Chapter 37. Harlem's Paradise

At night.

Harlem, Harlem's Paradise.

Harlem's Paradise, the most famous nightclub in Harlem, was also one of Cornell Stokes's, Cottonmouth's bases.

"Hey, Dante."

"Shameek."

After expertly bumping fists and gesturing, Dante, who worked as a bartender in the nightclub, noticed Shameek's strange scowl and asked, "What's the matter, Shameek? You look a little off?"

"Don't mention it." Shameek shook his head. A haze flashed across his face; what had happened in the barbershop and especially his subsequent behaviour in the face of the 'floor sweeper' was a bit too cowardly. Naturally, he was reluctant to talk about it and embarrass himself. So, taking a look at the atmosphere in the club, Shameek then changed the subject and said, "Gimme a cold one. By the way, any 'nice girls' in the club?"

"Shameek, you got any money?" Dante subconsciously asked as a bartender, despite being a buddy.

"Come on, Dante. You know I would never skip the bill on Cottonmouth's turf!" Shameek said as he pulled a crumpled bill from his pocket and craned his head to look somewhere on the first floor, "Unless I don't want to live."

"Hey, it's my job, man. You know there are always a few idiots out there." Pouring his drink and pushing it in front of Shameek, Dante spoke somewhat apologetically.

"Job..." Shameek subconsciously recalled his super lame appearance in the barber shop during the day when he heard Dante's reply, his face darkening as he downed most of the drink in front of him before speaking with an irritated expression, "Do you think having a job is all that great? Even as a cleaner... or that yellow runt.... I'm destined for greatness, just like Cottonmouth."

At this thought, Shameek could not resist turning his head again, looking toward the second floor of Harlem's Paradise.

"Shameek, have you heard? "

At the bar, Dante was polishing the glass in his hand as he said, "I saw Martin and the others earlier. It looks like they messed with some guy and got their asses handed to them. Cottonmouth was throwing a fit about it."

"Martin?" Hearing the news, Shameek subconsciously grimaced. He had never gotten along with Martin and the others, especially after they had defected to work under Cottonmouth and Willis, and their arrogant attitude was a constant irritant to Shameek's sensitive and fragile nerves.

'Finally, some good news.'

Hearing that Martin and his people had been unlucky, Shameek only felt that his dull mood had finally eased a little. After a sip of his drink, he couldn't help but ask, "What happened? Isn't Martin and his crew good fighters?"

Despite the bad relationship, Shameek had to admit that Martin and his crew were capable. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been recruited by Cottonmouth to work under him.

"All I know is they were injured by one man. I'm not sure about the details."

Dante was, after all, only a bartender in a nightclub and had limited access to inside information.

"One guy?"

Shameek raised his eyebrows and took another sip of his drink

"I'll be right back."

Leaving that sentence and gulping down the rest of his drink, Shameek hastily left the bar.

　　...

'How on earth did things get to this?'

In a Chinese restaurant, Ryan, dressed as a waiter, looked at the guests coming and going with a bewildered look on his face.

'Obviously, I came to get some reputation points from Luke Cage. So how did I become a waiter in this restaurant?'

"Waiter, tidy up table five."

"Coming! " Arriving at the table with a rag in hand, Ryan sighed as he cleaned up the mess in the restaurant.

Sure enough, cultural differences couldn't be ignored.

He thought that he had earned over 10 to 20 reputation points from Madame Gao with the name of 'the Beast' alone, but when he switched to Luke Cage and the others, it couldn't even match the reputation points earned from Madame Gao.

"Work hard, Ah Xing." At some point, coming up behind Ryan, Connie, the owner of the Chinese restaurant, addressed him and said, "Although Henry recommended you, I still won't pay you if you're lazy."

"Yes, Ma'am. I know."

Casually agreeing, Ryan looked at Connie, who had turned to leave, and then down at the rag in his hand. The expression on his face was more than a little tearful.

Looking at his own appearance at the moment, how could he be related to the mysterious Peng Lai island?

However, looking up at the nearly 500 reputation points on the data panel, Ryan couldn't bring himself to say he was going to leave.

Finding Luke Cage's location took a lot of effort, but to leave in frustration without even getting enough points, was clearly not in line with Ryan's original intention.

After all, Ryan's original intention was to get the remaining 400 reputation points from Luke Cage for the [Black Iron Treasure Chest].

'A week, a week at the most!'

Secretly setting a deadline for himself, Ryan decided to stay in Harlem for a week first. If he really couldn't get enough points, he would think of other ways or go to other districts and try to find other superheroes or villains.

"Waiter, over here!"

"Coming, coming..."

After figuring out a plan, Ryan didn't complain anymore and then entered Ah Xing's role completely.

　　...

Phew!

Shameek breathed a long sigh of relief and emerged from the bathroom.

Originally, he would have returned to Dante's location; however, after a few steps toward the bar, Shameek subconsciously stopped in his tracks. He turned his head and looked behind him toward the stairs.

Up the stairs was Harlem's Paradise's second floor, where 'Cottonmouth' Cornell Stokes was.

Shameek had passed this spot countless times in the past but never had the courage to go up there because of Cottonmouth's reputation.

"Forget it, I don't want to die yet. Pissing off Cottonmouth is no joke."

Shameek stood in front of the stairs for a while and hesitated, eventually making a choice in his heart, just as he had done in the barbershop. After a few steps forward, Shameek glanced back in the direction of the second floor again with some lingering interest. Coincidentally, a familiar face flashed past on the second floor.

"Martin?!"

Shameek looked at Martin, who appeared on the second floor, and remembered the conversation he had just had with Dante at the bar. He gritted his teeth, changed his direction, and went up the stairs to the second floor.

"Shit. I ain't a wuss!"