Luke Cage

Recently, she had been investigating several serial dismemberment murders in Hell's Kitchen.

Just as she was about to find a lead, her superior called her into the office this morning and told her to drop the investigation.

"Impossible!"

Without a second thought, she refused her superior's order.

But her superior warned her that the Central Intelligence Agency had taken over the case. They had no authority to interfere!

Knowing there was a major secret hidden behind it all, the unwilling Misty sought out Luke Cage, hoping for his help.

"What is it? Tell me about it first."

Having dealt with Misty more than once, Luke understood what kind of person she was. He also knew full well that whenever she came looking for him, it was bound to be a huge problem.

Thinking of his girlfriend, he did not agree outright. Instead, he decided he would weigh the matter after hearing what she had to say.

"Whew... Here's the situation."

Handing over a document folder and gesturing for him to open it, Misty began explaining.

"Over the past while, several serial murder and dismemberment cases have occurred one after another in Hell's Kitchen.

"At first, everyone thought they were revenge killings, or conflicts between gangs."

"Luke, you know how it is.

"Those gangs often do stupid shit like this!"

"But this time, things changed after we happened to obtain a body!"

Luke opened the folder and flipped through it casually before his gaze settled on a photograph.

The photograph showed a corpse.

Male, Mexican descent, apparently around thirty years old.

There were obvious gunshot wounds on his body, plainly revealing his cause of death.

But... the strangest part was his head!

"Shit, what the hell is this thing?!"

Holding up the photograph, Luke Cage questioned Misty.

If he had not known Misty would never joke with him about something like this, he would never have believed it!

"I don't know, Luke. Really. It looks like some kind of mysterious life-form.

"Anyway, it definitely isn't human!"

Huh??

Seeing Luke stare at her suspiciously, Misty helplessly shrugged.

"Luke, I'm not trying to deceive you. I really don't know."

Misty had not withheld any information. She truly knew very little about this creature.

"So this is real!"

Luke Cage was genuinely shocked.

Before this, he had always fought people. With his body of steel, he would smash his opponents apart like some street hero.

It came as naturally as bullying little kids, and every time, it gave him a real sense of accomplishment.

What was up with Misty now?

She wanted him to fight monsters?

Hey, Misty. You have way too much confidence in me, don't you?!

I'm just a little tougher than normal people, with a little more strength and resistance to getting hit, that's all!

Luke complained inwardly while listening to her explanation.

".The information I know is all in that folder.

"There definitely aren't few of those creatures. Conservatively, there should be somewhere between a dozen and several dozen of them!"

"They can extend some kind of fleshy, transforming whip-blades. They're powerful and fast.

"The good news is that they're limited by human flesh, so firearms can still inflict considerable damage on them!

"But the bad news is equally obvious.

"We know too little about them. It would be easy to suffer a major loss!"

Misty paused and looked at Luke expectantly.

"Luke... are you still willing to take this job?"

Silence.

Clutching a photograph, Luke's eyes filled with rage.

It showed a Black thug whom he had severely taught a lesson two days ago during a robbery targeting Asians.

The other man had promised him that he would never do it again and begged him to let him go.

Yet now, only two days later, he was seeing the man's corpse in the photographs.

And it had been brutally dismembered!

Fuck!!

He took a deep breath, suppressing the irritation in his heart. Only after putting the photos and documents back into the file folder did he solemnly say to Misty, "I, Luke Cage, am taking this case!"

After returning home and handing the food to his girlfriend, he went into the study and took out the documents and photos from the file folder.

Luke examined them one by one with great care.

There was not only information on the various victims and examination reports, but even some speculation from the officers.

Lastly came the clues Misty had uncovered during her investigation.

As he thought, he raised one of the photographs.

The man in the photo was in his forties, with slightly pale skin.

He was thin and not very tall, with deeply sunken eye sockets, long gaunt cheeks, and short black hair yellowing at the roots.

He wore a shabby gray coat, his eyes darting about. He looked like an addict.

Moka Sass. That was his name.

Below his name was a line of small print—Black Fungus Bar.

He did not even need to investigate. Misty had already prepared the direction for his next step!

"If her superior hadn't stopped her, she probably would've uncovered the truth long ago!"

Luke shook his head with an amused smile and slipped one of the photos into his jacket.

"But this works too."

Eight o'clock that night, Black Fungus Bar.

Lights flashed over the stage. Following the music and the constantly dancing crowd, in a corner at the very back, Moka Sass sat drinking beer with a troubled expression.

"Fuck, fuck."

He kept cursing, knowing that he had not been home for two straight weeks.

Whenever he thought of his wife, a piercing pain seized his heart.

But... he did not dare go home!

That monster—the monster that had taken over his wife's body!

"Damn it, damn it! How could a monster like that exist in this world?!"

Moka viciously tugged at his hair, on the verge of breaking down in tears.

He was terrified, suffering alone without knowing what to do!

At the table to his left, Luke Cage awkwardly rejected another girl's invitation. Wearing sunglasses, he sipped his drink.

He had already been sitting there for over twenty minutes. Not wanting to alert the target, he decided to observe for a while longer.

Thirty minutes later, as the bar grew more crowded and the dance floor became increasingly noisy—

Bang!

Unable to bear the noisy atmosphere, Moka cursed as he slammed his glass heavily onto the table. He got up, pushed open the bar's side door, and staggered outside.

Luke Cage immediately rose and quickly followed him out of the bar.

Tap. Tap.

His steps were heavy. With one hand braced against the wall, Moka had not gone far before he bent over and began vomiting.

"Shit, I drank way too much..."

Wiping his mouth, he looked up—only to suddenly find a "wall" standing in front of him.

Startled, the man hurriedly backed away. Only then did he realize there was something wrong with the place where he had just vomited.

"..."

Luke looked deeply depressed as he pulled out a handkerchief and disgustedly wiped the filth from his clothes.

A quick disclaimer: this Marvel Universe is designated Snail Universe by the author.

It is normal for some characters' personalities to feel slightly different—not by much—since they were specifically adjusted to create a more lighthearted tone.

Luke Cage has always seemed a little secretly flirtatious to me—perhaps that is just my personal impression. In this book, I emphasized that trait. That is all.