pertwk Chapter 44 Poverty is the most terrifying disease
Chapter 44 Poverty is the most terrifying disease
Lee brought Frank and his son back to Clinton Gardens.
The only folding table in apartment 301 was set up and placed in the center of the living room.
On the table lay a manila envelope brought back from the hospital; these were Frank's personal belongings.
Bright went to the hospital to retrieve it.
Frank has not yet been officially reported dead or missing, and everything he owns is still usable.
He took out the credit cards one by one from the envelope, arranged them neatly on the table, and looked up at Li En.
"Li En, with my credit limit and demobilization pay, I should be able to spend over 100,000."
"Do me a favor and take care of David for a while."
Li En sat in the only folding chair by the window, her back against the windowsill, her gaze fixed on the street outside.
The streetlights illuminated the cracked section of the sidewalk very brightly.
The homeless man who used to sleep under the ventilation vent every night is gone.
The cardboard box was still lying on the spot, turned over by the wind.
The note above, written in marker, says "Change is required," but it's faded so much it's almost illegible.
He probably died somewhere.
"Hey." Frank lowered his voice and glanced toward the bedroom.
David was sleeping inside; the door was ajar, with only a crack in it.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and tapped his credit card lightly twice on the table.
"I must avenge my wife and daughter."
Lee En turned her head and met Frank's gaze.
really.
The guy's anger had reached its peak, and he wasn't even willing to wait one night.
Since waking up in the hospital, he has been suppressing his anger with reason.
He almost broke down when he pressed down on David and hugged him, but now he pulled it back.
But pulling it back isn't to extinguish it, it's to make the fire burn more concentrated.
Who is your enemy?
He asked the same questions he had asked at the hospital again.
"I don't know, but we can start with the gangs."
Frank slowly brought his right fist to his knee, making a soft clicking sound.
"Since those guys were framed, they must have some clues on them."
If David hadn't been sleeping in his bedroom, he would have already walked to the port with that KSG shotgun.
Li En reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of things, and slammed them on the table.
Four military tags were lined up on the table, their metal edges reflecting a cold light under the fluorescent lamp, their chains intertwined.
Each sign has a name stamped on it.
He pushed him in front of Frank.
"People at the hospital and the police station both have this."
His eyes narrowed slightly when he mentioned the police.
The three unconscious attackers were locked in the cell; he and Brock had just locked the iron gate.
In less than half an hour, a small-time thug from the Mexican gang used a wire pulled from his waistband to slit the necks of all three men.
After wiping it, he swallowed the wire into his throat.
All three attackers were dead, and the thug was dead too.
The clues were completely cut off, and not even a last word was left behind.
Frank picked up the dog tags one by one and examined them closely under the light.
He read the name on each sign aloud, then put them back on the table and finally shook his head.
"They were soldiers, but I didn't know them."
He was just a captain in the Marine Corps; it was impossible for him to know all the soldiers in every unit.
"So the key issue isn't the gangs."
Li En moved her back off the windowsill and placed her hands on her knees with her arms crossed.
"In the army."
Frank acted as if he hadn't heard a word he said.
His fingers were still slowly stroking the dog tag, his eyes fixed on the embossed letters, something in his pupils contracting.
"Gangs must die."
Li En looked at him for two seconds, and then understood.
Regardless of who set up the Central Park incident—whether it was the military, a politician, or some complete stranger—it doesn't matter.
His wife and daughter were always killed by gangsters' bullets.
Therefore, his anger will first be directed at the gangsters, and only then will it reach the military.
"The Russian gang, the Irish gang, the Mexican gang, and the Amick Group."
Li En read out the names one by one, and with each name he called out, the muscles under Frank's eyelids twitched.
"The four major gangs in Hell's Kitchen each have hundreds or thousands of men under their command, so that shotgun alone isn't enough."
Lee En had no intention of stopping Frank.
They won't offer any empty words of empathy or comfort.
He was simply stating the facts.
Even he himself, with an unlimited Glock, the title of "Special Forces King," and a full set of special operations equipment.
They also didn't believe they could take down all four gangs in one night.
