When Smith Dole explained his idea, Tony was stunned.
"Buddy, isn't the Avengers enough for you? You're really putting together another superhero squad—and what, making them into idols?"
Smith rolled his eyes.
"Don't you think Nick Fury's moving too damn slow? How long has it been? The Avengers are basically just you, me, and Whiplash. The rest are Fury's clerks and pencil-pushers. At this rate the base will turn into a civil service office. And having a team outside of S.H.I.E.L.D.? That's a big plus."
Tony paused, then nodded.
"You're right. I don't trust that one-eyed bastard either—he's hiding things. Fine. Fold my IP into your Red Ribbon Group as shares."
Smith grinned.
"Good. I'll have Fox and Pepper handle the paperwork. You just sign."
Tony hung up, already buried in armor schematics—anti-Thor, anti-Tina, anti-Xu Wenwu… all slated for design.
Smith then called Ivan Vanko. Vanko didn't hesitate—he backed his boss completely and pledged his IP into the Red Ribbon Group.
With those two secured, Smith thought of Captain America. Natasha's report said he had been found and revived. If S.H.I.E.L.D. held his image rights, Smith could make Fury bleed money. If it was the military—same thing. One way or another, Steve Rogers was a market waiting to be cashed in on. But first, he needed to confirm who held the rights.
······
The next day.
Bangkok Brotherhood.
In a room, Selene, Wesley, Eddie, John Wick, and Li Zhongzhi sat opposite a battered young woman—Xiao Man, a streetwalker Li had questioned days before. She'd denied seeing anything then, but now her eyes were swollen, her body bruised.
Selene's tone was sharp.
"You said you saw his daughter."
Xiao Man trembled, glanced around, then locked eyes with Li.
"Yes. I saw her. A black cop took her."
Li shot to his feet, furious.
"Why did you lie to me before?"
She snapped back, eyes red.
"Why should I trust you? Do you even know what a dirty cop is? You're just some foreigner asking questions in the street. If I'd told you then, you'd be dead in an alley by morning—and I'd be next!"
She'd lived too long under Bangkok's shadows not to know the truth. Li was powerless. But this place—the Brotherhood hall, guarded, full of foreigners radiating menace—was different. Here, she sensed, people could actually challenge the rot.
Li clenched his fists, his heart aching. If she had spoken sooner, maybe his daughter would already be safe.
Wesley leaned forward.
"Who is this cop? Where did he take her? How do you know?"
Xiao Man stopped hiding.
She described it all—how she'd been riding a tuk-tuk near a coastal junction, and saw Detective Ah Bin shove Li's daughter into a car and drive off.
Li's blood went cold. He'd reported to that very station, stood among those very officers, and all the while…
"Why would he take her?" Li demanded, voice shaking.
Xiao Man's voice dropped.
"Maybe to sell her as a piglet to the scam camps in Myanmar. Maybe to Pattaya. Maybe… for organs."
The words hit like hammers. Li's knees buckled. He knew what Pattaya meant for a girl. And the other possibilities… even worse.
Selene's eyes narrowed. She dialed, her voice like ice.
"Bring me a Bangkok detective named Ah Bin. I want him here within the hour."
She hung up without waiting for a reply.
······
Meanwhile, in Bangkok Police HQ.
Cui Jie sat in front of his terminal, scanning traffic cam archives. His father-in-law's warning rang in his ears: corruption inside the force.
And then—there it was. A video clip. A girl being dragged near the waterfront.
But before he could finish it, the feed cut. "File deleted."
He cursed, snatched his laptop, and stormed into the IT office.
"Why does it say 'no such video'?"
A colleague shrugged.
"Could be a bad upload. Or someone inside deleted it."
Cui's jaw tightened.
"Trace the uploader's IP. Now."
Minutes later, he had the address. He bolted from the building, laptop in hand. His car wouldn't start. No time. He flagged down a fellow officer—Tak—just as he was leaving.
"Tak, I need a ride. Now."
Tak, seeing it was Cui, nodded and let him in.
As they sped off, Cui dialed his father-in-law.
"Dad, I found a lead. Someone uploaded footage of a girl being kidnapped near the coast. Before I finished watching, someone deleted it from the system. I'm heading with Tak to the uploader's home. There's a mole inside the department."
Tak's knuckles whitened on the wheel. He hadn't expected to hear that.
(End of Chapter)
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