108 MUP: Chapter 107. Kingpin's Release from Prison

[Item: Ancient Armour (D-level)]

[Effect 1: Indomitable (Passively raising the wearer's physical limit by 10)]

[Effect 2: Fortitude (Passively boosts the wearer's resilience, reducing the duration and strength of effects such as stun, deceleration and fear suffered by the wearer)]

[Introduction: When the sun shines, the world will be enlightened.]

　　...

[Item: Copying Toast]

[Effect: Auxiliary]

[Introduction: From the item commonly used in Doraemon. As long as you stamp the content on the bread and eat it, you will remember the content.

[Remarks: The effect of this item is time-limited.]

[Remark 2: Make sure that you don't have a bad stomach before eating it.]

　　...

[C-level card -- Sanwa (Yellow Brother)]

[Skill: Invulnerability.]

[Background: Sanwa, the character in the Calabash Brothers series, is the third child of the gourd boys. He has an iron bone, invulnerability and indestructible body, but he can be subdued with softness.]

[Remarks: Gourd baby, gourd baby, seven flowers on a vine! They aren't afraid of the heavy wind and rain. La la la ...]

In the antique shop, Ryan forced himself to ignore the final baiting lyric under the character card.

The items found in the [Bronze Treasure Chest] couldn't be described as bad, especially since [Sanwa] was quite useful with all of his adamantium body-like powers. However, every time he read the introduction on the card, he always imagined a white-haired old man stroking a gourd on a vine.

However, Ryan was actually more than a little thankful for the result. Luckily, out of all the brothers, he didn't get [Siwa].

After silently putting away his sigh, Ryan then focused on the outcome and thought about how to arrange for [Sanwa] to appear.

　　...

In New York, the bright sunshine was more than a little uncomfortable for Kingpin, who had emerged from prison.

He narrowed his eyes and glanced back at the prison behind him. He took a deep breath, raised a hand to straighten his suit and stepped forward.

Outside, a loyal subordinate, Bullseye, was waiting for him.

Sitting in the car, Kingpin lifted his hand and took a deep puff from the cigar Bullseye handed him. The smoke was so thick that it obscured Kingpin's face, hiding his expression.

"Tony Stark made a lot of noise these past few days."

In the silence, Kingpin spoke up. The first thing that came up was about Tony.

Although he was in prison, it didn't mean that he didn't know what was going on outside. In fact, through his grip on the prison, Kingpin gained more information on a daily basis than he would have if he had been on the outside.

"Because of the Iron Man incident, Stark Industries is back on its feet and successfully transformed itself into the leading clean energy company in New York." Aside, Bullseye added.

"Clean energy..."

At that, Kingpin couldn't help but sneer. He didn't take Tony Stark's approach to shut down the weapons production part of the company seriously. Because of war, people died every day in this world, and even if Stark Industries didn't make weapons, there were other companies who would.

However, Kingpin had to admit that Tony Stark was indeed a genius.

With everyone disapproving, he managed to turn another crisis into a new opportunity and rose up.

Raising his hand and putting out the cigar, Kingpin turned his head to look out of the car window at the bustling city of New York and spoke in a deep voice, "The world has changed, Lester, so we need to change too. The only way to survive in the world ahead is to obtain greater power."

　　...

Chinatown, within the martial arts school.

Ip Man was still practising his Wing Chun around the wooden dummy as usual.

Natasha looked at the scene before her and silently tapped her ear as if to report something.

"Are you sure there's nothing else?"

From the earpiece, Fury's deep voice could be heard.

Recently, things haven't been going well for him. His previous exchange with Tony Stark had, unsurprisingly, ended in failure. Tony had no interest in the Avengers' initiative at all and had no intentions of joining it. On the other hand, Natasha, who was arranged to contact Ip Man in Chinatown, also hadn't gained anything important.

"He's even more normal than I expected; nothing's standing out. If you hadn't told me about his background, I would have thought he's just a normal guy."

"Did he say anything about Peng Lai?"

Naturally, Fury didn't think that Ip Man was a normal guy. The more he investigated the battle in Chinatown, the more he was interested in Ip Man and the Peng Lai behind him.

"I've heard him mention it occasionally. I only know that Peng Lai is a mysterious legendary island in the East that can't be easily accessed. The vast majority of people there practice martial arts and... Celestial Arts ...."

"Celestial Arts?"

"That's right, according to his description, it's some sort of magic-like ability. Those who succeeded in practising Celestial Arts could gain unimaginable power."

[Reputation points from Nick Fury +50]

Fury's agent instincts prevented him from fully trusting Ip Man's words, but the information did have an impact on him. If what Ip Man was saying was true, then S.H.I.E.L.D. clearly needed to adjust their evaluation of Ip Man and the Peng Lai island behind him.

"Ms Natasha, maybe you shouldn't report right in front of me."

Pausing his practice, Ip Man looked back at the Black Widow, who was reporting to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the martial arts hall. He couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Maybe, if you tell me more about Peng Lai, I wouldn't have to bother you like this, Master Ip." Ruffling her long hair, Natasha replied with a charming smile.

Shaking his head, Ip Man looked unmoved, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, but knowing too much won't do you any good. On the contrary, it could lead to danger."

"Danger?"

Focusing on one point of Ip Man's words, Natasha's expression changed a bit, but it quickly changed back to her previous amicable look, "If that's the case, wouldn't it be better for you to work with us in S.H.I.E.L.D.? Perhaps we can find a way to fight that 'danger' together?' "

"No, it's too dangerous for you." Shaking his head, Ip Man was reluctant to explain any further.

"You're still the same as ever. Ip Man, acting so old-fashioned and inflexible ..."

At this time, a distinct voice came from outside the martial arts school.

Natasha quickly looked outside the door, then back at Ip Man, who abandoned his calm and dignified look and exclaimed in surprise, "Master Roshi?!"