Kingpin backed down

Before long, Punisher arrived in the alley and nodded when he saw Bullseye lying on the ground.

"It really is him. How did you catch this guy?"

"A first-meeting gift from that Homeland Something Bureau," Luke said. Punisher and Fury knew each other, so he did not have to worry about Punisher leaking it and getting Coulson on his case.

"It's no surprise those people noticed you, but they aren't easy to deal with," Punisher said.

"Still, their position is awkward when it comes to what we do..."

"They neither encourage it nor stop it," Luke finished for him. Punisher gave Luke a surprised look.

"Looks like you're on pretty good terms with them."

Luke chuckled. If he had done anything bad, Coulson probably would not have come to speak with him so politely. It would have been straight to "FIB, open the door!"

Punisher drove out to a cabin in the suburbs and dragged Bullseye inside.

Luke chose not to watch those eye-searing scenes and stayed outside.

After waiting several hours, Luke sighed at his phone's nearly drained battery and was about to ask Punisher for the car keys so he could charge it.

Just then, Punisher came out of the cabin, carrying a dying Bullseye.

Really, Bullseye's most outrageous ability was his throwing skill. Everything else was manageable. Luke did not understand why the superheroes in the movies never crippled his hands after finally beating him. That would cut away most of his fighting power.

Reality was different. Luke looked at Bullseye's hands, smashed out of shape, and nodded.

It seemed the superheroes in reality had not suffered much of a drop in intelligence.

Punisher said he wanted to use Bullseye to set a trap and see whether they could lure Kingpin out. Luke agreed.

He was not like those superheroes, fighting back and forth with an enemy for years.

Revenge should be settled the same night. Nearly three days had already passed, and Luke was getting desperate.

Desperate for Kingpin to die.

After parading Bullseye around the streets a few times, Punisher took Luke to a factory. They suspended Bullseye high in the air and settled in to wait.

The moment he had nothing to do, Luke started scrolling through his phone and suddenly received a push notification.

"This year's Annual Pinnacle Person Award will be presented tomorrow in Las Vegas."

"Looks like I have to settle this today. At the very least, I need to hurt Kingpin badly enough that he won't dare bother me."

Luke told Punisher. According to the movie's plot, Tony would go to Afghanistan to demonstrate a new weapon the day after receiving the award, then get attacked in his fun-filled Humvee.

In other words, if Luke wanted to watch the show and check in for a souvenir, he would have to get moving tomorrow.

"Why the rush? We can't deal with Kingpin today," Punisher said with a frown.

Even though they had captured Kingpin's trusted subordinate, he still did not believe Kingpin would show himself. After fighting Kingpin for so many years, he knew how ruthless and coldhearted the man was.

"But I have something more important to do next than fight Kingpin. Simply put, fighting Kingpin will only earn me a few million, but what I'm doing next might mean I'll never run short of money for the rest of my life."

If he rescued Tony Stark and the guy refused to cover all his future expenses, he would turn around and send Tony right back!

Punisher wondered why Luke would say that, but then a ninja appeared in front of them.

Someone was coming!

Punisher went up to a high vantage point to observe in secret. A large group was charging straight toward the front of the factory, while Luke received word from the ninjas lying in ambush.

A squad was sneaking up behind the factory, all wearing high-tech powered exoskeletons.

Luke thought for a moment, then simply gathered ten Blade Soldiers and sent them to slaughter the elite squad sneaking up from behind.

Taking the remaining hundred-odd ninjas around to the front, Luke watched the charging cannon fodder. He waved his hand, and a mass of Ninja Soldiers quietly surrounded them.

There were about two hundred people out front, with much better training and equipment than the previous groups. They also had several armored vehicles. On top of that, Luke spotted plenty of heavy weapons made by Stark Industries.

If he let the Ninja Soldiers slowly fight them, who knew how long this round would take? He still had another set to get to afterward. Luke rubbed his hands together and sank into the shadows, the black darkness blending perfectly into the night.

He stealthily made his way beneath an armored vehicle, looked up at it, and punched straight upward.

The sudden force flipped the armored vehicle over, crushing several unsuspecting grunts nearby.

Luke wanted to repeat the trick, but the other two armored vehicles seemed to receive an order and drove straight at the factory without hesitation. The thugs around them also raised their weapons and charged the factory.

