That evening...
No.
Three and a half hours after Lake left Frank's house, the intelligence network he had arranged in a remote town in Arizona sent back the good news that the first kill had appeared.
That was fast.
After hearing the news, Lake glanced at the time on his watch and couldn't help praising him once again.
This was the Frank Castle he wanted!
Decisive and swift.
Tough and resolute.
Very soon.
The Homeland agents in Arizona arrived at the scene. After taking photographs, they transmitted them over. In the images, Tuka's dark-skinned body had been completely flayed, exposing the muscle tissue beneath. Even the skin from his face had been neatly peeled off and placed to the side.
Even...
Tuka had still been breathing at first. When the two marshals outside realized something was wrong and entered, they made a mistake while unfastening him, causing Tuka to let out a scream before dying.
"How cruel."
"On the contrary, I think it was an equal and noble retaliation."
"..."
Lake smiled at Rachel and said, just as he had told Frank earlier, "When the law can't bring justice to the victim, private revenge becomes justified—even noble—from that moment on."
Rachel shrugged. "I'm not saying Frank was wrong. I'm just saying he didn't need to make the scene so brutal."
Lake gave an "Oh," then looked at the crime-scene photos again and nodded. "That's true. I feel like this guy has something wrong with him psychologically. But after suppressing it for so long, it's understandable that his first outburst was somewhat extreme. Once the anger in his heart runs out, he'll be about done."
Rachel tore off the facial mask on her face and looked at Lake. "He's eliminated his enemies outside New York City. What's left are the ones