"S.H.I.E.L.D. has investigated thoroughly. Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich, a Russian gang enforcer, a Russian-American. He left the gang a few years ago and works as a dockworker," Nick Fury recounted the story of Rhino to Peter. "He had a very loving wife, and she suffered from a very rare blood disease..."
"He accepted Otto Octavius's modifications because of her illness."
Peter understood. It probably wasn't just accepting the modifications; Wilson Fisk had also paid a sum of money, a sum that Aleksei found very satisfactory at the time. However, the cost of treatment likely exceeded the scope of what this Russian strongman, who had never seen much money in his life, could imagine. He thought Fisk's payment was enough, but it wasn't, so he went out to rob banks.
"We can use a man like him. I plan to recruit him into S.H.I.E.L.D."
No sooner had Nick Fury finished speaking than he saw Spider-Man's uneven eyes, signifying doubt.
Meanwhile, watching the rampaging Rhino tearing through the streets, Hawkeye Clint Barton landed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet.
"We're facing a humanoid rhino whose charging speed and strength can contend with the Hulk, and all the support you get is a bowman, a spy, and a little girl who can phase through walls."
Clint self-deprecatingly made no effort to hide his sarcasm. This so-called Thunderbolts team consisted of only four members: Hawkeye as the leader, Black Widow Natasha Romanoff, Ghost Ava Starr, and Goliath Bill Foster, who could grow to giant size.
Undoubtedly, the only one in the entire team who could effectively deal with that rampaging rhino was Goliath, who, like Ant-Man, used Pym Particles.
"I heard Hank Pym once had a strength contest with the Hulk, so, good luck, Bill."
Watching Goliath jump out of the Quinjet, Black Widow sat in the co-pilot's seat, looking at Hawkeye somewhat oddly: "Ant-Man actually had a strength contest with the Hulk?"
"Yeah." Hawkeye nodded affirmingly. "Didn't you read the S.H.I.E.L.D. report? A giant over ten meters tall was thoroughly slammed to the ground by a three-meter-tall green bare-assed kid."
Natasha nodded, about to speak but stopping herself, while Ghost sighed at the remark, put on her mask, and phased out of the plane.
Spider-Man wasn't optimistic about Nick Fury's plan.
"I'm not very optimistic about your Thunderbolts. Mainly, there's no way to deal with Rhino." He didn't quite understand why S.H.I.E.L.D. had only put together four people: "Couldn't you have chosen more people?"
No sooner had he spoken than the massive Goliath was knocked to the ground by the charge. His enormous body then crushed the street, potentially causing more severe collateral damage than Rhino's rampage itself. Nick Fury sighed, placing his hand on the microphone near his ear.
"What are you doing, Barton?"
"It's handled, sir."
Standing on the Quinjet, Clint Barton put away his bow. He had never expected Goliath to take down Rhino, but Goliath could help distract Rhino's attention, allowing him to fire an arrow laced with a powerful tranquilizer. Rhino had been modified to be barely human, but his internal organs were still human level.
"See? My team can handle all of this, and with just a bit more money, I can continue to expand my team."
Nick Fury seemed to be showing off to Peter, but Peter told Nick Fury something else: "I'm not sure you'll succeed, Fury. I think Aleksei might demand to serve his prison time before joining your team."
Then Peter ignored the dark look on Nick Fury's face: "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Yesterday, Wilson Fisk announced his surrender. Today, more than a dozen large gangs emerged in New York. I don't care what their situation is, but I'm certain of one thing: these gang members are not normal."
Nick Fury brazenly hacked into Peter's mask system, transmitting one eyewitness report and file after another to Peter. These files covered various aspects and areas of New York. Almost all districts showed a very significant rise in crime rates after Fisk's surrender, but this was different from what Peter had experienced—he distinctly felt that not so many things had actually happened.
So, there was something wrong here.
"You mean... someone is faking the data, trying to make New York look like a crime haven?"
Peter realized Nick Fury was about to say something, and he also wanted to hear what this master spy thought.
"That's what you need to figure out. S.H.I.E.L.D. has a lot on its plate; we don't have time to spend too much effort on New York."
"Then can't you find another Avenger?" Peter sighed helplessly. "In September alone... I can't even remember how many things happened. Can't I get a few days off?"
Nick Fury pursed his lips and shrugged.
"No one's forcing you, Spider-Man. I'm just giving you the information. As for what you decide, that's up to you. Anyway, you know the Avengers won't send you out of New York for missions."
Peter sighed helplessly, taking the batch of files.
NYPD Police Station.
Matt Murdock arrived to meet Wilson Fisk as his lawyer. Even Matt himself was quite surprised that Fisk had chosen him as his counsel. He walked into the detention room, listened as the police officer who should have been standing by quietly left, adjusted his sunglasses, and "looked" at Fisk.
"What are you thinking, Demon?"
"I'm thinking if you're waiting for me to celebrate your victory, Fisk."
"This is no victory at all. If your spider-friend hadn't been so close on my heels, I might still be in my company. But... you have a point." Fisk couldn't help but laugh. "This really is a kind of victory."
Matt also laughed.
"You won't get out so easily."
"Why should I rush out? My people are tightening their defenses, my forces are withdrawing, and then, you will understand." Fisk smiled, shaking his head. "Who truly protects this city, who keeps chaos from spreading."
"The truly terrifying thing isn't a powerful... clear objective, Demon. The truly terrifying thing is unconstrained chaos, chaos that even the Avengers cannot handle."
