Stealing Kills

As if nothing had happened, Stick seemed to have completely forgotten that Leon had taken him down in three seconds just moments ago.

Wiping the dried blood from his nose, he got to his feet and walked over to Leon and Matt. With his cane resting diagonally across his shoulder, he picked up his glass and took a swig in one smooth motion.

"If you're not joking, then I think we have a chance this time."

Facing Leon, Stick said this.

Leon's opinion of the old man improved quite a bit. He knows when to bend and when to stand tall!

"So, what do you suggest?"

Leon felt that professional matters should be left to professionals.

At the very least, when it came to causing trouble for The Hand, Stick undoubtedly had the most say.

The old man had fought The Hand his entire life. How could he not have experience?

"Before that," the old man said, "I want to know exactly how strong you are."

"Was that not enough just now?"

"Not enough."

Well, wasn't that easy?

Patting Matt and Stick on the shoulders, Leon stood up. "Let's find somewhere secluded and I'll give you both a demonstration!"

At an abandoned junkyard.

Stick ran his fingers over the pile of scrap metal before him. If he had not personally pointed at that vehicle and asked Leon to demonstrate his strength, he never would have believed that those two guns could fire so many bullets!

A full fifty seconds!

Fifty seconds!

He had blasted a pickup truck into a pile of scrap metal!

The scorching heat continually washing over him from the side reminded Stick that the situation over there seemed even more serious!

That was the result of one of Leon's Spirit Bullets.

Four wrecked cars parked side by side had been pierced through by a single Spirit Bullet. Its lingering shockwave struck the ground and even caused a small explosion.

When Leon said that every one of his clones could use Spirit Bullet once, Stick and Matt fell completely silent.

"Well? Do you believe now that I'm not just going to The Hand to get myself killed?"

They believed him! Brother, they really believed him this time!

Matt was in somewhat better shape. Back when he learned that Leon had single-handedly wiped out Kingpin's entire organization, he had already mentally prepared himself not to place an upper limit on Leon's strength. After all, someone like Leon having strange and bizarre abilities was not all that strange.

Though he had now personally witnessed a human being accomplish something like this—and possibly even seen some kind of magical item!

Still, he had been prepared beforehand, so Matt was not as shaken.

That was why Matt could still smile.

Stick was different.

Stick had started out as an ordinary man, and he was blind on top of that. It was impossible to imagine how much suffering he had endured over the years to train himself to his current level, mastering cane techniques that could be called miraculous.

Yet even so, before the cheat-code-like Leon, he was fragile beyond belief.

At that moment, Stick naturally understood that although Leon had not held back with his words in the house, he had ultimately shown mercy.

Otherwise, there would not have been those two warnings.

He did not even need to use the attack called Spirit Bullet. With just those two guns, Stick knew full well that he would be unable to withstand him.

Stick was confident he could dodge one or two shots, but he could not dodge fifty or a hundred.

Not to mention...

Still crouching, Stick once again touched the warm "pickup truck" on the ground.

Not to mention five hundred or a thousand bullets!

Rising with some disappointment, Stick leaned on his cane and felt a trace of chill in the quiet night.

He was not disappointed that he had been surpassed by a younger man. He was disappointed that Leon had not appeared earlier...

If you had appeared before me sooner, why would I have had to send The Chaste's warriors to their deaths one by one...

No one heard Stick's inner monologue.

But Leon had appeared in the end!

Tilting his head to "look" at Leon, the old man who always wore such a stern expression could not help but let the corners of his mouth rise slightly.

It was enough that he had appeared!

It was enough that he had appeared...

"Now I believe that you really can wipe out The Hand by yourself."

Stick only smiled briefly, unnoticed by anyone, before returning to his usual unpleasant, keep-away-from-me expression.

He was used to being like that.

"I also believe that you really did show me mercy earlier."

"So, what do you say? Are we leaving now?"

Leon was still as impatient as ever. A gentleman could wait ten years for revenge, but someone like Leon believed revenge should never be left overnight!

As the saying went, a petty man's revenge lasted from morning till night!

At this point, Stick instead began persuading Leon not to rush. "Don't be hasty. We should wait for an opportunity—an opportunity to wipe them all out in one net."

Just then, Leon's phone rang.

Hm?

I don't have a house burning down right now!

He answered suspiciously. Sure enough, it was Coulson.

"Hello?... Right now... Oh, right, right, right!... Then why are you calling me? Do you not have anyone else?... He's a friend, so... Mm, mm, Coulson, let me put it this way: that person is my dearest friend, my brother from another mother and father!"

"You'll have to pay more!"

"..."

"Oh, sure, is that so? Hahaha! Big organizations really do things decisively. Just wait for me! I'll be right there!"

After hanging up, Leon's smile was still faintly visible through the shape of his mask.

Even the two blind men present could sense Leon's joy.

Of course! Leon had just gone bankrupt, and now another chance to make money had come along. He could fleece S.H.I.E.L.D. for another huge sum. How could he not be happy?

Stick waited until Leon calmed down a little before speaking. "Perfect. It seems you have other matters to handle today. As for the exact time to eliminate The Hand, wait for my message."

Leon thought it over and agreed.

After exchanging contact information with Matt, Leon finally had a second contact in his phone.

It was not that Leon did not want to exchange numbers with Stick. The old man simply did not own a phone.

Once everything was settled, Leon said goodbye to the master and disciple, then shot into the sky to go make some money.

The two blind men who could not fly remained where they were. You said nothing, and neither did I.

After a long while, "Did he... really leave?"

That was Stick.

Matt's voice carried a few more notes of desolation. "Yeah. He really left."

Silence again.

"Do you know where we are?"

"Do you, Master?"

Silence again.

Silence was tonight's Cambridge.

While flying through the sky, Leon kept feeling as though he had forgotten something. He thought about it for a long time and still could not remember, so he simply stopped thinking about it!

What interested him most right now was, of course, making money!

As he flew, Leon gradually slowed to a stop. Hovering quietly in midair, he pulled out his phone.

"Matt?"

"...Don't curse at me! That doesn't suit your identity as an elite law school graduate and top lawyer!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, I'm coming!"

After ending the call, Leon remembered that he had flown there with the two of them, randomly found a remote place with no one around, and landed.

If he left them there, starving to death would not be a concern given their abilities, but they would definitely suffer for it!

Call the police? Ask a friend to pick them up?

Matt could not afford to lose that much face.

After taking the master and disciple back to Matt's home, Leon hurriedly flew off again. But as he flew, he stopped once more.

He pulled out his phone again.

"Hello? Coulson, um, where are you guys now? I forgot to ask earlier..."

"Oh, oh, oh! Stark Industries! I know, I know! Me? I'm on my way. I'll be there soon!"

Lowering his phone, Leon muttered to himself, "Iron Monger? I wonder if I can steal the kill..."

With that, Leon accelerated and vanished from sight.

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