had intended to leave them, the news of course made his mental state even more shaken.

Then with a quivering thumb, he opened the app he usually used to monitor his stocks. His soul seemed to drift away as he found that he no longer had any shares. All the shares he owned had been sold without considering whether the stock price was going up or down at that time.

Oscar’s hands instantly trembled. He immediately ran into the room where he hired two brokers to look after the stocks he often referred to as his children. But he found one of his employees already lying unconscious on the floor with a bloody wound on his forehead and another employee had disappeared.

.....

He rushed to two computers in the room. The two computers were still on the ‘Standby’ with the monitor screen darkening. When he pressed a key on the keyboard of the two computers, he found that both computers had been set to factory defaults. And also all the data on the computer had been deleted without any residue as if it was a new computer that had not been filled with anything.

Oscar immediately ran back to his room and opened the small cupboard next to his desk where he kept the laptop he rarely used, but he knew that he stored a lot of data there. When he turned on the laptop, he found the same thing. The laptop had been changed to factory defaults.

“ARRRGGHH!!!” Oscar shouted as he threw the laptop until it smashed into the wall.

The veins in Oscar’s head were seen more sticking out. His face was red and greasy with sweat all over his body. He completely destroyed. Oscar Chopper not only returned to the bottom, but he was thrown to the lowest point in his life.

**

Marcel’s eyes lit up. He saw a group of vans coming with bags filled with gold and precious stones. His lips couldn’t stop smiling.

“Where’s Black?” Marcel immediately approached Kenny who had just gotten out of the car. He would say his grateful to him.

Kenny shook his head, “They both left immediately after making sure there wasn’t any workers’ contract left there. The Leader Black said maybe he’d come tomorrow to pick up the contracts he left to me.”

“He did? I don’t think he would trust us that easily,” Marcel mumbled.

“He didn’t. But I managed to convince him.” Kenny answered by stepping into the base with Marcel, “Have the others back yet?”

Marcel nodded, “Everyone has arrived. Danis was the last to finish his job. Thank you for taking the time for the boys. He managed to leave just before Oscar arrived.”

“That guy.. Oscar Chopper. He deserves it. I hope Danis did drain what he has,” Kenny muttered.

Marcel smiled faintly, “I heard he ran away and left the group while fighting. Was it true?”

Kenny nodded, “That kind of person is degrading men’s pride in this world.”

“Oscar wasn’t good at being a leader from the start. I feel sorry for his men,” Then Marcel sighed, “Luckily, Black is on our side. He’s the one who made all this mission a success. I admit those two are badass. It would be very profitable if RJC could continue to work with them.” he continued.

But Kenny’s face didn’t look as relieved as Marcel’s. From his expression, it could be seen that he was thinking about something that seemed serious. The thing that made his forehead slightly furrow involuntarily, “That Black.. I don’t remember if they know that we have an Underground Cave,”

Marcel immediately looked at Kenny and realized that his confidant’s face looked strange. He shook his head briefly, “I don’t think they know,”

“I don’t know if my hunch is right or not. But I think maybe Black would see RJC in a different light if he found out,” Kenny said seriously.

“Why do you think so?” Marcel asked with a confusedly tense face. He knew that Kenny was not someone who liked to joke. He was always serious with his words and very wise in bringing them out.

“Do you know how strong Black is? Especially the Black who has the small body,” He asked Marcel.

Marcel shook his head in disbelief, “I’ve seen him fight. I think he was pretty great. But at that moment, I knew he hadn’t brought his full potential,”

Kenny nodded, “I don’t think he has yet. When he was fighting Lee Mu Fei, I realized that Black, who is small like that, really shouldn’t be underestimated. But that wasn’t my biggest concern. When he won the fight with Lee Mu Fei, he was uttering unusual words from his mouth. Words that seem to describe that he surely has the intention of destroying evil, whatever it comes from and in which form. When I saw him, I felt like I was watching a superhero movie.”

Marcel laughed loudly, “I don’t know whether to laugh or to be worried. In fact, this is the first time you’ve told me this much about other people.”

But Kenny didn’t laugh at all, “That’s because he really is that much to be talked about. I think if Black is really the person I think he is, then he wouldn’t be silent if he knew there was a place like Underground Cave.”

“The Underground Cave isn’t the only nightlife in Handway City. There’s still Jen Marrie Street and PP! Club. Those two places aren’t only providing illegal gambling. They also traffic in women,”

“I know. But I feel like Black trusts you. And I can see that he hates people who betray the trust of others. That’s one of the reasons why he insisted on destroying Lee Mu Fei and Oscar Chopper. He indeed hates injustice.” Kenny replied.

Marcel fell silent then nodded slowly, “Okay. I see what you mean. After this, we don’t need to cooperate with Black anymore. And he doesn’t need to know about the Underground Cave.”

**

“Good mornings, girls!” Poppy greeted her three friends who were gathering at the new café, again. It looked like the new cafe had become their favourite gathering spot. It happened that today would be a seminar at their University. So, there would be no classes for the next hour.

“Oh.. Hi Pops!” Kathy replied before sipping her Iced Americano.

“Iced Americano? This early in the morning?” Poppy’s eyes widened.

“Seems like her stomach is made of steel,” Emma answered. She only dared to drink a warm Matcha Latte because she cared about her digestion.

Poppy shook her head while Kathy just shrugged carelessly. She had just been working hard for the past few days and her brain needed a fuel change which was cold caffeine, “You know my brain had been stifled for days. Why are you still insulting this drink of my life?”

“Oh? So your busy life is over? How did it go?” Emma asked.

Kathy nodded with a big smile, “Of course, my team succeeded. It was a big project. We’re strictly forbidden to tell this to outsiders. But I’ll let you guys know a little. We did a hack that made a lot of money. It was a fake website. It was so much fun,”

“Wow.. But that sounds a bit scary. Are you sure it’s not against the law? Is it possible.. to be considered a criminal act?” Poppy lowered her voice.

Kathy shrugged, “I don’t know. But just so you know, the digital world is as dark and wide as that. In fact, all my team members live in various countries. But this friend of mine had made sure that we didn’t harm innocent people. He said the target was a corruptor in his country.”

Emma frowned, “Eum.. Don’t you think that the information perhaps should be investigated further?” she asked doubtfully.

“I thought so, honestly. But in the end, I didn’t want to think about it anymore. Like I said before, the digital world is dark and vast.” Kathy took another sip of her coffee.

“Alright..” Emma and Poppy said at the same time.

Then Poppy seemed to remember something very important. Then she turned to the girl in front of her who was enjoying her Hot Green Tea quietly, “Oh, Rachel. Do you think you can take me to your building this afternoon? My mom just happens to have time to see it too.”

“Oh.. I’m sorry, Poppy. But this afternoon I will have..”

Suddenly, Emma cut Rachel’s sentence by clearing her throat a few times, “Are you saying that this afternoon you will help your grandmother make Cinnamon Roll? Haha.. Seems like you forgot about it again. You told me yesterday that your grandmother postponed it to tomorrow, right?” Emma said, ??looking at Rachel meaningfully. She knew that Rachel wanted to accompany her to RJC headquarters this afternoon.

Rachel’s brows furrowed. Her face turned confused, “Eum.. I think you’re right. I.. forgot,”

Emma laughed then looked at Poppy and Kathy who looked at them both questioningly, “I recently found out that Rachel is the most forgetful person I’ve ever met.” Then she looked back at Rachel, “If you really don’t have an event this afternoon, shouldn’t you just show the building to Poppy? It just so happens that her mother rarely has time.”