Sparks and lightning all the way.
Well... actually not.
Luca and his team followed steadily, keeping the target vehicle just out of sight.
However, Luca was slightly surprised that the fleeing vehicle wasn't heading towards Hell's Kitchen as he had expected, but towards a desolate coastal area near the Upper West Side.
Could I have guessed wrong? Is it not Kingpin supporting Dragan from behind the scenes?
Or maybe tonight's attack was from a different group than the previous ones?
Knowing how "popular" he was right now, Luca didn't doubt that multiple groups of enemies might be targeting him simultaneously.
But just as Luca began to reflect on his preconceived notions...
From the bug that had previously only transmitted heavy breathing and engine noise, a voice suddenly emerged.
It sounded like the person was making a phone call to report tonight's events to someone.
"Boss... it's me..."
"Don't... don't yell at me, Boss! All my brothers are dead! That bastard Dragan lied to us! That kid has a tin monster in his house!"
The sound of hands slamming on the steering wheel was followed by the screech of tires skidding on the road.
"Fck! Almost ran into a patrol car... Boss, you gotta believe me! I didn't take anything tonight, I swear! It was like a movie! That monster blew Steve's head off with one punch! His brains splashed all over me!"
Listening to this guy bullshtting through the bug, Luca looked up at the rear-view mirror, where the white dumpling was playing with its fingers, and rolled his eyes dramatically.
But at least one thing was confirmed.
Tonight's incident is definitely related to Dragan!
Another thing he hadn't quite expected was that the guy he let go turned out to be the leader of tonight's attackers.
Looks like I might actually catch something big, Luca thought.
His thoughts, however, didn't travel through the bug.
The phone conversation on the other end continued.
Whatever was said on the other end of the line, the fleeing guy finally spoke again after a series of assents.
"Boss, I'm sure no one is following me. I took the plates off, but..."
"Yes, I know, but Boss... this isn't about money anymore! The kid didn't die today. If the Big Boss finds out what we did..."
"Okay, okay, I'll go burn the car right now."
The call ended, but cursing continued to stream from the bug.
It seemed talking to his "Boss" had relaxed the escapee significantly, as he was no longer tensely silent.
Not long after, the fleeing van arrived near an abandoned parking lot.
Moments later, flames and thick smoke rose into the sky. In Luca's monitoring view, the tracker signal began moving again in a different direction.
...
On a warehouse pier on the northwest side of Manhattan.
After narrowly escaping death, Tony carefully parked his precious car before getting out, cursing under his breath.
Despite its dilapidated appearance, this car had helped Tony vanish successfully after several mishaps, allowing him to lay low until the heat died down and make a comeback.
So, in Tony's mind, this seventh-hand clunker given to him by his late brother was his one and only lucky ride.
After kissing the windshield, Tony sneakily trotted toward the pitch-black warehouse on the pier in the distance.
Knock knock knock~
"It's me!"
A moment later, the warehouse door was pushed open from the inside.
The person who opened the door looked around before pulling Tony inside.
"Boss is waiting for you in the small room!"
Feeling guilty, Tony instinctively straightened the collar of his tattered jacket before carefully walking towards the only lit partitioned room in the warehouse.
"Boss... I'm back."
Extremely nervous, Tony spoke softly outside the door, his voice trembling.
An impatient voice came from inside.
"Enter!"
Pushing open the iron door, the bearded burly man inside saw his right-hand man standing sneakily at the doorway.
"What are you doing? Get your ass in here!"
However, the bearded man had just cursed when...
The next moment, he saw Tony's head jerk forward. Then, as if hit by some unknown technique, Tony collapsed stiffly to the ground without a sound, his fate unknown.
"Fck!"
A veteran of the underworld, the bearded man instinctively reached for the pistol on the coffee table beside him.
But before his hand could touch the gun...
With a faint pfft, the pistol was sent flying by a shot, spinning through the air and landing far away on the ground.
Clang clang clang. The sound of metal hitting concrete echoed.
Immediately after, a muscular woman holding a silenced pistol walked in, aiming straight at him.
"Which gang are you from? Let's talk, don't be rash!"
But just as he finished speaking...
He noticed someone behind the muscular woman.
A handsome boy with hands in his pockets, glasses reflecting light to hide his eyes, strolled in calmly as if window shopping.
Seeing the boy step unconcernedly over Tony's "corpse" and enter the room, the bearded man felt a chill run down his spine.
Of course, recognizing the boy's identity from his highly distinctive face also filled him with fear.
"It's you! How did you follow him here?! No! Tony, that idiot!!"
Just when the bearded man thought this was it...
A large hand clad in strange armor suddenly reached out and grabbed the door frame.
Next moment.
Creak~ Crunch~
The metal door frame let out an ear-piercing screech of distortion, then cracked and crumbled along with the surrounding wall.
Following that, a goofy-looking armored freak shuffled carefully into the room with small steps. The bulky armored figure even politely held onto the shattered door frame to prevent it from collapsing completely.
"Your door. I am very sorry. Hello, I am Baymax!"
Tin monster!
In just one encounter, the bearded man immediately understood why his right-hand man had been scared witless.
But...
That's fcking carbon fiber armor! It's a robot!! What the hell kind of tin monster is that!!
The burly man cursed wildly in his mind, but dared not show any change in expression. Instead, he obediently raised his hands high above his head, eyes filled with a desperate desire to live.
"What do you want to know? I'll confess everything!!"