[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-marvel-starting-with-the-ice-ice-fruit":3,"chapter-marvel-starting-with-the-ice-ice-fruit-marvel-starting-with-the-ice-ice-fruit-chapter-18":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Marvel: Starting with the Ice-Ice Fruit",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1733215,2216,"Chapter 18: Closing In, New Move: Ice Dragon Twist","marvel-starting-with-the-ice-ice-fruit-chapter-18",18,"\u003Cp>Chinatown. Safe House.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Madame Gao. Finding you wasn't easy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A voice, dripping with mature charm, echoed in the dimly lit room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Madame Gao turned slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing in the doorway was a woman in a black tactical suit. Her figure was flawless, curves accentuated by the tight fabric, but Gao saw past the beauty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She saw danger. A Black Widow spider walking into her web.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you also here to ask about the Ice Demon?\" Gao asked, her voice steady. The fact that her subordinates outside had been silently neutralized didn't seem to phase her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who is he?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don't know,\" Gao shook her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then what do you know? Why did he pick the Triad?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Natasha Romanoff—Black Widow—stepped closer, stopping three meters away. She wasn't here for vengeance or justice. She was a spy. She just needed intel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He brought a photograph. The two men in it were his targets. You can start there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao tossed a manila folder onto the table. It slid across the surface, stopping at Natasha's fingertips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I am done with this city. Tomorrow, I return to my homeland,\" Gao said coldly. \"The Ice Demon is your problem now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Natasha picked up the file and walked out into the neon-lit streets of Chinatown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She opened the folder. Profiles of two low-level drug dealers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Looks like I'm working overtime,\" Natasha sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she could use Tony Stark's AI, she'd find the Ice Demon in an hour. It was absurd—a massacre of this scale over two street thugs?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But Hell's Kitchen is his territory,\" Natasha mused, thinking of a certain horned vigilante. \"Daredevil might know something.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her phone buzzed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked at the caller ID and rolled her eyes. If Tony Stark wasn't so critical to SHIELD's future, she would have quit this babysitting gig months ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Guess Clint will have to handle the Ice Demon.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless Coulson pulled her off the Stark detail, she was stuck. And she had a feeling this Ice Demon was dangerous. The autopsy reports were chilling—victims froze to death in milliseconds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mr. Stark,\" she answered, putting on her 'Natalie Rushman' voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My little assistant, where did you run off to?\" Tony's voice drawled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Apologies, Mr. Stark. I was handling some personal errands. I'm on my way back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Long Island Estate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Julia, you were excellent.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent gave a playful pat to the realtor's hip as she adjusted her skirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julia gave him a look that was equal parts professional gratitude and personal satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you need anything else, Mr. Hall... call me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She kissed his cheek, picked up the signed contracts, and drove off in her Ford.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent watched her go, then got into his Lincoln. He drove to the abandoned factory in Queens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His old van was still there, encased in a protective dome of ice he had left earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a thought, the ice cracked and dissolved. He retrieved the duffel bags containing $30 million in cash and tossed them into the Lincoln.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thirty million wasn't much compared to his stock portfolio, but Vincent hated waste.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This van is a liability. Too much DNA. Too many traces.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He extended his right hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hydro-Kinesis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Water from the humid air and nearby puddles surged forward, forming eight serpentine tendrils. They wrapped around the van like pythons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ice Dragon Twist!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent clenched his fist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water dragons froze instantly, turning into jagged, diamond-hard ice constructs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRUNCH.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ice dragons constricted. The metal of the van groaned and shrieked as the extreme cold made it brittle. Under the crushing pressure, the vehicle was pulverized into frozen shrapnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hydro-Form!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ice melted back into water, carrying the debris into the factory's drainage system, washing away all evidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ice-Ice Fruit plus Hydro-Magic,\" Vincent grinned. \"The synergy is exponential.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He drove back to the new estate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stashed the cash in the wine cellar's hidden vault. This was dirty money. He couldn't deposit it. It would be his rainy-day fund for off-the-books operations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Park Avenue Penthouse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent returned home late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the wall adjoining Gwen's apartment, he heard a faint thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using his Hydro-Kinesis, he sensed the water inside Gwen's body. Her blood flow was elevated, her muscles tense. She had just returned from a night of patrolling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She's mastering the web-swinging, Vincent noted. I wonder if she uses organic webs or shooters?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He'd find out soon enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His phone lit up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Jessica Jones: I'm at the Blue Moon Bar in Hell's Kitchen.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent sat up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She finally replied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He decided to go. She likely had questions. Or suspicions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He waited until he sensed Gwen's heart rate slow to a sleeping rhythm, then slipped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hell's Kitchen was a ghost town. The legend of the Ice Demon kept the streets empty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent could feel the Desire Points trickling in. Every shadow, every cold breeze generated fear in the locals. This district was now his farm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blue Moon Bar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jessica sat alone, nursing a whiskey. She ignored the few patrons brave enough to be out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Whiskey. Neat,\" Vincent ordered, sliding onto the stool next to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jessica didn't look up. She stared into her glass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Someone was asking about the photo I got for you,\" she said, her voice flat. \"SHIELD. Or maybe FBI. They know I looked into your parents' killers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vincent took a sip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tonight is just for drinking, Jessica. No past. No business.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jessica finally turned to look at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her dark eyes searched his face. The boy she thought she was protecting was gone. In his place was a stranger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stranger who might be a monster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You're not who I thought you were, Vincent,\" she whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>",933,"2026-06-06T16:16:52.583Z",1,"novelbin.me","58ee64eb09c0854e20669ef1edfead44ede18c48e6280baf21422db795f893f3","marvel-starting-with-the-ice-ice-fruit-chapter-19","marvel-starting-with-the-ice-ice-fruit-chapter-17",116,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmarvel-starting-with-the-ice-ice-fruit-cover.jpg"]