America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

Li Qun picked up three dice and threw them down.

"1, 2, 4..."

"What did the rules say? Enter the number you rolled."

Li Qun begins to wind up the wooden box, causing his pieces to move on the box map. He encounters an event and draws an event card.

"I came across a river. What's in the river?"

"There are crocodiles in the river, I need to stay for two rounds."

Peter and Gwen carefully observed their surroundings, wondering if any river water or crocodiles might suddenly emerge from John Wick's mansion.

“Everything is normal,” Li Qun said.

“My turn.” Gwen picked up the dice and rolled them down.

The three of them spent the entire morning engrossed in the board game "Jumanji" until a knock came at the door.

"Wait a minute, I'll be right there." Peter got up to open the door.

“Don’t touch my cards, Liqun, you’re bullish on Gwen,” Peter warned Gwen.

Li Qun and Gwen exchanged glances and swapped their cards.

"Hello, Mr. John isn't home today either," Peter said as he opened the door.

"Hello, Peter, I came here yesterday. Do you remember my name? I'm Blake." Blake, a bald white man, stood at the door, dressed exactly the same as yesterday.

"Yes, Mr. Blake, I remember you."

“May I come in and sit for a while until Mr. John returns?” Blake asked.

John might not be back until evening.

“Mr. Black, if you need to see John urgently, you can try to bump into him at Caitlin Cancer Center,” Peter said.

"Ok."

“I’ll come again tomorrow.” Blake turned and left.

Chapter 66 Chief Black, the Man of Justice

John Wick asked Peter and the others to watch the house so that he wouldn't see a "hard-boiled egg" or "boiled egg" sitting gloomily on the sofa as soon as he got home and turned on the light.

John also anticipated what these visitors would say to him.

It's just telling John that they have cutting-edge medical technology to treat cancer, and the price is that John has to work for them.

John wouldn't believe the nonsense these guys were spouting.

As the New York Times often says: What is the cost?

He preferred to find a cure himself.

John Wick had little affection for modern medicine; he had seen too many people in terrible condition after being seriously injured.

Modern medicine prioritizes keeping people alive at all costs, often at the cost of patients losing their dignity as human beings.

The patient is tortured with various treatments, lying in the hospital bed like a skeleton wrapped in skin, with tubes inserted all over their body, unable to control their bowel movements or urination. Their loved ones and relatives are isolated outside the glass windows, and after death, the only memories they have of the patient are the smell of disinfectant in the hospital; all they can say is communicate with their eyes.

John didn't want Helen to end up like that.

John drove his Ford Mustang home with Helen in the back, parked the car in the garage, and entered the house through the side door.

John and Helen met four people in the living room. In addition to Peter's male and female classmates, there was also a bald man wearing a turtleneck sweater.

"Hi John, Helen, welcome home."

“Who is he?” John asked.

"What are you playing?" Helen asked.

“This is ‘Jumanji’,” Li Qun replied.

“He’s Mr. Blake. He said he could wait for you to come back from the hospital, so we let Mr. Blake join our game,” Peter explained.

"Oh, hello, nice to meet you, I'm Blackfriars. I'm sorry, I'm still in the game. Would you like to take over my progress?"

Blake shook hands with John, who felt that Blake Fury was being overly friendly.

“I want to try,” Helen said to Blake.

"I'm entrusting my cards and pieces to you."

Helen sat cross-legged on the carpet, listening to Gwen and Liqun explain the rules of the game to her. Blake's pieces were in danger and were in last place.

"Come with me."

John took Blake to the study to talk, and Blake grabbed his black trench coat and put it in the crook of his arm.

Blake walked into John's study, looked around at the furnishings, and sat down facing John Wick.

"Let me formally introduce myself. I am Blake Fury, the director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (SHIELD).

“You don’t look dark at all,” John Wick said.

“The purpose of my visit is to invite you to join S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Director Black said.

“You should know I’ve retired, right?” John asked.

“What I do know is that you’ve retired from the world of assassins, but the world of justice needs your strength,” Director Black said.

“Have you investigated me?” John asked.

"No, I maintain basic respect for everyone, and I respect your privacy."

“But this afternoon I heard from the birds that you and your wife are going back and forth to the hospital,” Chief Black said.

"Oh my god."

John covered his face with his hands.

"I thought you knew."

"Is it you, or is your wife sick?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. employee benefits include full reimbursement and the most comprehensive medical insurance for employees and their families, even haircuts are covered, and reimbursement is provided for procedures such as mass tissue removal surgery with no side effects," Director Black said very seriously.

My wife Helen has leukemia.

John removed his hands from his face and carefully examined the stranger in front of him.

"Mr. John, have you ever heard of targeted therapy?"

"what?"

"It is currently in the confidential testing phase for medical institutions, but it will be widely promoted to the market in the next few years."

“Using the word ‘market’ feels a bit offensive, but targeted drug therapy can control leukemia, making it like other chronic diseases, with a 10-year survival rate of up to 85%,” Director Black said.

"This is how pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions exploit a patient to the fullest extent of their value!"

John suddenly became furious.

He grew up in a family of Russian assassins and has a clear understanding of capitalism.

"However, it is undeniable that targeted therapy is currently the best treatment option for leukemia."

“Our S.H.I.E.L.D. can tailor a specific targeted treatment plan for your wife Helen, not a generic one. If you feel that I have controlled and used you and your wife, you can come and take my life at any time, and I will not resist.”

"We exchange sincerity for sincerity."

Chief Black's bald head reflected the light, appearing to John as if a halo had risen around it.

"If I understand correctly, S.H.I.E.L.D. is an intelligence agency similar to the FBI or CIA. I need to think about it."

“I need to correct you. S.H.I.E.L.D. is not just an intelligence agency, but also an official military operations organization. In some cases, we can even mobilize troops. Our functions go beyond those two.”

“What about the IRS?” John asked.

“The IRS doesn’t dare investigate us, but we can investigate them,” Chief Black said with a proud smile.

What is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mission?

"It's for justice and order, for the balance of the world, like the scales held high by the Statue of Liberty," Director Black said earnestly.

“Mr. Black, please go back now. When we meet next time, I hope you can bring the information on S.H.I.E.L.D. with you. I need to learn more about your official organization,” John said to Director Black.

“There’s an Eastern proverb that says things don’t happen more than three times,” Director Blake said.

“You used it wrong, it’s an idiom, it’s ‘Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage’,” John corrected Black.

"Thank you for pointing it out."

"If you use 'the third time' to say something, you'll end up being asked to stay for one last dinner."

Is this a derogatory term?

“It’s a neutral word with a warning connotation, and it depends on who you’re talking to,” John said.

“I am learning Chinese, which is a rather profound language,” Director Black said.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. also deals with Aurora?" John asked curiously, as he himself had one-quarter Aurora blood.

"Not at the moment, but in the future. If you know about Aurora, they only care about things on their own land and don't care about other worlds. It's a different story if you provoke them," Director Black said.

John laughed.

He recalled an advertisement from a Russian arms dealer who claimed they could deliver weapons anywhere on Earth, and the accompanying global delivery map showed the entire continent of Aurora as part of the Pacific Ocean.

Chapter 67 Similar Aura

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Melinda."

"Chief Black, I almost thought I was going to have to collect your corpse."

"Did it work?" Melinda May asked Blake.

"I'd say it's half successful. I still need to properly introduce our S.H.I.E.L.D. to him," Black replied.

"Which of them is sick?" Melinda asked.

"It wasn't John, but his wife; she had leukemia."