The man wore a black tracksuit, stood over 1.9 meters tall, and was looking down at him.
There was no anger on that face; instead, it wore a strange expression, as if looking at an unruly child.
"Hey, bullying an old man? That's not right," the blonde powerhouse said.
Viktor froze for a second before reacting.
"Who the hell are you? Let go of me!"
He struggled hard, but that hand didn't budge an inch.
Two lackeys rushed forward.
One swung a baseball bat at the blonde man's back.
There was a dull thud.
The baseball bat snapped.
The blonde man looked back and glanced at the lackey.
The lackey's eyes widened, and the broken half of the bat fell to the ground.
The other lackey, holding a folding knife, froze in place, unsure whether to attack.
The blonde man turned back and continued looking at Viktor.
Cold sweat began to pour down Viktor's face.
He sensed that he was in big trouble.
Thor gave a gentle shove.
Viktor staggered back a dozen steps before falling to the ground and rolling several times.
He scrambled up and looked down at his wrist, where five clear red marks were already starting to turn purple.
The two lackeys ran over to support him.
"Boss, are you okay?"
Viktor shook them off and glared intensely at Thor.
"Do you know who we work for?" His voice trembled slightly, but he still tried to maintain an arrogant front.
"Kingpin! The entire New York underworld belongs to Mr. Kingpin! You dare meddle in our business? Do you have a death wish?"
Thor tilted his head.
"Kingpin? Who's that?"
Viktor's face contorted.
Having been on these streets for so many years, he had never seen anyone dare to challenge Kingpin's authority like this.
Even the Police would take a detour when they saw them.
Yet this blonde oaf, appearing out of nowhere, actually asked "Who is Kingpin?"
"You—" He pointed at Thor, too furious to speak.
Thor looked down at the middle-aged couple.
The man supported the woman; both were trembling, their eyes filled with a complex mix of fear and hope.
Thor asked, "They owe you money?"
Viktor gritted his teeth. "Debts must be paid! It's only natural! They borrowed fifty thousand from us, and now they have to pay back a hundred and fifty thousand, principal and interest included! We're just here to collect. What's the problem?"
Thor looked at the man.
The man lowered his head, his voice shaking. "It's... we did borrow money... but the interest is too high, we really can't afford to pay it back..."
Thor frowned.
He didn't quite understand these intricacies, but he understood one thing: these guys were bullying the weak.
That was enough.
He turned back and looked at Viktor.
"From now on, they don't owe you anything."
Viktor was stunned.
"What?"
Thor's voice was calm, but it carried an unquestionable power.
"I said, they don't owe you anything anymore."
Viktor trembled with rage.
"Who the hell do you think you are? God?"
Thor thought for a moment.
"Not God," he said. "The god of thunder."
Viktor thought the man was likely insane.
But he didn't have time to think further because his two lackeys had already lunged forward.
The one with the knife stabbed at Thor's abdomen.
The one with the broken bat swung at Thor's head.
Thor dodged them easily.
Then he reached out, snatched the knife from the lackey's hand, and tossed it aside.
Then he raised his hand.
"Bang... Bang!"
The two lackeys flew back like ragdolls, slammed into the wall, slid down, and stopped moving.
The entire process took less than three seconds.
Viktor's legs went weak.
He stumbled backward, turned, and bolted.
Thor didn't give chase.
The middle-aged couple stared blankly at everything, unable to process it for a long while.
The woman was the first to speak.
"Tha... Thank you..." Her voice was raspy, and tears began to flow again. "Thank you, sir..."
Thor grinned.
"Don't mention it."
The man supported the woman as they walked over and bowed deeply.
"Sir, you saved our whole family... I—I don't know how to thank you..."
Thor scratched his head.
"It's nothing. I just can't stand people who bully others."
Mavuika and Loki walked over only then.
Mavuika looked at the couple and asked softly, "Why were they looking for you?"
The man sighed and explained what had happened.
His name was Antonio, a Mexican immigrant who ran a small restaurant in Brooklyn.
A year ago, his daughter fell seriously ill and needed a large sum for surgery.
He had no insurance and couldn't borrow enough from friends and relatives, so he eventually had to turn to loan sharks.
"They said we'd borrow fifty thousand and pay it back in a year with low interest..." Antonio's voice was bitter.
"It turned out to be nothing like that. The interest snowballed faster than we could imagine. The more we paid, the more we owed. We could never clear it..."
His wife cried, "We came today to beg them for a few more days. They said they could, but only if we brought our daughter... My daughter is only fifteen..."
Thor's brow furrowed.
"These people are truly despicable," he said.
Mavuika was silent for two seconds, then took some cash out of his bag and handed it to Antonio.
"Find a place to hide for a few days. Those people won't let this go easily."
Antonio waved his hands. "No, no, ma'am, we can't take this..."
Mavuika stuffed the money into his hand.
"Take it, for your daughter's sake."
Antonio looked at the money in his hand, his eyes turning red.
He bowed deeply once more.
"Thank you... thank you all..."
The couple supported each other as they left, their silhouettes looking both exhausted and aged.
Once the couple was far off, Mavuika led Thor and Loki into a nearby cafe.
"Those guys claimed to be Kingpin's men?" Mavuika asked.
Thor nodded. "Yeah. Is this Kingpin guy very powerful?"
"Kingpin, real name Wilson Fisk, the emperor of the New York underworld." He picked up his coffee and took a sip.
"His influence is indeed massive, involving drug trafficking, arms dealing, loan sharking, human trafficking... he has a hand in almost every illegal business you can think of."
Having stayed in New York for so long, Mavuika had heard of most of the prominent figures in both the light and the shadows.
Thor frowned. "Don't the rulers of Midgard do anything about it?"
Mavuika shook his head.
"It's not that simple. On the surface, he's a legitimate businessman with many industries and companies. He has connections with politicians, Police, and judges—countless umbrellas of protection. It's very difficult to take him down."
Thor scratched his head.
"Then what? We just let him bully people like this?"
Mavuika glanced at him but didn't answer.
Loki had been looking down at his phone the whole time.
He had just searched for the name "Kingpin."
"Interesting," he suddenly spoke up.
Thor leaned in. "What's interesting?"
Loki turned the phone screen toward them.
On the screen was a photo of an incredibly massive man in a white suit, sitting in a huge leather chair.
He held a cane topped with a gemstone, looking at the camera with an expressionless face.
"This is Kingpin," Loki said. "Wilson Fisk. His records are quite extensive—at least the legal parts."