Ethan rode his bicycle home, swaying gently in the evening breeze. Tonight's events had been utterly ridiculous: Tony had actually upgraded and built the Mark II based on the Mark I, and Vanax, who acted like an adorable child in the boss's shop, had actually torn Tony's Mark II apart with her bare hands!
And that wasn't all. The boss had produced a metal ball the size of a ping-pong ball and managed to get five hundred billion dollars from Tony in exchange. The two of them had even developed a drug that could regrow severed limbs, and planned to establish a company and sell it to the public. What excited him most was that Yuri wanted him to represent him on the board of this not-yet-established company!
There was no greater pinnacle of success.
Ethan rubbed his smooth bald head, a trace of wistfulness in his eyes. No matter how good the career, or how much power and money he had, he couldn't return to that war-torn town, nor could he bring back his wife and daughter, whose lives the war had taken.
"Whoosh—"
"Clack!"
Ethan, lost in his memories, was startled by a javelin suddenly embedded in his bicycle's front wheel. Luckily, he had been riding slowly. Even though he fell off the seat, he only ended up sore and bruised. Before he could get up, he felt a chill at the back of his head. Then a hand clad in a dark red suit reached out from behind him and yanked the javelin from the wheel.
As Ethan let out a startled cry that never quite escaped his lips, the mysterious figure carried him into the air. After a few swift leaps, they landed on the roof of a building that looked dilapidated and abandoned. Ethan peered down at the street and saw addicts and homeless people sprawled everywhere. Knowing the neighborhood well, he couldn't help thinking, Holy crap, isn't this Hell's Kitchen?
"Ethan, employee of Ancestor Handcraft Shop."
"Don't shout and draw attention. I just want to ask you a few questions."
A low, hoarse voice sounded from behind him. The mysterious man saw Ethan give an OK sign while his mouth was covered, so he let him go and asked, "What does the waiter from Hell's Kitchen bring you every day?"
Ethan turned around and took a few steps back. He sized up the mysterious man who had abducted him, his gaze lingering on the short baton in his hand. He answered honestly, "Three meals a day, sir. I once advised the boss not to order food from Hell's Kitchen, but he didn't take it seriously."
The mysterious man spun the short baton in his hand. His superhuman hearing let him clearly sense the rhythm of Ethan's heartbeat—he wasn't lying.
Just as he was about to ask another question, he heard Ethan speak, his voice tinged with excitement and doubt. "Dark red suit, extendable baton... You're the legendary Daredevil of Hell's Kitchen, aren't you?"
The spinning baton paused for an instant. Daredevil—Matthew—said nothing, avoiding the question. He had only been suspicious of Ancestor Handcraft Shop. Now, it seemed that even if it had ties to New York's criminal underworld, there was no way an ordinary shop employee like Ethan would know about them.
After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Then, Ethan, where is your boss?"
"Bad boss! I only broke that Tony guy's mask. He promised he wouldn't punish me anymore, so why won't he let me mate with him tonight?"
Vanax was curled up under the covers, complaining bitterly about what a certain man had done.
The other three, absorbed in studying the things that interested them, acted as if they hadn't heard. Only Cheetah, who couldn't take her constant muttering anymore, spoke up. "Not punishing you doesn't mean he won't discipline you. The boss is disciplining Kate upstairs right now. If you ask me, that's your punishment."
Vanax's lips immediately curled down into a crescent. She turned over and stopped complaining, muttering furiously, "Damn Tony Stark!"
"Knock, knock, knock!"
"Knock, knock, knock!"
The four people on the second floor exchanged glances. Judging by the human schedule, no one should be coming at this hour. What was going on tonight? Why was someone knocking again?
"It's gotta be that Tony Stark guy again. I'll get the door!"
Vanax got dressed under the covers, then sprang off the bed with a whoosh. She planned to bring up a suggestion to the boss tomorrow: even if she couldn't mate with anyone, she should at least move to the third floor. Before she had taken human form, sharing a room with three grown men had been one thing, but now it made her uncomfortable no matter how she thought about it.
The other three exchanged glances. Shack, at the head of the group, sighed. He hadn't even taken his clothes off, and now he said helplessly, "Come on. The boss is busy, so we have to keep an eye on Silly Bird."
When the second-floor window lit up, Matthew pulled Ethan farther from the shop entrance, his expression grave. There was definitely something shady going on inside that shop, and its boss knew about his abilities and had taken countermeasures. With hearing good enough to monitor three streets, he couldn't hear a single sound from inside!
"Clack."
The shop door burst open. A humanoid creature, its body drenched in blood like a surging tidal wave and its heartbeat pounding like a drum, suddenly appeared within Matthew's hearing range. A sense of imminent death swept through his mind. Just as he was about to make a strategic retreat, he heard a sweet female voice, tinged with surprise. "You're not Tony Stark? Ethan? Is this your friend?"
"Silly Bird."
Cheetah saw the baton wedged against Ethan's neck and spoke in exasperation. "What friend? Vanax, look carefully. This is clearly a kidnapping!"
"Kidnapping?"
Vanax seemed a little excited. "So that means he's an enemy?"
"Wait! Wait!"
Seeing her expression, Ethan immediately guessed what she was planning to do. Daredevil might indeed be guilty of kidnapping him, but Ethan knew why he had done it. Unlike Tony's Mark armor, if Vanax so much as brushed against the man, he'd be dead in an instant!
So the hostage himself spoke up for his captor. "Daredevil isn't an enemy. He's not a bad person either. Shack, he just has a minor misunderstanding about us."
"Whether he's an enemy or not can wait. The important thing now is getting you away from this pervert in a tight suit."
In Matthew's hearing, the blood flow in the speaker's legs suddenly sped up. Then the sturdy alloy baton he had braced against Ethan's throat let out a terrifying crack. A gust of wind slammed into him. He felt as if a speeding truck had hit him head-on, and his body flew through the air like a rag.
"Cheetah, bring him back. I'll go notify the boss."
Still airborne, Matthew spat a mouthful of blood onto his mask. The metallic sweetness flooded his senses. Before he could hit the ground, Cheetah caught him. Seeing his pathetic state, she scoffed, "Weak human." Then she gently crushed the fists he had thrown with all his strength. As Matthew screamed in agony, she tossed him into the shop, whose doors Vanax had flung wide open.
A hand suddenly tore off his mask, revealing the blood-covered face beneath it. The sweet voice sounded again. "Oh! Turns out he's blind!"
Before you continue