American Comics: The Law of Strength

The slightly steep hills stretch endlessly.

In the cold February air, it is full of rocks, grass and trees.

It's hard to imagine that the unique sight that can only be experienced in this mountain is actually in the highly urbanized New York City.

Diane and Peter were walking on a muddy mountain road, the undulations and angles of the path seemed to be built to efficiently grind bubbles in people's feet.

Diane's good-looking eyebrows furrowed tightly, and although the boots on her feet were expensive enough to buy a fairly good scooter, it was clearly not designed for people to walk, and the mountain road with no end in sight in front of her was enough to discourage ordinary people.

And the personal bodyguard she had just recruited made her feel even more uncomfortable at this time, Diane glanced at Peter who was deliberately walking behind her, and the other party unabashedly admired her back, and even saw Diane turn back and smile.

Diane had to try to maintain a calm expression and continue to march towards the mountains.

But every time he took a step, he was kicked up by his boots, and the smell of damp earth made Diane's physical strength and mood constantly approaching the lower limit.

She had been here many times, but at that time she only smelled the fragrance of plain vanilla, only the beauty of forests, lakes and marbles, and the simple church that had just appeared at the end of the line of sight, giving it a sense of solemnity from a fairy tale.

No amount of beauty could make Diane ignore the pain of almost breaking her ankle, but she had to endure it, after all, she came to ask for help.

But before long, she was sweating profusely and leaning breathlessly against a dead oak tree asking for rest.

"Give me... Fifteen minutes, no, even five minutes. The

embarrassed plea was mixed with the girl's gasping, and before Peter could reply, she sat down directly on a relatively clean stone.

Peter did not object, he looked at the church at the end of his line of sight, and asked suspiciously:

"So we worked so hard to run here and wade through mountains and rivers just to come to this broken church?"

Although it is still a long way from the church, with Peter's vision at this time, the appearance of the church has already been in front of him. The

walls already covered with fish-scale cracks are covered with dry creepers, and overgrown weeds, covering the reddish-brown brick wall almost airtightly, and whenever the wind blows, debris actually falls with a crackle, making people wonder if it will collapse in the next second.

Judging from the extent of this decay, it is not an exaggeration to say that this church has a history of hundreds of years.

And Diane finally regained her breath after breathing for a long time, and she replied in a slightly hoarse voice:

"That church belongs to the Catholic Church, it is the safest neutral area in all of New York, and no one dares to commit sins in this church, so it has always been the best negotiating area."

That's why such a mountain is preserved in New York.

The construction of monasteries on steep high mountains is itself a testament to faith. And for believers, overcoming this austerity also gives them a sense of accomplishment and belonging.

Being established in New York City also allows them to be at the center of power and participate in politics.

Peter nodded clearly, basically every disorderly and chaotic realm often needs such a neutral zone, even the most lawless madmen eventually need a certain order.

The girl went on to explain: "My family and the

Catholic Church have established a strong contract hundreds of years ago, they are our family's staunchest allies, and they are also our family's strong cards, and it is precisely because of the Holy See's assistance that our family was able to control the entire underground world of New York many years ago."

This was unexpected by Peter, after all, he had never heard of this force in the Marvel works he contacted, and although there was no religion in the Marvel world, it was basically rarely mentioned as one of the world's largest religious groups.

At this time, Diane seemed to feel that she had wasted too much time to stand up, but she could not control her legs, and trembled like a newborn doe. Seeing this, Peter simply picked Diane up, he put one hand around Diane's

back and the other hand under Diane's knees, and continued to ask while hurrying away in the posture of a princess:

"So this is our next safe house?"

Diane struggled symbolically twice, then shook her head honestly.

"I'm just going to meet someone, get some intelligence, and if we're lucky, we might find a way to win."

"Win? This... Is it really possible?

Peter did not directly deny Diane's idea out of politeness, and on the way he had already learned from Diane's mouth the identity of the enemy, as well as the general situation.

They obviously have no chance of winning, after all, the biggest enemy comes from within their own family, which means that the other party knows all the hole cards that their side has, even if an enemy is a fool, I am afraid it is difficult to lose.

Diane didn't care about Peter's questioning, and she replied with little hesitation:

"I won't lose, even the slightest opportunity I will seize it and turn it into a dawn of victory." Listening to her

voice, it was clear that her breathing had not yet returned to a steady level, as if she was about to fall to the ground, but her side face exuded a wildness that she usually did not have, which made people feel a little dazzling.

In the silence, the two had already arrived in front of the church. The

person who went out to greet him was diametrically opposed to the style of the church, a young man with clear eyes, blonde hair and blue eyes, who looked to be no more than twenty-five or six years old, but from his solemn demeanor, you can see confidence and experience that did not match his youth.

The neat black priest's uniform seemed to attract even the sun, and lying comfortably on the young man's shoulders, combined with his calm demeanor, made people feel that his gentlemanly demeanor was several floors higher.

"Long time no see, Miss Diane."

A gentle but slightly alienated smile, a soft voice, if you can make a ranking for the first impression, then probably the young man in front of you can probably get the top spot without much effort.

However, Diane was unmoved, just trying to maintain a calm expression.

"Long time no see, Joshua."

But soon realized that she was still lying in Peter's arms, so she quickly struggled to climb down, but the pain in her ankle made her frown.

Noticing Diane's discomfort, Joshua didn't say anything more and directly introduced Diane and Peter into the church.