Frank picked up the credit card from the table again and threw it toward Li En.
The card tumbled twice in the air before landing on Lee En's lap.
"Ten thousand, for the cost of taking care of David, the rest to buy weapons."
"Do you even know how much weapons cost?" Li En shook his head.
He bought this set of equipment at a hotel in mainland China.
The sniper rifle, submachine gun, shotgun, and all accessories cost one gold coin.
The gold coin alone, if melted down and sold at the price of gold, would be worth a considerable sum, not to mention the door that the gold coin itself can open.
Of course, if you buy from legitimate gun shops or the underground market, you can certainly buy a lot with 100,000.
However, legitimate gun shops are required to register the information of gun owners.
Guns in the underground world don't have registration issues, but their quality is questionable.
Jamming, misfiring, and even barrel explosion are common occurrences.
Frank remained silent for a few seconds.
I haven't been home for long since returning from the Middle East, so I really don't know the current arms market situation in New York.
He bit down on his back molars.
"Then let's rob the gang."
Li En did not refute.
They killed and looted, taking guns from the gangsters and using the stolen guns to kill the next gangster.
This logic itself is sound.
As long as you kill quickly enough, the firepower will become stronger and stronger.
He leaned back in his chair and gestured towards the bedroom.
"Speaking of which, have you thought about what will happen next? David is still alive."
Frank fell silent again, this time for even longer than before.
He wanted to say that he should take revenge first, but he knew that this statement was untenable.
What will happen to David if he dies?
If he becomes a wanted criminal and is imprisoned in federal prison, David's custody will be transferred to a welfare agency.
If he escapes without wiping out all four major gangs, the remaining members will turn around and hunt him down.
So he could only wander the world with David, never having a stable life.
He certainly understood these things.
But shouldn't we avenge our wife and daughters?
Absolutely not.
It must be reported.
They must all pay the price.
The muscles in his face bulged and then deflated, and the blood vessels in his eyes turned outwards in layers.
Seeing his murderous look, Li En spoke again.
"Why don't you become a police officer at the Manhattan Police Department?"
"That way you'll have a job in the future, and David can live a normal life."
Frank suddenly looked up, his eyes wide open.
What is this guy saying?
He already knew what the Manhattan precinct chief had done from Brock.
The bureau chief called and ordered his men to hand David over.
Therefore, the bureau chief was also on his revenge list.
How could he possibly go to the police station to become a policeman and work for that chief?
Lee stood up, walked over to Frank, pulled over another folding chair and sat down, their knees almost touching.
"The bureau chief is definitely going to run away; he'll probably receive his resignation notice before dawn."
"Brock will take the director's position."
He paused for a moment, allowing Frank to process the information.
"After becoming a police officer, you will not only have a stable job, but you will also be able to provide David with a normal life."
As he said this, he noticed that Frank's anger had not subsided.
Frank really cared about David; he was his only family.
Now he's so focused on revenge that he's neglecting his son's condition.
Li En continued speaking.
"And it also allows me to take revenge."
"What do you mean?" Frank perked up instantly when he heard that he could get revenge.
Li En then smiled and continued, "Did you know that masked men have been appearing in Hell's Kitchen from time to time lately?"
"The newspapers called him a devil from hell, while some people thought he was a hero in the darkness."
"Whoever he is, at least he has provided a possible approach."
Frank's gaze lingered on Li En's face for two seconds, and he understood the meaning behind Li En's words.
He works as a policeman by day and kills people at night while wearing a hood.
This idea doesn't need to be explained a second time.
He was the former captain of the Marine Corps' Powerful Reconnaissance Company, specializing in infiltration, camouflage, and night operations.
He had taught these subjects countless times on the training field.
"Do you know about the port case and the warehouse street case?" Li En asked again.
Frank's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Did you do this?"
Lee En did not answer the question.
He continued speaking, at a slow pace.
"With your resume, you can easily pass the police review, and it should be done as quickly as possible."
"The people in the military would never have imagined you'd become a police officer."
"No matter how powerful they are, it would take at least dozens of people to deal with you in the police station."
