The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

219 Redvalley Residents Arrival

“They got what they needed. In the end, I did this all to protect them. Money can do everything. Without money, you can’t live.”

Marcel’s answer made Emma laugh in disbelief. It made her feel to beat him to death so he could wake up from his tightly closed mindset.

“You adore money so much that you don’t even realize that it’s money that going to ruin your life,” Emma replied.

“I don’t know who you are and what your life is like behind that mask. But I can tell that you have never experienced how hard it is to live without money. If you knew, you would understand my actions.”

Emma smiled sarcastically. “Not everyone is mentally weak like you. Keep that in mind.”

Then Emma looked at the people around her, especially at the RJC members who were still silently watching them. “You see? Is this kind of man who you think is worthy of leading you all? A money-mad guy who will do anything for money! A man who would destroy other people’s lives for the sake of having a luxurious life!”

Then Emma turned to Marcel with a savage look. “This kind of evil man leads hundreds of people? You really are a poisonous snake.”

“Hey! Stop your bullshit, you d*ck head!” Vico said angrily, about to teach Black a lesson. He did not accept his leader and friend being insulted like that. Black knew nothing about Marcel.

But Marcel stopped his man again. To be honest, he had no more defences. Marcel wasn’t a bad-hearted person. But the mean world made him grow wrong principles in life.

.....

A difficult life and all the things that have been taken from him made him deify money with his soul. Even though he knew that he was wrong, Marcel couldn’t beat his fear of being in poverty again.

“That’s right,” Marcel said with a chuckle. “I would do anything for money. I lied to Black about my business. I made the underage youths who were trapped in poverty become fighters in this place. I made them the material for my gambling business. Even so, I kept this business hidden and covered it with a clean business on Redvalley Street, so that this Marcel Douglas would not be a villain in the eyes of the people. I will always be regarded as a hero.”

Emma was silent. Marcel’s lips did make a smile, but Emma could see the scar in his eyes. What happened to Marcel broke her heart. It seemed that what Marcel went through was unbelievably hard to turn a loving child into a monster.

“I’ve found the door,” Kathy suddenly came into the line.

Rachel who was fighting outside the Underground Cave immediately answered. “You can lead me, Kathy.” She said as she stepped away from the battlefield.

Seeing that, Ian, who was fighting a few meters from Rachel, immediately followed her.

With both eyes focused on the computer screen, Kathy began to explain. “There is a building behind the Underground Cave’s upper building. You can go through the building beside it. There is a shortcut to the back building.”

Rachel nodded. “Got that,”

Then the tall girl swiftly walked into the abandoned building with Ian. They had to make sure that none of the RJC members noticed their pullout, especially Damian who most likely knew where the back door was.

“Well..” Kathy squinted her eyes. “There’s a big stair in the main lobby of the building.”

“Lobby?” Rachel repeated as she continued to walk. The dust on the broken floor flew up when she stepped on it.

“Hey! I’m here, Rachel!” Kathy exclaimed with a big smile.

Rachel and Ian were surprised to see a small drone hovering inside the building. Rachel smiled proudly. “You.. really?”

Kathy chuckled, “The place isn’t too far from my house. But I’m having a little trouble with the signal. Follow this thing right away,”

“All right,” Rachel answered by doing what Kathy told her to do.

“You guys are out of mind,” Ian said in disbelief. His curiosity and admiration for the Black group unwillingly increased. They were unbelievably awesome.

Kathy was like a treasure hiding in an old chest. She was a girl who looked ordinary and even tended to be messy. But behind that, she had a big surprise that was unknown to everyone. And when she showed it, everyone would be amazed.

To find out the back door that Emma mentioned, Kathy had the idea of ??doing it by using the pictures taken by satellites. She even entered the satellites company’s database as an undetected silent virus. Although there weren’t many above-view photos of the area, Kathy still looked for them intensely. It was like putting pieces of a puzzle together. Finally, Kathy found two photos showing the presence of a man standing in front of the building located behind the building that was used as a front door to enter Underground Cave.

