Manhattan Reborn 1978

Southeast Texas, Houston.

It’s approaching noon~

West of downtown, 19 Piney Point Village, Memorial District, Piney Point Village.

Professor Armstrong Bartlett, sitting in a wheelchair, was pushed by David into the sunshine in the backyard.

He changed the blanket on his legs, enjoying the warm sunshine and breeze, and asked David behind him.

"Who is this Elena?"

"Forehead.."

David hesitated for a few seconds because of his sudden "gossip" from his mentor, and finally answered honestly.

"She's currently my personal assistant."

"Currently?"

"Correct!"

"What about later?"

"From now on...just leave it to God~"

"Maybe he will give me some guidance."

Professor Bartlett couldn't help but look back at the "playful" student David. Seeing that his eyes were very clear, he didn't say anything more.

David pushed the wheelchair with both hands, found a place in the yard with the sunniest and least wind, fixed the wheelchair, walked to the instructor and smiled.

"Do you know everything about what happened between Lilith and Laura and me?"

"Yeah..." Professor Bartlet crossed his arms and leaned back, nodding.

David looked down at the lawn at his feet, and simply found a place to sit down. He put his right arm on his knees, looked up at his mentor, and asked seriously.

"What do you think of the relationship between Lilith and Laura?"

"Me?" Professor Bartley seemed to have never thought that David would raise this question "boldly".

But he didn't think there was anything wrong with David choosing to "show off" at this time. He just felt a little sad that the past that had long been dusted in his heart was mentioned again.

"When I was studying, two classmates were forced to leave school because of this relationship."

"Classmates? What happened to them?" David looked at his tutor in surprise, not expecting to hear such gossip. .

Professor Bartlet looked at the big trees in the distance and shook his head slowly.

"One of them was sent to a mental hospital by his family to receive physical and drug therapy."

"The other one, after disappearing for many years, took the initiative to join the army, went to the battlefield in Vietnam and never came back."

"...What happened next?" David sighed in his heart and continued to ask.

"Later... later~"

"Later, the boy who entered the mental hospital was gradually deliberately alienated and forgotten by his family..."

"So, after he escaped from the mental hospital one day, he found me and several other old classmates, changed his name, left the United States, and started a new life."

"Oh~" David felt that the ending of this "tragic" story was not very "poignant". .

Professor Bartley had a weird smile on his face, looked at David and said, "Do you want to know where he went?"

"Um...where did he go?"

"He went first to France and then to England."

"A few years ago, when we all thought we would never see him again...he actually came back with his new lover!"

"What?" When David heard this story, there was another twist. The fire of gossip in his heart was immediately ignited, and he looked at his mentor expectantly.

Professor Bartley nodded slightly with an even weirder smile, and pointed at David: "I can know the news of his return, thanks to your efforts!"

"Me?" David pointed to his nose, surprised and confused and speechless.

Professor Bartlet deliberately made an expression of surprise and confusion, and nodded with a smile.

David pointed his finger on his forehead and thought about all the people he knew over and over again. He felt very confused and was about to speak. .

Suddenly, a "clue" flashed in his mind, causing him to slowly open his mouth wide and say a name with disbelief on his face.

"Is it Spencer??!!"

Professor Bartlet raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

David stared at his mentor closely, his eyes widening as his mouth opened wider, and he murmured.

"No way..?"

"No way!?"

"How can such a thing still happen?"

Professor Bartley pursed his lips and was silent for a moment, then sighed: "The new lover he met in England is named Devenceus von Spencer, who is more than 30 years younger than him."

"Hiss~!!"

"Wow!!"

David slapped his forehead several times with his hand and said with a wry smile: "Otis Parker once told me that there was a forgotten wise man living in seclusion in New York."

"Later I learned that he was actually Catherine Matilda Swinton's distant uncle and the younger brother of the contemporary head of the Spencer family."

"You knew he was in New York because we went to England and contacted Tilda...?"

Professor Bartlet shrugged, took away the blanket on his legs with his hands, slowly stood up from the wheelchair, waved to David who stood up and came over to help him, and said.

"Actually, I already knew about this before Sirrod (Old Morgan) introduced Odis Parker to you."

"It's just that at that time, Sirold (Old Morgan) was feeling very troubled by the relationship between Laura and Lilith, so he rejected Odis Parker's proposal and did not bother my old classmate and the German scholar. Si’s peaceful life~”

"Oh.."

David stood there, watching his mentor walking slowly on the lawn. He tilted his head and thought about all the causes and consequences. He tried hard to calm down the surprise and weirdness in his heart, and then asked.

"So, you neither support nor oppose... Laura and Lilith's relationship?"

