"Am I seeing things?" Tim glanced at the crowd and said, "Isn't that our landlord?"
"Don't mind them." Shiller pulled Tim back into the throng at the square and whispered, "During the Industrial Revolution a few years ago, every street in New York had protesters; it's not that simple, they're not criminals."
"You should be telling that to Dick and Jason, I'm no teenage street hero." Tim's voice grew even lower as he said, "In this crowd, I spotted at least three Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, two undercover agents of unknown identity, and at least ten people who are just causing chaos without any demands, in the very back is someone just wanting a drink."
Shiller gave him a thumbs up secretly, and they quickly blended into the crowd. Those targeting them couldn't find any trace of them and hence didn't do anything too outrageous.
"Are they coming for you?" Tim asked, looking up.
"Not exactly."
"Then it's definitely yes." Tim speculated, "What are their motives? The first demand of the protest is to draw social attention, they think interacting with you could provide them with a media explosion. Are you a celebrity?"
"Being too smart is not always good." Shiller said threateningly,"When we get back, I'm going to tell your dad about your smoking."
"Stop it, he smokes too."
Shiller silently clenched his teeth, Tim said, "You don't seem like the type to make yourself a public figure, so was it an accident? But what kind of accident is it that even you can't fix? Is it about your friend? Iron Man?"
"Can you not follow Batman's theological tactics?"
Tim huffed softly, "Now's not the time to discuss that. There's someone headed this way."
When Shiller turned in the direction Tim was looking, he saw a group of reporters charging over to interview pedestrians, seemingly following the direction of the departing protest, but actually heading directly towards him, their eyes and body language clearly indicating their malicious intent.
"Run!"
The two hurried towards the beach, but since it was nearly dark, tourists who had been watching the sunset at the beach were naturally walking out, and for a moment, the two were blocked.
Seeing the reporters no longer pretending and charging towards him, Tim suddenly shouted loudly, "Pamela!"
Immediately, the reporter at the very front, who was about to catch up to them, stumbled and fell, Shiller saw a short vine retract and heaved a sigh of relief, then someone patted him on the shoulder.
"What's the matter with you two?" Pamela had changed into a swimsuit that was quite revealing, leaving little to the imagination. Tim and Shiller quickly turned their heads away after a glance.
Tim said with some disdain, "Those three pieces of fabric combined are smaller than my pocket, aren't you cold? Go change your clothes."
Pamela rolled her eyes, wiped the lipstick off her face with the back of her hand, and before leaving she didn't forget to say, "You haven't seen the other me from a different cosmos, dressed up like Broccoli. This is nothing!"
After the reporter was tripped, the cameramen behind also stumbled, their photography equipment fell to the ground, and the crowd busied themselves picking it up, blocking the way for others.
Using this opportunity, the three could retreat to the edge of the beach, Pamela found a beach shop to change clothes, but it wasn't long before arguing could be heard from behind.
"She's my sister, I have to go check on her." Tim greeted the owner, who sized him up and, seeing his designer clothes, probably figured he wasn't there to make trouble, and let him in.
Tim pulled open the curtain and saw two men standing in front of Pamela, trying to get handsy with her. Pamela was clearly gearing up for a big move, but Tim walked up and knocked the two men down with two punches.
Tim wasn't as strong as Jason, but he was still a Robin picked by Batman and had learned some physical skills from Thomas. Taking down two common men wasn't hard.
Pamela raised her eyebrows at him and said, "Not bad."
At that moment, the store owner and Shiller walked in, one after the other. The store owner looked at the two men on the floor and didn't say anything, but after a while, he turned to Pamela, "Young lady, it's better for you to leave quickly. Those two are from a local gang, be careful they don't make trouble for you."
The three clumsily dragged the two knocked-out men out, Pamela didn't consider them strangers at all, she turned back and just started changing clothes. When she came out after changing, she saw the store owner dealing with a few Black men.
Tim took out two rolls of bills and threw them at them, "Your men harassed my sister. It's already generous of me to pay for medical expenses, take the money and leave quickly. If you make trouble again, I'll let my dad teach you a lesson!"
Tim's air of a rich young master was truly convincing. The two mob members also knew they weren't from the same world, harassing someone was one thing but really provoking the daughter of a wealthy family could bring them huge trouble. They took the money without daring to say anything and left sheepishly.
Watching all this, Shiller sighed softly. Once in the car, Tim said, "How many people have you offended here? Why are they all targeting you?"
"Have you figured it out?"
As Tim drove, he glanced into the rear-view mirror. Apart from the traffic behind, there was a black Buick sedan less than three car lengths away.
"They've been following us since just now, believe it or not, first thing tomorrow morning someone from this so-called Mob Boss will track us down accurately and invite us over."
