The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

64 Infiltrating Hell Gate’s Headquarters

Roger nodded with a smile, “But there are dozens of strong men inside. And it’s just the two of us. There’s no way we’ll get out safely. I’d rather be crushed alone inside. Please, Emma. Let me move on my own.”

“Even now, you are still underestimating me, Roger. If you want to move alone, then it’s up to you. But I also have the same mission. I will also keep moving on, even though it’s a different team from you.” Emma insisted.

Roger snorted in annoyance. He was only worried about Emma. But apparently, the girl was very stubborn and somewhat arrogant. Roger knew Emma was much stronger than he was. Roger had seen for himself how she defeated four gangsters with ease. But how could one girl be able to defeat dozens of fighters inside?

“I’m not waiting for you to beat around the bush here. If you want to move apart, then I’m fine. But you know, our chances of successfully rescuing Poppy will be bigger if we work together.”

“FINE!” Roger answered with emphasis, “We will work together. But I have a condition for you. If things get out of control, you must run away as soon as possible. With or without me.” He continued firmly.

“I also have an important request for you,” Emma said. She looked at Roger deeply, “No matter what happens, don’t ever tell anyone what you know about my identity. I came to Handway city to start a new life as an ordinary girl. In this city, nobody knows who I really am, other than you. Please keep my secret carefully.”

Roger nodded. After learning the surprising thing about Emma, ??he could immediately guess that she had been pretending to be a normal girl all this time, so that no one knew her abilities, “I see. I’m a good secret keeper.”

“Nice. Now, show me the map. Let’s make a plan.” Emma said.

***

.....

All activities in the building had stopped. Everyone had gone to bed after the long activity yesterday. Emma and Roger crept through the back door they had hijacked earlier.

Roger walked in the front with his hands kept holding his baseball bat. Since Emma was wearing a helmet, it was a bit difficult for her to sneak like this.

Just as Emma had expected, based on the business that Hell Gate was running, guarding their base didn’t need to be too strict. Since they do digital business, it would be pointless to rob directly into the building. Better to work with great hackers to break into their websites.

The building was very quiet. The two of them crept up to the second floor easily without being smelled at all. Roger suddenly stopped his steps when he saw a large room with a large glass door. Inside, you there could be seen Donny, Brian, and several men were casually playing cards while drinking.

Roger turned around to tell Emma about the first obstacle in front of them. But Emma was no longer behind him, ‘What? Where’s she?’ thought Roger.

Frantically, Roger scanned the surroundings and finally found the black-helmeted figure standing next to a closed door. He rushed over to Emma.

“What are you doing?! Don’t just disappear like that!” he whispered.

Emma immediately put her finger in front of her helmet, signalling Roger to be quiet. She opened the helmet visor and closed the speaker attached to the bottom of the black thing, “I can hear Poppy’s voice from behind this door.”

Roger frowned then..

“Ah!”

The two of them immediately looked at each other with wide eyes when they heard that scream.

“That’s Poppy!” He whispered with a worried face.

The two of them also heard a slight male voice from inside. What Roger knew, it must not be Donny, because that guy was in the large glass room earlier.

“I’ll open the door,” Emma said again by closing her helmet visor. She got a nod from Roger who occasionally looked back and forth to make sure things were still safe.

As quietly as possible, Emma lowered the door handle and pushed it gently, making a small opening for her and Roger to peek inside. It turned out to be a medium-sized room with four bunk beds placed side by side.

“FUCK!” Emma growled with both pupils shaking.

That’s right. The voice they heard earlier belonged to Poppy. Yes, she was in the room. Her hands were tied up to the end of the bed. She was not wearing clothes, but a headband with cat ear decorations perched on her head. In the middle of her lips was a long roll of cloth tied around her head, so that she could not scream. She could only cry hysterically when four men surrounded her to take turns satisfying their animal lust for her.

Before Emma could move inside, Roger had pushed the door wide open and stepped inside at a brisk pace. Emma, ??who was still a little surprised, rushed in too and closed the door tightly.

BUGH! BUGH!

