Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 818: A Friday Without the Master (5)

In the waiting room, O'Neil said he was stepping away for a moment to go to the restroom.

After that, Lluvia asked Luo Qiu if he wanted something to drink, offering to get something from the lounge's service desk. Luo Qiu shook his head, so Lluvia went by herself.

Since it was an international flight, there weren't many people in the lounge... or rather, there were only the three of them.

With just 'Luo Qiu' left, he casually picked up a magazine nearby and started to read.

But at that moment, 'Luo Qiu's body suddenly transformed into a wisp of smoke and vanished. The magazine he was holding dropped to the ground, but it was caught by someone before it hit the floor-so it didn't disturb anyone.

Boss Luo opened the magazine and took a quick look; it turned out to be a publication about wildlife.

"Is something wrong?" Lluvia returned with two cups of water and noticed that Luo Qiu had changed from sitting to standing, so she curiously asked.

Boss Luo smiled slightly and replied, "Nothing, just wanted to stand up and stretch a bit. I've been sitting for too long."

Lluvia nodded and set the cups down. "It's about time; Mr. Song should be back soon."

Boss Luo nodded. At that moment, O'Neil came over, wiping his hands on his clothes while looking up at the TV on the wall, muttering to himself, "A memorial service?"Boss Luo and Lluvia turned their attention to the TV. It was local news, reporting on a memorial service taking place in front of the Rio Municipal Theater.

"Hmm... it seems something is going on," Lluvia remarked casually with a glance.

According to the reporter on the TV, it seemed someone had crashed the memorial service and was causing a disturbance. The police on-site were currently attempting to eject the troublemaker.

"Probably just some attention-seeking idiot trying to become an internet sensation?" O'Neil shrugged, shaking his head as he watched a man wearing a golden carnival mask arguing with several police officers.

"What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, a cheerful voice came from the entrance of the lounge. Lluvia's expression softened as she replied, "Nothing, just watching the news."

Song Haoran, who appeared at the door, nodded but didn't come in. He looked at the time and said, "Let's go; it's almost time to board... Luo Qiu, did you miss me?"

Boss Luo shook his head, briefly scanning the TV before smiling and walking toward Song Haoran, suddenly asking, "Maybe I'll miss your stories. Do you have any new ones?"

Song Haoran laughed heartily, "Not a new one, but I can tell you about the time when I was eighteen and chased pirates in the Caribbean. Want to hear it?"

Boss Luo was not surprised that Song Haoran mentioned the Caribbean.

Because Song Haoran's mother was Spanish.

"Hope it's an exciting story."

"Your journey won't be boring," Song Haoran said, patting Luo Qiu on the shoulder as he led him directly toward the boarding gate.

But after he turned around, he discreetly made an "OK" gesture towards O'Neil and Lluvia while keeping his hands behind his back.

O'Neil and Lluvia exchanged glances, and O'Neil whistled, "Looks like the newcomers have passed their assessment. Ah, soon we'll see beautiful Gan Hong in the village. I think my harem can expand again!"

Lluvia rolled her eyes and retorted, "You really are a human cannonball."

"Bang, bang, bang! Are you scared of the Gatling gun?" O'Neil spread his legs and quickly made some thrusting motions.

Lluvia shook her head, too lazy to deal with O'Neil, and directly walked out. Just before leaving, she took another glance at the TV; the news was still playing, and the chaos at the memorial service hadn't ended yet?

...

The camera shifted back.

"Yes! It's garbage... Let me go! Let me go!!"

Although Bucky felt that he might have picked up the wrong script from the beginning, at this point, he thought he could only give it his all and continue.

Initially, the script was supposed to go like this:

Pastor: What did you say? Say it again?! How dare you disdain our faith! You heretic!

Bucky: I, Bucky, am a god!

Pastor: Crazy! Crazy! You are blaspheming! You should be burned at the stake!

Bucky: You know nothing of power! Let me show you mortals what true power is!

Pastor: Ah! This is... a miracle, a miracle!! A miracle!

Bucky: Ahhahahahaha!!!

But the reality of the script was like this:

"Let me go... Let me go! Where are you dragging me to! I have freedom of speech! This is a public place! Even if you are police, you have no right to chase me away! Let go..."

Even though both of his arms were grabbed by a police officer on either side and he was being dragged away, he still shouted angrily.

"Everyone, let's continue," the pastor said as he reopened the scripture in his hands.

