Chapter 8: The Empty-Handed Daredevil

On the way back to the apartment, Shiler could clearly feel someone following him. The improvement in vision brought by Spider-Sense allowed him to see that there seemed to be someone watching him in a small window frame on the glass apartment building opposite.

The apartment building opposite was a full-glass structure, and the reflection in one of the small window frames was different from other places, so Shiler felt it keenly.

He chose to open a clinic in Hell's Kitchen, not without a target. After observing for these few days, he had basically figured out the daily routine of the residents in the apartment building.

Most of the people living here were office workers and elite white-collar workers. They were mostly single, had very regular working hours, and their social circles were very fixed.

Living among such a crowd, it was too easy for S. H. I. E. L. D. agents to find flaws.

But Hell's Kitchen was different. Although it was the largest slum and gang gathering place in Manhattan and even the United States, it had a high population density, a large flow of people, and many strangers. Moreover, gangs of all sizes were nested and entrenched, which was really the most suitable place for an outsider like Shiler who wanted to fish in troubled waters.

Life in a high-end apartment was comfortable, but it might not be as free as Hell's Kitchen. Shiler believed that if he lived in that apartment for a few more days, at least four or five of his neighbors would become S. H. I. E. L. D. agents, and there would be all kinds of people with unknown origins trying to get close to him and extract certain information—some might be his own, some might be Stark's. This was S. H. I. E. L. D.'s way of doing things. They wouldn't care if you needed privacy.

And Hell's Kitchen was slightly different from Cat Getan. Although there were countless gangs of all sizes, the danger level was not as high as Cat Getan's.

There were more poor people, gamblers, and addicts there. There were no Scarecrows or Jokers, and no big villains worth mentioning.

The vast majority of people there were ordinary people. Although guns and drugs were rampant, the victims were also ordinary people, not special characters with superpowers.

Shiler planned to use that place as his first stronghold in Marvel.

Stark's efficiency was very high. Before long, he found a way to incite some congressmen to allocate a hospital quota and put it into Hell's Kitchen.

Some congressmen took this opportunity to publicize their kindness, claiming that New York would not abandon any citizen, but they never expected this hospital to really open. After all, this was Hell's Kitchen. Even the devil would be cooked if he went there.

Open a hospital there? Stop joking. Unless you could build the hospital like a concentration camp, with tanks and cannons piled up at the door, and all the doctors and nurses carrying machine guns, maybe there would be some hope. Otherwise, all the medicine there would be looted overnight.

But no matter how the congressmen didn't believe it, and no matter how numb the people in Hell's Kitchen were, a small psychological clinic was still established in Hell's Kitchen.

As the most well-known and largest slum in Manhattan, these eight blocks were just a code name.

In fact, the radiation range here was far wider than eight blocks. Dozens of streets were complex and intertwined, and about a hundred gangs were intertwined here.

Some people said the boss of Hell's Kitchen was Kingpin, but in fact, this was not the case. In fact, Kingpin's business scope was far beyond Hell's Kitchen. His criminal industry chain covered the entire United States and even the East Coast.

His business was all over the United States. Hell's Kitchen might involve some of his drug industries and smuggling businesses, but he actually neither lived here nor watched it all the time.

Daredevil, who was born in Hell's Kitchen, was his rival, but they almost never fought in Hell's Kitchen. Spider-Man, who had fought Kingpin several times, was just an ignorant high school student at this time.

Kingpin's ambition was far more than unifying Hell's Kitchen. He didn't care about the chaos in Hell's Kitchen. Because there were all kinds of gang fights, robberies, kidnappings, brawls, and missing person cases every day here. Making some waves here didn't count for anything at all.

Therefore, when Kingpin, who was far away in San Francisco, heard that some of his subordinates in Hell's Kitchen had gone crazy, he only felt that they had taken too many drugs, and didn't take it to heart at all.

And in Hell's Kitchen, a terrible saying gradually spread—they heard that in the psychological clinic opened at the end of the Ninth Tail Alley on Mary Street, there lived a terrible monster doctor. All the gang members who went to collect protection fees or extort money from him ran out in horror not long after, and then went crazy.

When this happened at the beginning, several famous gang bosses didn't believe in evil and had taken their men in. But not long after, they were like encountering some monster. They started fighting with the air crazily, struggling, screaming, fleeing, crying, looking like they were possessed by some ghost.

This caused quite a stir, and almost the entire Mary Street had heard of it. The rumors spread very fast.

One passed to ten, ten passed to a hundred. Everyone heard that the Ninth Tail Alley must not be visited. There was a terrible curse there that would make you see the things you feared most, and eventually, you would be scared crazy.

Later, Shiler, who lived there, began to go out for activities. When everyone heard that he was the owner of the clinic in the Ninth Tail Alley, people realized that it wasn't any ghost, but a strange psychiatrist.

According to Shiler's explanation, those gang bosses had done too many bad things, and he just provided them with some friendly psychological counseling.

As for why they went crazy? Perhaps it was retribution.

The people in Hell's Kitchen would believe his words only if they were ghosts. But anyone who lived here shared the consensus that only bad people would have good rewards.

There wouldn't be anyone born in Hell's Kitchen who would feel guilty. Crime was normal here, and criminals were the majority here. Guilty? You expect someone who has been selling guns and drugs, fighting, threatening, extorting, and gambling since their teens to have any conscience? How could such a person feel guilty? And feel guilty to the point of going crazy?

Everyone who heard about this thought Shiler was a black magician, so he could cast curses on those people.

And Shiler, he wouldn't explain. The fear gas brought from DC was indeed very easy to use. Although it was only the initial version, it was very effective against some ordinary people without superpowers.

Since he discovered that he could carry external objects while traveling between two worlds by holding them in his hands, he had the idea of being a reseller.

