The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

80 Cross Paths

“You’re right. It seems like they are all related..” Emma nodded. In fact, from all the information that Kathy gave, she already knew half of it.

‘So.. Donny worked with The North Vikings before? And they want to attack Jen Marie street. Could it be that at that time, Donny already knew that a group of gangsters would be coming when he took us down that street?’ Emma thought to herself. Then, she closed her eyes, trying to remember more clearly what happened at that time. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide.

That’s right! Emma remembered some of the men who at that time chased her and her friends on Jen Marie street, who turned out to have the same faces as some of the men who were in the port boat warehouse where Calvin was being arrested. Even when on Jen Marie Street, they were seen wearing jackets with the same logo as theirs. But when they caught Calvin, all their jackets were just plain black.

“So, Donny and his friends are gangsters, huh? I just hate them even more.” Kathy muttered.

“That’s right. They are evil brats. I wonder how big the gang of gangsters who employ them?” Emma said with full intent to lure Kathy.

“Shall we find out more? Honestly, I was also quite curious. So, I did some research about that group called Hell Gate because they created such crazy porn websites. Although I hate to say this, but I admit, they’re so cool.”

Emma nodded, “Sure. I’m very curious too. We’ll just have to see. There’s no need to do anything to them. After all, it has nothing to do with us, right?” she said, chuckling too much.

“Actually, this Hell Gate group has another business, Emma. They sell boat parts. They even manufacture their own. However, it seems their business is illegal. They are very good at making money, don’t you think? In fact, from what I found, they have stores in various locations to market the parts.” Kathy explained by fiddling with her computer for a moment and pointing her finger at the screen, “Look.. This is what I found. They have four shops in several locations. How could be, an illegal business opens its shops on the open streets? But maybe they’re camouflaging the shops.” she continued.

Emma nodded. She seemed to think with a confused face, pretending as if she just knew it all. But in her heart, Emma was concluding many things. To Emma, ??those shops were definitely not just ordinary shops, but the headquarters of the Hell Gate branch.

.....

Emma could remember that morning. Kei was picked up by four cars out of nowhere. Now, she didn’t need to look any further to know that Hell Gate had the branch headquarters.

“Well.. In this city, there are a lot of things we don’t know. I call it the ‘Handway Undercover’. But what should I care? I can’t do anything about it either. We’d better mind our own business and stay out of trouble.” Kathy clicked the minimize logo on her computer screen to close everything related to Donny’s investigation, “Ugh.. Finally.. My task is done. But it’s also fun playing a detective job like this.. Haha..” she laughed.

Emma just smiled at Kathy. That girl was very useful in things like this. If only Emma didn’t have to hide her identity.. Kathy would be very shocked to hear all that Emma had been through. Unfortunately, she had to keep all the stories to herself.

***

A printer spat out a large piece of paper slowly. Once finished, there was seen a map picture of a fairly large city. It was a map of Handway City.

Emma took the paper that was still hanging in the lip of the printer, then, carried it over to her study table which had a wider top. While in Kathy’s room before, Emma had secretly printed out the map that Kathy had marked from the computer while the girl was going to the toilet.

“Roger’s acquaintances said that the strongest people in the Hell Gate group were the leader and the twins Gozu and Mezu. However, Gozu has gone to prison now. The main building is also no longer used by them after becoming police evidence. Surely they all moved to one of these branches. But which one?” Emma muttered.

“Should I check this one?” Emma circled a dot on her map. Five seconds later, she shook her head, “No.. no.. it’s too far. I have to get to the closest location first so I don’t waste my gas.”

Then, her eyes caught a Latin dictionary book at the end of the table and frowned. She lifted the thick book that she rarely touched and peered under it. It turned out that the thick book was laying on an eraser at the bottom. Emma smiled and took it, then she used it to erase the pencil circle on the map.

When she finished, Emma looked at the half-stick eraser which she thought was missing. It was the eraser that Roger had lent her the first time they met. Emma’s eyes began to tear up at the memory of her first friend who had gone.