"That's impossible."
If the military is deployed to deal with the police, it will immediately encounter a backlash from the entire police system.
These are two completely different power systems; even a general wouldn't dare issue such an order.
"If they intend to do that, using daytime methods against you... wouldn't that be perfect?"
Frank raised his right fist and slammed it hard against his thigh.
"That's right. As long as they go through the legal process, it will definitely come to light who in the military really wants me dead."
He took two deep breaths.
Reason told him that Li En's suggestion was the only solution that could resolve both revenge and survival at the same time.
Even if he really dies, he can give David a safe future.
As long as he is a formal member of the police system, the police council will also be responsible for David's upbringing and education.
That's what circles are all about.
Wearing that dark blue police uniform, he became part of the system; those who wanted to act in the shadows had to bypass the entire system first.
Moreover, at night he could also disguise himself as a masked man to deal with gangsters and avenge his wife and daughter.
The two things are not contradictory.
Do both things at the same time.
But I still couldn't suppress the anger in my heart.
He knew this was the best solution, but his body didn't want to wait.
My body wanted to grab a shotgun and walk out of that door right now.
He clenched his teeth so tightly that you could taste the rusty flavor of his gums being squeezed.
Li En noticed his condition.
This person needs to vent, otherwise he'll suffocate from the pent-up anger before he even leaves the house.
He pulled an old-fashioned cell phone out of his pocket; it had buttons and a screen no bigger than a fingernail.
I opened the SMS message and scrolled through the task list of the mainland hotel, pressing the arrow keys a few times.
"The head of the Irish gang is worth eight hundred thousand, that's a lot."
"Amick, 1.2 million?"
Moreover, in addition to the bounty, you can also get a fixed amount of gold coins for each completed task.
If you calculate it that way, it's a great deal.
He put down the phone, took out another phone, and dialed a number.
"Brock, are there any combat equipment in the warehouse that haven't been registered yet?"
"Yes, it's useful."
He glanced at Frank and added another sentence into the microphone.
"By the way, try to get the director position. Frank will be joining as a colleague tomorrow."
"Don't worry, there won't be any problems."
After hanging up the phone, he stood up, walked to the window, glanced at the street outside, and turned back with a smile.
"Bright will send over a set of scrapped equipment later."
"But there's nothing we can do about the guns; you'll have to figure that out yourself."
"I won't stop you, but you should still be prepared."
"Remember to rob all the gang's cash. Whether we use that money to arm ourselves or do charity, it's better than handing it over to the evidence room, right?"
Frank felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at Lee En's smile.
Li En leaned back against the windowsill and bent down to type one letter at a time on the keys of the old-fashioned cell phone.
The green light from the screen was reflected in his pupils.
The Irish Gang, Amick Group.
Receive.
He closed his phone, the flip cover making a crisp click.
Bright hasn't arrived yet.
Li En sat in the folding chair by the window, her back against the windowsill.
Frank sat opposite him, arms crossed, eyes closed, breathing steadily and slowly.
The living room was quiet, with only the occasional sound of police sirens from the distant street outside the window, muffled and not jarring, coming from several blocks away.
Li En shifted his gaze from Frank to the street outside the window.
The purple man is dead.
The pressure that had been pressing on the back of my neck since the first day of my journey had disappeared.
How did we survive before? Now it's about how we'll live afterward.
He hasn't been here long, but in these few days he has come to a profound understanding of a principle.
In New York, the poor cannot survive.
The gangster who jumped out of the ambulance and was hit and killed by a truck was simply unable to pay his medical bills, preferring to jump out of the moving ambulance.
The homeless man sleeping under the ventilation duct had a note written on a cardboard box asking for change, but the writing had faded and he still hadn't received it.
The dockworkers living in Hell's Kitchen carried goods all night long.
After dawn, I'll exchange all my hourly wages for whiskey, because being sober and poor is worse than being drunk.
Everyone living here has a disease.
Poverty leads to illness and death.
There are no guarantees here.
Even as a police officer, one could lose their job and everything at any time.
……