"Yes~"

Professor Bartlet opened his arms, "embraced" the bright sunshine, and smiled.

"They are not my daughters, why should I worry?"

"..Haha~"

David smiled dryly, took a few steps forward, hesitated for a moment, and said with a sigh of relief.

"Mentor, I want... to use a pen name in the author column of this new book!"

"pen name?"

Professor Bartlet turned to look at David, was stunned for a few seconds, and then asked.

"Are you afraid that you will attract more attention and that you will no longer be able to let your family enjoy a peaceful life?"

"Ok!"

"You can't completely avoid the inevitable troubles by using a pen name, right?"

"A lot of people already know that you are writing a book!"

David nodded gently with a confused and helpless expression: "I understand."

"But I hope I can keep a low profile as much as possible, at least not to be reported frequently in the public media."

"Uh..." Professor Bartlet was speechless.

He looked at his student who "didn't like reputation", nodded silently as if he understood, walked back and forth a few steps on the review, and then said.

"I heard that Odis Parker mentioned to you that he wanted to introduce you to Freemasonry, but you refused?"

"Yes!"

"why?"

David also followed his mentor's example, stretched out his arms and replied with a smile.

"Regarding Freemasonry (full name: Free and Accepted Masons, referred to as Freemason.), after Odis Parker mentioned it to me and I refused, I also seriously considered whether to join."

“But when I was on vacation in Hawaii and chatting with Carnes Rothschild, something suddenly dawned on me.”

"Whether it's Freemasonry or Illuminati~"

"They are all elite secret societies that were born hundreds of years ago when the whole of Europe was shrouded in the theocracy of the church."

"Although the current environment in the United States is no longer like Europe hundreds of years ago..."

“But in the past, present, and in an uncertain future.”

"Only by continuously strengthening myself can I, my lover and my family live a happy and peaceful life!"

David accompanied his mentor, walked slowly to the other end of the lawn, and spoke more of what was in his heart.

"Today's United States, as mentioned in a "Powell Memorandum" a few years ago, major enterprises and companies are about to return from being deliberately suppressed by the government for a long time. They will return to the market with a high profile and gradually enter a new round of activity. !”

"Following this... the banking industry also went to the U.S. Supreme Court with the then-Nixon administration because of the Bank Secrecy Act promulgated by the government in 70."

"So~"

"How I find opportunities from crises, how to make myself grow and become stronger quickly, is far more important than joining a secret society, deliberately blending into their circle, and becoming one of them... is much more important! "

Professor Bartlet raised his head and looked at a few white clouds in the sky for a while.

"In a drawer in my study, there is an Illuminati emblem ring."

"Um...you joined the Illuminati?"

"Yes~"

"So you have also been a Freemason?"

"Of course!"

Professor Bartlet turned his head and glanced at the "curious" David. Seeing that he didn't show any surprise on his face, he nodded and smiled.

"I haven't participated in Masonic activities for more than ten years."

"The Illuminati also invited me to join a few years ago..."

"But I know that among those so-called secret societies, there will always be some guys with particularly radical ideas who want to cause trouble..."

"So, I have never actively participated in any Illuminati activities."

"Oh~"

David glanced at Professor Bartley and resisted the urge to ask further.

Professor Bartlet deliberately brought the topic to this point, of course, not out of emotion, but continued.

"The Freemasonry and the Illuminati have developed to this day and have completely become two independent organizations."

"The headquarters of Freemasonry in various regions around the world now represent members in that region and will not be managed by other regional headquarters~"

"What it is more responsible for is: providing a platform for communication; allowing members to establish initial trust; and monitoring or suppressing certain people or organizations that may endanger the interests of members and Freemasonry."

"The activities regularly organized by the Illuminati are more like a business club for senior members~"

"Although they have different purposes for joining the Illuminati, they all hate the Masonic membership hierarchy, as well as the so-called rules and preaching."

"They are more authentic, richer, more aloof, more results-oriented and less trusting."

Professor Bartlet looked around, put his arm around David's shoulders, and still looked at the sky. He found the cloud he liked most just now and whispered.

"So the path you choose will be very difficult!"

"Even so, do you still want to keep going?"

"..Maybe!"

David "chased" his mentor's gaze, found the "lonely" cloud in the sky, and said in a low voice.

"The road is difficult to walk."

"The harvest will also become more abundant."

"Ah."

Professor Bartlet suddenly smiled and patted his shoulder twice, joking: "If you weren't already engaged to Lilith, I think you should become old Cherov's son-in-law!"

"Old Cherov? Livlin?"

"Yes~"

"Well... let's forget it!"

"Why, is there something wrong with Livlin?" Professor Bartlet asked in a "nosy" manner.

