Death's Whisper

Back in Hell's Kitchen, the ever-busy, hardworking Coulson dropped Luke off and drove straight away.

Looking at the quiet streets, Luke gave it some thought but had no idea where to go for fun.

A laser suddenly shone on him. Thinking Kingpin had sent another sniper, Luke immediately entered Shadow Form and headed toward the source of the beam.

Appearing on a rooftop, Luke looked at the person who had shone the laser at him.

He had thought it was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but it turned out to be Punisher.

Their first meeting could hardly be called pleasant, and Luke had no idea what Punisher wanted with him.

"I hear you're going after Kingpin?" Punisher put away the laser, not particularly surprised that Luke had suddenly appeared behind him.

"Yeah. That guy burned down my little stash, so I want some compensation." Luke rubbed his chin and sat on the rooftop wall as he spoke.

It was hardly surprising that Punisher knew about his conflict with Kingpin. Luke had gone straight after Kingpin last night without wearing a mask. Presumably, every gang in Hell's Kitchen now knew what he and the "Shadow Army" really looked like.

Punisher's reason for approaching him immediately became clear, too. After Punisher had witnessed a gang carrying out a vigilante punishment, the gang had killed his entire family and nearly killed him as well.

Afterward, Punisher had set out to kill every gangster. With Kingpin being the emperor of the underworld, it was perfectly normal for the two to have a grudge.

"Want to work together? Kingpin has a pretty sizable shipment of coke arriving tonight. Losing it would hurt him for a while."

Punisher briefly explained tonight's deal. If their cooperation went well tonight, they could consider working together against Kingpin in the future.

Luke thought it over and agreed.

Punisher tossed Luke a mask.

"Put it on. You're a celebrity in Hell's Kitchen now."

Luke took the mask. Although he thought it would stand out even more, he put it on anyway.

The mask might draw more attention, but Luke's name might be even scarier.

Luke followed Punisher to one of his safe houses and clicked his tongue at the dazzling array of weapons inside.

An ordinary person like Punisher needed equipment to punish evildoers, but Luke did not. With Shadow Energy added to his punches, he could now hit like a tank's main gun. Unless there were missiles for him to use, he was better off going in himself.

Still, what guy didn't like Gundams, heavy machinery, and big guns? Luke gazed longingly at a famous Barrett anti-materiel sniper rifle.

"Want to try it?" Punisher asked, noticing Luke's burning gaze.

Luke's eyes lit up. He went over and took the Barrett down, cradling it in both hands. Feeling its weight only made him more excited.

Punisher took Luke to a shooting range. Luke lay down with extremely improper form and pressed his eye to the scope.

After taking a brief moment to aim, he pulled the trigger.

A gunshot rang out, shaking the floor around him. A ring of pressure even burst from the muzzle.

As Luke pulled the trigger, he felt a tremendous force against his shoulder, leaving it a little sore. He looked at his target.

The target was completely unharmed, but the wall beside it now had a large hole.

Luke was a little embarrassed. "Pretty powerful."

Too bad you can't hit anything, Punisher silently quipped.

Holding a light sniper rifle, Punisher simply stood there and fired shot after shot.

Luke looked at the targets downrange on the other side. Every shot had hit the center.

Impressive. No wonder this ruthless man had wiped out countless gangs despite being an ordinary person.

After expressing his admiration, Luke lay back down and continued shooting. The two spent the entire afternoon at the range.

They said the four strongest bonds between men came from serving together, studying together, splitting loot together, and enjoying the full package together. After an afternoon of shooting together, Luke and Punisher were getting along pretty well, and they were about to move on to the second kind of bond.

That evening, Punisher took Luke to hide outside a harbor.

Holding a pair of binoculars, Punisher observed the people in the distance.

Several squads patrolled outside the harbor, while quite a few people with sniper rifles occupied high positions inside.

"Kingpin's pretty well connected, huh? He even got his hands on this many military sniper rifles." Luke also held a pair of binoculars, looking around curiously.

"Kingpin's criminal empire is huge, but very few ordinary people know about it. That's because those parasites cover for him. Bunch of scum." Punisher cursed a few times and continued his reconnaissance.

"Then let's talk strategy. How are we doing this?" Luke looked at Punisher curiously, wondering how he would assign their tasks.

Punisher glanced at Luke. "We improvise. The security for this deal isn't even as strong as the people you killed last night. Just charge in. I'll back you up from behind and kill anyone who tries to run."

Luke shrugged, not caring whether Punisher saw it. That would do, then.

Honestly, Luke had to admit that, having seen some major action, he really was starting to think little of a lineup like this.

Seeing that it was getting late, Punisher signaled for Luke to begin.

Luke nodded. Ninja Soldiers emerged from the shadows one after another and easily slipped into the harbor under cover of darkness.

To make his first battle alongside Punisher a resounding success, Luke had bought nearly fifty more Ninja Soldiers, bringing his own upper limit back down to a few dozen.

Punisher raised an eyebrow as the Ninja Soldiers silently infiltrated the harbor.

Through his binoculars, he watched the ninjas eliminate patrol squads with extremely tight coordination and form a ring around the harbor's interior.

The people inside also noticed something was wrong and started shouting.

