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He pressed firmly on her shoulder, looking directly into her eyes. "Your camera is safe. But you need to calm down now."
Hawke leaned slightly closer to him, closing the distance between them.
His voice wasn't loud, but it reached April's ears clearly:
“You’re injured. Your ‘exclusive’ story is important, but you need to ensure your own safety first. The footage you’ve taken has put you in extreme danger. At least two of New York’s biggest underground gangs want you dead.”
April was taken aback by the calmness in his eyes and the severity in his words, and a barrage of questions got stuck in her throat.
She recalled the gun barrels and those menacing faces she had seen before she lost consciousness, and a chill ran down her spine.
"As for why I'm here?" Hawke's gaze swept over the silent Leonardo and Donatello beside him, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Perhaps you can interpret it as... an arrangement of fate, or that some 'guardians' believe I can provide some necessary assistance." His tone was meaningful. "For example, ensuring that a journalist who possesses dangerous intelligence isn't silenced before uncovering the bigger truth. And, how to properly handle those overly sensitive photos and information."
Hawke's voice was calm, but April could keenly sense the power and control it contained.
This is no ordinary spoiled brat.
The Hawke Lane before her seemed to be vastly different from the young, handsome heir she remembered from financial magazines and the playboy image on entertainment headlines.
Why is the young master of the Ryan Group hanging out with these turtle people?
His words conveyed a sense of nonchalance regarding the gang threat...
The way he spoke of "handling hot-button information" was so matter-of-fact...
And the way he was looking at me now, it was a kind of... knowing understanding of the secret?
Countless question marks exploded in April's mind, far more overwhelming than the simple excitement of the news she had felt before.
Her keen journalistic instincts told her that she might have inadvertently stumbled into the heart of a vortex that was larger, more secretive, and more dangerous than the Big Foot Gang deal.
One of the key figures in this vortex is Hawke Lane, who should have been chatting and laughing at a top Manhattan party.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to suppress the reporter's urge to pry, and tried to regain some professionalism, but her voice still carried a hint of barely perceptible excitement and inquiry: "So, Mr. Ryan, how do you plan to help me?"
Hawke looked at the professional gleam in April's eyes, a glint that was forcibly suppressed yet still burning brightly, gently released his hand from her shoulder, and straightened up.
34. April's Wonderful Fantasy [Seeking Flowers]
The dim sewer light cast deep shadows on his sharply defined face.
“First,” he said calmly, “you need a safe place to recover. Second, we need to talk about what’s in your camera, and… what exactly you saw.”
His gaze shifted to Leonardo and Donatello. "I think these friends might have some crucial information to share?"
April's gaze followed Hawke's and fell once again on the four silent and enormous mutated turtles.
In the silence of the sewers, only the faint sound of dripping water in the distance and Emily's tense breathing could be heard.
April swallowed hard, glancing around at the group: a billionaire, several mutated city guardians, and herself, the journalist who was there to uncover the truth and uphold justice and peace.
Wait a minute, she looked behind Hawke again, oh, there was also an unremarkable cheerleader captain, Emily Chan.
It's obvious—she's a supporting female character with no screen time!
This cast is exactly the same as the plot of the online novels I love to read.
April glanced at Hawke again. In the storyline, the billionaire openly assisted in obtaining evidence, providing cover for reporters and the city's guardians, ultimately successfully sending the criminals to prison!
In the end, the billionaire falls in love with himself, who is just a small-time reporter. In the end, the lovers get married and he marries into a wealthy family, becoming a rich wife.
Hmm... the Ryan family... well, we'll have to make do...
Thinking about it to the end, she even chuckled.
Hawk and the turtle-men twitched at the corners of their mouths as they looked at April's suddenly "unpredictable" expression.
Seemingly sensing the strange looks from the group, April realized what was happening and quickly chuckled awkwardly to ease the embarrassment before getting into character and asking, "A safe place?"
April repeated unconsciously, her gaze sweeping across the strange space filled with graffiti, pipes, and… a giant mutated turtle, “Isn’t this place… safe enough?”
“It’s okay in the short term, but not in the long term,” Hawke said bluntly. “The environment here is not suitable for humans to recuperate for a long time, and it also makes movement difficult. More importantly, it’s too big a target. What we need is a controllable fortress on the ground.”
He then turned to Donatello: "Doctor, you just mentioned her camera. Could you show us the photos? We need to assess the threat level."
Donatello nodded and deftly operated the camera connected to the homemade computer screen.
Several blurry but striking photographs were projected onto a relatively clean wall.
The photo was taken at night in the dock area; the lighting was dim, but it was still discernible.
The iconic triangular emblem of the Big Foot Gang was clearly printed on several shipping containers.
A group of people dressed in uniform black clothes, moving swiftly and clearly well-trained, were quickly moving some heavy metal boxes.
The most crucial image: A metal box was accidentally opened during transport, revealing a viscous liquid inside that emitted a faint green fluorescence!
On the container wall, a peculiar biochemical symbol, resembling a twisted tentacle, is unsettling.
Even more chilling are the figures captured in the corner of the photo: they are abnormally large, their movements are slightly stiff, and their exposed skin has an inhuman, reptilian texture in the dim light, with empty and ferocious eyes—bio-engineered humans!
It looks remarkably similar to the rhinoceros and warthogs in the movies Hawke saw in his previous life! But it appears more powerful and intelligent!
Everyone present gasped in shock.
“It’s ‘Wild Pot’!” Michelangelo blurted out, his voice unusually solemn, forgetting to swing the nunchucks in his hand.
