Girls' Frontline: My Apocalypse with Dolls

Page 290

"Do you know what it means to control my family's business? The entire family will have to be subservient to you? Don't be naive. Leaving aside how vast this business is, why do you think you can control the entire Old Mukes Fishing Tackle Shop?"

"No, it's not about looking at our faces, but at yours. We've become above you, our godfather, secretly contacting you. You're spreading these instructions through your own hands to achieve our goals. Only you know of our existence, and you have no choice."

The M16 tapped the monitor screen a few times, each tap striking a chord in the man's heart, making him restless.

"...Perhaps my men will arrive here soon?"

He chuckled twice more to calm himself down.

But the other party was even more relaxed: "No, no one will come. We have cut off all means of communication. Right now, the only ones who know the situation on the ground are you and our people."

This time, the man fell completely silent, his face grim as if struck by a heavy blow. He had just pressed the emergency communication button, but there was no response.

What they said is true...

Another woman glanced at the "little toy" in the man's hand but didn't intend to expose him.

Anyway, it had no effect...

How old is your child?

M16 suddenly stopped looking at him and turned to the screen, where the boy was lying on the sofa, already fast asleep, and the woman in black was gently stroking the boy's face.

"...10 years old."

"Hmm, he's not young anymore. With proper training, he'll definitely be a very qualified successor, and perhaps he'll even achieve greater things than you."

The man understood her meaning perfectly; she was threatening him, using his family as leverage.

That's precisely where he can't afford to gamble, not even a little bit...

This is the price he may have to pay for sitting in this position. He has repeatedly wanted to retire from crime and live a peaceful life with his family, but he just can't extricate himself from this quagmire.

Once you leave, countless eyes will be on you, from outsiders and even from those around you. No matter what, true peace will never arrive; you'll only live in constant fear. You never know when you or your family will die on a bustling street—perhaps next year, perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps right now...

This is the sin that one must bear as a godfather...

"How is it, Mr. Williams?"

......

He should have been prepared, but when he truly faced this moment, he understood that no one is truly prepared to face such sorrow. This unbearable pain was simply too heavy. Yet, the other party still offered a chance of mercy, but at what cost...

"......I see."

"Well, let's skip those troublesome formalities and ceremonies. We're in a hurry, and it would be great if you could cooperate. Well, it's getting late, so go and spend some time with your child. We'll take our leave now."

The other person nodded, then winked at their companion, and the two of them opened the window together.

M16 sat on the windowsill, sneering, whether out of disdain or mockery, it was unclear...

"Well then, good night, Mr. Williams."

Then she collapsed and disappeared from the window, leaving only the curtains dancing wildly in the wind, as if bidding her farewell.

......

He immediately rushed out of the room, ran down the stairs, almost jumping down, and then practically tumbled and crawled into the living room.

The child was fast asleep, lying peacefully on the sofa.

call......

He quickly picked up the child, kissed his cheek, and carried him into the boy's room.

The dolls remained sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, the hanging ornaments swaying occasionally and making pleasant bell sounds.

He settled the child in bed, covered him with a blanket, and then sat on the edge of the bed, his face ashen.

After a long pause, he picked up the photograph on the table. It was a family photo of him, his wife, and their children. In it, they were all smiling so happily, as if they were just an ordinary family, untouched by deceit, gunfire, or bloodshed...

but.......

"I'm so sorry to have dragged you into this... I'm so sorry, so sorry..."

He held the photo to his forehead, repeatedly saying "I'm sorry," like a trapped beast that had lost its eyes, no longer knowing how to survive tomorrow, and no longer able to see the sun tomorrow.

After an unknown amount of time, this man, who had endured countless hardships, finally shed a single tear for his family...

......

"So, why doesn't 45 just get rid of him and seize his empire? You know he has a suitable successor, so why not..."

MDR ate a meatball, and even while chewing, she didn't stop asking questions.

45 was speechless, handed over a tissue, and then shook his head.

“If he dies, the second-in-command will immediately take over as the de facto leader. Then we'll have to go find the second-in-command again, which is too troublesome. The authority the Godfather has built up over the years can't be broken by a few words from us. Having him relay our message is the best option, and besides…”

She paused for a moment, then placed a few slices of meat into Xiao Jiu's bowl.

"There's no need to go to such extremes. There is indeed a rule in the underworld not to involve family members. I can understand his thinking; he's willing to risk everything, but not his family..."

She already had these family members, and now, the number of family members has increased...

"Moreover, my goal is to bind him to this blood-stained chair, which may discourage him from letting his children inherit this blood-stained chair, and also allow him to continue to exercise his authority and power as a godfather to bring us benefits."

"But the most tragic thing is that he will be forever bound to this chair, living his entire life in the shadow of his family being threatened, never finding peace..."

This is the price and sin that comes with being a godfather...

423 Traffic jam

"You know what, I've discovered I'm actually pretty good at taking care of kids. Look how soundly that little one is sleeping."

When the three returned to their car, which was parked a hundred meters away, the architect began to boast to them about his "achievement" in putting the little boy to sleep.

To put it bluntly, she didn't do anything special; she just managed to lull a normally obedient child to sleep. It's a shame there was no listening device, otherwise it would be hard to say whether her child-soothing skills were exceptional or her story was just incredibly boring...

What story did you tell him?

The surveyor couldn't help but wonder what kind of good story the architect, a person with severe ADHD, could tell, even though she had just been as quiet as a dutiful mother.

The architect scratched his chin, then chuckled, "Then we'll just tell him our old stories, how we fought against Griffin's men, how we got betrayed by the military, and then..."

