[Chapter 160: Securing Avengers]
The Little Girl said softly, "Yes, I remember your voice."
Daniel replied, "As you can see, the people who kidnapped and hurt you are all dead. Act like this never happened. Don't mention it to anyone. And don't go out selling flowers at night anymore."
"I understand, sir," the Little Girl answered, her tone surprisingly mature.
Daniel gently rubbed her head. "Go ahead."
"Can I give you a hug?" she asked.
When Daniel nodded, she took two quick steps and hugged him tightly. Only then did her tears start to fall -- soft, quiet drops.
Daniel patted her back in comfort.
After a long moment, the Little Girl finally let go, waved at him, and turned to enter the apartment. Daniel watched until she disappeared inside before climbing back into the car, letting Ailin's father drive away.
Once the car was gone, the Little Girl emerged from the apartment again, eyes fixed on the distance where the car had disappeared. She never could have imagined it -- in the darkest moment of her young life, the gentleman who had bought her flowers descended from the heavens to pull her out of suffering. In that moment, Daniel seemed to glow with light in her eyes.
After a long time, she finally turned back inside, returning to her difficult but ordinary life.
...
Ailin's father dropped Daniel off outside the hotel. Ailin, already in fresh clothes, got out of the car with her father and Amy's father, repeatedly thanking Daniel.
Daniel looked at Ailin and noticed a hint of hesitation in her eyes. If it weren't for wanting to thank him, she wouldn't have left the car at all.
Daniel sighed. "Find a psychiatrist for Ailin."
"I will," her father promised.
He handed Daniel a check he'd prepared in advance.
Daniel took it, saying, "Go home quickly. Ailin needs a good bath and some rest."
"Thank you, Mr. Cross," Ailin said with deep gratitude. Amy's father nodded as well, pride shining in his eyes. The Exorcist he'd introduced had been able to bring Ailin back -- he felt a shared sense of pride.
...
After waving goodbye, Daniel entered the Hilton Hotel.
Back in his room, Daniel filled the bathtub and sank into the warm water.
He hadn't expected that by rescuing Amy, he'd also save Ailin and the flower-selling Little Girl.
What he had encountered this time was like a horror movie playing out in real life. The film was called Martyrs.
In it, a cult believed that by repeatedly inflicting pain on pure young girls, those girls would lose themselves and briefly detach their souls from their bodies under intense suffering. At that moment, they could sense God and truly perceive divine existence.
The film's heroine was captured by this cult and tortured endlessly.
What Daniel found matched that exactly.
That was why Ailin was tortured. That was why the Fat Woman spouted strange words. And that was why so many young girls were locked away in the cult's dungeon -- even the flower-selling Little Girl.
This cult must have had powerful backers. To ordinary people, they were terrifying and unstoppable.
But to Daniel, they were weak.
Though cultists, they had no true power. Each one he killed only earned 100 Merit Points.
With a dozen or so people, that was just over a thousand points -- not much, but better than nothing.
This cult was no match for the Brotherhood of Saints. Even a random ghost or monster Daniel had faced before was far stronger.
...
The next morning, Daniel went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
He flipped through the newspaper but found no mention of what had happened the night before.
He checked several papers, all the same.
It seemed this incident was meant to remain known by very few.
...
After breakfast, Daniel took a taxi back to Marvel's headquarters.
Avi Arad had already sent him a message inviting him for a follow-up meeting.
They met again in the same conference room as before, with the same three people -- Daniel, Avi Arad, and Isaac Perlmutter.
After exchanging greetings, they got straight to business.
Avi Arad said, "Mr. Cross, we've discussed and come up with another proposal."
Daniel's face darkened slightly. "Let's hear it."
Avi Arad explained, "You can become Marvel's second-largest shareholder, but we won't sell our Heroes. Instead, we'll use them as collateral and pledge them to you."
Daniel wasn't surprised. In the other world, that was exactly what they did -- pledging several Heroes to securities firms to secure a loan of over 500 million dollars.
But that was next year.
This year, Daniel pushed back. "That's impossible..."
Negotiations began.
After a full hour, they reached a preliminary agreement.
Daniel would invest enough to become Marvel's second-largest shareholder. The shares would come from current Marvel shareholders selling a portion of theirs.
As for the Heroes, Daniel could purchase some outright, while others would be pledged to him as collateral. Interest would be calculated at market rates for financial companies.
Clearly, Daniel could profit from this arrangement, and Avi Arad and Isaac Perlmutter accepted it.
However, Daniel insisted on purchasing Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Without these, he refused to do the deal.
Avi Arad and Isaac Perlmutter couldn't yet appreciate how valuable these characters would be.
After conferring, they agreed to Daniel's terms.
Daniel remained outwardly calm, but inside he was thrilled.
These were probably Marvel's most valuable Heroes.
Even without Marvel making movies with them, Daniel could assemble his own teams to do it.
With so many studios in Hollywood, as long as he invested and provided a solid storyline, it would work.
Next came haggling over the price.
Back in 1999, Sony paid $7 million for the film rights to Spider-Man. But after the massive success of the first two Spider-Man movies, these Heroes wouldn't be cheap anymore -- but neither would they be outrageously expensive.
The final numbers and which characters would be pledged needed detailed discussion -- and that would take time.
Daniel couldn't just wait around forever.
After signing the preliminary agreement, he left New York.
For the detailed negotiations, he would hire a professional team to handle it.
...
That afternoon, Daniel flew back to Los Angeles. The one who came to pick him up was Frank Douglas.
As the car drove towards Beverly Hills, Frank said, "I've found the team you wanted. They're absolutely professional."
*****
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