anovelconsole Chapter 23 Welcome to the New Era
Chapter 23 Welcome to the New Era
Chapter 23 Welcome to the New Era
Herman Schultz sat in the back of the truck, the chill of the metal seeping into his bones through his armor. In the past, he would have thought anyone robbing a bank in a truck was insane—did they think they were filming Batman? Trying to rob a bank with a large vehicle like the Joker?
But reality is even more absurd than movie scripts.
Kingpin's henchman, the black "Prowler" in the purple jacket, only told him one thing: "You can't rob a bank in this gear with a regular car." Herman couldn't possibly spend another hour putting on his armor in front of the bank. The only way was to find a truck, sit in the back, and go to the bank.
And whether it's a coincidence or not, this damned "wanderer" actually arranged for an ice cream truck to take him! The whole truck was playing the "GG" theme song from ice cream trucks!
"Can't you just stop this damn music?!"
A horrified hand slammed down on the inside of the carriage. The driver's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Sorry, buddy, we don't know how to turn it off. It started going off as soon as we turned on the ignition."
"FXXK!"
The Wanderer wasn't actually mocking Herman's armor's heat dissipation issues. Unlike Herman, who was a pseudo-illiterate who couldn't afford school, this Wanderer was truly illiterate and had no idea about any of that complicated technological equipment. The ice cream truck was only provided because it happened to be the only one available.
They were robbing the Union Bank of New York, where Horizon Labs stored a large amount of material. The big boss, "Kingpin," was very interested in something in the vault. He needed the best lock pick, and nothing was more suitable for the job than Thriller.
The ice cream truck arrived at the bank entrance playing music that attracted children. Two people got out of the driver's seat and the passenger seat. The bank's security camera captured the two hooded men kicking open the glass door, and the roar of shotguns shattered the chandelier.
Herman leaped from the carriage, his boots slamming into the ground and creating a spiderweb of cracks in the concrete. But Herman didn't notice this and walked into the bank, where his two accomplices had already taken control of most of the bank's employees.
"The Avengers will be here in three minutes at most, and then we won't be able to get out," the driver instructed Herman. "Can you handle it? Three minutes, one lock."
"More than enough, as long as you haven't got the safe wrong."
As this menacing figure in high-tech armor approached, the bank manager, who had already quietly pressed the alarm, swallowed hard. He watched as the terrifying figure, who had caused a ruckus in the city just two days ago, walked toward him.
Where is Horizon Labs' safe?
He hadn't expected Jing Song to ask such a question, and even more unexpectedly, after receiving no answer, Jing Song simply raised his hand and shattered the bulletproof glass in front of the counter, then casually asked the question again.
Where is Horizon Labs' safe?
The bank manager, scrambling and trembling with fear, reached the safe. He placed one hand on it, and in the bank manager's presence, the safe door slowly twisted and warped before he ripped it off. He threw the ripped door to the ground and saw his target.
That was... a glass fish tank?
Why is a fish tank one of Horizon Labs' experimental products?
Not quite understanding, Herman picked up the fish tank-like thing. It didn't feel like it was made of glass; it seemed to be made of some kind of organic material. It was quite tough, probably a sample of some new material.
He took the fish tank and went outside, beckoning to Kingpin's men who were on guard: "Got the stuff, let's go."
"Okay, give me the things..."
Kingpin's men were also stunned: "Where did you get a fish tank from?"
"Ask the nerds at Horizon Labs." Herman rolled his eyes under his armor mask and shoved the fish tank into Kingpin's men's hands. "Here you go. Take it back. I'll distract the Avengers who might come, and we'll split up."
The robbery went very smoothly, even to the point of surprising Herman. He activated his vibration wave and quickly leaped into the air, using this convenient but road-damaging method to leave the bank. This supervillain would vandalize the road along the way, leaving clues for those damned superheroes so that his henchmen could take the stolen goods back to Hell's Kitchen.
On this day, New York City's crime rate increased by 400% year-on-year, and almost all of them were bank robberies. Several of them involved gruesome events, but until the gruesome events actually occurred, no one could be sure which robbery he was in. So much so that even the Avengers couldn't catch him.
"Alright, let's summarize. We now have a Ram, and besides luck, there's one other difference between him and the real Ram: so far, no lock can defend against his punches."
Tony sat at the conference table, looking at the crime map of New York, marked in red like blisters, and expressed what could be described as boredom and exhaustion. The captain also sighed.
Hank is more focused on the technological aspects of the story. He finds the thriller genre quite appealing, as the robberies involve technological prototypes and data, most of which are not weapons.
"And at the same time, the number of bank robberies in New York skyrocketed. It was clearly a cover for the scare tactics; only the banks he targeted were the real targets. Most of the stolen items were experimental products from various laboratories, and a significant portion of them were not even patented."
"Someone hired the 'Surrogates' for these technological products. Based on our understanding of Hermann Schultz, he is very confident in his own technology and wouldn't use other people's technology casually. Nor could he mobilize so many people at the same time."
As the captain spoke, he pulled out a list, which included various New York underground gangs, large and small. Generally speaking, these were not within the Avengers' jurisdiction, but they needed to know who had hired the Thrillers.
"Hammerhead, Tombstone, Viper Gang... Do we have any specific suspects?"
As the captain spoke, he saw Kingpin's image slide across the holographic projection.
"I am honored to have you join us, Mr. Schultz."
Before the Emperor of Hell's Kitchen lay a table laden with delicacies and wines Herman had never seen before. The Emperor was incredibly robust, like a wall. Herman was not wearing armor, making him appear even smaller next to Kingpin. But he doubted that even in armor, he wouldn't be as strong as the man before him.
"Mr. Fisk, it's an honor to work for you." Herman, watching Kingpin devour his food, introduced himself: "I was born in Harlem, and to us, you are..."
"Thank you." Kingpin smiled and picked up his knife and fork, interrupting Herman. "I'm glad you can acknowledge my past achievements..." He waved his hand, making a somewhat inappropriate assumption: "...but this is a new era. Everyone knows that the old methods don't work anymore. So, I need you to help me unlock the locks of those geniuses and see what they think about the future."
After Kingpin finished speaking, he clapped his hands. The man standing in the shadows, wearing a purple jacket and calling himself the Wanderer, placed the fish tank that Herman had brought out in the corner of the table. Then a thin man was brought up.
"In this day and age, anything can create miracles, like this... Explain, Mr. Baker?"
"Oh, yes, okay, Mr. Wesker."
The timid, thin, white man gestured awkwardly, offering a completely disorganized explanation: "Everything we can see is actually light. The reflection of light creates everything, so, uh, I, light is the image. If we could manipulate light..."
"Relax, Mr. Baker." Kingpin smiled as he cut the salmon, gesturing for Herman to join him. "I'm not very scientific, so can I be blunt? What's the use of this thing you want?"
"Okay."
The person called Baker was almost in a daze, but still stammered out, "It's a projector, but the target of the projection is not any physical entity but light particles. It can directly change the state of light particles, which means that if this technology is completed, it can create 3D projections that look real but don't actually exist anywhere..."
"Thank you, Mr. Baker. Please take him to rest."
Kingpin waved his hand, signaling for Baker to be taken away: "Just thinking about this... the projector. If our people can get it set up, we can let people see what we want them to see, like a Spider-Man committing arson, murder, and looting, or a group of Avengers slaughtering civilians abroad. People might not believe the rumors circulating, but they'll believe what they see."
"Welcome to the new era, Mr. Hermann."
(End of this chapter)