Manhattan Reborn 1978

new York.

Near midnight.

Manhattan, 33th Street.

In a bar with no plaque hanging.

Alto got into the bar and poured himself a glass of wine. He turned around and walked out of the bar with the bottle. He came to this table and sat down. He poured drinks for both Ludy and Rosenlow. Farr Pocchivino, the official plainclothes officer of the Auxiliary Police Office, laughed.

"Would you like another drink?"

"..Come on~"

Farr frowned and asked after watching the wine glass in front of him being slowly filled.

"How long do we have to wait??"

"Hehe~"

Lu Di picked up the wine glass, glanced at the clock not far away, and said with a smile: "Don't worry!"

"Everything must go through a complete process to get a satisfactory result~"

"Since you are already sitting here with us, you might as well tell more details about this case~"

"Um... there are no more details~ I've said everything I know..."

"Oh?"

"Isn't it?!"

Ludy put down his wine glass, looked directly at Far Pochvillo, and asked: "Where are the girls who were locked up?"

"do not you know?"

"Girl?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Hahaha~"

"Take it easy, buddy!"

"You just said it yourself, they have been completely brainwashed and are not willing to appear in court to testify against those scumbags."

"Then why do we still think of ways to take them all to court?"

"Uh... I don't know!" Far Pocchivino replied, frowning more tightly.

"Hey, this brain of yours will be useless if you don't use it anymore!"

"I ask you!"

"Why has this case reached this point and no reporter from the entire New York media has contacted the police to report on it?"

"Are all journalists blind and deaf?"

"The entire New York media industry doesn't even have a single friend or insider in the police department?"

"is it possible?"

"..." Far Pochvello suddenly realized the seriousness of this problem after Ludi's continuous questioning.

He asked with some uncertainty: "You mean... On the surface of this case, it's just that a group of them imprisoned those girls..."

"And behind these scumbags...?"

"Hehe~"

Ludy took out a cigarette from the cigarette box on the table, pointed at Farr and asked.

"Why didn't you ask the police how they came to New York in the interview transcripts of those girls?"

"Um...I didn't participate in the inquiry process of this case..."

"I know!"

"That's why I'm asking you... Did your colleagues in the police station deliberately omit this crucial question?"

"..."

There was a slight impulse in the corner of Far's eyes. He breathed heavily from his nostrils and gritted his teeth without making a sound. .

Ludy lit the cigarette and continued to ask: "Do you know who is behind the smuggling business and human trafficking business in New York?"

"Did you know that almost all of these businesses are related to international smuggling ships?"

"Do you know how much revenue this industrial chain, which ordinary people have no idea about, will bring in every year?"

"Guess...where did all this money go?"

"Who is distributing these benefits?"

"If I were to say that this is a business with disorderly competition, would you believe it?"

"What if all the secrets of this industrial chain were put in front of you tonight..."

"Do you think you have the ability or strength to cut it all off?"

"Hehe~"

Lu Di flicked the ashes, took a long drag on the cigarette, shook his head and sighed.

"I remember you mentioned something just now..."

"Two of those girls told the police that before they were locked up, there were girls there who had been locked up for a long time~"

"Later, these girls who had been kept in captivity for a long time disappeared from this world after being taken away by those scum."

"Where have they gone?"

"Even if it is thrown into the sea and fed to fish, it will leave some wreckage or traces, right?"

"So, during these several years, no one found anything weird?"

"Inside..."

"Hum~"

Ludy raised his head, vomited out his eyes, and continued in a deep voice.

"Let's make a bet~"

"If those scumbags really die tonight, the news in the media tomorrow morning will immediately define their death as... murder or homicide~"

"As for this case..."

"Now that all those scum are dead, will anyone still pay attention to this case? Will anyone still pay attention to these girls who are kept as pets?"

"Hehe~"

Lu Di casually threw the cigarette butt on the ground, stamped it out, stood up and sneered.

"If the entire industrial chain behind this entire incident were exposed..."

"FBI+CIA, they can't afford it!"

"Not to mention a little New York cop like you!"

"Fall!"

"Let's go here first tonight~"

"You go back to Alston tomorrow and continue working!"

"No matter what happens next, it has nothing to do with you!"

"..."

With a bloodless face like a dead man, Farr Bocchivino stood up silently, nodded to Aalto and Rosenlot, and walked out of the bar with empty steps.

. . .

Farr Pocchivino, gone.