Gunshots rang out, echoing through the quiet night sky.

"I'm going inside to see if there's anything fun. You stay here."

Luke said that to Punisher, entered Shadow Form, and left.

In the darkness, a patch of shadow would attract no one's attention...

Luke reached the harbor's interior unimpeded. Watching the people inside frantically fire at the Ninja Soldiers flickering in and out of sight outside, he moved into their midst and released the Blade Soldiers.

The Blade Soldiers were more agile than the Ninja Soldiers, and their hands and feet were incredibly sharp.

With a whistle as they sliced through the air, the Blade Soldiers charged into the crowd, their sharp hands crossing as they cut the enemies to pieces.

The Blade Soldiers were deadlier and faster than the Ninja Soldiers, but cleaning up afterward was difficult. Their sharp feet left holes everywhere.

Luke did not mind, though. At worst, he could just leave stealth work to the Ninja Soldiers.

With the Blade Soldiers joining in, the group was soon slaughtered. Entering the warehouse, Luke looked at the rows of shipping containers and excitedly ordered the Ninja Soldiers to open them.

The instant a container opened, Luke suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Watching the harbor fall silent, Punisher knew the fighting was over and was just about to go over to check for spoils.

Boom!

A violent explosion blasted the harbor to pieces. Flames shot into the sky, lighting up the entire night.

"What the hell happened!" Punisher cursed under his breath and noticed numerous vehicles appearing around the harbor. Carloads of men surrounded it.

"Damn it, we fell for it! This is a trap for you! Luke, are you all right?" Punisher tried calling Luke through his earpiece.

"Stop shouting. I'm right beside you." At some point, Luke had appeared at Punisher's side.

"That ability to appear and disappear really makes me jealous." Punisher paused, then spoke with some envy.

An ability that let someone come and go without a trace, and so quickly at that, was practically a blessing for a lone wolf like him. Unfortunately, he did not have it.

Luke chuckled a couple of times and looked at the enemies before him.

As the Dark Energy within him grew stronger, his sense for danger grew stronger as well.

When the Ninja Soldiers had gone to open the container, he had felt a powerful premonition and immediately retreated into the Shadow World.

He had to admit that he had yet to encounter anything that could counter Shadow Stealth. It had already saved his life quite a few times.

Looking at the enemies surrounding the harbor, Luke's eyes gleamed fiercely. These bastards had actually ambushed him.

Had he reacted even a little slower, he might have had to bid farewell to the Material World, his soul returning to the Shadow World.

Ninjas appeared one after another. Luke had no intention of hiding.

Seeing the change in Luke, Punisher took out a rifle. "How do you want to fight this?"

Luke smiled and waved his hand. Every Ninja Soldier charged straight ahead.

The thugs gradually approached the harbor. Looking at the towering flames inside, they concluded that absolutely no one in there could have survived.

While the thugs were observing the interior, throwing stars flew at them from behind, dropping a large swath of men.

The thugs immediately turned their guns and aimed behind them, only to find that a group of ninjas straight out of a movie had appeared there at some point.

Bullets flew, but the ninjas before them actually worked together, blocking the barrage with their katanas.

The thugs' eyes widened.

Were they in some kind of movie? People could actually cut bullets apart with swords?

The times had changed, gentlemen!

While the Ninja Soldiers in front blocked the bullets, those behind them did not sit idle. Throwing stars sliced through the night sky, killing swaths of thugs.

The enemies on the armored vehicles reacted and returned fire with heavy machine guns. A reaper-like storm of bullets shredded every enemy that dared stand before them.

Watching the ninjas get wiped out in droves, the thugs had no time to celebrate before another large group appeared in the darkness.

These ninjas spread out and surrounded the thugs under cover of night. Throwing stars gleaming coldly flew out of the darkness, precisely slitting one thug's throat after another.

Luke stood on the hillside as ninjas emerged beside him one after another and continuously rushed forward to kill. Watching the thugs below fall, he felt his mood gradually improve.

Under the ceaseless assault of a vast barrage of throwing stars, thug after thug fell. The survivors grew much smarter, using several armored vehicles as cover while continuously spraying bullets into the darkness, though the effect was almost nil.

Their dwindling numbers made the thugs increasingly terrified, and they fired as if ammunition cost nothing. Under these circumstances, apart from the large-caliber rounds from the armored vehicles, the armed thugs were no longer capable of fighting back.

But these men had never been particularly strong fighters. The main force holding back the Shadow Ninjas had always been those armored vehicles.

Luke's side, however, had more than just Shadow Ninjas. There was also Punisher with his sniper rifle.

After marveling at how capable his teammate was, Punisher expertly settled one machine gunner's head after another in his crosshairs. A light squeeze of his finger on the trigger took one lively life after another.

With Punisher picking off the heavy machine guns, the Shadow Legion drew ever closer to the thugs' position. As the Shadow Ninjas approached, the battle's outcome was no longer in doubt.

Ranged combat was hardly the Shadow Legion's strength. Close combat was where the ninjas truly shone!

The moment the first Ninja Soldier broke into the enemy position, the battle's outcome was settled. The ninjas' long blades sliced through the air, cleaving the enemies before them one after another as blood bloomed in the firelight.