Luke quickly chased after the two armored vehicles, but even as they approached the factory, they showed no sign of slowing down. Instead, they accelerated to full speed and rammed straight inside.

Watching the armored vehicles charge into the factory, Luke could not be bothered to keep chasing them and simply hid near Bullseye.

This was their target anyway. Luke gathered his strength off to one side, deciding to blow up the armored vehicles as soon as they came over.

The Ninja Soldier Corps lying in ambush outside launched their attack, while Luke hid off to one side in the Shadow World and watched the two armored vehicles slowly approach.

On the road leading to the factory, the thugs had already spread out to charge. The Ninja Soldiers around them suddenly attacked, inflicting heavy casualties on those in the middle, but some of the lucky survivors quickly organized a counterattack.

Using all sorts of Stark Industries weapons, these thugs managed to send a large swath of Shadow Ninjas back to the Shadow World. But their ammunition was limited, and sooner or later, the Shadow Ninjas would wipe them out.

Meanwhile, just as the two armored vehicles drove toward the area where Bullseye was held, Luke burst out of the darkness, dropped from above, and punched straight through one vehicle's engine.

The other armored vehicle rammed straight at him. Luke gathered all his remaining energy, and a black shield appeared in front of him.

Crash!

The armored vehicle slammed into the black shield, shattering it, but the vehicle was forced to a halt as well.

Several ninjas appeared beside Luke and leaped onto the armored vehicle. They plunged their katanas into its body and destroyed the engine. Then the long blades in several Ninja Soldiers' hands flashed coldly, cutting open the doors. They charged straight inside and slaughtered every enemy within.

Luke did not go inside to hack away. Fighting in such a small space and getting blood splashed on himself would not be worth it.

He excitedly threw a couple of punches where he stood, savoring how the hard steel had warped and shattered beneath his fist. For some reason, he wanted to throw a few more.

The thought of having enough energy in the future to punch away as he pleased felt great.

While he waited for the Ninja Soldiers to finish opening the cans, several Blade Soldiers returned to report in.

Looking at the blood slowly dripping from their claws, the squad out back had probably met a grim fate. Gunfire was still coming from outside the factory, so Luke sent them to support the fight out front.

Once the cans were open, Luke was about to go check on the situation out front when he heard a voice coming from a radio inside a vehicle.

"Is this Mr. Luke?" Luke picked up the radio and heard those words.

After thinking for a moment, Luke replied, "It's me. What is it?"

The voice went silent for a while, then a different voice spoke.

"Hello, Mr. Luke. This is Kingpin."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Mr. Kingpin? Don't tell me you still want to recruit me."

"No. I think we can call a truce," Kingpin said, his voice as strong as ever.

Hearing Kingpin's powerful voice, Luke had thought he was about to make threats, only for him to surrender instead.

"I will compensate you with five million dollars and never trouble you again. I hope there will be no further ill will between us."

"Oh, really? How generous. What about Bullseye? How much are you offering for him?"

He would not have much time to play with Kingpin next anyway. He might as well leave him for Little Spider or some other superhero to grind levels on later.

"Bullseye? He failed his mission. Naturally, he's no longer useful."

"How cold. Just what I'd expect from the 'emperor of the underworld.'"

"Your strength is impressive too, 'Shadow Army.'"

After exchanging compliments, Luke ended the radio conversation.

"What did Kingpin say to you?"

Once the Blade Soldiers joined the battle, the fighting was quickly settled. Punisher had already come over to Luke.

"He's calling off his war with me. He's filled my little treasury and doesn't want to fight me anymore."

"Mm." Punisher did not seem very surprised. "Kingpin is a smart man. You keep getting stronger, and he doesn't know your limits. Naturally, he wouldn't dare keep fighting you."

Luke smiled. His limits? He might only encounter those when he beat Dormammu into the ground someday.

"That's that, then. Looks like we won't be working together so often anymore, but if anything urgent comes up, you can still ask me for help. Do whatever you want with Bullseye."

Luke left Punisher with those words and departed.

Walking down the road, Luke looked at a text Kingpin had sent to his phone, asking for his bank account number.

"Shit, I haven't even opened a bank account?"