"Stop, stop, stop talking."

Telling this kind of story to a child, you really know how to do it...

If Luo Fan were there, he would definitely think that the architect was recommending a game called "Girls' Frontline" to a new friend, explaining just how amazing the storyline is. But to someone who doesn't know Girls' Frontline, it would sound like a story with the feel of "Back in the day, I was..."

But children might not understand anything at all, and if they get bored halfway through, they might just go to sleep.

What was his assessment of the story you told?

M16, sitting in the driver's seat, glanced slowly in the rearview mirror and casually handed his phone to the measurement officer in the passenger seat.

“Emmmmm......He asked me, ‘Sister, are you the architect or the surveyor?’ Then I said I was the surveyor, and that I accidentally tripped and fell in the junkyard, and the architect sister picked me up.”

"You guy!"

The surveyor turned around abruptly, nearly pulling the architect into the front seat.

The architect quickly slapped her hand, struggling to say, "Hey, hey, she's just a kid, she'll probably forget about it tomorrow, why are you in such a hurry!"

"Who on earth slipped and fell in the junkyard?!"

"Isn't it the metrology officer?!"

"Pfft..."

Even though M16 was usually serious, he still laughed at the architect's distorted story.

Okay, I need to change my opinion. She is actually quite talented in telling jokes.

...Yeah, right!

"Stop fooling around, there are cops up ahead!"

M16 reached into the back seat and patted the architect's buttocks, causing her to pull back into her original position, her body already half-protruding into the front seat.

"what happened?"

The metrologist stopped fooling around and looked as serious as if nothing had happened.

The situation was indeed far from optimistic. The streets were blocked by numerous police cars, and a large number of officers were stationed on the roads. While stopping vehicles, nearby officers were also taking notes with pens and paper...

The street was in an uproar, with a large crowd watching the scene, and cars moving at a very slow speed, as if something serious had happened.

"Pack up your gear and have the snipers take a detour back."

M16 quickly issued the order, and the architects immediately hid their guns in the modified compartment under their seats, while the metrologist took out his phone to notify his returning teammates.

"WA2000, you guys go back through the city center, don't go through the city center, the police are blocking the roads and checking vehicles, if necessary abandon the car and go back!"

"Roger that, turn around immediately... What happened on your end?"

WA's voice was equally cold; I wonder how things are going on her end.

The surveyor whispered, "I don't know for now. All I know is that the road is blocked by police. There are no side roads here, and the traffic is terrible. We'll try to get through first, and you can take a longer route back..."

"Understood......"

After hanging up the phone, the car was approaching at an extremely slow speed. Just from the noisy chatter, it was clear that no one liked having their late-night time disturbed by such an unpleasant thing.

What are they investigating?

The architect, curious, tried to peek out, but the surveyor pressed him back down.

M16 thought it would be a smooth night shift, but he didn't expect to encounter this situation halfway through. He frowned and could only shake his head.

"I'm not sure, but it should be related to that night. The crackdown has already begun, and it's also a warning to the relevant families not to cause trouble recently, otherwise they won't be able to explain themselves to the public..."

I wonder how long the investigation will last. It's rare to see New York City disregard traffic conditions and block an entire block for a thorough investigation. Are other factors not such a high priority?

Putting aside the economic aspect, people would find it hard to accept, rushing home or to work, and the need for ambulances and similar situations...

"Looks like we won't get home until later..."

If the situation is serious, it may take one or two hours to resolve. All they can do is patiently wait in line. They can't just park their car in the middle of the road and walk back; they're not being chased by the police.

Meanwhile, UMP45 had learned of the situation through WA's communication and street surveillance footage, but at this moment, she had no way to resolve it.

"Logically, things should be relatively peaceful lately, so how come this situation has reappeared in less than a week...?"

She stared at the surveillance footage on her laptop, completely baffled.

The police are blocking the road on a large scale to conduct inspections. This is not something that can be solved by simply turning off a few traffic lights to regulate traffic conditions. If the crackdown wasn't so intense, perhaps the 45 (police rank) could offer some assistance, but right now there's absolutely nothing they can do.

Adjusting the surveillance footage, she found the car where M16 and the others were, which was currently stuck in the middle of the road, and the girls inside were also very distressed.

"WA, where are you now?"

Hopefully, WA and the others didn't encounter any problems on their way back...

The connection went smoothly, and WA replied: "We haven't encountered a similar situation here. You should be able to get back in about half an hour."

"Yes, come back as soon as possible, don't stay out too long."

Thankfully, they weren't blocked off...

"Damn it, they've even deployed police helicopters..."

The sound of the M16 came through the public channel again.

The surveillance camera lacked an upward angle, so the 45-inch camera couldn't fully capture the situation on-site and had to rely on the M16's camera to understand the current state of affairs.

"What, a helicopter has arrived?"

"Hmm, they're patrolling the area; something big must have happened..."

The last time they caused something this big was in Raccoon City, except they caused a city-wide power outage that time...

This time? No way, if there's a major power outage, the New York news will probably explode tomorrow.

424 New Plan

"Wait, I think I can see what's happening ahead..."

Switching between monitoring feeds, 45 eventually captured the situation ahead of the congested section of M16.

Four trucks, several black sedans, and four black vans were parked around a cordoned-off area, blocking off pedestrians...

The most eye-catching thing was that red and white umbrella-shaped logo, which she recognized all too well...

“M16, there is an Umbrella convoy about 400 meters ahead of you. It seems to be transporting some important cargo, or possibly a VIP unit. It is currently passing directly in front of you.”

She immediately made a notification and began zooming in on the footage to examine the details of the convoy.