CHAPTER 23
The next day, around noon.
The Flash Museum.
This place is probably the most famous tourist attraction in Central City. The entire museum was built through donations from the citizens, representing the hopes and spirit of the entire city. It's a gem in the Midwest, a symbol of the region.
The Flash Museum is quite large. With its expansions, it now occupies an area equivalent to two football fields. It has two floors and multiple exhibition halls divided by different functions, displaying various items related to the Flash.
The first floor has a dedicated exhibition hall for the speedsters of different eras, including the original Flash, Jay Garrick, members of the Justice Society like Johnny Quick and his daughter Jesse Quick, the current Flash and Kid Flash duo, the fastest boy alive, Impulse...
In addition, all the super villains defeated by the Flash also have their own exhibition halls, chronicling those legendary stories. At the center of all the exhibition halls on the first floor, the Cosmic Treadmill used by the Flash is displayed.
If you feel tired from the tour, you can enjoy a meal at the "Speedster Cafe" on the first floor, although it's not free, the prices are definitely cheaper than McDonald's. One fun fact was that all the waiters at the Speedster Cafe wear Rogues' cosplays.
As for the layout on the second floor, it's more of an interactive entertainment area, such as a photo studio, a dressing room, a movie theater, and the exhibition halls of the Flash's allies, such as the Justice League or other superheroes.
It is said that the curator of the Flash Museum is already planning to build a third floor, but it's unknown when construction will begin.
A massive statue of the Flash stands tall in the square in front of the museum's main entrance, attracting countless people who come here to take photos every day.
Yuri wasn't visiting the Flash Museum for the first time, but it was his first time stepping inside.
Today was Wednesday, a weekday and a school day, so there weren't too many visitors inside the museum.
Yuri casually strolled around and entered the Speedster Cafe, the place where he had arranged to meet the Blacksmith.
Upon entering the restaurant, Yuri immediately saw a golden-haired girl cosplaying as the Golden Glider, a waitress with a smile on her face, bowing to him.
"Welcome to the Speedster Cafe. May I take your order?"
"No need, thank you. I have an appointment. Here is my number..."
"Please wait, I need to verify the number... Oh, you are Mr. Aiden Pierce, right?"
"That's correct, I am Aiden Pierce."
Yuri nodded calmly.
The waiter looked at the photo on the reservation form, compared it to Yuri's face, and confirmed that it was indeed him.
"You have reserved private room N34. Please follow me."
When dealing with the big boss of the network, Yuri certainly couldn't reveal his true identity. He had already transformed into Ghostfreak in advance, possessing the current body.
For Yuri, who could transform into Ghostfreak, obtaining the restaurant reservation form was effortless. He just needed to find someone with a reservation time close to the meeting with the blacksmith and possess their body.
Yuri had already identified four potential targets for possession, and Aiden Pierce was the one with the closest timing. If this person didn't showed up today, he would have possessed one of the other targets.
If none of the reserved individuals showed up, he would have to temporarily possess someone in the museum. As long as he didn't expose himself, anything would work.
—-—
Inside the private room, Yuri asked the waiter to leave and ring the bell when needed.
With a clang, the door to the private room closed, leaving Yuri alone inside.
Yuri walked to the window and tapped the glass three times: a light tap, a heavy tap, and another light tap.
This was the secret signal he had agreed upon with McCulloch. As long as he tapped the lightning-shaped window three times like this, the Mirror Master would use a mirror portal to teleport the blacksmith over.
A few seconds later, a whirlpool appeared on the glass, and a dazzling white light flew out of it.
After the white light disappeared, a woman in her forties appeared in the private room.
She was around 1.8 meters tall, with knee-length hair and wearing revealing black leather clothing. Her face was adorned with strange heavy makeup.
To be honest, Yuri felt a lot of pressure from her tall stature, but luckily, he was currently in control of someone else's body, so it didn't bother him eventually.
"Are you the blacksmith?"
Yuri pulled a chair and sat down. "You came alone?"
"I don't see the necessity of bringing followers," replied the blacksmith, carefully examining "Yuri." He then pulled a chair and sat down as well.
"Is that so?" Yuri smiled faintly, closed his eyes, and temporarily released the possession, transforming into an intangible Ghostfreak to survey the surrounding environment.
There were no suspicious individuals in the Flash Museum, and McCulloch's consciousness was not present in any of the mirrors within the private room.
As for outside the museum, there were too many suspicious people.
Of course, the blacksmith couldn't have come alone, but the current situation was within Yuri's acceptable range. At least they hadn't immediately turned hostile.
"The Mirror Master said you have some information about the network. Can you tell me where you obtained your information?" the blacksmith asked, taking the lead.
"Do you suspect the source of my information?" Yuri couldn't help but chuckle. "Besides your comical portrayal of the Trickster, who else could I have obtained it from?"
Yuri timely displayed the information, waving it in front of the blacksmith's eyes.
"I need to verify the authenticity of the information. Otherwise, how can I be sure you're not deceiving the network?" the blacksmith made a seemingly reasonable request.
"Do you think I'm a fool, blacksmith? Or should I say, Ms. Black?" Yuri's words caused the blacksmith's pupils to contract.
"Your real name is Amunet Black, 42 years old. You established the underground black market network fifteen years ago. Your ex-husband, Keith Kenyon, was a supervillain known as the Goldface ten years ago. He reformed five years ago and established his own thing..." Yuri recited the information from the last page, revealing secrets that only someone who had read it would know.
"How much money do you want?" Since she had already determined the authenticity of the information in Yuri's possession, the blacksmith no longer wasted words and went straight to the point.
"This much," Yuri said, extending five fingers.
"Fifty thousand? No problem," the blacksmith agreed without hesitation.
Yuri shook his head. "No, no, what I meant was five million."
"Impossible. The network can't come up with that much money." the blacksmith objected.
"Ms. Black, it's clearly stated in the information that the network generates a minimum of fifty million dollars in pure profit annually. You have been running the network for, what? Like over fifteen years. Do you really think I would believe that you can't pull out five million?" Yuri's lips curled slightly. "Compared to the profits the network has reaped over the years, what I'm asking for is not much. Business is about fair exchange. If you think this information isn't worth that amount, then I'll have to find another buyer."
*****
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