49 Chapter 49. The Hand

Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

A man with glowing golden hands punched the opponent in front of him.

He turned to the wounded man, "My name is Danny. I am looking for the Hand's people. I think you are the one I am looking for."

"Go home, Iron Fist."

Grabbing the arm of a man named Danny, the injured man struggled and replied.

"How did you know who I was?" Danny was clearly surprised when the other man told him who he was and couldn't resist asking. "Only the people of K'un-Lun know."

"Your fight isn't here." He didn't answer Danny's question. The blood that continued to flow from the wound on his chest stained the clothes on his body bright red. The wounded man struggled to catch his breath and said, "New York, the answers to everything you want are there." Having said that, the wounded man seemed to lose his last breath and subsequently inclined his head.

"New York..."

Looking at the dead figure in front of him, silently Danny stood up, mumbling the familiar yet strangely unfamiliar name.

　　...

Pa --

At night, back home.

Turning on the light, Claire saw Daredevil sitting on the sofa in the living room and suddenly got a fright. Then she noticed the other person had wounds all over his body.

"You're injured again, Matt."

Claire took off her coat, and taking out the simple first aid kit from the cabinet in the room, she asked him.

"You've been injured far more often lately, more than you have in the past, Matt. What's going on?"

"It's not safe for you to know too much, Claire." Shaking his head, Daredevil clearly didn't feel like dragging Claire into his own perils too much, "This time, I'm not dealing with ordinary enemies. They're very organised and would do anything imaginable."

"But I'm already involved, right?" While dealing with Daredevil's wound, Claire said, "I've been in danger since the day I found you in the garbage bin. Will you at least tell me exactly what I'm dealing with?"

"..."

Claire's words silenced Daredevil.

After a long while, he said, "The organisation I'm facing this time is the Hand."

"They're more powerful and difficult to deal with than any enemies I've encountered in the past. Each time they appear, they're more difficult to deal with than the one before. I'm a little worried that I won't be able to fight them off for too long, Claire. If I lose in a fight next time or the next time, perhaps the entire Hell's Kitchen will be in unthinkable danger."

Claire was a little taken aback by Daredevil's comment; it was the first time she had seen Matt act so helpless.

"Isn't there any other way?" Dealing with the wound on Daredevil's body, Claire asked, "Maybe just call the police and tell them everything."

"It's no use. The Hand's operations are usually very secretive. They're also very dangerous, and giving information to the police would only make things worse."

"Maybe, you can consider looking for some people to help you, team up to fight the Hand, rather than going at it alone, with no one to rely on."

"Team up?"

Claire's words made Daredevil subconsciously tilt his head.

"That's right." Claire expressed her thoughts carefully, "Since the Hand is so dangerous and powerful, you need to find partners who can join you in the fight. For example, that Ah Xing from Peng Lai you mentioned earlier. He'd be perfect. If you can find him, that is."

"Ah Xing..."

Hearing Claire's words, Daredevil recalled the previous encounter in Madame Gao's factory.

　　...

[Reputation points from Sidney +5]

[Reputation points from George Stacy +20]

In the antique shop, Ryan looked at the contents displayed on the data panel and couldn't help but slightly smirk.

There was no mistaking it. The card Ryan chose for his second clone was the first D-level character card in his hand that had also helped him earn a lot of points [Phantom Thief Kid].

[Phantom Thief Kid]'s ability wasn't as aggressive as [Ah Xing].

However, when he thought about the points, Phantom Thief had a significantly easier time earning reputation points. It was a godsend.

Especially when he didn't need to do it himself, making use of the [Phantom Thief Kid]'s ability to keep active in New York would undoubtedly make Ryan's plan go smoothly. In the past, he would still have been careful not to be too flashy because of concerns about the practicality of his situation and in order not to reveal his actual identity.

Then, finding a way to collect points using the [Three Body Techniques] skill combined with the cards certainly saved Ryan from that worry. The strength of the clones that had been incorporated into the system's cards was no longer as fragile as the original clones, which were destroyed as soon as they were damaged. They were also considerably more flexible to manipulate, sometimes requiring only a simple command from Ryan; the clones would then respond reasonably well to the cards' characters.

This kind of change was completely unexpected for Ryan when he first fused the cards through the use of his clones.

In a word, it was a good thing.

In addition, since the activation and release of the clones were completely controlled by Ryan, it meant that if the clones were in a situation they couldn't handle, Ryan could retrieve the cards by releasing the technique. There was absolutely no risk of exposure as long as he himself didn't die.

[Reputation points from Tony Stark +65]

'Oh, the big fish followed along.'

Noticing the prompt appearing on the data panel, the smile on Ryan's face turned even more brilliant.

　　...

"Kingpin, long time no see."

Kingpin's Building, Manhattan.

With a cordial greeting, a familiar figure appeared in the middle of the top floor office.

"Madame Gao, I thought you wouldn't appear again."

Seeing the shaky figure, Kingpin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and casually respond.

"That's because I've mulled over the path I should take next."

"Really? Then should I congratulate you, Madam?"

Shaking her head, Madame Gao looked at Kingpin's massive figure sitting in the chair, "I've been away for a while, but I've heard a bit about it. I've heard that you haven't been doing so well lately. Maybe you need a little help."

"No, I don't." Rejecting Madame Gao's olive branch without hesitation, Kingpin stood up from his position. His huge figure cast a huge shadow that completely covered Madame Gao's thin body, "I will solve these problems myself, one by one."

"Will you? Then I wish you good luck, Kingpin."

Madame Gao wasn't deterred by the imposing demeanour Kingpin displayed.

Still shaking her head with an old and faltering look, she walked out the door on her own cane, seemingly moving slowly. In the next second, she had vanished from Kingpin's office.