allendalepharm Chapter 53 Tony and Leveling Up
Chapter 53 Tony and Leveling Up
Chapter 53 Tony and Leveling Up (Seeking First Subscription)
Tony Stark stepped down from the stage, and the crowd's eyes followed him.
He walked through the iron railings at the amusement park entrance, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, thank you for coming."
He walks very fast, but every time someone calls his name, he turns his head and smiles in that direction.
Stark walked up to Cortel's food cart and glanced down at the sizzling meat patties on the hot plate.
"I'd like a burger, can I pay by card?"
Kotter held a spatula in his hand, beads of sweat clinging to the tip of his nose.
He opened his mouth, then closed it again, finally managing to squeeze out a few words.
"No—there is no card reader."
He really hadn't prepared that. The food on the food cart wasn't expensive to begin with: hamburgers were three dollars, hot dogs were two dollars, and coffee was one dollar.
Most of the customers were residents from the nearby neighborhood, and they all paid with crumpled change.
Tony understood. He reached into his suit pocket, his fingers slipping from the inside pocket to his trouser pocket. Then he patted his chest, a look on his face that was hard to decipher—either apologetic or regretful.
Just now I was on the stage establishing a 30 million yuan foundation, but now I want to buy a 3-yuan hamburger, and I can't find a single bill in my pocket.
Snapped.
An old ten-dollar bill was slapped on the stainless steel table of the dining car. The edges of the bill were curled, and there was a crease in the middle from repeated folding.
Li En pushed the money forward.
"Cortel, make this guy a deluxe burger."
"Okay, Officer Lee." Cortel immediately took the money, turned around and took another slice of cheese from the refrigerator, and then slapped another meat patty onto the hot plate.
Tony turned his head and shifted his gaze from the food cart table to Lee's face.
This officer is the one who was standing next to me earlier, happily munching on a hamburger; there are still some bread crumbs stuck to the corner of his mouth.
He glanced at the name tag on Lee Eun's uniform.
"I'll have my assistant return the money to you later."
"Take the burger and get out of here," Lee said coldly.
Tony looked up from the brand name and took a closer look at Lee En's face.
"Officer Lee from the Manhattan Police Department, I haven't done anything to you, have I?"
Lee Eun glanced around and noticed reporters with telephoto lenses moving closer.
Their index fingers were already on the shutter button, and several people's flashes had already started to pre-fire.
He twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a standard smile that could be photographed and published on the front page of a newspaper.
His face wasn't turned towards Tony, but towards the direction of the cameras.
"No need. Mr. Tony has donated so generously, it's only right that I treat you to a hamburger."
Tony was subtly annoyed by this attitude.
It wasn't so much that I was offended, but rather that someone yawned while leaning back in their chair during a standing ovation.
He raised his right hand and waved to the reporters, then grabbed Lee Eun's shoulder with his left hand and pulled him to the food cart, standing side by side with him in front of the camera.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is an exceptionally good police officer. I believe that with him around, New York will be a more peaceful place!"
The flashbulbs exploded.
Li En's smile remained unchanged, the corners of her mouth maintaining their curve.
On the podium, the mayor frowned, turned slightly toward Gallo beside him, and lowered his voice.
"who is he?"
Gallo's gaze swept past the crowd at the edge of the stage and landed on the young police officer whose shoulder Tony Stark was grabbing.
He recognized that face: in the crime scene report after the Central Park shootout, in the list of people involved in the Warehouse Street massacre, and on the recommendation form for the new police officer that Brock sent him.
"Officer Lee Eun."
The mayor tapped his fingers lightly twice on the edge of the podium.
"Transfer him to headquarters."
Gallo turned to look at the mayor and said calmly, "No, the Manhattan precinct needs Officer Lee."
"What do you mean?" The mayor's tone turned somber.
Gallo knew exactly what the mayor was thinking.
Whether Tony Stark acted on a whim or was just putting on a show, it doesn't matter.
He grabbed a precinct officer by the shoulder and took a picture in front of the camera; the incident will be published on page three of the New York Gazette tomorrow.
The mayor needs to maintain a relationship with Stark Industries.
Foundations need donations to fill their gaps, and campaigns need funds to burn through.
But Gallo also knew what was about to happen at the Manhattan precinct.
The streets there are indeed quiet now, abnormally quiet.
Before long, the name Hell's Kitchen will be remembered again.
Without hardline officers like Lee En and Frank guarding the area, even more people would die.
"Literally, Mayor, with him at the precinct, perhaps fewer people will die in the future."
The mayor turned to look at Gallo, and the two stared at each other for a few seconds.
Gallo rose through the ranks from patrolman to chief in this city, while I was transferred from elsewhere to pursue a political career.
There is a principle that applies everywhere.
Sometimes, listening to the locals can help you avoid making mistakes.
"Gallo, we can't let a case like Central Park happen again."
"Understood." Gallo nodded solemnly.
Neither of them mentioned the port case or the warehouse street case.
To them, those were just minor matters.
Tony refused the deluxe hamburger that Cortel had wrapped in tin foil, glancing at it with some hesitation.
Li En took off his right glove, took it, and stuffed it directly into Tony's hand.
