The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

286 Big Ambition for Big Dream

So far, Emma had always been protected. Therefore, she wanted to protect her friends as well. Emma had seen what happened to Poppy, and it traumatized her pretty badly even though she always tried to get rid of it. For her, it felt inappropriate if she had to experience trauma when the victim was not herself.

Emma couldn’t even imagine how the incident had affected Poppy’s mentality. Even though Emma was always silent as if she didn’t notice, she knew that Poppy had a trauma that she tried so hard to cover up. The girl looked afraid of any man who tried to approach her. She had closed the door of her heart tightly.

All of these things became a consideration of why Emma insisted on covering up her identity and that of all its members. They were like a flock of geese that dive into a crocodile-infested pool.

Until Handway City was completely safe, there was no reason for Black Swan to display the identities of its members to the public.

**

A large building that used to be a cinema looked dark in almost all parts inside. Only a few rooms were lit.

It was not like the building had been abandoned. However, the owner of the building was only saving electricity bills.

Inside the building was a large room filled with expensive furniture. It was the room where Kenny Brown, Vico Hustle, Damian Jamin, and Renu Khan lived.

Previously, the room that looked like a penthouse was the residence of the leader of the Red Jack Commander group, Marcel Douglas. However, since the Underground Cave closed, Marcel chose to live with his grandmother on Redvalley Street.

.....

In the living room, which had several long leather sofas, the RJC core team was gathered. Their faces all looked deadly serious.

“We won’t be able to pay the Black Hole. They will destroy us for sure.” Renu said.

“If the Black Hole takes over our business, you know what will happen to Redvalley, right?” Marcel asked while massaging his forehead gently.

“They will incriminate all the citizens. That group is the evilest group I’ve ever seen. They can’t go easy on the citizens just because there are a lot of elderly people there.” Vico answered.

“We can’t let this happen,” Damian said.

Of all the members, Damian was the one who loved the elderly residents of Redvalley Street the most because he was a young man who had a somewhat childish demeanour, so those old people often spoiled him like a child. He was often given free meals and snacks.

“Then what can we do? Fight the Black Hole?” Vico asked.

The burning anger in Damian’s eyes then dimmed. He knew that they would not be able to do that.

“Black Hole is too strong. We can’t do it.” Renu said with a heavy sigh.

“We can at least try,” Kenny’s words made all his friends look confused.

“That’s a heroic line, Kenny. But sorry. For real, that’s too na?ve,” Marcel answered.

“I didn’t know that RJC would give up before trying. Does this shrinking group mean that it also happens to our guts?” Kenny asked.

The four men fell silent. What Kenny said embarrassed them. It seemed true that the fall of their group unknowingly also affected the passion in their hearts.

“I know that continuing to fight is a principle of the RJC. But we’ve tried fighting Black Holes before and we lost.” Damian said in a soft voice.

Even though they both had a speck of pessimistic feelings, Marcel could read Kenny’s face which looked like he was planning something. From the beginning, Kenny was the brain of RJC. Without him, RJC was never born.

“What are you planning, Kenny?” Marcel asked directly.

Kenny nodded once. “We still have an alliance.”

Marcel frowned. “Alliance? You mean...” ƒr𝒆𝑒𝔀e𝒃𝚗𝒐𝘃𝐞𝑙. c𝗼m

“Yes. The Black group.” Kenny answered.

“Oh... That’s right. Black,” Damian said to himself.

“So, we’re going to ask Black for help? We’re going to fight together with them again?” Vico asked.

Kenny nodded. “Black is a strong group. Although, from what I have witnessed, they are not as strong as Black Hole, they will be of great help.”

Marcel rubbed his chin. “It’s a good idea, indeed.”

“The question is; will Black help us after we once tricked them? I still remember that the leader looked mad at that time.” Renu said.

“Black is on a mission to fight crime. If we give an explanation of what the Black Hole group is like and what they are going to do to Redvalley Street, I’m sure Black will think about it.” Marcel answered.

Although Marcel realized that what he had done to Black was unforgivable, he felt that he recognized the character of the masked group leader.

Black had a noble mission. Let alone many people, they were willing to commit dangerous acts just to save one person.