He didn't have much opinion about this suddenly barging-in individual; after all, such disturbances from anti-religionists had happened more than once or twice. In fact, incidents like this occurred all over the world at every moment.

He simply thought this troublemaker was a bit irrational, charging forward to create chaos when there were plenty of officers maintaining order around the memorial service.

As the pastor said, once the officers dragged the troublemaker away, the scene quieted down again.

However, the incident, along with some earlier discussion topics, seemed to have completely derailed the original intent of the memorial service. It felt like the atmosphere had changed, and some people quietly dispersed from the back and drove away.

Because that evening, most of the attendees for the concert were from the upper class, the scene at the memorial service had long been blocked by luxury cars.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many police officers dispatched to maintain order-in fact, this road had even been temporarily closed. The sounds of car horns from those leaving early started off sporadic, but soon became incessant.

It seemed that the memorial service might not be able to continue; the pastor had already started to speed up his speech, his eyes fixated on the scripture in his hands, showing no sign of lifting his head.

On the opposite rooftop, the maid who finished the last bite of the Pastel directly burned the greasy paper bag and then fell from the sitting position over the rooftop railing.

"Did I overestimate him a bit..."

The maid frowned, then gently shook her head. Her eyes scanned the area below and easily found where Bucky was at that moment.

The officers had already restrained him, questioning him about his origins while attempting to remove his carnival mask. You Ye frowned; if Bucky, a wanted criminal, were taken away by these officers here, it would lead to more trouble later.

Just as You Ye was about to take action, a small commotion seemed to have broken out somewhere on the congested long street below... You Ye suddenly paused.

"Bucky." You Ye squinted, "Is this what you got from Lucifer... your first wish?"

Bang-!

A startling sound.

......

......

Caroline didn't know where she had run to. Her "cousin" behind her was relentlessly pursuing her, so she could only choose to dart towards the areas with more people.

She could hear her own heavy breathing, the rapid pounding of her heart. She was running at full speed, filled with fear.

Caroline seemed to have seen this kind of scene somewhere before. But she couldn't clearly remember where... perhaps it was in a dream.

Something was relentlessly chasing her from behind... was it a vicious dog?

That dream.

For some reason, there were suddenly many vehicles blocking the area around her. Maybe it was due to the city's already poor traffic situation or something else, but Caroline couldn't care about that anymore.

She navigated through the gaps between the cars; the many obstacles provided her good cover. However, she gradually felt some discomfort.

Just two nights ago, she had sprained her ankle in Arnold's old house, and now, after running for a long time, the old injury flared up, causing her significant pain.

Gradually, her "cousin" caught up; she could even see his grim smile. If she fell into his hands, he would probably take revenge for the injury she caused him.

"Don't come over!" At her wits' end, Caroline suddenly gripped the handgun she had picked up from her "cousin." She held it with both hands, trembling slightly as she pointed it at him, "Don't come any closer!!"

Her "cousin" frowned and stopped-he couldn't dodge; the two were now situated between vehicles, making him an excellent target, one that could be hit even with eyes closed.

"Do you dare to pull the trigger?" But he was a man of the streets, not necessarily brave, but at least bold.

"You... you don't come any closer... don't come closer!" Caroline slowly backed away-her "cousin" advanced step by step.

However.

Ah-!!

A scream.

That was the sound of people stuck in traffic witnessing the confrontation between Caroline and her "cousin." Perhaps due to their recent fear of being kidnapped, some people reacted with extreme intensity.

They opened their car doors and fled recklessly, terrified cries rising one after another.

Her "cousin" hadn't expected such chaos to break out in the end; he just wanted to end this quickly, or else he might find it hard to escape later.

Grinding his teeth, her "cousin" suddenly lunged at Caroline, intending to give her no chance to react, even feeling an impulse to eliminate her.

Face to face, Caroline was no match for the strong "cousin," and she was almost instantly tackled to the ground.

The muscular man now pinned her arms down with his legs while his hands tightened around her neck. The "cousin" pursed his lips, his veins bulging, filled with murderous intent.

Caroline kicked her legs in agony, struggling as she felt her throat might be crushed in the next second.

Unwilling to die, her will to survive prompted Caroline to make a slight movement with the hand gripping the handgun-bang!!

The gunshot!

Unfortunately, she couldn't aim at the man intent on killing her; the bullet fired only grazed the ground, striking the tire of a nearby car- the tire exploded with a loud bang in the next moment.

The long street echoed with this deafening sound.