He glanced down at the bread: a double meat patty, two slices of cheese, lettuce spilling out from the edges, and golden-brown charred marks on the surface.
After taking the first bite, I paused in chewing for a moment, then my eyes widened.
He turned his head and shouted at the four boys huddled behind the stainless steel workbench inside the food cart.
"This burger is so delicious!"
He stuffed the rest of the hamburger into his mouth in a few bites, his cheeks bulging, completely different from the man who had been dominating the stage with his arms outstretched.
He wiped his oily fingers on his suit trousers and mumbled, "I'll come again next time."
He turned and walked toward the black luxury car parked by the roadside.
The car door was pushed open from the inside, and the assistant was frantically rummaging through his wallet.
Kotter stood behind the hot plate, holding a spatula with a piece of meat patty still spread out on it.
The boy next to him, who was responsible for chopping onions, put the cleaver on the cutting board and wiped his hands on his apron.
The boy behind the cashier dropped his coins on the floor, but he didn't bend down to pick them up.
"But—but I only use wholesale goods."
Cortel's voice trembled slightly; his excitement hadn't subsided.
"No, Cortel, we kneaded the dough ourselves!" The boy chopping onions held up his flour-covered hands.
"Yes! We made the meat patties ourselves!" The boy behind the cashier had already picked up the coins from the ground, his fists clenched tightly.
The four boys looked at each other in the dining car, then simultaneously grinned.
Kotter flipped the spatula in his hand and pressed it back onto the meat patty, the hot plate sizzling.
Frank watched the limousine merge into the traffic on Fifth Avenue, its taillights flashing briefly around the corner before disappearing.
He crushed the empty coffee cup and threw it into the trash can, then tilted his head towards Li En.
"This kid isn't so bad after all."
He glanced at Li En and noticed that the other man's expression still didn't seem too good.
"Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Tony."
Li En noticed that Frank was talking more than usual today, and she also felt that something that had been suppressed deep inside her was rising to the surface.
He had previously cleared out two hundred people in the Amick building without any apparent effect.
I sniped twenty gangsters in front of the amusement park, one shot each, and I didn't even feel anything.
But just now, amidst cheers from hundreds of people, Tony Stark established a foundation, with the mayor leading the applause.
The reporters were snapping photos like machine guns.
"That's not enough," Li En said softly. "Looks like I need to keep leveling up."
That's right, he feels his current level is not high enough and he needs to level up!
Whether it's strength or influence.
After figuring it out, he smiled.
Frank was somewhat puzzled when he saw Lee En laughing.
After Tony left, the mayor picked up the microphone again and began to thank everyone present in a rehearsed, compassionate tone.
The memorial service concluded with his speech, the crowd began to disperse, and the police officers began to pack up.
Frank got into the black SUV, roared to life, and turned the taillights around the corner, showing no intention of waiting for Li En.
When Li En returned to the police station, Frank was already standing at the door, holding two cups of coffee.
He handed me a cup; the coffee was still hot, and there were no bite marks on the rim of the paper cup.
"Can we go out for some activities tonight?"
Li En took the paper cup and glanced at Frank sideways.
Probably only the Punisher in the whole world would use the same tone to talk about going out to commit murder at night and going to nightclubs at night.
"Why don't we see how the gangs react first, and what about your situation? Those guys should be making their move soon."
Frank's expression tightened.
Lee En is right, the designers of Central Park were not gangsters.
He was a retired Marine Corps captain with no conflict of interest with the street gangs of Manhattan.
Those gangsters were merely used as pawns in front of the amusement park; the people behind them were still lurking in the shadows.
"My son—"
"Don't worry, even though that building in Clinton Garden looks old, it's very safe."
Li En took a sip of coffee, her tone becoming calmer and more confident.
I intended to return the two gold coins I obtained to Mrs. Hudson, but she refused to accept them.
"Now you should understand the meaning of gold coins; you owe me two favors."
She sat on the living room sofa with a copy of The New Yorker magazine, half-open, on her lap, and pushed the gold coin back across the coffee table.
"One of my favors is to bury me after I die."
"I haven't decided on the other one yet."
Li En agreed.
He casually mentioned that a child named David lived in apartment 302 next door, and his father was a new police officer at the precinct.
Mrs. Hudson smiled and pointed her finger toward the ceiling.
"There are three machine guns up there." He then pointed to the wall between 301 and 302, "and there are remote-controlled explosives inside."
Li En remained silent.
Three machine guns plus remote-controlled explosives, and there should be more.
It's safe to say that these are people from mainland hotels; their security measures are truly top-notch.
Li En picked up her coffee, took a sip, and shook the image out of her mind. She then said to Frank, "Let's wait a couple of days. I'm going to Jiaoxi Bar for a drink. What about you?"
"I want to go back."
Frank crushed the coffee cup and threw it into the trash can, then turned and walked toward the parking lot.
Li Enchao waved to Frank's back.
A night breeze blew in from the direction of the Hudson River, swirling a few fallen leaves in front of the police station into small eddies.
He glanced down at the coffee cup in his hand and finished his coffee.
I crushed the paper cup and threw it into the trash can, then walked towards Jiaoxi Bar.
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