Chapter 15: Confronting Hope (Edited)

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Compared to the name Clark, you prefer others to call you by your Chinese name, Li, Cong, Xin...uh, maybe my pronunciation isn't very accurate, don't mind." While speaking, the legendary girl had already jogged to Clark's side: "Actually, I came here specifically to apologize to you."

Apology?

The person you need to apologize to is already dead! If apologies were useful, what's the need for the Avengers? Clark really didn't have any good feelings towards this woman who completely disregarded others' feelings, shrugging indifferently: "You don't have to worry about it, because I don't care about you either."

Having said that, Clark turned to leave.

"Wait, Clark." Crawford quickly caught up and then showed a very charming smile: "First of all, congratulations on your successful weight loss and fitness. I wonder, besides your physique, has that aspect also been enhanced?"

Really persistent!

Clark frowned and said coldly: "Do you want to try?"

According to the routine, after Clark said this, the other party should leave a wave of impression points and then leave in anger, never interacting with Clark again.

But the expected impression points didn't appear, and Crawford, after hearing his words, even showed excitement: "Sure!"

Clark: ...

Are American girls all so open? And what's with that look in your eyes that doesn't contain a trace of emotion, only a mad passion for the truth? Is such a boring test so important in your eyes?

Clark said he really couldn't understand this legendary girl in front of him, and could only honestly say: "Sorry, I'm not in the mood right now."

The girl finally came out of her frenzy, noticing Clark's cold attitude, and her expression dimmed: "Are we still friends?"

Clark calmly answered: "No, we are classmates." The meaning of rejecting someone a thousand miles away was more than clear.

Received an impression score of +2 from Crawford Xingil!

At this moment, Crawford spoke again, looking at Clark with a pleading gaze: "Then, as a classmate, if you see me being bullied by four bad guys outside of school, would you help?"

Clark pondered for two seconds and shook his head lightly: "No, I think four people should be enough."

Received an impression score of +9 from Crawford Xingil!

After briskly brushing some impression points, Clark felt extremely relieved. But the next moment, he noticed that Crawford's face became somewhat ugly, and from the direction of the alley entrance, exactly four guys dressed in a way that they didn't seem like good people, were smiling maliciously and walking towards them.

There really were thugs, and the number was exactly four! Clark now finally understood why Crawford had asked him such a strange question before.

Normally, encountering thugs would be a pleasing thing, but if he acted now, he would inevitably get entangled with Crawford again, which was rather annoying.

While Clark was in a dilemma, the four thugs were already approaching with malicious smiles, and the oldest-looking one didn't even glance at Clark, his eyes fixed on Crawford: "Beauty, young men don't last long, how about you come out and have fun with us brothers?"

Seeing these guys so brazen, Clark couldn't help but frown.

These four guys, should he beat them, kick them, or punch them? Just as Clark was pondering, suddenly, a figure darted out from below, directly into the middle of the four thugs, and then a series of close combat moves were displayed. Before Crawford could react to what had happened, the four thugs were already laid out on the ground.

Dusting off her non-existent dust, the figure turned back, and it was Hope!

Hope, who had dealt with the four hooligans in an instant, didn't show any sign of pride, as if she had done a trivial thing. Her gaze swept over the four thugs, and then she coldly uttered a word: "Scram!"

The thugs, as if granted amnesty, quickly scrambled up from the ground and fled without a trace.

At this moment, Hope's face showed a gentle smile again, saying to Crawford: "Crawford, I have something I'd like to talk to Clark about alone, so..."

Crawford, who was also frightened by the previous four thugs, quickly said: "I won't disturb you anymore, I'll leave now!" After saying that, she jogged away from the secluded alley.

Watching Crawford's figure disappear at the end of the alley, Hope then turned to Clark and winked: "Aren't you going to thank me for stepping in to help?"

Clark was stunned at first, then immediately smiled: "Thank you for stepping in to help."

"No!" Hope said seriously: "Not only have you trained in martial arts at the Nalan Wu Academy in Chinatown, but because of your outstanding talent, along with being Chinese yourself, you received a few true teachings from Mr. Nalan Long. Those four little thugs certainly wouldn't be in your eyes."

"What I'm actually talking about is Crawford." Before Clark could reply, Hope continued: "She hurt you before, so facing the situation just now, you must have felt very conflicted."

"Watching a classmate being bullied by thugs, you couldn't just stand by, but if you acted, you would feel you were betraying yourself. My intervention, then, helped you avoid a dilemma. Shouldn't you express some gratitude?"

Clark's gaze turned cold: "You investigated me?"

Hope countered: "Did I need to specifically investigate the things I mentioned?"

Clark thought about it and agreed. Whether it was the 9.58 seconds incident or his martial arts training, none of it was a secret. A simple inquiry would have revealed all, no need for a deliberate investigation. He looked at Hope suspiciously: "What exactly do you want?"

Hope cracked her knuckles: "I want to fight you."

"I don't fight women."

"You have no choice!" Without further ado, Hope already made the first move towards Clark.

Hope was agile and her attacks were fierce, something Clark had already witnessed when she dealt with the four thugs earlier, so he didn't dare hold back.

Although he didn't want to compete with a woman over winning or losing, he didn't want to get beaten up either, so he had no choice but to seriously engage with her.

What could he do? He was also helpless!

The two quickly exchanged blows, and in a blink of an eye, they had already exchanged more than twenty moves.

"Bang!" Clark kicked out again, and Hope, unable to dodge in time, could only cross her arms in front of her chest to block.

It turned out that although Hope was skilled, how could she compete with Clark in terms of strength? Being directly kicked by Clark, she was sent flying out of the alley, landing several steps back before stabilizing her stance.

"What's going on?"

Just then, coincidentally, two patrolling officers passed by the alley entrance and saw Hope flying out of the alley. They immediately became tense, rushed forward to protect Hope, and pointed their guns at Clark: "Raise your hands!"

Hope quickly explained: "Don't misunderstand, we're friends."

And Clark had already obediently raised his hands: "Yeah, we were just playing."

The two officers looked at Hope, then at Clark, and while holstering their guns, one couldn't help but complain: "Young people these days, really. Playing with your girlfriend in broad daylight..."