Possession Card: Roronoa Zoro

Matthew fell silent. He probably hadn't expected Mike to be so self-righteous, nor had he expected him to know his true identity.

Mike said nothing more, clapped his hands, and went home.

Daredevil's Nen regarding not killing stemmed from his profession and faith. It was also the bottom line he upheld as a superhero, and his defense whenever opponents questioned him.

However, Mike had never seen himself as a hero. If he thought something was worth doing, he did it.

In a sense, Mike was a dangerous man.

That was why Hell's Kitchen's small gangs didn't dare provoke Mike, yet they dared to shout about killing Daredevil. Even Foggy, Matthew's friend and business partner, had criticized him after learning his true identity:

"You don't bring Fisk down through legal means. Instead, you use violence to force people to talk. How are your actions any different from Fisk's?"

It sounded reasonable, but was it really?

Mike didn't think so. In his view, the victims of Kingpin's violence were innocent people, while the victims of Daredevil's violence were criminals.

That was the biggest difference. It was enough.

When he returned home, Chloe was lying on the couch beneath a blanket. Tears still stained her face, and even in sleep, she looked terrified.

"We can talk tomorrow. You're tired too," Mike said to Old Earl, whose face was full of gratitude.

Lying in bed,

Mike entered the space within his consciousness. A gray Soul Fruit floated there.

Activate the fruit, Mike silently commanded through Nen.

The moment Nen arose, the gray fruit split down the middle and burst into white light.

When the light faded, a card floated in the system space.

At the same time, information about the card appeared in Mike's mind.

[Character: Roronoa Zoro]

[Type: Possession Card]

[Cost: $10,000/hour. (Any time under one hour is charged as one full hour.)]

[Note: Twenty-one-year-old Zoro, proficient in Observation Haki and Armament Haki. The undisputed king of looking cool in the pirate world.]

Mike: "..."

Zoro was powerful, but his abilities overlapped somewhat with Zabuza's.

Still, the same old saying applied—having it was better than not having it.

About twenty minutes after Mike left the warehouse, police cars and ambulances finally arrived.

Brett Mahoney, an NYPD officer, arrived after his colleagues had already conducted a preliminary investigation and questioning.

Brett spotted someone he knew—DHS senior agent Dinah Madani. Homeland Security normally neither handled nor could handle ordinary gang cases, so Brett instinctively assumed this had something to do with the Punisher Madani had been tracking.

"No, it's completely unlike his style."

Madani's partner, Sam Stein, denied it. Holding the crime scene report, he continued, "The Punisher is skilled with all kinds of firearms and close-quarters combat. His battle scenes are extremely rough and unrestrained, yet filled with violent aesthetics. You could call them art."

Madani shot Sam a glare. Realizing he had misspoken, Sam awkwardly said, "Ahem... Look, this killer was exceptionally skilled at assassination. He killed almost all the victims with a single blow before they even noticed him. Aside from Sean 'Bigfoot,' that scumbag only bled out shortly before the ambulances arrived. What a terrifying killing machine."

Brett took the report, his eyes widening as he read. "The murder weapon was a katana? You're telling me one katana killed twenty-four armed gunmen?"

Sam spread his hands. "Unbelievable, right? But it wasn't twenty-four... Six idiots were killed by their own people. According to the survivors, a strange thick fog appeared in the warehouse, reducing visibility to less than a meter. A weird voice came from the white fog: 'Eight places—the throat, spine, lungs, liver, carotid artery, subclavian artery, kidneys, and heart. Which one do you want me to attack?' Under extreme stress, some Foot Gang members suffered mental breakdowns and started firing wildly, killing six of their own."

The more Sam spoke, the more excited he became. "That's so cool."

Seeing Brett deep in thought, Madani asked, "What is it?"

Brett said, "There are rumors among the local gangs about Death Fog and the Reaper in the Fog."

At that moment, Madani saw a bland-looking man in a suit with a worrying hairline flash his credentials at the guards before heading into the warehouse.

Madani called out, "Why did you let him in? Hey! Who are you?"

The man in the suit stopped and replied mildly, "I'm FBI senior agent Clark Gregg. Hello. Some aspects of this case involve matters I'm investigating, so I came to learn more. Oh, don't worry, I'm not here to steal the case."

If Mike had been there, he probably would have been delighted: Oh-ho, he'd captured a new Marvel tutorial NPC—Coulson, a whole lump of him.

In the end, Madani did not stop Coulson. She only told him not to touch anything, lest he contaminate the evidence.

Well, the case wasn't under Madani's jurisdiction anyway. She had no interest in making extra trouble for herself.

Holding a device, Coulson walked around once and spoke into his earpiece. "According to the survivors, thick fog appeared in the warehouse out of nowhere. The fog is gone now, but the warehouse is extremely dry. Fitz, Simmons... I smell something supernatural."

Fitz replied from the other end, "Could it be dry ice?"

Coulson rolled his eyes. "The carbon dioxide levels are normal, and dry ice absorbs heat as it sublimates, lowering the temperature and causing water vapor to condense into droplets. Are you kidding me? Dry ice?"

Fitz said to Simmons, "Coulson finally used his brain. That's rare."

Coulson said, "I can hear you! (╬￣皿￣)"

The next day, Mike got up rather early and saw the sunrise for the first time in a long while.

Mike had not exercised regularly in a long time.

That was wrong.

But all humans were lazy.

After washing up, he went downstairs.

Old Earl was very dedicated. The supermarket was already open, and he was cleaning the windows. Chloe was also holding a rag, leaning over the counter and scrubbing hard.

"Boss, you're up early today," Old Earl said with a smile.

"B-Boss." Chloe straightened up, her smile stiff.

She scrubbed even harder, probably afraid Mike would throw her out.

What exactly had this little girl been through?

In private, Mike asked Old Earl, "What are you going to do? You can't just keep supporting her like this."

Old Earl hesitated. "Can't I just support her like this?"

Was that possible?

Old Earl was sixty, and he was an old bachelor. There would definitely be issues with his qualifications to adopt. Besides... Old Earl was already sixty. Did he really have the energy to raise a little girl?

If Old Earl did not adopt her, Chloe would probably be sent to a welfare institution, then shuffled from one foster family to another.

Mike asked, "Do you really want to adopt Chloe? This won't be easy."

Old Earl nodded, his expression sorrowful. "Yes, it won't be easy, but it's the right thing to do. I used to be a bastard. I did a lot of wrong things. Now I want to be a good man. I want to make up for it. In God's name, I want to do the right thing."

Mike had a headache. After thinking for a moment, he said, "All right. I'll figure out the adoption matter."

Old Earl scratched his head and said awkwardly, "Boss, there's also Chloe's schooling..."

Mike said, "Oh, she's old enough to start school."

American children generally started elementary school at six.

Old Earl said, "Chloe is eight."

"Ah!"

Mike froze. Judging by Chloe's build, he had thought she was only five or six. Then he thought of how light she was and understood. Six words: severe malnutrition.

Mike took out the payment from last night's job and stuffed it into Old Earl's hand. "Consider this money a loan from me. I'll deduct it from your wages."

He had found over a hundred thousand dollars in cash in the Foot Gang's safe yesterday. Mike had made a fortune, so he did not care about this small payment. Besides, it was only a loan.

"Boss..."

Old Earl's eyes filled with tears. "You really are a good man."

Mike: "..."

Working for the system in the Marvel world, he had received a "good man card" from an elderly Black man.

Tears welled in his eyes...