Jack had cooperated with Marden a few times before, all for small robberies of passersby and convenience stores. Later, when the Marden brothers got the idea to rob a bank, Jack didn't dare to work with them. 'Damn idiots, just live a simple life,' he thought. 'Why rob a bank?' In the end, Jack was proven right; the Marden brothers were said to have died.
He hadn't expected Clyde Mardon to still be alive, and with one arm missing.
"Marden, what are you doing here? I don't want to go rob a bank with you."
A strange look flashed in Jack's eyes as he stared at Mardon unhappily. Then he slumped, yawned lazily, curled up, and shuffled, twitching, to the bed to lie down.
At this moment, he wondered if reporting Mardon to that annoying detective would earn him some 'food'.
Then he remembered Mardon's ruthlessness and decided his life was more important. He shivered twice on the bed and gave up on other ideas. All he wanted now was to sleep, get through the night, and then rob passersby to get some money for 'food'.
"Jack, you're becoming more and more useless."
Mardon looked at Jack with contempt. If he couldn't find anyone else to use, he wouldn't need to come to an addict who didn't even dare to rob a bank and only did drugs.
"Okay, Mardon, you're very accomplished. You, with one arm, are much more accomplished than I am."
Jack curled up on the bed, eyes still closed, and mumbled.
The mention of his missing arm touched a raw nerve in Mardon. He clenched his fist, his nails digging into his flesh unnoticed, and a look of hatred appeared on his face.
His bandaged stump throbbed with his anger. Mardon's pupils were filled with vengeful fury, and the intense rage caused red blood to seep from his missing arm.
Mardon picked up the black travel bag at his feet with his right hand and violently threw it at Jack, who was on the bed.
Jack was hit and felt a dizzy spell, which ignited his fury. He sat up and yelled, "F*** you, you want to..."
The green US dollars spilling out of the travel bag stopped his anger, as it was at least hundreds of thousands of dollars, more money than he had ever seen. He stared blankly at the money, then his eyes gradually lit up.
Mardon said with a sinister and ferocious expression, "Obey my commands, and you can have anything. Otherwise, you will only die."
Jack's heart skipped a beat, and he asked fearfully, "What do you want to do?"
Mardon's face was grim. He pulled out his phone from his trench coat pocket, turned it on, and showed Jack a photo, saying, "Kidnap this detective."
Jack leaned in to look at the phone and exclaimed, "It's him."
Mardon raised an eyebrow, asking in confusion, "You know him?"
Jack nodded, holding the money and twitching, "A few nights ago, he found me..."
He looked at Mardon hesitantly, clutching the money tightly to his chest, and said, "He found me and told me to inform him if I had any information about you, and I would receive a substantial reward."
Mardon laughed in furious amusement, "That annoying detective, you're looking for death!"
"Mardon, listen, I won't help you kill a detective. I'm not crazy. I'm doing just fine, no need to seek death."
Jack said, trembling. Mardon's state frightened him.
Mardon said disdainfully, "Doing just fine? In your condition? You just need to lure that detective out and help me buy lightning protection devices. The rest of the money will let you live very well."
Jack's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "Are you serious?"
If it was true, he wouldn't need to do anything himself. Just make a call saying he had information about Mardon, notify the detective, and then he could leave. Whatever Mardon did after that wouldn't concern him. Lightning protection devices were also simple; finding someone to install them wouldn't cost tens of thousands of dollars. Here, he had almost five hundred thousand US dollars, enough for him to squander until he died.
Greed and addiction completely consumed his thoughts. He believed Mardon's words.
Mardon didn't care about this small amount of money. With his abilities, he could easily get this much money. Rob a few more banks, and no one could stop him. He could even rule the entire Central City. No one could stop him, except for the person who used lightning, the one who would hinder him, the one who made him afraid, the one who made him run, the one who made his heart tremble. In this world, he only needed to become a god; everyone else could die!
He couldn't find Lin Li, but he knew that the fast-running man in red was very concerned about this detective, and the lightning user was very concerned about Barry. At the time, he even blocked two of his attacks for Barry. Thus, the equation Detective = Man in Red = Lightning User was formed in his mind.
He easily came up with a plan to lure the snake out of its hole, and therefore found Jack. He couldn't show his face since the police had issued a warrant. He needed Jack to buy the lightning rod, set everything up, and kill the person who was hindering him.
The villain was setting up a trap.
The heroes, led by The Flash, still had Cisco directing Barry to put out fires everywhere, while Caitlin monitored Barry's physical characteristics. Even she was a bit confused as to why she had so naturally become part of Barry and Cisco's group.
A few more days passed.
In the time since Mardon was wanted, Joe had set several baits. Two people took the bait. One was a farm worker who was crazy for money. He found an old piece of Mardon's clothing from somewhere and insisted that Mardon had been with him these past few days and left the clothes. Joe and Lin Li rushed over, disturbing Mardon, who then escaped. The worker then demanded an information fee. It was confirmed to be false, and the farm worker was beaten by Lin Li until his face was swollen like a pig's head.
The second was Mardon's ex-girlfriend, who claimed to have seen Mardon. Of course, no evidence was found to support her claim in the end, but this ex-girlfriend of Mardon's did not ask for any information fee, allowing her to preserve her wailing appearance.
At the Central City Police Department, Joe was sitting at his computer, writing a report, when his phone rang. He glanced at it; it was an unknown number.
"Detective West, this is Jack. I know where Mardon is. You need to come over."
Joe vaguely recalled memories of Jack: an addict, with a messy beard, loose skin, and dark circles under his eyes.
Having experienced two fruitless operations, he didn't immediately believe Jack's words. Instead, he threatened him, saying, "Jack, I know you. Several others have tried to get information fees from me. If this isn't accurate, Jack, you'll need to go to rehab for a while."
After hanging up, Joe didn't immediately call Lin Li to come over this time. This time, it was in a forest in the south of Central City. He planned to go investigate first, and once confirmed, he would call Lin Li to deal with Mardon, or perhaps Lin Li wouldn't even be needed, as flesh and blood couldn't withstand bullets.
As time passed, the memory of Mardon's powers gradually faded from his mind.