Chapter 1501 - Inspecting the Relief Shelter
These two women were Charlie’s mother and Raqael’s mother, as well as Luke’s “loyal aides.”
Charlie and Raqael were now earning more than 3,000 dollars a month. It was all thanks to Luke and Selina “training” them in “renovation skills.”
As for whether or not cleaning up construction waste and moving bricks could be considered renovation skills, these two mothers clearly didn’t care.
Money was more real than words and didn’t lie.
This relief shelter had only been set up after the Battle of New York.
Luke’s relief foundation for the disabled and poor had been making regular donations toward community work in Clinton.
This time, the foundation had bought an old, rundown building, and handed it over to community volunteers to give shelter to those who were left without homes after the Battle of New York.
The renovation company had rushed over to work overtime for one day and carry out rough repairs. They also divided the huge space inside into small rooms and public showers and toilets.
Although everything here was very simple and rough, hot water was provided 24/7 for bathing as well as washing clothes.
If a person had no requirements for a hairstyle, they could also get a community worker to help shave them bald or give them a buzz cut.
It was very safe here now.
Patrol cars from the 15th Precinct passed by every day. The patrol officers would carry out inspections every morning and night to make sure that nobody who came in was armed.
There were no drug addicts here.
Thanks to Luke and Selina, Clinton had already gone through five drug gangs.
The first three were all toppled one after another in just four months, while the last two gangs tried their luck over half a year.
It wasn’t that the latter two were more persistent, but that the first three had been inexperienced.
When one gang was hospitalized, another would pop up a few days later to steal territory.
After the three gangs fell one after another, even pigs knew that doing business in the Clinton area was very risky.
The fourth gang only moved in after dragging their feet for two months. Less than two weeks later, all the gang members had broken bones.
The fifth gang had taken four months to move in, and they didn’t even last a week. Not only were they all sent to the hospital, even their Brooklyn base was destroyed.
More than 200 people in total had been sent to the hospital in one go. It was a spectacular scene.
Since then, no drug gangs had dared to enter Clinton.
They all knew that it wasn’t that Batman couldn’t track them down; it was just that he wasn’t that free.
Multiple media reports after the Battle of New York informed everyone that Batman had “departed,” and members of the “Bat Squad” were completely silent.
But no gang dared to enter Clinton.
Batman might have “ascended,” but Black Cat was still doing well.
According to the hearsay about the two Devil Bone Breakers, Black Cat’s contribution rate was no less than 50%.
She was even more ruthless than Batman when it came to violent criminals who targeted women, directly crippling all five of their limbs.
In comparison, many criminals would rather encounter Batman. As a man, he wouldn’t kick too hard.
The gangs stayed far away, while the odd robber here and there didn’t fare well either as they were knocked out every now and then in the middle of a crime.
It was much better than broken bones, but frequent dizzy spells and headaches weren’t a great thing either; they still had to go out everyday to “earn a living.”
Thus, all the criminals left this hellish neighborhood.
Now, Clinton was very famous for its law and order, and crime on the streets at night was practically extinct.
A small grocer and a diner had opened on Luke’s street.
Without the gangs and hoodlums who came every now and then to steal things, it wasn’t hard to carry out this sort of small business.
But even if there were gangs and hoodlums who came to cause trouble, Batman and the others might not necessarily need to show up.
These two stores were run by some of the women whose children either worked at the renovation company or as community workers.
If anything happened, dozens of people would show up.
They were the new tyrants on this block.
After chatting for a while, Luke and Selina began to patrol the shelter.
Apart from being a little noisy and simple at first glance, everything was fine.
It was much more comfortable than building small shacks out of cardboard and plastic sheets on street corners in winter.
However, the rules here were stricter than elsewhere, and a lot of tramps who were used to being unrestrained were unwilling to come here.
That had been deliberate on Luke’s part.
He didn’t want this place to become a shelter for criminals; it was only for civilians who were willing to abide by the rules.
Suddenly, a girl almost bumped into him after coming out of a room with quick steps.
Luke grabbed her shoulder and smiled. “Why aren’t you asleep yet? You’re not in charge of taking care of the kids, right, Skye?”
The girl was none other than Skye, whom they had “picked up” from the sewers.
It had been two months since then, and far from her thin and weak figure, she now looked like a regular girl
Her flushed face, the beads of sweat on her forehead, and her quick breaths all demonstrated her vigor.
She exclaimed in surprise when she saw Luke. “Luke?”
She then awkwardly held the “fragrant” trash can in her hands further away. “Wait, let me take this to the dumpster first, okay?”
Luke let go. “No problem. I’ll wait for you in the hall.”
Skye nodded quickly and said hello to Selina behind Luke before she left with the trash can.
Selina turned around. “She looks to be in good spirits, and can help take care of kids.”
Luke looked into the room and saw a mother with two kids.
The older one was around four or five, and was smiling foolishly at his little brother.
The younger one was only two years old, and was also smiling foolishly at his big brother.
Their mother was a little young and was busy cleaning up.
Luke didn’t need to look to know what the leftover toilet paper and diaper on the floor were. Even with 99.9% of his Sharp Nose turned off, he could still smell them.
He curled his lip and slipped away. “She should find a bigger trash can.”
Selina didn’t even bother to look. She had already turned around and walked to the hall.
A few minutes later, Skye, who had thrown away the trash in a hurry, saw them.
She was about to come over, when she raised her hands again in embarrassment. “Wait a little longer. Let me wash my hands first.”
Luke waved his hand to indicate that it was fine, then smiled at Charlie’s mother. “Two cups of coffee, Maria.”
“Do you know Skye?” Maria grabbed a couple of disposable cups from the counter and poured two cups of coffee. She asked curiously, “She’s a good kid. She’s honest and much smarter than my stupid son.”
Luke nodded. “I ran into her by accident. It’s not safe for a girl to be on her own outside, so I brought her here.”
The sugar and milk were right next to him. As he answered Maria’s questions, he added sugar to his coffee as well as a small amount of milk, while Selina doubled the amount of hers.
Picking up his coffee, he sat down in a plastic chair and gave Selina a cup. “Try this.”
Selina had better taste in coffee than he did.
Taking a sip, she hummed and said, “It’s pretty much the same as what’s on the list.”
It was hard to avoid someone trying to undermine you.
A list could only tell you what had been bought; there was no way to stop someone from switching out the good stuff for themself.
This was also one of the purposes of an on-site inspection.
As they drank their coffee, Skye ran out of the bathroom.
She was relieved to see that Luke and Selina were still here.
These two were too busy. If they weren’t at work, then they were holed up at home
She had a lot of work to do here, and had been too embarrassed to go knocking.
This was a happy coincidence..