"What a pain," Pamela complained. "I don't want to live in the mountains, I want to hit the bars!"
"Forget about the bar at a time like this," Tim said casually glancing at the rear-view mirror. "They're trying to use you to get close to Shiller, sleeping with Black Widow would be much safer than with that bar beauty you just met."
"We're not familiar enough for you to use nicknames," Shiller's mood was obviously not very bright as he said, "It's a long story. They just want to use my popularity to blow things up."
"Popularity? Are you famous?"
"Don't," Shiller said as Pamela had already pulled out her smartphone.
But by then, Pamela had already typed Shiller's name into the search bar of the short video app; just the first three letters were input when the full name was suggested with a "hot" tag on the search entry.
Instantly, a whole lineup of videos popped up, causing Pamela to exclaim, "Wow!"
Tim, startled by her exclamation, glanced back, and the black Buick sedan that was somehow overtaking them from the right swerved sharply to the left, as if intending to forcibly change lanes.
Tim just reacted, stomping on the brake, and with a bang, the car behind them rear-ended them.
Shiller sighed and said, "It looks like they're determined to see me today."
"Don't panic." Pamela knew her negligence was to blame, but she wasn't just some ordinary person; she naturally had a way to make up for it. Nonchalantly, she pulled two seeds from her jeans pocket and tossed them out the window.
At that moment, the black Buick that had aggressively changed lanes stopped, and two people who looked like ordinary, well-dressed individuals, not typical Mob lackeys or agents, got out.
The woman who came from the passenger side immediately pressed her hands together in an apology towards Shiller's car, and people also emerged from the rear-ended car, seeming to want to check the damage.
With these three cars blocking the road, many cars behind had to swerve around them, significantly slowing down the traffic and causing congestion. Several drivers got out to check what was happening, and some even lifted their phones to take videos.
Just as Shiller was about to get out, Tim gestured to him, then burst out the door, cursing loudly: "Have you all gone mad?! In a hurry to meet God?!"
Seeing such a young person bursting out in rage, both parties were taken aback. Shiller, sitting in the car, listened and thought Tim's cursing must have been influenced by some arrogant rap artist as it was fast-paced and rhythmic, making skillful use of "Fxcking" in the right spots—a true double threat.
The two factions responsible for this setup probably didn't expect Shiller not to come out, and were initially unsure how to respond. Seizing their moment of hesitation, there came a "Whoosh! Ha!" and two green figures leaped from under the car.
Bang! Bang, bang!
The punches were thunderous, as refined as carving, the two cabbage-wielding figures first hammered a fist into the nose of the driver in the front car, then a spinning kick onto the roof of Shiller's car, denting it before a follow-up kick toppled the rear car's driver to the ground.
Tim quickly slipped back into the car, slammed the door shut, violently turned the steering wheel, and accelerated past the car next to them, clearing the way ahead.
Pamela was still staring out the rear window, her two Attacking Cabbages wreaking havoc unchecked; for a moment, screams filled the highway, and all the onlookers' phones were knocked away.
Shiller also looked back briefly and couldn't help but exclaim, "You guys from DC are really dark."
"Seriously, Doctor, this can't go on forever. They just want you to show your face, and they'll find a chance sooner or later," Tim said while driving. "You must have expected this; otherwise, you wouldn't have stayed in the mountains instead of a hotel."
Shiller heaved a sigh.
While scrolling through videos related to Shiller, Pamela said, "Since ancient times, it's been like this with party conflicts—one gains, the other loses. With such an advanced network over here, if they could pull you, an internet star, into their camp and get an interview with some favorable comments from you, naturally, they'd gain an upper hand."
"But I don't understand; you could buy a farm anytime. Once this mayoral election is over, they won't focus on you so much. Why stir in these muddy waters now?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Tim answered for Shiller, "There's fish in muddy waters. Miss this chance, and land on the West Coast will be more expensive than gold; any further tricks will be too easy to spot."
"Then you totally deserve it," Pamela said, flipping her hair. "You give, you get. Why not just talk with them directly to avoid them hunting you every day?"
"No rush," Shiller said, resting his elbow on the car window's frame, feeling the passing night breeze and watching the roadside lights stretch into fine lines, disappearing gradually in the wind.
Tim's eyes shifted as he spoke, "I knew you must have been scheming something, they're not unjust in chasing you, but we've been fully committing to helping you; how do we settle this account?"
"I won't let you down," Shiller smiled and said, "You've definitely seen what we've set up on Mercury when you went to Stark Group. Take one set each when you return."
"Long live!" Tim cheered, taking a moment to high-five Pamela while driving.