Chapter 1660: Plan, Pleasant Surprise, Reunion
Emma was a smart person. While in Afterlife, she had probably sounded out the organization’s wariness toward America. After she escaped, she returned to America right away.
It was true that Afterlife didn’t want to catch the eye of American organizations.
These organizations were vicious and not something that ordinary superhumans could deal with.
Afterlife didn’t have enough influence in Asia or America to deter them.
Although some of the superhumans had good combat ability, most of them could only deal with dozens of professional soldiers.
As for developed countries, they liked to use long-ranged attacks the most. It was also starting to become common for them to use surveillance drones.
Regular superhumans might not even run into a regular army before they were killed by the machines.
Thus, after several failed ambushes of Emma, Gordon quickly retreated.
He didn’t want to be caught by some American organization, nor did he want Emma to draw their attention.
Emma thought the same. The two had been at a deadlock for more than a year.
Luke understood what Gordon was worried about.
This sort of person who had an organization behind him had too many restraints.
If he was on his own, he could turn America upside down, but he didn’t dare.
If he broke the rules and acted rashly, the American government would seize the opportunity to kill him and then raze Afterlife to the ground.
This organization wasn’t Hydra, and didn’t have the ability to flourish everywhere.
So, there was very little information on Afterlife in s.h.i.+ELD.
Whether it was details of the structure and strength of Afterlife, or the limit of Gordon’s teleportation, n.o.body knew anything.
Emma only knew the face of Afterlife’s leader, Jiaying. She didn’t know what the woman’s abilities were or where she came from.
For a face-changing master like Luke, appearance was in fact the most unreliable thing.
There were all sorts of techniques, like the super disguise, which was similar to a slightly higher-level superpower, the high-tech nanomask, various mid-level close-fitting fake masks, and low-level plastic surgery.
The prices of these techniques varied, but all of them could make a person look completely different.
Without thoroughly examining a photo, Luke might overlook any of the techniques that were mid-level or higher.
After all, no matter how G.o.dly he might be, it was impossible to completely transform a person like in the movies.
This wasn’t science, but metaphysics.
But as a scientist, Luke was still able to roughly extrapolate Afterlife’s location.
Since he didn’t ask Emma, she didn’t say anything.
After some indirect investigation, he was able to determine the lat.i.tude Afterlife was on.
And there were only so many places on this lat.i.tude that Afterlife could be.
He would be able to find it after the drones patrolled for a while.
It just so happened that a large part of Hydra s.h.i.+ELD in j.a.pan was still in hiding. Once the muddy waters in America were clear, Luke would go to j.a.pan again.
He should reach level 25 soon.
Thinking that, Luke carried on with his fis.h.i.+ng operation step by step, and was busy until mid-June.
Luke and Selina had just returned to their place in Clinton, when he sensed something wasn’t right — there were several people upstairs.
His thoughts moved, and he figured it out as he calmly watched Selina and Gold Nugget rush upstairs.
At that moment, he couldn’t help but sigh. There were no surprises in a life with superpowers. It was dry and boring.
When he reached the second floor, colorful confetti exploded in the living room, and everybody cheered. “Happy birthday, Luke!”
Luke had already perfected his expression to reveal shock, pleasant surprise and thankfulness.
Selina and Gold Nugget were the only ones who secretly despised Luke. Bro, it’s your birthday! Can’t you put on a better act?
Luke’s five senses, and possibly even his sixth sense, were very sharp – one woman and one dog who had worked cases with him for so long knew him too well.
The “pleasant surprise” which Drax, Robert, Catherine, Claire and Joseph had prepared wasn’t a surprise at all.
However, it depended on who the other party was.
Selina and Gold Nugget wouldn’t put a damper on Luke’s family’s high spirits.
According to Gold Nugget, “No matter how unbridled the fiend is, he’s still a baby in front of his family.”
Selina had nothing to say in response.
21 years old was a bit big for a baby, but she herself always said that a 27-year-old was still a beautiful young girl!
So, she couldn’t refute the dog at all.
Also, a certain dog head shamelessly said that it was at least 120 years old on its original planet, and was still considered a baby.
Luke, who had just officially become an adult, was only a fraction of a certain dog’s age.
This… was perfect logic.
In fact, this was genuinely a pleasant surprise for Luke.
After all, he didn’t pay attention to his birthday at all. At most, Little Snail would remind him on the day itself.
This time, it was Selina who had given Little Snail an order to wait until Luke got off work to say anything.
It was only when Luke returned home and found his family hiding upstairs that he remembered.
Although it wasn’t a huge surprise, he was happy enough.
Since the entire family was celebrating, they naturally had to have a small party at home.
Luke had been the one to do the work too many times when they had gatherings in the last two years, and n.o.body allowed him to do anything today.
Drax, who rarely stepped forward, demonstrated his skills today. He started preparing in the afternoon, and his son-in-law, Robert, helped out.
These two were BBQ masters.
It was a feast of all sorts of meat, from pork, beef and mutton to chicken and duck.
In any case, Luke had all kinds of sauces at home, and Selina remembered the ingredients of the special sauce very clearly.
Now that these two ranch chefs knew what the sauces were for, the rest was just about marinating and barbecuing the meat.
These two refused to use the smart kitchenware, insisting that these automatic things didn’t contain the heart and soul of Texas.
Selina found the words familiar.
Only after thinking for a moment did she remember that she had said something similar before, but it had been about the a.s.sembly line production of cupcakes by the kitchenware.
Catherine had Claire and Joseph help her prepare the main vegetables for the day.
It was simple fruit and vegetable salads, to satisfy the need for nutrition.
Then, Selina and Gold Nugget set up folding tables, parasols, and drinks on the roof.
In the light of the setting sun, a lively and warm BBQ birthday party began.
New York in June was cool for the Texans. The rooftop faced the Hudson River on one side, and wasn’t as crowded and noisy as the bustling metropolis behind them.
Luke smiled and played with little Cindy.
This little girl was getting cuter and cuter, and was very playful.
Catherine had practiced the Kunlun Chi Refining Technique while pregnant, which seemed to have improved the baby’s physique.
Now that she was already half a year old, she was plump and pink, like a little piglet.
She also quite liked Luke.
He didn’t use any abilities on Cindy; it would be too dangerous for the baby.
However, it might have something to do with them.
The moment Luke used the Kunlun Chi Refining Technique, it seemed little Cindy could sense it. Maybe she thought that Luke was Catherine?