From this, Kathy suspected that the building was the location of the back door she was looking for. However, Kathy could not find any photos showing the inside of the abandoned building. If anything, it was a photo from years ago when the building was still in operation and didn’t provide any clues.

The only way to find out what was inside the building was to enter it, which Kathy couldn’t do. Kathy suddenly remembered a thing that she had been assembling and modifying in such a way.

It was a secondhand drone that she bought for a rather cheap price a year ago. All this time, Kathy had taken the time to turn the cheap thing into an amazing robot in her free time. And today, she proved its ability.

After searching the building, Kathy found many shoe tracks leading down the stairs. There, she saw a door with the same colour as the floor.

“The door’s over here. It’s become one with the floor.” Kathy said.

“Found it,” Rachel replied, staring at the door that was attached to the floor.

“Alright. It looks like everything is clear now. I’ll be back, then.” Kathy said.

Rachel nodded and waved briefly at the drone’s camera that was hovering in the air. “Thanks for helping out,”

Then the drone flew out through the large window of the building which had no glass.

“So, this is the door, huh?” Ian asked.

Rachel nodded as she looked at the floor around her. “It should be. The footprints here still look fresh,”

“I’ll open it,” Ian stepped forward and reached out his hand to pull a rope that was connected to the door.

However, before Ian’s hand even touched the rope, the secret door opened by itself from the inside. Ian and Rachel were surprised and immediately took a step back while kept staring at the door that was opening wider and wider. From there, several large black bags were tossed out, before being followed by a man in a shabby jacket whose forehead was covered with sweat.

***

A group of Redvalley residents marched towards Bluevalley Street where the rioting was going on. They carried big flashlights and some even brought axes. If they indeed have to fight, then they would. After all, the cops only came when someone died, right?

In the end, the people of Redvalley didn’t want to depend on someone’s hand for their lives anymore. They were colonized by Apollo for a long time. But in fact, it was because the people of Redvalley were always busy thinking about their own business. They never thought of joining hands in facing problems.

Until now, it was only when their trust in Marcel had subsided that they realized that they would become stronger if they were united.

The battle that was taking place in front of the Underground Cave suddenly stopped when a group of residents, mostly middle-aged people, came.

“What’s this?” Frank asked breathlessly as he wiped the sweat off his temples.

Damian was stunned when he saw the residents of Redvalley had suddenly come to the place. He was getting choked up when one of the old men who owned the fruit shop he frequented, approached him with a confused face.

“You? Why are you here?” Thomas asked.

“I.. That..” Damian stuttered.

Suddenly, an old woman came out from the crowd. “Damian? Your name is Damian, isn’t it? You’re working with Marcel. What is going on here?” Lilian asked as she approached the fiery red-haired man whose face was covered with wounds.

“What exactly is going on here?” Yonas added.

However, all the people who had previously fought did not answer. They were like a group of children playing in the park until late and then being picked up by their parents.

“Where’s my grandson, Damian? Why are you all fighting here? Is Marcel okay?” Lilian asked with a worried look because the boy’s face was battered.

“Hey! There’s a door here!” A man suddenly exclaimed. He was already standing in front of the door with the stairs going down. “Looks like it’s headed somewhere,”

“Don’t go inside! Please,” Damian said directly.

Lilian then looked at him again with a confused face. “Why can’t we go in there? What’s down there?”

“It’s n-nothing. It’s.. it’s a garbage dump,” Damian answered quickly. He was even still thinking after finishing his stupid answer.

Damian’s nervous face and his unreasonable explanation made the citizens even more suspicious.

“There must be something down there. Let’s check it out!” Thomas said. “Gosh, those punks are strewn around here like corpses. I can’t believe this.” He mumbled as he walked down the stairs.

“H-hey.. You can’t..” Damian was at a loss as to what to say to stop the angry residents. It was as if he was watching the scene of the angry villagers in the movie Dr. Frankenstein in live.