I Am Kingpin

Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. Building, countless agents were working overtime, and Nick Fury was no exception.

Under the lights, he read through the files on Lorna.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had found the orphanage, but they still knew very little about her.

Everyone was like that. Who they were as children and who they became as adults could be entirely different.

Many mutants did not know they were mutants at first, because it all came down to the X-Gene in their bodies.

Many people carried the X-Gene. Some could go their whole lives without gaining mutant abilities, while others only needed the slightest stimulus for their mutant powers to awaken.

Clearly, Lorna belonged to the latter category. During her time at the orphanage, she had been utterly ordinary.

Just then...

Click.

In an instant, the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. Building was plunged into darkness.

Nick Fury jumped, instinctively pulling a weapon from his drawer.

But when he turned around, he discovered that all of New York had been plunged into darkness.

What the hell?

Had someone dropped a nuclear bomb or something? Otherwise, how could the whole of New York lose power?

Clack, clack, clack!

At that moment, the sound of high heels came from outside the office.

"Fury."

"Come in."

Maria Hill entered from outside with a flashlight. Looking as sharp and capable as ever, she immediately said, "The entire New York has lost power."

"I can see that."

Nick Fury replied speechlessly.

"We suspect Kingpin caused this. His building has partially collapsed."

Maria Hill brushed back her hair.

"Damn it, what is that bastard doing?"

Nick Fury was furious and immediately decided, "Bring people with you. We're going to arrest him!"

He had long found Kingpin unpleasant.

But Kingpin had kept his hands clean, and he was formidable in his own right, so Nick Fury had never made a move.

Now that Kingpin had caused such a huge disturbance, he could no longer turn a blind eye.

After an unknown amount of time, power was restored throughout New York.

Ever since the great blackout of 1977, New York had gone twenty-one years without another outage.

That was how it earned the name of the city that never slept.

New York's power grid was incredibly robust. For Kingpin's Quantum Collider to black out the entire city was practically a miracle.

In the underground laboratory, Kingpin shakily pushed himself up from the ground with his cane.

Even his body had failed to withstand the impact from the Quantum Collider, and he had nearly passed out.

There was no need to mention the others. At least half had died on the spot, while several others were of uncertain survival, their bodies covered in shards of glass.

Disrupting parallel worlds came at a price.

But Kingpin did not care.

He looked over the vast space below. It had partially caved in from the blast, and someone would definitely notice.

The Quantum Collider had been damaged and clearly could not be activated again.

Kingpin did not want to activate it again either, because he had already obtained what he needed!

Vanessa from his memories, and the frightened Richard in her arms!

The Quantum Collider could not open a passage to the multiverse. It had merely followed Kingpin's request and brought Vanessa and Richard from another universe into this world.

Clearly, it had succeeded!

As for what consequences there would be, who cared?

Kingpin immediately composed himself and walked over.

"Vanessa, Richard!"

He spoke with a trembling voice.

"Dad?"

Richard, still only a child, asked in surprise.

He was exactly as old as Kingpin remembered. This time, no one would hurt him again!

"Yes. Come here, Richard."

Kingpin opened his arms, but Vanessa held Richard tightly.

"Who are you? You're not Kingpin."

Vanessa looked at Kingpin nervously.

Although the Kingpin before her looked exactly like the husband she remembered, a woman's intuition told her they were not the same person.

Kingpin said coldly, "I am Kingpin, Vanessa."

"Kingpin from another world!"

He would not bother considering whether the Kingpin from another world was truly himself. It did not matter at all.

If the Kingpin from that other world had the ability, then he could build a Quantum Collider too and bring Vanessa and Richard back!

The forceful Kingpin offered no further explanation. He simply took the two of them and forcibly left the place.

He ordered his men to deal with everyone who had not died. No survivors were to be left behind.

These people had experience building the Quantum Collider, and Kingpin did not want anyone else constructing one.

In Kingpin's eyes, the Quantum Collider was truly terrifying. It even frightened him.

But for the sake of his beautiful future, Kingpin had decisively chosen to build it.

Still, there was no need for others to bear that fear.

When he returned to the surface, the entire Kingpin Building had partially collapsed. Fortunately, the construction crew that built it had not dared cut corners. It had been constructed to earthquake standards, so the damage was not too serious.

However, Kingpin knew he could not stay there any longer. He ordered his men to guard the building while he took his wife and son to the rooftop.

Ke Chen sped from Long Island to downtown with Lorna in the car.

Using his telepathy, he easily found Kingpin's location and drove straight there.

If he had been here before, he could have arrived in an instant through teleportation.

But at that moment, they suddenly discovered that all of New York had been plunged into darkness.

Aside from the headlights of a few cars still moving through the streets, New York looked as though it had been swallowed by the Dark Dimension.

Everyone was terrified, slamming on their brakes and sending their cars into skids.

For a moment, Ke Chen thought Dormammu had defeated that bald old man, Ancient One, and swallowed Earth directly into the Dark Dimension.

Ke Chen had once worried whether Ancient One might discover him.

But he quickly realized he had no need to care at all.

Unless Earth was invaded by a dimensional demon god, or the entire planet was about to be destroyed, Ancient One would not care about anything else.

And even though he knew of Kamar-Taj, Ke Chen had no desire to learn magic.

Magic in the Marvel Universe was no different from dark arts. Every price was more terrifying than the last, so there was no need.

After a period of panic.

They finally learned what had happened. Earth had not been swallowed by the Dark Dimension; New York had simply lost power.

Thinking of what he had just imagined, Ke Chen felt a little embarrassed.

It was just too surprising that New York, the city that never slept, could actually suffer a blackout.

"Wait!"

Just as Ke Chen was about to start the car again, Lorna shouted.

"What is it?"

"There's ice ahead!"

Lorna pointed forward. The two immediately got out to check and found that, at some point, a massive block of ice had appeared in front of Ke Chen's Dodge Challenger.

If he had started the car directly, he probably would have damaged his beloved vehicle.

Ke Chen was shocked to discover that there was actually a person and a shield inside that block of ice.

When he saw the shield bearing the Union Jack, even his expression changed.