Alto also raised his glass with an ugly look on his face, drank it with a tilt of his neck, and said to Ludy in a muffled voice.

"He...is a good policeman!"

"Ok!"

"The words you just said...are too much!"

"Hehe~"

Ludy raised his eyebrows and sneered twice, took two steps forward and walked to Alto, looked down at him and asked.

"Lies or truth...which one do you think he would rather hear?"

"..."

"The truth never carries a hint of warmth and hope."

“That’s why lies run rampant in our world~”

"The plight of those girls is indeed worthy of sympathy..."

"But what can we do?"

"We can only stand in the dark and help them shout out...it's just despair of fate~"

Aalto and Rosenlow both raised their heads and stared directly at Ludy, waiting. .

"Whoo~"

Lu Di let out a long sigh, thought about it very seriously, and whispered.

"You guys should go back too~"

"All answers will be revealed tomorrow morning!"

"..ok!"

----

Morrison Township, New Jersey.

David was lying on the bed in his bedroom, his head resting on his hands, staring at the ceiling in a daze. .

After a long time.

David slowly closed his eyes in the dim light coming from the window~

. . .

After he gradually fell asleep, those strange dreams came again as promised~

However, this time he seemed to be able to see some pictures and scenes in the dream, but he could not clearly see the most important characters, nor could he hear what they were talking about. .

----

a new day!

A few rays of morning light from the east caused a layer of mist to rise in the small town of Morrison in the cold wind~

David slowly woke up from his sleep, stood up and walked to the window, looking out of the window with red eyes.

After half an hour.

There was a sound of the door opening in Black Mike's room.

Black Mike tapped David's bedroom door twice with his hand, then raised his ears and listened carefully inside.

"Come in~ the door is unlocked."

"..."

Black Mike pushed the door and walked into the bedroom. He saw David standing at the window, dressed neatly, and asked with some worry in his eyes.

"You were up all night last night?"

"No~ I just got up earlier than you."

"Oh.."

"Then let's have breakfast later and then head to Philadelphia?"

David turned to look out the window again and nodded silently.

Black Mike raised his eyebrows, glanced around the bedroom, walked behind David, followed David's gaze and looked out the window.

There was only fog outside the window at this time. .

. . .

breakfast time.

Sierra's mother led Salonia, the older sister of the Malik sisters, and the family prepared a sumptuous breakfast.

Mike Bai, Lavis and Giovanni all expressed their heartfelt praise for Sera's mother's cooking skills. .Crazy flattery~

After seeing the smile on his wife's face, old David also had a better impression of the three of them~

However, David's state this morning seemed a little uncharacteristically dull~

Old David picked up the milk cup, looked at his son, and asked, "Are you going back to New York later?"

"No~ we're going to Philadelphia."

"Philadelphia?"

"What are you going there for? Talking about business?"

At the dinner table, everyone fell silent after hearing the conversation between their father and son.

David pursed his lips and finished chewing the food in his mouth. He also picked up the milk glass, looked at his father, old David, and said calmly.

"No~ I want to go to Philadelphia to find someone."

"...Oh~"

Old David looked directly into his son's calm eyes, slowly put down the cup, and said: "Then I will buy the bed in the house opposite today~"

"If you don't want to live in Philadelphia, you can come back and spend the night!"

"The three of them don't have to sleep on mattresses anymore~"

David took a sip of milk, paused for a few seconds, and nodded: "Okay, Dad~"

"..."

At the dinner table, after this conversation between David and his son, there was silence.

Sierra's mother also felt her son's abnormal behavior, and looked at her husband David Sr. with a slight frown.

Old David calmly touched her feet twice with his toes under the dining table, and continued to finish breakfast in silence.

. . .

After old David and his wife saw off David and his two cars, they stood in front of their home.

Only then did Sierra’s mother ask her husband: “You said...David...??”

"..fine!"

"He has grown up and doesn't need us to do anything for him anymore."

"...Oh~"

A trace of worry flashed in Sierra's mother's eyes, and more disappointment emerged.

Old David put his arm around his wife's shoulders, pursed his lips and looked at the distant street corner in the mist. He couldn't help but recall David's performance just now in his mind.

----

Pennsylvania, Southeast.

Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is the central city of the Delaware Valley Metropolitan Area. The urban area starts from the Delaware River in the east and extends to the Schuylkill River in the west. It covers an area of ​​334 square meters and is separated from New Jersey by only one river.

