New York, Hell's Kitchen.
The endless rain had finally stopped. The air reeked of fermenting sewage and scorched hot dogs from the street stalls.
At the end of 47th Street, the original two-story redbrick building had vanished completely.
In its place stood a ring of white, high-strength barrier panels five meters tall, sealing off the crater left by Mjolnir's impact.
Outside the barrier, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been exceedingly "thoughtful" and erected a luxurious three-story prefab building as the "temporary accommodation" included in Yang Ming's fifty-million-dollar compensation claim.
Bang!
The security door on the prefab building's ground floor was kicked open.
Jessica Jones wore her perpetually battered leather jacket, with two extremely heavy black aluminum lockboxes slung over her shoulders.
The boxes were packed with high-denomination bearer bonds and cash won at the casino in Monaco, so heavy that even the floor groaned under their weight.
"I've never seen this much money in my whole damn life! That playboy Tony Stark is practically giving it away. His roulette machine has to be broken!" Flushed with excitement, Jessica slammed the boxes onto the floor, making the water glass on the table jump.
With both hands in the pockets of his casual suit, Yang Ming stepped leisurely through the doorway.
He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and was about to tell Jessica to lock the money in the basement safe when he abruptly froze.
His Observation Haki screamed a warning.
Someone was inside.
More than one person, at that.
Yang Ming lifted his eyelids slightly, his gaze passing across the hall and landing on the brand-new leather sofa.
A bald Black man in a black leather trench coat and a black eye patch sat squarely in his usual seat. His remaining eye gleamed coldly in the dim light.
To the left of the sofa stood