Roger hit the head of the man who was busy moving between Poppy’s legs. Instantly, the man fell unconscious with blood flowing out of the wound from the baseball bat hit. Poppy immediately screamed in surprise because the man’s body fell on her.

The other three men immediately stepped away to see what was really going on. Their brains were still in a state of loading because the animal instincts were still controlling them.

Emma kicked away the body of the man Roger had hit from Poppy’s body. Then, she immediately took the nearest blanket to cover Poppy’s naked body.

Emma held back her tears that felt like they were going to fall because she saw how her friend was being abused by those asshole men.

“Disgusting! Those sons of a bitch will make me throw up!” Emma muttered with disdainful glances at the three naked men who seemed to have finished their consciousness.

“Who are you?! You bastards!” Said one of them by throwing his fist at Roger.

Another man approached Emma who was still busy untying the ropes that bound Poppy’s hands.

Roger didn’t have time to warn Emma, ??because he was already busy fighting the man who attacked him. But when he glanced at Emma, ??he saw that she was still dealing with the rope. Beside her, the man who had been about to attack her was already lying on the body of the man Roger had hit first. It looked right that Roger didn’t need to worry too much about her. Emma Hilland was an incredibly strong woman.

The four men who were harassing Poppy weren’t as strong as the guards at the back building. They were just a film crew who didn’t know how to fight. One of them was a man with a pretty good physique and face. He was Jacky, the assh*le actor who invited the crew to work on Poppy in groups.

Because of that, Roger managed to defeat the man who fought with him earlier. Meanwhile, the last guy who wanted to help gang up on Roger had immediately received a high kick from Emma, ??which was a technique in Taekwondo. The girl hadn’t used her hands at all since earlier because she was busy untying the knots that tied Poppy’s hands.

All the men were already sprawled out with many bruises and cuts on their faces. For the umpteenth time, Emma looked at them with an expression of disgust.

Emma and Roger turned to Poppy at the same time. Meanwhile, the girl who had been released from the bond was still crying by covering her body tightly with the blanket that had been given by Emma. Her face looked confused, but at the same time relieved.

Poppy didn’t know who the two heroes in front of her were. Both of them were hiding their faces. But, one man in a ski mask really caught Poppy’s attention. She looked seriously at the only holes in the mask that were the two eyes.

“Ro... Roger?” She muttered in a rough voice. She was very familiar with that reflection of the blue sky eyes.

Instantly, Emma turned to Roger who was standing stiffly. He himself was also surprised how Poppy could recognize him immediately, even though his face was covered.

“You’re Roger, right?” Poppy’s cries grew louder as she moved closer to him.

Roger didn’t move. His eyes followed Poppy’s figure who was crawling toward him.

“Five steps from me,” said Poppy, “You should stay away from me. I already told you. Why are you still coming for me?”

Roger smiled, then he knelt down to match Poppy’s height. For the first time, he had the courage to stroke her soft cheek with his own hand. It was something he hadn’t done in years, but he had never forgotten how it felt.

“Forgive me, Poppy. But this time, I have to break my promise,”

Poppy shook her head, “No. Don’t do this, Roger! I don’t deserve your help anymore. You should be disgusted with me. Why do you keep doing this?” she cried.

“Because until now, I still love you,” Roger answered.

Poppy choked, then she immediately shook her head hard as holding Roger’s hand with both hands, “I beg you, Roger! Stop this. I can’t return your feelings. I’m begging you. You could die if you enter this place. While you still have a chance, please get out! I beg with all my life. Please, Roger! I don’t need you! I beg you!” She cried hysterically.

“Sorry Poppy. From the first.. I was that selfish..” Roger let go of his hand and stood up, “Don’t leave this room. Don’t let them know you know me. As I should be, I’m just a stranger to you.” he continued.

“If we sneak to the next floor, maybe they won’t notice...”

BRUGH!

“Hey! Have you guys finished yet...”

The three of them turned their heads towards the door which was suddenly opened from the outside. A guy they knew very well by face was standing frozen in the doorway with his hand still resting on the door handle. That’s Brian!