“There will be no longer people with the same fate as you, Roger. I will protect Poppy and save girls who have the same fate as her. I will stop all of this. Pray for me from there, my best friend.” She said.

***

A pair of feet stepped in a narrow alley that was dark and smelled damp. He was wearing a black leather jacket. That night, it did not snow heavily. But the air that blew was so cold that it pierced the bones.

Calvin Lee, a man who was already famous among gangsters as The Lonely Hero. They thought of Calvin as a strong man who was very naive and stupid. Trying to clean up Handway City alone, even though in his mind, he already knew that he would not be able to reach his goal.

But this time, Calvin wasn’t alone. Behind him, was a group of strong men named Jita Kyoei. They had searched for information about the Hell Gate in just a short amount of time. Now, they were heading to one of the headquarters branches. They would destroy the Hell Gate group.

BRUMM!!

Calvin and Troy stopped their steps, which was followed by the rest of the members who were behind the two of them. A few meters ahead, a black sports motorbike emerged from the turn of the entrance to the Hell Gate headquarters on Paul Derrick Street. Then, the motorbike immediately speeded out of the entrance of the alley to the alley in front of it.

Calvin turned to Troy who was also still stunned staring straight ahead.

“It’s not like Hell Gate’s style, huh..” Martin muttered behind them.

“It’s not,” said Calvin.

Then, they quickened their pace to enter the base. But they found the iron door was unlocked, which was a strange thing. As soon as Calvin opened the door..

“W-what happened?” Ian stepped past Troy and Calvin who stood dumbfounded at the scene inside.

“Did the guy on the motorbike do this?” Nicko mumbled in shock.

In front of their eyes, all the Hell Gate members inside the base were already lying battered up on the floor without a single person remaining conscious. Then, they went deeper inside to check things out.

“That guy really ransacked this place.” Muttered Troy, who was standing in the middle of a room with several cupboards and a work desk.

In the room, there was a pretty big man whose face Troy recognized, lying unconscious. It was Loris Jordan. One of the hoodlums he was in the same class with in high school. It seemed that he had joined the Hell Gate and became the holder of the base that had become the wrecked ship.

The person who attacked the Hell Gate headquarters rummaged through all the files in the cupboards and drawers in the room. He put them all in a paper shredder and destroyed them like a pile of snow on the floor. Not only that. In other rooms, he also destroyed various properties that were there.

“What exactly is that person’s goal?” Said Calvin who was standing in the doorway.

Troy turned to Calvin and shook his head, “Could he be Roger’s friend and seeking revenge?”

“I’m not sure. If he really was Roger’s friend and cared about him that much, he shouldn’t have been quiet all this time. Because it’s so clear that Roger was bullied on campus.” Calvin replied.

“Tsk! He really did this all by himself. What kind of man is he actually?” Troy muttered again with a curious face.

After they finished checking and got nothing, they all returned to the main room.

“Has anyone seen the license plate number?” Nicko asked all the members.

Calvin nodded, “I saw it. It was ALB 110.”

“Frank and I will find out the owner of the bike after this,” Nicko said while writing down the number on his cellphone note. He got a nod and a thank you from Calvin.

“If it’s true that the helmeted man is after Hell Gate, that means he will be aiming for the remaining bases. Maybe we can split up to meet him.” Ian said.

It was actually useless for them to know who the black helmeted man was. But Calvin, Troy, Ian, and Nicko agreed to find out about him. Because that way, they could tell whether the man had good or bad intentions. If it turned out that the man had ulterior motives, it meant that they were forced to take him down.

Suddenly, one of Troy’s friends on guard duty at the outside came through the door, “Another member of Hell Gate is here,”

“Hm.. It seems that before dying, these people still had time to call for reinforcements.” Ian said.

Troy smiled as he cracked his knuckles, “Bring them here. At least we should go home sweaty, right?” the others nodded with laughter.

Hell Gate reinforcements didn’t know that inside the base, a group of hungry piranhas were ready to tear their bodies apart.