Jack looked at the people who barged in shouting and screaming and was momentarily dazed.
This group was dressed entirely in green. Their faces were painted with what looked like mashed vegetable leaves, and they waved small green flags in their hands.
The leader shouted through a megaphone, "Evil demons! How can you treat animals like this—turning them into delicious meat patties?!"
As soon as those words came out, the entire place fell silent.
The man holding the megaphone panicked for a moment and hurriedly added, "Stop them quickly! They're still eating small animals!"
The others immediately followed, shouting similar slogans.
"You're destroying the environment and the Earth! You must stop this cruel behavior immediately!"
"That's right! Small animals are innocent! You can't treat kind little animals like this!"
Jack had been in the U.S. for a long time, but this was the first time he had encountered something like this. He was briefly dumbfounded.
After snapping out of it, he didn't plan to stop. Instead, he picked up his burger and ate it with even more enthusiasm.
Watching people act like monkeys while he ate was a pretty good appetizer.
Felicia and Missy were clearly not experiencing this for the first time and were already preparing to leave.
Jack watched them pack up and asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
Felicia looked troubled as she recalled past experiences. Frowning slightly, she said, "Let's leave quickly. If they see you eating beef like that, they'll come over, point at your nose, and curse you nonstop."
Missy nodded seriously. "It's horrible being surrounded by them. I got surrounded once—it made me unable to eat vegetables for days."
Unfortunately, the vegetarians had already noticed them. One sharp-eared man caught Missy's words and rushed over, reaching out to grab her clothes.
Jack's face instantly went cold.
Before the man could touch Missy, Jack kicked him flying.
The man crashed into several of his companions.
Ignoring the stunned crowd, Jack wrapped an arm around each girl's shoulders and escorted them into the lounge.
"Boss, they're chasing us," Felicia said nervously.
Jack patted their shoulders and smiled gently. "Relax. Leave it to me. You two wait here. Today, I'll teach you a Chinese word—Xiachang."
"The end," he added lightly.
"Xiachang?" the two repeated.
Jack gently rubbed their heads and walked out of the lounge. He patted Flash and the male employee blocking the vegetarians.
"Step aside. I've got this."
Before they could react, Jack shoved both palms into the chest of the foremost vegetarian, knocking down a large group of frail "vegetable leaves."
Reaching behind his lower back, Jack pulled out a Desert Eagle from his system and fired a shot into the ceiling.
"Now," Jack said softly, "everyone shut the hell up."
The vegetarians froze. Silenced by fear, no one dared speak.
Flash rubbed his ears. The gunshot was loud enough to make them ring.
As Jack took a step forward, the vegetarians instinctively took a step back, retreating all the way to the entrance.
If the burger shop hadn't been large enough, it wouldn't have fit these twenty-plus "vegetable leaves."
"Leave," Jack said calmly. "Now."
They hesitated—then suddenly found their courage.
"This is New York! You have no right to shoot us!"
"You demons who eat animals will be cursed!"
"The lovely animals will look down on you murderers from heaven!"
"Everyone who eats animals should go to hell!"
Jack's gloomy expression suddenly broke into a smile.
"You're right," he said. "So get the fuck out of my shop."
Still smiling, Jack fired five shots at their feet.
Ricocheting bullets scraped past a few unlucky ones.
The uninjured ran faster than Olympic athletes, abandoning their injured companions without hesitation.
Jack watched them retreat outside, terror and indignation mixed in their eyes, as if he had just eaten their families alive.
One injured person tried to crawl away. Jack didn't stop him. Instead, he said to Flash, "Close the door. Then turn those four to face outside."
Flash and the male waiter complied, tossing out the banners and spray cans left behind.
"Boss, done."
The four injured vegetarians were too scared to move, their legs shaking. Flash seated them facing outward.
"Flash," Jack said, "take everyone to the lounge. No one comes out."
After escorting all twelve employees away, Flash returned.
Jack turned around. "Why are you back out here?"
Flash grinned nervously. "Boss… you're definitely about to do something big. I wanna watch."
Jack gave him a final, friendly warning. "Best close your eyes. It's going to be blinding."
"Got it," Flash said—but immediately hid behind the cold storage door to peek through the glass.
Jack formed hand seals in the hall, then quickly hid beside Flash.
Just as Flash looked outside—
"Ah! What the fu—!"
Dozens of lightning bolts slammed into the ground in front of the burger shop, striking the vegetarians who were still holding the banners.
Every single one was hit—one bolt per head.
Moments later, the lightning dissipated.
Jack slapped Flash irritably. "What are you screaming for? You're a grown man. Getting scared over something this small?"
Flash stared outside in horror, then at his boss's smiling face.
More than twenty bodies lay motionless outside.
Jack didn't care. They had already called the police. Ambulances would arrive soon.
Before leaving, Jack instructed Flash, "Tell the police they were punished by God. Everything else—you don't know."
He also removed the surveillance hard drive from the hall.
Flash nodded numbly.
If Jack knew what Flash was thinking, he'd curse loudly. He hadn't killed anyone—just shocked them using a low-power Lightning Attraction Technique.
Jack drove home without a shred of guilt.
Later, everyone emerged from the lounge.
Seeing the scene outside, they froze.
Felicia covered her mouth.
Missy's face turned pale.
One Jewish girl quietly wet herself and slipped toward the bathroom.
Three minutes later, police and ambulances arrived.
"Headquarters," an officer reported shakily, "approximately twenty injured. Requesting backup."
Inside the shop, the officers found everyone with hands raised.
"We're innocent!" Felicia said quickly.
In the end, everyone was taken to the precinct.
George arrived and questioned the forensic doctor.
"Mr. Hannibal, are they dead?"
"Dead my ass," Hannibal snapped. "Not a single one."
Relief washed over George.
Before nightfall, everyone was released.
Flash stuck to Jack's teachings:
"I don't know."
"I don't know."
"Dunno."
That night, resignation letters were torn up.
Text message: Rest tomorrow. Come back the day after. Mental health subsidy: $10,000.
Flash smiled. "Time to eat in Chinatown."
In his office, George stared at Jack's arrest application… then closed it without saving.
Another week passed.
Jack climbed out of bed, leaving three exhausted "cows" collapsed together.
He answered a call.
"Boss," Sexy Prisoner said, "we've joined S.H.I.E.L.D."
Jack sighed. "Let Sebas talk."
Sebas reported calmly.
Jack smiled faintly.
He checked his system.
Watching his stats rise never got old.
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