"That madman Schreid is still making this stuff?!"
“‘Wild Jar’?” Hawke frowned. He had heard some legends about this name; it was a dangerous biochemical agent that could induce biological mutations or enhancements.
“This stuff is even more unstable than the last one,” Donatello pointed to the twisted tentacle symbol in the photo, a fusion of the Hand's symbol and the Foot Clan's triangular emblem. “Look at this synthetic mark; the Foot Clan and the Hand are really in deep cooperation. They're shipping this dangerous hybrid in large quantities! April has captured crucial evidence!”
"Have they completed the deal?" Leonardo asked in a deep voice, this was the core of the strategy.
April struggled to recall, her head throbbing: “I…I don’t know. I had just taken these pictures when I was discovered. They appeared like ghosts…so fast! One of them…wearing a metal mask, almost crushed my camera with just one hand…and then I was hit…”
“Metal mask…a hand…” Raphael’s voice deepened, filled with a deep-seated hatred. “Shredd! He was there in person?!” His knuckles turned white from gripping the knife, and the air was thick with a violent aura.
In that oppressive moment, Donatello’s homemade sensors, installed throughout the base, emitted a piercing, continuous shriek!
On the computer screen, countless red dots, like a flood bursting its banks, were rapidly approaching from multiple directions!
"Highest alert! Large numbers of enemies! The sewer system has been infiltrated! Surface wellheads have been breached! Objective: Annihilation!!" Donatello's voice was filled with unprecedented tension. "The number is more than three times the estimated amount! And... the readings show more than a dozen high-energy heat sources! It's Schreid's bio-engineered human legion!!"
"Kawabonga! They had a party and didn't invite us?! That's so rude!" Michelangelo yelled as he jumped up, twirling his nunchucks like windmills.
"Protect the civilians! Prepare to engage the enemy!" Leonardo drew his twin swords instantly, their blades flashing coldly in the dim light. "Raphael, left flank! Mickey, right flank! Donnie, cover the rear! Hawke, take the two of them to cover!"
He speaks very quickly, and his gaze is as sharp as an eagle's.
The words have not yet been spoken!
“Boom! Boom! Boom—!”
Multiple sections of the pipe walls above the base were violently blasted through!
Gravel and sewage fell like rain!
Amidst the billowing smoke, dozens of dark figures slashed in at high speed like ghosts, their cold blades reflecting a chilling light. These were the fearless elite ninjas of the Big Foot Gang, who coordinated perfectly and instantly blocked multiple escape routes.
At the same time, devastating impacts resounded from the base's main entrance and several vulnerable points!
35. Cyborgs Invade! [Seeking Flowers and Add to Favorites]
The heavy alloy gate was ripped open!
More than ten bio-engineered humans, each over two and a half meters tall, with muscles as bulging as rocks, sickly bluish-gray skin, eyes burning with a violent red light, and wearing simple but heavy armor, crushed in like an out-of-control battering ram!
The heavy footsteps shook the entire base! They roared deafeningly, inhumanly, as they charged forward with an aura of annihilation!
This is Schreid's real war machine!
Hawke's eyes widened: This kind of creature appeared so early in history? Could it be that the alien Lang has already appeared?
The battle instantly heats up!
The narrow space was filled with explosions, flashing blades, and roars!
Leonardo's twin swords transformed into two streaks of blue lightning, his movements as agile as a ghost, dodging and weaving amidst the attacks of the ninja and the cyborg.
His knife precisely parried poisoned darts and cut the fragile joints of the cyborgs; every swing was deadly efficient.
Raphael, like a burning spirit of vengeance, roared as he charged toward the densest horde of enemies.
His twin swords moved with wide, sweeping motions, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound that tore through the air; each strike contained the power to cut through steel!
A cyborg tried to block with his massive arm, but Raphael's blade, sparks flying, sliced through the armor and embedded itself deeply in his thick arm!
"For Splinter!" he roared, forcefully shoving a cyborg back several steps!
That's right, Splinter had already died by Shredder's knife at this point!
Michelangelo was the most elusive orange whirlwind; the nunchucks in his hands seemed alive, clanging incessantly as he parried attacks from all directions.
He uses pipes, discarded tires, and even ninja bodies as springboards to navigate through narrow spaces at extreme speeds.
"Hey! Big oaf, look over here!" He deftly tripped a ninja and then jabbed a cyborg's knee with the tip of his stick, his movements full of the improvisation and ferocity of street fighting.
Donatello is the team's tactical core and defensive guardian.
His long staff was flexible and adaptable, sometimes piercing through the ninjas' encirclement like a spear, and sometimes sweeping across the battlefield to block the cyborgs' advance.
His wrist-worn computer was flashing data streams frantically: "Warning! The cyborg's energy core is in its chest cavity! Overheating will cause it to explode! The ninja... has an EMP device!"
Hawke carried the terrified Emily and the pained April to a sturdy bunker made of a giant, abandoned water pump and placed them behind it.
"Stay put!" His voice was deep, and he used his little trick—emotional reassurance—at just the right moment.
Sure enough, the two women gradually calmed down and looked at Hawke with a sense of relief.
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield, lingering particularly on the cyborgs emanating dangerous energy fluctuations.
It's time to intervene!
Ignoring Michelangelo's harassment, a cyborg roared and lifted a discarded metal cart, smashing it down on Raphael's back like a catapult!
Raphael was fully engaged in fighting the two ninjas in front of him and had no way to defend himself!
"Raphael! Behind you!" Leonardo shouted urgently, but it was too late.
At this critical moment!
Hawke moved!