"And because I can no longer suppress them, they are coming."
Chapter 112: Jessica Jones
On the third floor of an ordinary apartment building in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, one door bore a simple sign: "Alias Investigations." Matt Murdock arrived at the office door and knocked.
A chaotic rustling sound came from within. Matt mentally pictured the occupant scrambling to tidy things up, and waited patiently for the door to open. A woman in her twenties opened the door. Seeing it was Matt, she couldn't help but sigh.
"If I'd known it was you, I wouldn't have bothered tidying up."
"I wouldn't call sweeping all the trash to one side 'tidying up,' but you seem to be doing well, Jessica."
Matt smiled and entered the apartment. This woman was Jessica Jones, a super-powered individual with flight capabilities and superhuman strength, as well as the owner and sole employee of this detective agency.
The two had met through a unique case. To make a long story short, Jessica had killed a psychic, super-powered pervert named Kilgrave. Matt, as her defense attorney, had successfully argued for her innocence, and their connection stemmed from that.
Matt's cane tapped on the floor. Listening to the subtle vibrations echoing back and the sound of Jessica typing on her keyboard, he walked to the wall and asked Jessica, "You changed your pictures?"
"Mac Gargan, the infamous Gargan."
Jessica Jones didn't directly answer Matt's question. "Didn't you ask me to find him? I posted some clues about him on the wall."
"Ah, yes, about that..."
Matt scratched his head awkwardly, then offered an embarrassed smile. "You don't need to pursue it anymore."
Jessica: ???
"Yesterday, the modified Gargan attempted to kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's family member and was arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D."
Matt adjusted his glasses, a bit sheepishly. Just as they had started investigating Gargan, everything came to an abrupt halt, much like with Kingpin.
He had received definitive information from Spider-Man that Kingpin had indeed hired Gargan and some other super-criminals. He had also hired a scientist named Otto Octavius to help him modify Chitauri weapons.
Conservatively, just from Gargan's hints, Kingpin had earned approximately 2 billion USD from these weapons, enough for a massive transition. As for the true situation, there was undoubtedly more.
However, this couldn't be submitted as evidence in court. Memories extracted by telepaths were explicitly illegal evidence, and illegal evidence couldn't be used to press charges against Kingpin.
Hearing this, Jessica Jones stopped typing. She took the laptop off her lap and looked at Matt. "If you just wanted to tell me that the Mac Gargan problem has been resolved, you could've just called me."
"Since you specifically came all this way, it means... you have something else, right?"
Matt sighed and nodded, then sat on the sofa.
"I met with Fisk today. He seems very eager. Eager for the greater chaos that will emerge once his influence in New York diminishes."
Jessica Jones listened silently as Matt finished, frowning. She understood what Matt meant. Undoubtedly, as a detective, Jessica was more familiar with the criminal underworld of Hell's Kitchen than Matt, and thus more easily perceived where the problems lay in Hell's Kitchen.
"Hell's Kitchen has been restless since yesterday. I'm not sure if it's because Fisk left, but you can approach it from that angle."
Matt nodded and thanked her. Kingpin definitely knew something; he had been suppressing certain things, or rather, gangs. These people would surge forth once Kingpin's power weakened. And this was precisely what Kingpin wanted to see.
Until he made Matt admit that Kingpin truly was protecting the city.
So Matt needed to stop the newly emerging gangs. He had to prove to Kingpin that New York didn't need his presence.
He thought carefully for a moment, then looked at Jessica Jones again.
"Has anything noteworthy happened recently?"
Jessica thought for a moment, then started searching for recent cases on her computer. Matt listened to the sound of Jessica typing. Soon after, her lazy voice rang out.
"Uh, there's a missing persons case here. Looks very strange. A girl named Tandy Bowen suddenly disappeared, no trace. Her family is quite wealthy, and she rarely runs away from home or anything."
"Why do you say it's strange?"
Jessica heard Matt's question and reiterated what she had found—scattered gold jewelry on the floor and nearby surveillance footage.
"According to the surveillance, this girl didn't leave the building... I'm sorry, you can't see it, but she vanished into thin air. And the jewelry wasn't taken."
Jessica made her assessment: "This is a kidnapping, no doubt. Someone kidnapped Tandy Bowen for specific reasons, but there's no identifiable motive for the kidnapping."
Just as Matt was about to continue discussing with Jessica, his other phone rang. Matt recognized the ringtone; it was his good friend Foggy. He apologized to Jessica, then answered Foggy's call.
"Oh... really? Okay, I know. We'll discuss it tonight."
Slightly curious, Jessica asked Matt, "What's going on? You look so serious."
"There's a case. A client came to our firm, discussing whether we could take on his request."
Matt smiled helplessly. "The client is an escaped convict from ** Seagate Prison**. But he keeps claiming he's innocent, even now at the law firm."
Jessica Jones nodded, not yet realizing the seriousness of the problem.
"He has superpowers: invulnerability and immense strength." Matt's words sparked some curiosity in Jessica, but then Matt's next words made Jessica realize that this man was a lot of trouble.
"He said his abilities weren't acquired by accident, but through human experimentation. The U.S. military conducted human experiments inside the prison, creating a super-soldier serum."
Matt sighed, then looked at Jessica. This time, he really needed Jessica's help.
"I need you to help me investigate this man named Luke Cage. We must determine who he is."