Distant Relatives

As the new year arrived, Henry lay on the sofa in his rented apartment, basking in the winter Sun Pharma. He didn't really want to do anything; he just wanted to play dumb.

After being fed for the past six months, the Tiger cub Kitty (note: male tiger) has more than doubled in size. Previously, she was only the length of a forearm and a hand, but now, when stretched out, she is almost as tall as Henry.

Kitty was also sprawled on the large cat tree that was bathed in sunlight, with her two legs hanging off the side of the tree, basking in the warm Sun Pharma.

Because Kryptonian Physiology are immune to both heat and cold, Henry didn't pay much attention to heating. However, there were many computer devices in the house that were sensitive to overheating, so the air conditioning was on continuously throughout the summer.

Even after raising a Tiger, nothing has changed. After all, tigers have their own fur for warmth, unlike humans.

Kitty, of course, wouldn't protest this situation. When it was time to Sun Pharma, she would stay quiet in the Sun Pharma for a while, leaving the poor baby alone.

The Tiger Translator has made considerable progress; at least Kitty can understand a limited number of instructions and act according to Henry's wishes. These include classic commands like "sit," "reach out," "turn around," "stop," and "come here."

As for feeding time, that doesn't need to be taught. As soon as Katie smells the meat, Kitty knows to sit in front of her food bowl. After being slapped by Henry a few times, she became very well-behaved and wouldn't touch anything on the table.

Although the Black Clinic had reopened, Henry wasn't as enthusiastic as before. He had previously hoped to diagnose more complex cases, like at a medical center, to increase his clinical experience.

However, if the Continental Hotel system is the main source of customers, most of those coming in are people with surgical wounds. Simple surgical treatments don't really appeal to Kryptonian.

So Henry's current attitude is more like trying to keep the clinic afloat until he finds another job.

He checked the exit policies of Continental Hotel. Basically, if a service provider doesn't want to continue, they can simply stop; there are no restrictions on exiting.

John Wick of Baba Yaga embarked on an "impossible mission" to seek an opportunity to leave because he wanted to leave the Russian Mob, not the Continental Hotel.

Regardless of time or place, all gangs are the same: it's easy to get in but hard to get out. Leaving aside the fancy reasons, a very real situation is that anyone who has been in a gang will know some of its secrets.

If people are allowed to come and go freely, what if those who leave reveal these secrets to the police or rival gangs, causing losses to the gangs? So it's better to raise the bar for leaving and keep people within the gang.

Continental Hotel don't have this problem; for freelancers and contract gunmen, it's simply a platform. As long as they don't touch on deep secrets, there's no need to restrict their freedom.

Moreover, the Tinkerer's identity has already attracted the attention of the FBI. After killing an agent previously, the FBI, unsurprisingly, failed to trace him back to the Tinkerer. At least for now, things have been quite peaceful, with no one bothering them.

But that doesn't mean the Tinkerer is worry-free, since he's already on the FBI's radar. Any agent could come knocking on his door and cause trouble again.

Therefore, the Tinkerer at Black Clinic have been keeping a much lower profile during this period. Moreover, with the unfortunate example of Andrew Saxon, those crime bosses are more willing to receive treatment through the hospital system rather than seeking out an unlicensed quack doctor who might call the police.

This makes people with criminal records and those who are wanted even more afraid to approach Black Clinic.

Because they're all afraid of being charged an exorbitant fee by Tinkerer for "life-saving treatment," and then getting arrested by the police, even fewer people are willing to go to Black Clinic.

Henry was actually quite happy to be more relaxed, since saving people had never been his main objective anyway.

Just when I thought I'd be spending the whole afternoon playing around with this mess, little Tiger Kitty suddenly growled. The translation software connecting BB to the brainwave sensor emitted a mechanical voice through the speaker.

There is someone.

This is one of Henry's recent achievements. Although he could use his own brain to translate the meaning of Tiger's voice by comparing it with the templates he collected, Henry still made a loudspeaker so that Kitty could speak human language through the machine.

Not long after Kitty's words came through the loudspeaker, the doorbell rang. Henry reluctantly struggled to get out of bed and went to the door. Although there was no peephole on the door, he could see people through his X-Ray Vision.

It was old Gary who rang the doorbell. He stood there awkwardly, fidgeting in front of the door, as if he were ready to run away at any moment.

Henry opened the door and greeted, "Hello, Gary."

Startled, the landlord waved his hand coquettishly and said, "Hello, Henry." He then peeked into the house and greeted the large "cat" on the cat tree, "Hello, Kitty."

"Roar."

Hello.

After greeting him, old Gary pulled Henry out of the room and closed the door. He said, "That was Tiger's roar, wasn't it? You even told me you had a Tabby Cat."

"You misheard, Gary. My cat has a rather unique meow; it has a hoarse voice." The Kryptonian blatantly lied.

"But it's so big."

"That's because he's fat."

"... Anyway, make sure your kitten doesn't bite anyone. I'll definitely call the police."

"OK, OK. So tell me, what do you want from me?" Henry quickly changed the subject.

Old Gary said, "Let me put it this way. A distant relative of my ex-wife came to Los Angeles for sightseeing, and she was hoping to find someone to show her around, especially Hollywood."

She said she might develop her career in Hollywood, just like when you first came to Los Angeles. I think you two would have a lot in common, and you have a car and plenty of free time.

"Interested in taking this job? The pay isn't great, but I can cover your gas and meals out. Just avoid those ridiculously Deadman restaurants that rip off tourists."

"Your ex-wife's... distant relative? Are you going to secretly tell me to take her to the South District and dump her on the side of the road to get her a beating?" Henry asked in a low voice.

"That's not true." Old Gary waved his hand and said, "I have a very good relationship with her family, but I don't get along with that woman. Besides, she's my child's family too. When they come to Los Angeles, even if I don't accompany them the whole time, I try my best to help them."

"Oh, alright." Henry didn't refuse old Gary's request. This landlady, dressed in women's clothing at a very advanced time, had helped him a lot, so he should repay that favor and lend a hand. He asked, "Who is this person?"

Barbara Morse.

Wait a minute, that name sounds familiar...

"A girl?" And only now did Henry realize that old Gary had been using "she" all along.

Henry's expression turned quite strange. He asked, "Are you really willing to hand over a girl who's a distant relative of my ex-wife to me? You don't want me to lose my temper and do something heinous, do you?"

In this book, "Barbara" is a common name in United States markets, and the surname "Morse" isn't particularly special. Henry wouldn't actually believe that this distant relative is the one from S.H.I.E.L.D..

But entrusting a girl to a tenant—does that take a lot of nerve, or just a lot of trust in yourself?

Old Gary chuckled dismissively, "I've seen that girl. She was a gymnastics Champion in high school. Although she doesn't have relevant experience, she's quite skilled and looks like she could fight. Plus, she's very smart and is studying at Georgia Institute of Technology."

"I suggested that if she wanted to develop her career in Hollywood, she could pursue a career as an action star. No one has really succeeded down that path yet. With her looks, she has a chance."

Okay, this matches up. Barbara Morse, a former gymnastics Champion. I wonder if it's too late to refuse now.