Mind the Line

Jessica agreed so readily, almost without a second thought, that she must really have been desperately poor. Richard was stunned for quite a while before realizing he had not even had the chance to name a price.

So she was not afraid he might quote some astronomical figure she could never afford, one she could not repay even if she sold herself?

Still, she was lucky. Richard considered himself a good man and would never do something like that. If he had said he would make it cheaper, then it had to be cheaper. The girl was already so poor she was living in the office; it would not be right to keep squeezing her...

The reporter beside him, who had been silently watching from his seat, leaned close to his partner and muttered, "The boss is seriously impressive. I wanted Jessica's contact information last week and still couldn't get it. The boss makes one move and they're already living together..."

Before he could finish, the young reporter felt a chilling gleam strike him, coldness shooting straight to his bones. He shuddered all over and instinctively looked up, only to see the boss watching him with an eerie smile at the corner of his lips. His gaze reminded him of a teacher asking to have a little chat after he had failed an exam.

"Vic, that article you were assigned on the shipyard layoffs... you still haven't written it, have you?" he asked with a smile.

The young reporter shuddered. "A-almost, boss. I've already started."

"Oh." Richard sneered. "Then I want to see the first draft before the end of the day. Bring it to my office. I'll review it personally."

The young reporter looked miserable, but he did not dare say no.

Disaster really did come from the mouth.

Richard sneered. Little punk, gossiping about the boss behind his back? Did he not know the boss had sharp ears?

A little after one in the afternoon, Richard was sitting in his office going over last month's financial statements, frowning deeply, when three uniformed police officers arrived at his office.

After the two officers entered, they stopped and stood at the back. The middle-aged officer leading them came forward, shook Richard's hand, and greeted him. Richard had met this officer before. His name was George Stacy, commissioner of the New York Police Department. Richard had met him at a banquet once. But compared to being the commissioner of the New York Police Department, the identity that interested most people more was that he was the father of Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man's future girlfriend.

"Commissioner Stacy." Richard shook his hand, then turned and asked the secretary to pour the commissioner some water before continuing, "What can I help you with?"

"It's about a case." Commissioner Stacy sat down and said, "A few days ago, the Green Snake Gang in Hell's Kitchen was wiped out by someone. It was practically a massacre, Mr. Li. Their entire headquarters was turned upside down, and the bloodshed inside was too horrific to look at. I've been commissioner in New York City for quite some time, but I have to say, even something like this is not common..."

Richard understood. So that was what this was about. It was only natural for the police to come question him. After all, the conflict between the Daily Planet and the Green Snake Gang had not exactly been a secret; everyone had seen it. Those thugs had come here to cause trouble one day, and by noon the next day, they had been wiped out. If Richard were in the police's position, he could not help being suspicious either.

But this time, Richard could say that it really had not been him...

He had indeed used his special abilities to settle quite a few problems for his own people, but he had always been careful and never made any mistakes. This time, it had nothing to do with him, yet the police had come knocking.

"Oh, that incident. It was quite frightening." Richard nodded. "But everything I know has already been published in the newspaper over the past few days. I don't see what else there is to add."

George Stacy did not beat around the bush and got straight to the point. "Here's the situation. Reliable sources say that earlier that day, a Green Snake Gang member named Adder led people to your newspaper office to intimidate and threaten you. That evening, their leader, Viper, personally went to the restaurant where you were, and there was some kind of conflict. So..."

"So you want to ask whether I was connected to the massacre?"

Commissioner Stacy said nothing, but he had clearly acquiesced.

It was not just gang bosses like Kingpin who had realized that the Daily Planet was not to be trifled with. Many people had seen that there was far more to this newspaper than met the eye, including the New York Police Department. If someone told Commissioner Stacy that Daily Planet owner Richard actually knew martial arts, had scaled walls and leaped across rooftops into the Green Snake Gang's headquarters that night, and beaten them all down with his bare hands, he would believe it.

Richard rubbed his nose. "If you think I'm a potential suspect, you can cross me off the list. I was so busy those days that I had no time to kill anyone. Everyone in this building can testify that I never left even once. If I remember correctly, the incident happened on Wednesday, right? Stephanie, tell the commissioner what I was doing at noon on Wednesday."

"You took a one-hour nap after lunch, then asked me to bring you cheesecake and donuts for dessert after you woke up," Stephanie said gently.

Richard's expression changed slightly. "Um... later than that. What was I doing after that?"

"Having afternoon tea."

"After that. Skip all the eating parts." Richard felt a little embarrassed. Why was this girl so tactless? The way she made it sound, all he did at work was sleep and eat. What a terrible impression that would leave on outsiders.

"After that, you were binge-watching The Big Bang Theory," Stephanie continued with a smile.

Richard's face darkened. "You're fired."

"Oh." Stephanie was unconcerned. She smiled, then left the office. "Call me again when you need me."

She knew her boss could be like this sometimes. Every now and then, he would say he was firing her, but he could never bear to actually do it.

"All right, on a personal level, I am indeed willing to believe that you have nothing to do with this, Mr. Li," Commissioner Stacy said. "I'm also a Daily Planet reader. I've read your articles. You know, as commissioner of the New York Police Department, sometimes I have to come into contact with parts of this city that ordinary people never see. And when I read your newspaper, I can clearly feel the difference between you and other media outlets."

He sighed. "I know how rare that is—to still insist on speaking for truth and justice in an era like this, under circumstances like these. So I have always felt that we should be on the same side. I am willing to believe that the Daily Planet truly has no connection to what happened to the Green Snake Gang, but there is still one thing I want to remind you of, Mr. Li."

"Please."

"People like you and me should be even more mindful of the line," Commissioner Stacy said seriously. "It is a line neither of us should cross—not even for the right reasons."