Belonging

Adder stood dumbstruck, frozen in place and unable to speak for a long while.

The Green Snake Gang had always been a third-rate little gang, and Adder was an even smaller-time figure. It was precisely because they were so insignificant that they had been ignorant enough to come cause trouble at the Daily Planet.

Over the past two years, any gang in New York that was even remotely respectable had learned that, unless absolutely necessary, they should avoid clashing with this newspaper whenever possible. On the surface, the Daily Planet seemed to be nothing more than a newspaper, but everyone in the underworld knew it was far from as simple as it appeared.

It was said that just last year, a top New York kingpin named Silver Mane had fallen out with the Daily Planet over an article. Apparently, the Daily Planet had published a piece exposing money laundering at one of Silver Mane's businesses, directly costing his commercial empire tens of millions.

Silver Mane had taken the matter very seriously. Rumor had it that the old man personally selected a group of his fiercest and bravest subordinates, then condescended to invite the newspaper's owner, Richard, for tea and a chat about life. In the end, the young owner attended alone, had a long conversation with the old man who ruled New York with an iron hand, and then left without a care.

After that, Silver Mane never mentioned the matter again, nor did he make any further attempt to hold the Daily Planet accountable. The incident seemed to have simply blown over. Not long afterward, at a major city banquet, observant people noticed that when old Silver Mane encountered the young Mr. Richard again, he actually seemed quite respectful.

Back then, the Daily Planet's influence had been nowhere near what it was now. At most, it had been a near first-tier newspaper in New York. But who was Silver Mane? He was a legendary old-school kingpin who had dominated New York for decades and, at the height of his power, had nearly taken control of the entire city's underworld!

Of course, New York had seen many new competitors rise in recent years, and Silver Mane's position was no longer what it once was. Even so, he remained without question one of the most powerful players in New York's underworld.

If a figure like Silver Mane treated the owner of a small newspaper with such respect and fear, then this young Chinese man's capabilities could not be underestimated. Others figured they were no match for Silver Mane either, so naturally, they had to weigh their own strength before picking a fight with the Daily Planet.

But clearly, these punks who had come to the newspaper office to make trouble today had never heard of those rules.

So they were destined to regret what they had done today.

Adder was already starting to regret it. It was true that the woman in front of him did not know how to use a gun, but she could bend a gun barrel with her bare hands! Why the hell would a freak like that need to know how to work the safety?

Adder was nearly scared out of his wits, but he was riding a tiger now and could not back down. All his underlings were watching. If he got scared off that easily, how was he supposed to keep his standing in the Green Snake Gang afterward?

Before Adder could figure out what to say, Richard had dragged over a chair and slowly sat down in front of him.

Richard casually picked up the pistol Jessica had bent on the desk. "Sir, I think there may have been a bit of a misunderstanding between us. You see, we're only a small newspaper. And the duty of a newspaper is to publish the truth, state the facts, and let every reader see things in their most original, direct form, without embellishment or subjective bias."

Adder had no idea what Richard was getting at. As he listened, he cautiously watched the ruined pistol Richard was idly playing with.

Then, right before his eyes, the young Chinese man casually bent it, straightening the warped barrel again... straightening it...

Adder's mouth fell open into an O.

The gangsters all went pale—what kind of hellhole had they wandered into?

Just a small newspaper?

Sorry to bother you. Goodbye.

"...So as you can see, we have no intention whatsoever of targeting your gang. We're all civilized people. We should handle matters reasonably, shouldn't we? Otherwise, if we spent all day fighting and killing, with whoever had the bigger fists calling the shots, what would be the point?"

Richard spoke gently as he smiled and extended the straightened pistol toward Adder.

Adder stared at the gun with a miserable expression.

Though he was terrified, Adder knew that in the underworld, what mattered was presence. Sometimes, in a fight, it did not matter who knocked whom down. Whoever could keep up the fiercest front until the end was the real winner.

He took the pistol and put it away, then stubbornly said, "D-D-Don't think this is over! W-W-We of the Green Snake Gang aren't so easy to mess with! Y-You just wait!"

His threat sounded forceful enough, but for some reason, he had already backed all the way to the elevator doors. One of the gangsters had long since pressed the button to go down. The moment the elevator arrived, the entire group swarmed inside and fled for their lives.

"All right, show's over. Get back to work." Richard began sending everyone back to their jobs.

From the moment Adder led his men into the newspaper office, not a single person in the entire building had panicked for even a second. Everyone watched the whole thing as though they were enjoying a show, as if they had just finished watching a ridiculous stage comedy. Once it was over, everyone went back to their desks and resumed their work for the day.

None of the employees were the least bit surprised by their boss's extraordinary abilities. Jessica, the newcomer, was the one who studied Richard in surprise. "You too...?"

"Nothing special." Richard waved a hand. "I'm just a little stronger than average."

Jessica narrowed her eyes. Come on, you just bent a gun barrel with your bare hands. You called that a little stronger than average?

But if Richard knew what she was thinking, he would only sneer. Heh. What's so impressive about bending a gun barrel? You're easily impressed. I can grow bigger, fly, and shoot lasers too.

Jessica was beginning to genuinely like this place.

She had never deliberately concealed her superpowers. Other than Trish, everyone who had learned about them so far had either kept a respectful distance from her, feared her, or both.

She had grown used to the way people looked at her as though she were a beautiful monster. She was used to it, but she could never truly accept it calmly.

But now, she realized that everyone at this newspaper seemed to know their boss possessed extraordinary abilities, yet no one seemed to think there was anything unusual about it.

If the boss could be accepted, then that meant she could be accepted too.

And this was also the first time in all these years that she had met someone like herself. Or at least, that was what she believed.

After moving from one job to another for so many years, Jessica felt as though she had finally found the place where she belonged.

"Don't slack off either." Richard's words pulled her back to reality. "Get back to work."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

As Jessica spoke, she turned and walked toward her desk, an involuntary smile appearing at the corner of her lips.