Unlike the dilapidated exterior, the interior of the church, although not gorgeous, was cleaned cleanly, whether it was benches or metal candlesticks, it was spotless, and the lack of light due to creepers and weeds did not give people a gloomy feeling, but a calm atmosphere.

Peter helped Diane to sit down on a bench while he stood by himself.

And Joshua said sorry, walked into the depths of the church, and soon brought two cups of brass cups filled with black tea, Joshua's movements were gentle, alienated but not uncomfortable, if not for the priestly clothes on Joshua's body, Diane seemed to be sitting in a palace enjoying the hospitality of a noble prince.

Peter, as a bodyguard, naturally could not be entertained, but Peter was happy to do so, and he was carefully observing the structure of the church at this time.

Although Diane has said that this is a neutral area, it does not mean that it is absolutely safe.

Diane, on the other hand, took a sip of black tea, enjoying the rare relaxing moment of the past two days, while mentally pondering how to explain what happened to her next and how much she should pay for it.

Joshua, on the other hand, already understood Diane's intentions, smiled and shook his head, signaling Diane to wait a little, and just when Diane was puzzled, the door of the church opened again, and a middle-aged man in his forties walked in with a suitcase.

"Uncle Cotton!"

Diane immediately recognized the person who came, it was Cotton, the butler who had worked for their family for generations.

Diane wanted to run directly over and hug the housekeeper who had grown up with her, but she hesitated for a moment before acting, and finally stood in place.

Cotton was not disappointed when he saw Diane's performance, but nodded gratifyingly.

"Miss Diane, you've been frightened these two days." Even

though there was a fluorescent twinkle in Diane's eyes, she tried to maintain her calm despite her emotions, and although she trusted the housekeeper in front of her, the current situation forced her to remain vigilant.

"What did Milk do?"

Cotton sighed and replied, "He joined forces with outsiders to kidnap your father, Mr. Eric, and then used Mr. Eric's

credentials to introduce the power of outsiders to coerce many elders in the family and forcibly take Mr. Eric's place, and the defense force in the family was disintegrated before it was activated. In addition, he has

made many deals with other underground gangs, many details that I don't know, but I can be sure that he has made agreements with certain figures in politics.

He wants to turn his family back into the leader of the New York underworld, and he wants to be the uncrowned king of the underworld.

Although Dai was prepared, she couldn't help but punch the bench when she heard what Milk had done.

Milk not only betrayed the family, but also ruined her and her father's and ancestors' years of planning.

The Bernano family has been rooted in the United States for many years, and the history of the Bernano family dates back to before the founding of the United States.

In the initial chaotic years, the family did many disgraceful things to accumulate capital and gain influence, but the pride within the family made it unacceptable for them to continue to sink into it.

So in Grandpa Diane's generation, they began to actively divest the black and gray industries in the family, and began to develop into business and politics.

It is precisely because of this that their family has slowly declined from the absolute ruler of the underground world of New York to one of many powerful families.

And their reward is that they are slowly walking to the front of the stage, to the sun, and maybe one day they can walk to the front of the stage.

But Milk single-handedly destroyed nearly three generations of nearly two decades of effort by the Bernano family in less than a week.

So how could Diane not be angry? And the situation may be even worse, and the Bernano family may become a tool of some big figures in politics.

And once they start serving these political bigwigs, the Bernano family will never turn over.

Looking at Diane's fist smashed on the bench, Cotton's eyes showed a faint distress, but he did not step forward to comfort him, but just gave out the information he knew one by one.

"Master Milk imprisoned Mr. Eric with his joint helpers, they are very mysterious, I have not yet investigated which force they belong to, but it is very likely that it is related to Don Gritoley.

There are many people in the family who support Master Milk's ideas, even some elders, and most of the rest have chosen to give in because of his current power, and the voices that are willing to support you and Mr. Eric are controlled by Master Milk.

Then Cotton opened the suitcase and placed it on the ground, only to see a wad of 100-dollar bills inside.

"Miss Diane, Master Milk has frozen all your bank cards through the bank, and has also monitored your credit cards, once used, it will lock your location, I think you will need this cash."

Then he pulled out a note with a phone number and an address.

"I have arranged a private jet at this address, they will wait for you for a week, you can fly this plane back to Italy, ask your loved ones for help, if not regain your power in the United States, at least keep you safe."

Looking at the cash and notes on the ground, Diane bowed her head slightly, and did not say much, but the tears in her eyes were already overflowing.

And Cotton finally showed a gentle smile, he nodded to Peter covertly, and then took a deep look at Diane, as if he wanted to carve her appearance into his mind.

"Miss Diane, please take care."

Cotton said goodbye softly and quickly left, while Diane wiped the tears from her face and put away the box and note.

And Joshua, who had been silent and watching, stood up again at this time.

"I think we have some clues about Milk's facilitator."

Diane looked at Joshua in surprise, and after two seconds of silence, she promised softly:

"If I can successfully regain control of the family, our family's annual donation will increase by another 20% from the current level."

Joshua shook his head and rejected Diane's offer.

"This is our obligation as an ally, the dispute between you and Milk is an internal matter of your family and we cannot intervene, but we will provide all the help we can."

Diane didn't insist either, just stared at Joshua in silence, waiting for him to say the name.

"Wilson," Joshua said softly, "his name is Wilson Grant Fisk. "