Although the power systems of Marvel and DC were different, there were really many things that could be sold to each other, and of course, there were many things that could be exchanged to deal with each other's enemies.

For example, if Shiler used fear gas in Cat Getan, once this news spread, Tier would definitely associate it with his fear gas when he saw the symptoms of those patients.

But in Marvel, how could Tier know about the situation in Marvel? Shiler could naturally save the copyright fee.

Since this terrifying rumor spread, almost no gang members would come to trouble Shiler.

Of course, the consequence of being with this group of criminals was that a superhero came to the door.

On a slightly cold night in Manhattan, Shiler had just brewed a cup of hot coffee. He closed and locked the clinic door, preparing to end a day of slacking off and have a good sleep, and continue to bother Stark tomorrow.

Just as he put the coffee cup on the table, he heard a crisp sound at the door. Then he turned his head, and in the dim light, he saw a tall man in a red tight suit standing outside the door.

Shiler turned around and picked up the coffee cup, saying: "You seem to be a bit late, Mr. Daredevil."

"Do you know me, doctor?" Daredevil said.

"Of course I know you, Daredevil. You are famous in Hell's Kitchen," Shiler said.

"But you seem to have only been here for a short time," Daredevil said.

"But I am more familiar with your other identity, Lawyer Ma Te."

Daredevil was obviously shocked. He didn't know how Shiler saw through his true identity.

And Shiler didn't wait for him to ask, and said: "You achieved proud results at Columbia University, and your career path after graduation also went very smoothly. Not only did you become a good lawyer, but you also seemed to have opened your own law firm. Ma Te, can you tell me why you want to become Daredevil? Isn't the pride of upholding justice brought by the law firm enough?"

"Lawyer, upholding justice..." Daredevil sneered and said: "Perhaps you would think so. Yes, most people think so, feeling that lawyers should speak out for justice and defend vulnerable groups, but in fact..."

"In fact? Do you think lawyers shouldn't do this?"

"Of course they should. I mean..."

"Do you think you can't do it as a lawyer? So, you want to take another approach, but can you do what you can't do as a lawyer by putting on a ridiculous tight suit and wearing a mask?"

Daredevil said annoyedly: "My decision has nothing to do with you!"

"You know what? Your tone just now sounded very much like a little boy in his rebellious phase," Shiler said.

Daredevil realized that from the moment he entered the door, he fell into Shiler's language trap. The rhythm of the conversation was led by him, not only exposing his true identity but also touching his inner sensitive point. He took a deep breath, calmed down, and said: "I have to admit, you are a good psychiatrist and very good at using some little tricks in conversation. But I still have to ask, who the hell are you? What is your purpose in coming to Hell's Kitchen? Why did those people go crazy?"

"You have too many questions. I can only answer one tonight. Obviously, I have worked for a day and am already very tired. You cannot disturb my rest. After all, I am not a gang member and haven't broken the law," Shiler said.

"But you drove those gang members crazy."

"You have no evidence."

"Only the police need evidence."

"Do you think you are nobler than the police?"

"Don't play around with me anymore," Daredevil said.

"If you listened to my words carefully, you would know where I came from and how I knew your identity."

Daredevil felt a headache. He really didn't like dealing with these cunning opponents, which required him to maintain high concentration at all times. And because of the shock in his heart just now, he had completely forgotten the conversation between him and Shiler when he first arrived. At this moment, his brain was blank.

But if he couldn't answer, it would make him look very stupid, so he kept silent.

"It seems you have forgotten our conversation from a minute ago. I really don't know. Becoming a superhero can actually mean not having a good memory," Shiler mocked.

Daredevil was secretly annoyed. He swore to remember every word Shiler said later.

"Two years ago, I taught at Columbia University. I saw the list of excellent graduates, and your name was on it, Ma Te. And when filling in the graduation destination, you said you would open a law firm, also in Kansas. Although I am a psychology professor, I know your former teacher. In his conversation, he told me that you did realize your dream."

"Don't change the subject. What I want to know is, how do you know Daredevil is Ma Te?"

"You might have forgotten. When you first started on this path, you wore the black and yellow suit your father wore during the competition. After I came to Hell's Kitchen, I went to see underground boxing matches. What's a coincidence is that the boss there, in order to save costs, never changed the style of the boxing suit."

"I understood that Daredevil might have been born here, and he must have a relationship with underground black market boxers. After investigation, the gang members you killed all had a relationship with your father's death. And once you find out your father's identity, it's naturally not difficult to know yours."

"Why did you investigate me? Is it a guilty conscience?" Ma Te asked.

"Nothing, it's just that if you want to rent a house, you have to know who the landlord is, what he does, and it's best to get along with him."

"I'm not any landlord here," Daredevil sneered.

"Oh, is that so? Then it seems I found the wrong person. I should go find Kingpin. But I seem to have already become enemies with him. I vaguely remember that among the few gang members who came to visit me, someone mentioned that their boss was Kingpin."

"Kingpin? Do you have news about Kingpin?"

"I have some. Just treat it as me paying you rent. I heard from one of his subordinates that their boss is already very impatient with a kid named Daredevil. He plans to find someone to kill you, this fly, so you'd better be careful recently."

Finally, Daredevil hurried back to his station.

It wasn't until he went back that he discovered that none of his goals for tonight had been achieved.

He didn't figure out who Shiler was, didn't warn him to behave, and didn't find out if he had any relationship with those gangs.

Nor did he know what method he used to drive those people crazy.

Ma Te patted his head. He suddenly felt that Shiler's metaphor was right. He was like renting a house to a tenant of unknown origin. This tenant also paid the rent first, which left him with no way to take mandatory measures to make him move out in a short time, so he could only let him swagger in Hell's Kitchen. ===== CHAPTER 9 =====