Lynn first asked John to take Buddy to the ruins where Benjamin blew himself up last time.
Now Buddy can not only speak human words, but his sense of smell has also been greatly improved.
"It smells really bad."
Buddy sniffed around with a look of disgust and patted his chest with his dog's paws confidently. "Come with me! Wrap it up on me."
Lynn got into the car first. A sly look flashed in John's eyes, and he gave an OK gesture to Buddy with a bad smile.
The next second, he got into the car as fast as lightning and closed the door.
"Bad John! Let me get in the car!"
Buddy A dog's claws were clumsily picking at the car door, but it couldn't be opened.
"Gogogo! Lead the way, big stupid dog, just think of losing weight."
John is merciless. Who told him to be angry at himself at home just now? This is a disease and must be cured.
Buddy looked helpless and ran in front of the car.
The car started and drove smoothly into the traffic flow in the direction directed by Buddy.
After leaving the quiet and tidy wealthy communities of Long Island, the scenery on the roadside began to become more and more chaotic.
The wide and flat streets were gradually replaced by narrow and crowded roads, and the small western-style buildings with gardens on both sides turned into old apartments with peeling walls and all kinds of fancy graffiti.
They entered Queens.
The air here no longer has the fresh sea breeze smell of Long Island, but is mixed with car exhaust, the smell of sausages from street hot dog stands, and the rancid smell that occasionally rises from the sewers.
At a traffic light intersection, several young men wearing ripped jeans were leaning against the wall and smoking, whistling at passing cars from time to time.
Lynn held the steering wheel with one hand and looked calmly at the street outside the window.
Benjamin actually didn't feel surprised that he would come to a place like this.
That veteran is now a lonely ghost abandoned by the times and rejected by his relatives.
He couldn't stand the happy family atmosphere in Long Island Estate where he had no place for him, and at the same time he extremely rejected the cold capitalistic style of Vought International.
So he could only plunge into this mixed-race low-class society and hide himself like a wounded beast.
Only this messy environment could relax his tense nerves a little.
"On the corner of the street ahead."
Buddy, who was lying on the rear window, suddenly made a sound and put his nose against the glass, "The smell has become very strong here."
Lynn turned the steering wheel and parked the car at the entrance of an old and dilapidated alley.
The alley was very dark. Several rusty trash cans were lying on the ground. A few wild cats were rummaging through the leftovers inside. When they heard the sound of the car engine, they fled in all directions with a "meow" sound.
The three of them got out of the car.
John frowned and looked at this dirty place, subconsciously avoiding the stinking puddle of water on the ground.
It was difficult for him to understand how that old guy, who clearly possessed great power, could make himself so embarrassed and hide in such a place where even dogs despised him.
Buddy:"..."
Buddy trotted into the alley and stopped next to a pile of discarded cardboard boxes.
This is an uneven cement floor with a round manhole cover covered with rust embedded in the middle.
Buddy leaned into the gap in the manhole cover and sniffed hard twice, then raised his head and looked at Lynn and John.
"That's where the smell comes from."
Buddy stretched out his paw and pulled the heavy iron cover, with a hint of obvious weirdness in his tone.
"And besides the smell of tobacco, I seem to also smell the smell of Black Pepper Beef Pizza that has been left overnight."
John looked at the manhole cover covered with a thick layer of oil and dirt with a look of disgust.
But before Lynn could take action, he bent down directly and pinched the edge of the manhole cover with two fingers.
With a harsh sound of metal friction, he threw the rusty discus, which weighed several dozen kilograms, to the foot of the wall next to him like a piece of cardboard.
A stream of moist water vapor and the peculiar rancid smell of sewers surged up instantly.
Buddy covered his nose with his two front paws and backed away.
"Ugh... Lynn, we... uh... really want to go down... uh... to find that... uh... old guy who competes with the rats for territory... uh... uh..."
"Double barbecue steak." Lynn reminded.
Buddy immediately put down his paws and put on an expression that looked at death.
"Let's go, for dinner... ugh... even if it's a septic tank down there... ugh... I'll admit it."
John lifted his feet directly off the ground, holding Lynn in one hand and Buddy in the other, and fell lightly into the dark shaft.
The light below was very dim, with only a dim wall lamp that was lit at regular intervals above the head barely providing illumination.
They walked along the wide sewage main road for a while.
After turning a corner, there was a faint firelight coming from the passage ahead, accompanied by several muffled voices.
"Big man, you can't lie. I agreed that the last half of the pizza will be mine. You already had one piece just now."
A clear, childlike voice echoed in the pipe.
Then came the rough and impatient voice of Benjamin:
"Go away, when did I promise you? If you keep talking nonsense, believe it or not, I will take off your green turtle shell and use it as an ashtray."
Lynn and John looked at each other and walked over lightly.
Through the fire burning in an abandoned iron barrel on the wall next to them, they could clearly see the scene in front of them.
Benjamin was wearing that tattered sweatshirt and sitting cross-legged on a wooden box padded with old newspapers.
He was holding half a piece of Black Pepper Beef Pizza that had been there for who knows how long, and at his feet, four half-person tall Mutant Turtless tied with cloth strips of different colors were staring longingly at the food in his hand.
In the shadow slightly behind, there is an upright Big Rat covered in dark red rags.
Hearing some chaotic footsteps approaching, Benjamin suddenly froze in his hands.
He turned his head subconsciously, and when he saw Lynn John walking out of the shadows and Big Golden Retriever protruding his head, the expression on the face of this veteran who once dominated the battlefield suddenly became extremely exciting.
Surprise, embarrassment, anger, and a trace of panic that even he himself was not aware of.
"It seems that you are living quite a fulfilling life here. I am worried that you will get bored by yourself."
Lynn stopped, his eyes swept over those Mutant Turtles, and his tone was relaxed.
John put his hands in his pockets and looked at Benjamin strangely.
"Is this the nursing home you found for yourself?"
John twitched the corner of his mouth, "Snatching expired junk food with a few mutated turtles is indeed very consistent with your status."
This sentence was like a sharp knife, accurately piercing Benjamin's pitiful self-esteem.
"You little bastard, you know nothing!"
Benjamin stood up suddenly and slammed the half piece of pizza in his hand on the iron bucket next to him.
"It's not your turn to care where I am! What are you doing here in this smelly, dark place? Do you want to see my joke? Or do you want to see how I grieve for the woman who died in your hands?"
When he said the last sentence, Benjamin's eyes showed a trace of pain.
The Little Turtles were startled by Benjamin's actions, and they all took a few steps back, looking at Lynn and the others warily.