David felt a bit of toothache, spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "She... must not be able to bear my philandering!"

"If I married her, I would be woken up by nightmares every night..."

"Hahaha~" Professor Bartlet threw his head back and laughed.

At this time~

At the door of the house leading to the backyard, Elena, the "home beauty" who was completely bare-faced and wearing a grass-green apron, waved to the two of them.

"Lunch is ready!"

"Okay~ Here we come!"

----

new York.

The sun is in the west~

The easternmost end of Queens, on an east-west highway.

The three cars turned their backs to the sun and drove quickly towards a cabin in the forest on the right side of the east road.

After about half an hour.

Three cars slowly stopped.

Far Pocchivino from the Auxiliary Police Office walked to the front of the car and pointed at the target cabin hidden in the woods in the distance, and said to the several detectives behind him.

"That's the hiding place I learned about from my informant."

"But now, I don't know if there is anyone there anymore..."

"Ok!"

Pamela Landy, a beautiful agent from CIA's New York branch, nodded to the two colleagues around her, and then signaled to the two FBI agents who were invited to help. The five people immediately took out "long guns" from the trunk of the car. cannon” and several pieces of body armor. .

After a few minutes.

Far Pocchivino looked at the armed men, raised his eyebrows and spread his hands.

"Hey~ Where's my equipment?"

Pamela Landy smiled at him and quipped: "Are you sure you want to risk your life?"

"Hehe~"

Farr looked at the five people with a slight mockery, took out the police gun that he had specially modified from his armpit, and laughed dryly.

"The way you cia insult people is really special!"

"..." Pamela Landy held back her laughter and asked two colleagues to briefly communicate with their colleagues from the FBI. Two FBI agents led one of her colleagues, bent down and ran quickly into the left-hand corner. The woods were ready to cordon off the sides and back of the cabin in the woods.

Pamela Randy walked to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and asked Farr who came over.

"Can you use these?"

Farr stared at several military rifles randomly placed in the trunk, squinted his eyes and nodded: "I practiced using them at the DA Security Company's New Jersey training base."

"Da..." Pamela muttered in a voice that only she could hear, and gave up her position.

"You can use these as you like, but you must return them to me after use!"

"Tsk~ok, ok!"

Fall first picked up a body armor and put it on his body, and then skillfully picked up a CAR-16 submachine gun (also known as the XM15E177 submachine gun) equipped with an m1 angular handguard and a retractable stock.

Then, he grabbed a few more magazines, two smoke bombs and two "Apple" grenades.

Pamela Randy stood nearby and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows as she watched Farr skillfully hang all the equipment on his body.

"What did you learn at the training base?"

"Ha~!" Farr bent down and fixed his gun and holster on the outside of his right thigh, tilting his head and laughing.

"They taught me how to destroy the enemy without being killed myself!"

"..."

Pamela Randy skillfully loaded the pistol, found a pair of glasses from somewhere, put them on, and whispered.

"Then we won't care about you!"

"ok~"

"action!"

. . .

A quarter of an hour later.

Pamela Randy, who originally had high hopes for this operation, had a suspicion after discovering that there were only a few warm corpses in the spacious forest cabin.

She asked her companions to search the first floor and basement of the hut carefully before walking to the corpses and squatting down to check their vital signs.

"All dead?"

"Yes!" Pamela nodded to her colleague, her eyes swept across the slightly empty room on the first floor, and suddenly she felt strange about the still burning fireplace.

Then she walked to the bonfire and saw a small, burned piece of paper beside it, "lying" quietly in the corner in the light of the fire.

Pamela picked it up and looked at it by the firelight, and found that there was an unburnt pattern + the printed word "aptain" on it.

"What did you find?"

"This is it." Pamela handed the piece of paper to her colleague for inspection.

He held it up and looked at the piece of paper with the help of the light, then slowly shook his head and said, "This may be a coaster from a club or bar or... something else~"

"Ok!"

Pamela took the piece of paper back and stuffed it into her pocket, looked around and said, "Obviously, someone took a step ahead of us and cleaned up these people."

"But on the way here, we didn't find anyone leaving here on the forest path that is the only way to here."

"So, you think the murderer left on foot?"

"possible."

"But what makes me even more puzzled is that there was only a car outside the door. How did the murderer get here?"

"..."

The two looked at each other, shrugged in confusion, and walked out of the hut.

. . .

Farr, who had been searching for suspicious clues outside the hut, saw Pamela Randy walking out of the hut and asked disappointedly.

"We're in vain again, right?"

"Yes~"

Pamela took off her glasses and observed Far's expression. She didn't seem to notice anything suspicious about this guy, so she waved.

"Let everyone come back, let's retreat!"

"Ok!"