Marcel would never forget when Black fought the Creeper hordes alone just to save his grandmother. He was thankful for that.

Redvalley was home to many families. There were many elderly and children there. Black certainly would help those innocent people from evil groups like Black Hole.

“I’m going to find Black and talk to him about this,” Marcel said.

“By the way, I heard that recently, Black teamed up with Jita Kyoei to destroy the Beast Empire,” Damian said excitedly.

“That’s right. Even, the Beast Empire was assisted by eighty Dragger members led by Jay Nicholas. And all of them were defeated by Black and Jita Kyoei.” Vico added, could not hide his amazed expression.

“Those two groups can’t be underestimated at all. I’m sure Dragger and Black Hole are nervous right now.” Renu muttered.

“For all men of his dispatch were knocked down, now Dragger is declaring war on Black and Jita Kyoei. I just thought, maybe Black can’t help us for now.” Marcel said with a tired sigh.

“Of course, Dragger has to attack those two groups. He has to prove that his group is still the second strongest group after Black Hole.” Damian answered.

“What Marcel said is correct. In the current situation, it is impossible to ask Black for help. They are already troubled with Dragger.” Kenny said.

“Dragger’s attack on Black and Jita Kyoei won’t be long from now. Is it possible that we buy time to wait for the conflict between them to settle?” Renu asked.

“The only way is to make a payment to the Black Hole. The rules they put out were only an option. Either we pay the fee or we give up our business.” Kenny answer.

Marcel paused, deep in thought. He was considering something.

“Do you know... How long does it take to sell all the properties on Bluevalley Street?” Marcel asked.

All of the men stopped their conversation. It was an astonishing question that left them all silent for a few seconds.

“You, want to sell it?” Vico made sure.

Marcel nodded. “That’s all that’s left. We can’t possibly sell this base, can we?” he chuckled.

“But Marcel, you said that Bluevalley Street shouldn’t be operational anymore. If you sell it, it will come back to life.” Damian said slowly.

All of the RJC core team knew what a huge wound Bluevalley Street had caused on Marcel’s life.

Previously, Jack himself had the desire to shut down the street. And Marcel had vowed to turn that street into a ghost town.

“Since most of the buildings are quite broken, it might be difficult to find someone who wants to buy it. But I know someone who can help us sell the buildings quickly. However, the price will be very low.” Kenny explained.

“Kenny! Are you out of your mind? You don’t seriously let Bluevalley Street work again, do you? What about Marcel’s promise?” Vico snapped.

But he was a bit surprised when he felt someone holding his shoulder. It was Marcel who was sitting beside him. He turned and looked at the brown-eyed man. Marcel just smiled sadly and shook his head slowly.

“In life, not everything goes according to plan. Sometimes, we have to give up our pride to stay alive. Sometimes, we have to break promises to save more important things.” Marcel said.

Marcel was sure that Kenny understood this very well. Hence, the man did not hinder Marcel’s decision to sell Bluevalley.

“What Jack wanted was for all the citizens of Redvalley to be able to live in peace without being colonized by anyone. If the Black Hole were to rule over that street, then what Jack most wanted would be destroyed.” Marcel continued.

Marcel’s explanation was met by understanding nods from his friends.

“I’ll contact my acquaintances and take care of the sales,” Kenny said.

“Thanks, Kenny. I hope the results are enough to silence the Black Hole for a month or two.” Marcel said.

**

Emma’s plan to increase her membership by attracting all the students in her ballet class to Poppy’s studio produced sweet results.

The Black Swan group continued to grow in size. Day by day, its members were also getting stronger.

Even though her group had a large income, Emma still spent her personal funds to help a lot to expand her kingdom.

Since Emma decided to rent the building directly behind Poppy’s studio, the group’s expenses also highly increased. Luckily, Black Swan’s business, which relied on social media, ran smoothly, so all expenses could be covered well.

All the input Levi told Emma, ??she kept on remembering.

If you want to dream, dream as big as possible.

Emma must have big ambitions if she wanted to achieve big goals.

The way to achieve her goal was to have a large group. And the way to make the group bigger was to increase its members.

Now, Emma no longer hindered Linda from recruiting many girls into the Black Swan. Therefore, Black Swan already had nearly four hundred great members now.