Hell's Kitchen, a hidden underground location.
The stone walls were covered with ancient runes, and the Flame of oil lamps flickered.
Matthew Murdock lay horizontally on the stone platform.
The limbs were secured with belts, and a splint was used to temporarily support the fractured spine. The chest movement was weak.
He is still alive, but that's all he is.
Madame Gao stood beside the stone platform, looking down at the body. "A fearless person deserves the best gift."
The door behind him was pushed open, and an old monk with white hair, dressed in a gray robe, slowly entered, carrying a black wooden box in his hand.
The wooden box was opened, revealing a row of extremely fine medical silver needles neatly arranged inside.
Madame Gao stepped back, giving the old monk some space. "Let's begin."
The old monk nodded, walked to Daredevil's side, took out the first silver needle, and pierced it into the ganglion on the side of his neck.
The needle pierced his skin, and Daredevil's body convulsed violently.
His Radar Sense were completely out of control.
The heartbeats, breaths, and footsteps of millions of people in Manhattan rushed into his skull in an instant.
The density of that sound was enough to burn through a normal person's nerves on the spot.
Daredevil struggled and screamed within the restraints of the belt, but no one paid any attention.
"The first hurdle. Only three have survived these years, and they've all become the Hand's best knives." Madame Gao said calmly.
The old monk remained silent, continuing to take silver needles from the wooden box and inserting each one into a different part of Daredevil's body.
Sides of the neck, both sides of the spine, fingertips, behind the ears...
Daredevil's convulsions became more and more violent, and hallucinatory voices began to appear.
Time lost its meaning in the dungeon.
There was no distinction between day and night, only the flickering of the oil lamp and Daredevil's increasingly weak breathing.
On the third day, the silver needles were replaced with thicker copper conductors.
The old monk inserted them into Daredevil's earlobes, the sides of his broken spine, and the tips of his fingers.
To create an extreme sensory disturbance that can be artificially controlled.
In this state, Daredevil loses the ability to distinguish between reality and illusion.
Madame Gao walked to the stone platform and leaned close to Matthew's ear.
She lowered her voice and said something.
No one in the dungeon could clearly hear what was said.
Daredevil's eyelids trembled, and tears welled up in his eyes, flowing down his cheek and into his ear.
On the seventh day, when Madame Gao entered the dungeon, Daredevil had already stopped struggling.
The old monk put away the last needle, his forehead covered in a layer of cold sweat.
"It's been seven days. Those distracting thoughts have been completely washed away from his mind. How much of that ridiculous delusion about the law and saving the neighborhood is left now?"
Daredevil lay on the stone slab, his eyeballs trembling slightly.
His lips moved slightly, but the sound was extremely soft.
"Father... I can't hear the bells anymore..."
"That's good, Mr. Murdock."
Madame Gao leaned down. "The tolling of bells for mortals only brings suffering. You protect Hell's Kitchen, but what has Hell's Kitchen ever given you? Bane broke your bones, the Joker who blew up the block, or the capitalists who sat in the Vought Tower watching the show?"
"Set up the altar."
Madame Gao straightened up, her cane striking the ground.
Four shirtless, black-clad assassins carried a black coffin into the dungeon.
The coffin was completely black, covered with a thick layer of black mud, and emitted a faint stench.
The edge of the coffin lid was engraved with intricate serpentine patterns, which shimmered eerily with a dark red glow under the light of the oil lamp.
"Is this the breeding ground of the Black Sky?" The old monk's eyes burned with fervor, and his breathing became rapid.
"This is the only vessel through which the beast descended to earth," Madame Gao, pointing to the mangled remains on the stone platform. "Throw him in."
The assassins slashed his belt and roughly lifted Daredevil's body.
With his lumbar spine completely shattered, Matthew's legs could only drag on the ground, completely numb.
The old monk whispered a reminder: "His bones are broken; can he withstand the beast's arrival?"
"The dragon bone powder has already dissolved into this black coffin."
"You think the Hand's sacred objects are for burying the Deadman? As long as he has a breath left, the dragon bone can reconnect his bones. Not only will it reconnect them, but it will be ten times stronger than before." Madame Gao turned her head and glanced at him.
Two assassins gently placed Daredevil into the black coffin.
The bottom of the coffin was soaked in half a foot of black mud, Matthew screamed as soon as he touched it.
"Does it hurt?" Madame Gao walked to the coffin. "If it hurts, remember this feeling. The suffering you endured before will now become your strength."
"Kill... kill me... kill me... Frank..."
" Murdock, look at yourself now! You're just a stray dog that died in the sewers! What have you gotten in return for keeping your vow of not killing? Sergeant Brett died the Batman Who Laughs in front of you, Luke became Bane, and you can't even keep your own backbone!"
Large bubbles were bubbling up from the black mud inside the coffin.
The light deep within Daredevil's eyes vanished completely amidst his pain and curses.
"Mortal gods cannot save you; only the mighty beast can grant you true justice."
The old monk strode forward, formed a mudra with his hands, and chanted incantations.
Several assassins slit their wrists, letting their blood drip into the black coffin.
The air was thick with the stench of blood, causing the black mud inside the coffin to churn violently.
"The blood sacrifice is complete. Welcome the divine messenger!" the old monk shouted.
"Seal the coffin!" Madame Gao shouted.
The black stone lid was pushed up by the combined efforts of the assassins, covering it completely.
"Madam, is this really a safe course of action?" The old monk wiped away his cold sweat. "Won't Lynn Morris find out what we're doing in Hell's Kitchen?"
" Morris has a huge appetite now."
Madame Gao sneered.
"He's busy using that newly created artificial god to keep the Homelander in check; he has no time to care about what's going on in the gutter. Besides, the Joker stirs up the water, the safer the Black Sky becomes."
" The Joker is a complete madman."
"What do you know?" Madame Gao turned and walked towards the door. " Bane is just a scapegoat to attract attention. Once Black Sky emerges, the entire New York underworld will have to kneel at the Hand's feet."
The thuds inside the coffin grew louder and louder, and even the surface of the black stone, which was covered with runes, began to show fine cracks.
A muffled roar seeped through the crack.
"Three days," Madame Gao ordered without turning her head. "Give him three days to drain the dragon's marrow. After three days, I want everyone in Hell's Kitchen to witness the Rebirth of the fearless."
The stone door closed, and the dungeon plunged back into darkness.
The thumping sounds inside the black coffin ceased, leaving only the beating of a heartbeat deep underground.