Kingpin's Intelligence

Energy erupted.

It was unlike every previous instance he had copied.

This time, the energy did not originate from a single localized point—it surged simultaneously from every cell in his body.

Lynn gripped the edge of the examination table.

His muscles tightened, his bones vibrated slightly, and his heart rate spiked from a resting sixty-something to one hundred and twenty beats per minute—only to settle steadily back to fifty-eight after five seconds.

It was lower than before.

Because his heart had grown stronger.

He looked down at his arms.

The forearm muscle definition beneath the sleeves of his lab coat was sharper than it had been five minutes ago.

It wasn't a bloated expansion; it was a tightening.

Like a slack steel cable being pulled taut once more.

Super Soldier Physique at seventy percent.

This was not an increase in a single attribute.

Strength, speed, endurance, reaction time, bone density, muscle resilience—everything had been elevated to a new tier all at once.

Furthermore, it stacked with all his previous abilities.

Beneath his Indestructible skin now lay muscles and bones of a Super Soldier caliber.

With Superhuman Strength at fifty-five percent stacking with the seventy percent Super Soldier Physique, his actual power output far exceeded the simple sum of the two.

His Healing Factor's recovery speed increased once again under the enhancement of the Super Soldier Physique.

Lynn clenched his fist.

He felt the power contained within it.

This was not the crude, raw strength of someone like Jessica Jones, but a precise, controllable, and efficient power.

Captain America's body was, by nature, the most efficient template for a human being.

If he had previously been a "superhuman a cut above the average person," he was now standing on the threshold of being a frontline street-level hero.

Lynn pulled his lab coat sleeves down to cover the changing muscle definition on his arms.

His face betrayed nothing.

[Reputation change: +100 (Healed Captain America - Superhero level treatment). Current reputation: 580.]

The same day.

Midtown Manhattan.

The top floor of Fisk Tower.

Wilson Fisk sat behind his custom-widened desk.

Outside the window lay the New York skyline, brilliant with lights. A document lay spread out on the desk before him.

The file had been delivered by his personal intelligence analyst, James Wesley.

There was no title on the cover, only a serial number—MF-0419.

Wesley stood three meters across from the desk.

This distance was precisely calculated—close enough for normal conversation, yet far enough to provide sufficient reaction time should his boss be in a foul mood.

Kingpin opened the file.

The first page was a photograph—the front of Miracle Clinic.

An inconspicuous storefront on the ground floor with a white sign.

"Lynn." Kingpin read the name aloud.

His voice was soft, but Wesley could discern the weight behind that softness.

"Twenty-two years old, of Chinese descent, formerly an assistant at Leo Clinic. He opened Miracle Clinic independently after Leo was arrested."

Kingpin turned to the second page.

"His activities over the past two months." Wesley's voice was steady. "He healed Frank Castle, the Punisher. The Punisher sat at his doorstep for a month acting as security."

"During that month, we lost three transit hubs and one transport line in Hell's Kitchen."

"It wasn't entirely the Punisher's doing, but his presence made our people afraid to operate in that area."

Kingpin did not speak; he continued to flip through the pages.

"He has had multiple contacts with Daredevil. Daredevil's recovery time after injury was shortened from an estimated three to four months to less than three weeks. The reason is unknown, but the timeline coincides with his medical records at Miracle Clinic."

Kingpin's finger paused on the paper.

"Furthermore," Wesley said, "he has established a formal cooperative relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury visited him personally. Afterward, he healed Luke Cage and Jessica Jones."

"Most recently—three days ago during the mutation incident in Harlem, he synthesized a reversal agent on-site in twenty minutes. The entire Avengers team watched him do it."

Kingpin closed the file.

His palm pressed down on the cover.

His hands were massive, yet his movements were light.

"He healed the Punisher. He healed Daredevil. He put Luke Cage back on the streets." Kingpin's voice maintained its unhurried rhythm, every word enunciated clearly.

"When these people get stronger, my business becomes harder to conduct."

"Yes."

"A doctor who can heal any opponent. That in itself is a threat."

Wesley did not respond.

He knew his boss was not asking for an opinion.

Kingpin stood up.

His stature made the desk appear a size smaller.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at New York.

"The matter of Leo." He suddenly brought it up.

Wesley's expression did not change. "Leo has been held at Rikers Island since his arrest. Our legal team has ensured he will not say anything he shouldn't in court."

"The death of Snake Eyes—Leo claimed it was a procedural error by his assistant, Lynn. But in reality?"

"There is no conclusive evidence. However, Lynn left Leo's clinic the day after Snake Eyes died. There are discrepancies in the timeline."

Kingpin's large hand pressed lightly against the glass window.

His fingertips left an oval-shaped mist on the pane.

"If he knows the true cause of Snake Eyes' death, whether he did it or merely witnessed it, he possesses a lead that could implicate me."

"My recommendation is to confirm it as soon as possible," Wesley said.

"Not confirm." Kingpin turned around. "Resolve. Activate Shadow Crow. Investigate first, get to the bottom of his background. If necessary—"

He did not finish the sentence.

But Wesley understood.

"I will arrange it tonight."

Kingpin sat back down in his chair.

His gaze fell back onto the cover of the file on his desk—MF-0419.

"One more thing," he said. "That Punisher is gone, isn't he?"

"Confirmed. Castle has been away from the clinic for over two weeks. He is currently operating in the Bronx."

"Who is guarding that clinic now?"

"No one."

The corners of Kingpin's mouth twitched.

At the same time.

Miracle Clinic.

Lynn turned off the lights and lay down on the folding bed on the second floor.

He had seen fourteen patients today and healed Captain America, gaining over a hundred reputation points.

He had been busy all day.

He closed his eyes, but his Super Senses never powered down.

Every heartbeat within a two-hundred-meter radius was automatically tagged and categorized.

11:42 PM.

He caught an anomaly.

A heartbeat had appeared on the roof of the apartment building across from the clinic.

A resting heart rate of fifty-four beats per minute. The breathing frequency was deliberately suppressed.

The person remained motionless in one position, but Lynn's hearing caught an extremely faint mechanical sound.