The people in front and behind had no idea what had happened; they only heard the gunfire... the sound resembling an explosion.

Screams erupted, and the scene became even more chaotic.

But the "cousin" still had no intention of letting go of Caroline. He could see the redness in her face; if he held on just a little longer, this troublesome woman would be taken care of- as for what he had promised Lawyer Cossini?

He believed that as long as he put a knife in front of this lawyer, he would cooperate obediently!

"Too bad, you missed your chance to kill me." The "cousin" sneered, the sensation of gripping Caroline's neck giving him a strange thrill.

The pleasure of killing.

Caroline struggled in pain, her eyes wide open; they were even bulging due to the congestion, tiny blood vessels surfacing- breathing had become impossible.

In a near-death state, Caroline seemed to see a beam of white light, her consciousness flitting like a fleeting glance; she saw a multitude of chaotic images... faces that felt oddly unfamiliar.

She saw herself talking to strangers...

She saw herself holding a gun, moving through a rain of bullets.

She was raising something high; she was losing something.

In moments of sadness, during times of revelry, in loneliness, and when embraced by someone...

Suddenly.

Bang-!!!

A loud sound seemed to resonate again.

Caroline's consciousness was a bit hazy; her ears buzzed as the tire exploded beside her, causing pressure on her eardrums.

She seemed to see her "cousin" suddenly clutching his shoulder, his expression twisted. He gritted his teeth, quickly picked up the gun from his hand, and fired at something.

While clutching his injured shoulder, her "cousin" backed away, shooting, then disappeared from Caroline's line of sight.

Caroline suddenly felt as if someone was picking her up. She saw a uniformed police officer looking at her, seemingly asking questions.

In the end, Caroline slowly closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

"Calling in, calling in, we have a female unconscious... calling the control room... Also, there's a man with a gun... Location: outside the city theater... calling..."

"He ran that way! You stay here and take care of the injured! Everyone else, stay up and try not to fire! There are too many people; it's easy to hit by mistake! Hurry!"

...

"You! You can't treat me like this! I have civil rights!"

Bucky was still holding on, firmly pressing down on his mask, unwilling to let it be removed. However, his resistance clearly stirred the anger of the police officers. "You better cooperate! Or you'll regret it!"

"You can't..."

A sudden loud noise.

The police officer froze, and everyone jumped in surprise-because they all recognized the sound as gunfire, followed by what seemed to be an explosion.

"Go check it out! You stay here and watch this guy!" A commanding figure immediately threw away his cigarette butt, drew his sidearm, and rushed toward the source of the sound with a group of officers.

"What's happening?" The remaining police officer peered into the distance, seemingly concerned about what was happening ahead.

But at that moment, he suddenly felt a heavy impact from behind.

He fell to the ground, and at the same time, a pair of legs clamped around his neck while his hands were twisted... it was that troublemaker wearing the carnival mask!

"Deadly scissor kick!! I haven't used this in years; you're forcing my hand..."

The officer quickly patted the floor a few times but soon passed out from insufficient air.

The troublemaker... Bucky finally sighed in relief, scrambling up from the ground, quickly rummaging through the officer's clothing for keys to unlock his handcuffs.

He quickly glanced at the chaotic scene ahead, and without a word, took off his mask, stuffed it into his clothes, and fled the place.

...

"Help... Is anyone there? Is anyone there? Help my husband! He's been shot! Help, help... Help-!"

Crying voices.

They should be guests preparing to leave after the memorial service. In the crowd, a noblewoman was holding a man. Blood was continuously flowing from the man's abdomen, and he was on the verge of death.

"We've already called an ambulance... but looking at the congestion, it probably won't get here anytime soon." Someone said helplessly.

"Does anyone know how to stop the bleeding temporarily?" Someone suggested anxiously.

"It's impossible to stop this amount of bleeding..." Someone sighed.

With hands and feet busy, they could only watch the grieving woman cry over her husband.

"Who... who can save my husband? Please, anyone... Is there no one?" The woman collapsed on her husband's chest, wailing.

At this moment.

"I'll do it! I will save him!"

A loud voice-there stood the man wearing the carnival mask, pushing his way through the crowd.

He crossed his hands over his chest and said solemnly, "In the name of the omniscient and omnipotent, the great Bucky... I, the apostle of the great omniscient and omnipotent Bucky, can save him!"

Damn, my luck has finally come, and nothing can stop it!

It's a good thing I didn't throw away the mask earlier...

Bucky silently cheered, Lucky!