The Demon Gang was exchanging fire with Kingpin's men.
The residents of Hell's Kitchen shut their doors and windows with practiced ease, grabbed their weapons, and hid inside their homes to wait for the fighting outside to end.
Nobody knew how many gang shootouts there had been that day. Ever since the Demon Gang invaded Hell's Kitchen, the gunfire seemed never to stop. Even longtime residents thought things were getting out of hand.
Martin Lee couldn't be bothered with any of that. Kingpin hadn't fully consolidated the forces in Hell's Kitchen yet. Once he did, taking territory there would become much harder, which was why Martin had chosen such an aggressive approach.
The best opportunity had actually been right after the Hand was driven out of Hell's Kitchen, when Kingpin had only just begun gathering superpowered criminals. But Kraft hadn't uncovered any information about Hydra back then, and Martin hadn't been interested in expanding his influence.
Bang!
A powerful sniper round struck Martin Lee in the temple. His negative energy shield kept him from being injured, but the tremendous impact still knocked his head sideways.
"You again... Bullseye!"
Beneath his Mind Demon Mask, Martin frowned.
Through repeated probes, Kingpin had found a weakness in Mr. Negative's abilities. Although he could launch negative energy at range, his attacks weren't particularly flexible.
Kingpin's top enforcer, Bullseye, excelled at mid- to long-range combat. The assassin, whose real name was Lester, was a born marksman. He could throw any object with unbelievable accuracy, and had even killed a target a hundred yards away with a toothpick.
A ranged specialist like him was perfect for keeping Negative occupied. In their previous encounter, although Bullseye hadn't managed to kill Mr. Negative, he had successfully tied him down, forcing the Demon Gang's attack to end in failure