I was one of the biggest gang bosses in all of Hell's Kitchen, and I'd just been robbed!?
What the hell, are you kidding me!?
Hammerhead's already fierce face instantly turned the color of liver, as if someone had slapped him hard across the face.
He'd just finished making threats in front of Kingpin's representative, Wesley, claiming that no one dared mess with the Maggia. And now someone had the nerve to cause trouble on his turf!
He could already imagine Wesley struggling to hold back a smirk.
Rage shot straight to his head. Hammerhead roughly shoved aside two flirtatious dealers, sprang to his feet, and glared viciously at the henchman who'd brought the news.
"Was it the Demon Gang!?"
"N-no, it wasn't the Demon Gang," the henchman replied hurriedly.
That answer didn't calm Hammerhead down. If anything, it was like pouring a bucket of oil on the flames!
His eyes brimmed with malice, and his voice dropped to a terrifying growl. "Looks like the Maggia's been too quiet for too long. Now any clueless little punk thinks he can come take a swing at us!"
"Tell me, how many of them are there!?"
Faced with a boss so furious he looked ready to eat someone alive, the henchman swallowed and slowly raised a trembling finger.
"A hundred?"
Hammerhead's brows knitted together. That was a sizable force.
"No. One person."
"?"
Hammerhead froze, wondering if there was something wrong with his ears.
"You're sure you're not joking?"
"It's true, boss!"
After confirming it several times, Hammerhead's roar filled the private room.
"One guy dares come onto Maggia turf and cause trouble, and where the hell are our men!? What are they all doing!?"
The henchman shrank back from the shouting. "That guy's a crack shot. He's already taken out more than thirty of our men. We can't stop him!"
"Useless! You're all useless!"
Hammerhead clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked, then ground out through gritted teeth, "I'd like to see which clueless bastard dares to—"
BOOM!!
A tremendous explosion cut him off!
The wall of the private room was blasted open, and smoke and shattered stone instantly filled the space!
A figure appeared through the haze, the Golden Desert Eagle in his hand gleaming beneath the lights, almost too bright to look at.
Du Mu strolled into the room, casually sweeping his gaze over the stunned crowd before fixing it on Hammerhead, the big-headed man.
"You're the one they call Iron Head?"
Iron Head?
Is he talking to me?
Hammerhead stared at the unexpected visitor, scowling like a demon. "You're the idiot causing trouble on my turf!?"
Du Mu spread his hands, his tone even. "Can't be helped. You wouldn't pay up, so I had to take it by force."
Hammerhead's mouth twitched violently.
If they wouldn't pay, he robbed them? That was more gangster than the gangs themselves!
"Kill him!"
Hammerhead could no longer hold back. Murderous intent surged in his eyes as he roared the order!
At once, the gangsters around him drew their guns and opened fire!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang—!
A rapid volley of gunfire erupted in the private room, bullets screaming toward Du Mu!
Du Mu twisted and rolled to dodge, muttering, "They start shooting at the drop of a hat. The local gangs have no manners at all."
Eye of Death!
Time abruptly slowed. Without even looking, Du Mu raised his gun and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Five gangsters were instantly shot in the head and toppled stiffly to the floor.
The remaining gangsters turned pale with fright and squeezed their triggers even more frantically, pouring bullets toward Du Mu like rain!
But against Du Mu, a guy with cheats, their resistance was futile.
Gunshots rang out one after another, punctuated by brief screams, as the gangsters fell one by one like stalks of wheat being cut down.
A dozen seconds later, the private room was strewn with bodies. Only Hammerhead and Wesley remained alive.
"Pah! Coward!"
Hammerhead glanced disdainfully at Wesley, who was hiding under a sofa, then crawled out from beneath another one.
"Who the hell are you? Who sent you!?"
Hammerhead warily watched Du Mu.
He looked like a brute, but he wasn't stupid. It was obvious this man had come for him.
"Since you've figured it out, I'll stop pretending."
Du Mu's expression turned solemn. "That's right. I'm a New York cop. My superiors sent me to arrest you."
In truth, Du Mu had taken a mission from S.H.I.E.L.D. to investigate Hammerhead, an unusual gang boss.
Ordinarily, S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't concern itself with gangs. But the intelligence on Hammerhead suggested he was highly unusual. People had seen him take a bullet to the head without a scratch, and even knock a speeding car over with his head. That was beyond the abilities of any normal person.
That was why Nick Fury had sent Du Mu to investigate in Hell's Kitchen.
If the intelligence proved accurate, Du Mu was to take Hammerhead back and hand him over to the research department.
As for whether that was legal...
What did anything a New York cop did have to do with S.H.I.E.L.D.?
"You're a New York cop?"
Hammerhead looked at the blindingly shiny Golden Desert Eagle in Du Mu's hand, his expression strange.
Had the NYPD gotten this rich?
Hammerhead's eyes flickered. He spoke in a low voice. "Whoever you are, leave now, and I'll pretend none of this happened."
Perhaps wary of Du Mu's identity and strength, Hammerhead chose to back down for the moment.
Du Mu refused without hesitation. "Not a chance. I still have to take you back and report in."
"Then there's nothing left to discuss. Die!"
Before the words had even left his mouth, Hammerhead sprang forward like a beast and charged at Du Mu!
Bang!
A muffled gunshot rang out.
Hammerhead's head only tilted slightly. A golden bullet was embedded in his forehead, spinning rapidly to no avail before finally dropping weakly to the floor.
"Hahaha! It's useless!"
Hammerhead casually flicked the bullet mark off his forehead and laughed arrogantly. "I'm unkillable! Not even bullets can hurt me!"
Du Mu was a little surprised. He hadn't expected the guy to actually withstand bullets.
After shrugging off Du Mu's shot, Hammerhead grew even more arrogant. He slapped his enormous head hard and yelled provocatively at Du Mu:
"Come on, you bastard! Keep shooting me right here! Let's see—Aaaah! My leg!!"
A sharp gunshot rang out.
Hammerhead suddenly collapsed to the floor, clutching his bleeding hairy leg and howling.
"Wh-why... didn't you shoot me in the head!?"
Pain and utter disbelief mingled in Hammerhead's voice.
As it turned out, his head had been badly damaged in a brutal gang shootout. A doctor had later replaced his entire skull with a sturdy alloy one, giving him a head that was impervious to bullets and blades.
That was how the rumors of his immortality had started, making him famous in the underworld.
He'd never imagined Du Mu, that shameless bastard, would shoot him in the knee!
"Obviously! You're called Iron Head. Anyone with half a brain could tell your head's as hard as a lump of iron. Why would I keep shooting you there? What, am I crazy?"
Du Mu looked at him as if he were an idiot. If he hadn't instinctively aimed for the head with his first shot, Hammerhead wouldn't even have had the chance to run his mouth.
Hammerhead: "..."