It is one of the oldest and most historically significant cities in the United States. It was the capital of the United States from 1790 to 1800 before the founding of Washington, D.C., so it plays a very important role in the history of the United States.

The Philadelphia metropolitan area is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States, second only to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It has an extremely advantageous geographical location. It is about 160 kilometers (less than 2 hours' drive) from New York to the northeast and about 220 kilometers from the capital Washington to the southwest. km (after 3 hours drive left).

. . .

Philadelphia, Northern Liberties/Fishtown.

Mike Bai, who was sitting in the driver's seat, slowly parked the car on the street, pointed at an old apartment building not far ahead, and said to David, who was sitting in the back seat.

"Ruby and the three girls who share the apartment are on the third floor of that apartment, the second door on the left."

David reached out and opened the car door, and when one of his feet was on the ground, he suddenly asked.

"Who arranged for the person to follow Ruby all the time?"

"Um...it's Polly~"

Mike Bai got out of the car, faced the dull-looking David, and said with a smile: "I heard that Polly thinks that you will definitely want to see Ruby again~"

"So, after you two broke up, she arranged for someone to come over and help you take care of Ruby from a distance~"

"..."

David looked at the apartment building in the distance. After closing the door, he took a few deep breaths and turned to look at Black Mike, Lavis and Giovanni. His voice was mixed with some indifferent words. said.

"Can we talk alone?"

"..certainly!"

"We'll wait for you downstairs!"

"..Um!"

. . .

The four bodyguards followed David into the apartment building. Listening to his footsteps stopping on the third floor, Lavis raised his hand and scratched his nose, looked at Black Mike in confusion, and asked.

"what happened to him?"

"Hehe~"

Mike Bai patted Lavis's shoulder a few times with his hand and said with a smile, "Why do you ask so many questions?"

"Knowing too much about this kind of thing doesn't do us any good at all!"

"...You fart!"

"Hahaha~"

. . .

third floor.

David's footsteps stopped at the door of the second apartment.

He raised his arms and held his hands in the air and hesitated for a long time before knocking on the door hard.

"Clang clang clang~"

"..."

"Clang clang clang clang~"

"..."

"Dangdang..."

When he knocked for the fifth time, there was finally a sound of lazy footsteps in the room.

"Who!?"

"...Good morning! I am..."

“We don’t want sales pitches!”

"...I'm not a salesman~ I'm David from New York, looking for Ruby!"

"Ruby?"

After the girl's voice in the room paused for a few seconds, David, who was standing at the door, took a big step back, raised his hands toward the peephole on the door, and said.

"I'm alone, I didn't bring anything~"

"..."

"Clah la la la ~"

There was a sound of unlocking the door, and then it was opened through a narrow gap.

A girl with a brown-red chicken coop afro asked David through the crack in the door with alert eyes.

"Are you her friend in New York?"

"Yes!"

"Ex-boyfriend?"

"..right!"

"fxxx!"

"Are you that David Coleman!?"

"Um...it's me~"

With a somewhat unnatural and unconfident smile on his face, David took another half step back, raised his hands and explained.

"Don't get me wrong!"

"I came here just to chat with Ruby in person, I don't have any other ideas~"

The girl with the afro hair looked up and down at David with disdain, and sneered: "Thoughts?"

"Hehe~"

"Wait for you at the door!"

"Bangdang~"

"..."

David watched the door close again, and the "90%" smile that he managed to squeeze out suddenly froze on his face.

He raised his hand and wanted to knock on the door twice more.

But when he wanted to step forward, he stopped all his movements~

. . .

After a few minutes.

David, who felt like he had been waiting for a long time, saw the door to the room opened again~

This time, the person who poked his head out from the crack in the door was the face he had "thought about day and night". .

"Ruby!"

"Hey~ David? Is it really you?!"

"How did you find out here?"

"Um...look...can we go out and find a place to chat?"

"I can answer all your questions!"

Ruby, who had some small freckles on her face and dark blond curly hair, hesitated for a few seconds, blinked her eyes, and said to David.

"Then you go downstairs and wait for me first! I'll go... change clothes!"

"Ok!"

. . .

ten minutes later.

Ruby, wearing a "fashionable" brand, quickly walked out of the apartment building, found David who had been waiting for a long time on the street, waved to him and smiled.

"Let's go~ I know there is a restaurant over there, the breakfast tastes very good!"

"Ok!"

David nodded to Ruby a little cautiously, followed her to the restaurant in the distance.