The Great Demon Lord of the American Comics World

Chapter 23, Big Daddy and Hit-Girl

"Hello, Mr. Wesley. How can I help you?"

“Hello, Leonardo. My nephew caused trouble at your bar last night using my name, and I feel I must apologize to you.”

James Wesley's voice was gentle and mild, sounding polite, and surprisingly, it wasn't an accusation, but rather an apology.

Li Xingzhou was somewhat surprised by his reaction, but upon reflection, he felt it was also quite reasonable.

As Kingpin's most trusted and favorite secretary, James Wesley was not the kind of arrogant and brainless villain who would become conceited after achieving success. On the contrary, he was calm, rational, meticulous, shrewd, and knew best how to weigh the pros and cons.

Such a smart man would certainly not turn against Leonardo DiCaprio, Kingpin's capable young debt collector, because of a good-for-nothing cousin.

It's worth noting that although Leonardo DiCaprio's skills are far inferior to "Bullseye," Kingpin's top assassin, he has still managed to solve many problems for Kingpin and recover tens of millions of dollars in bad debts during the two years he has served Kingpin.

His meticulously managed "Dream Bar" also contributes a considerable amount to Kingpin every month.

Compared to Leonardo Victor, a capable assistant who could solve Kingpin's problems and create wealth, James Wesley's cousin, who only knew how to use his name to cause trouble everywhere, was indeed insignificant.

“Mr. Wesley is very understanding, and I am very grateful.”

Li Xingzhou smiled and said:
"To be honest, although I hurt Mr. Wesley, I also saved his life. You may not know, but the woman he provoked last night is named Yashida, and she is the princess of the Yashida family, the number one conglomerate in Japan. If he had really hurt Miss Yashida... you know, the consequences could have been unimaginable."

Americans are straightforward and pragmatic in their expression, emphasizing self-expression. When it comes to important matters, such as favors, grudges, and interests, they must speak frankly and clearly, and loudly proclaim their achievements. Excessive humility might bury their own merits.

Furthermore, Li Xingzhou was simply stating the truth.

If Wesley had really hurt Mariko, he would have been torn to pieces by the Yashida family's ninjas. Kingpin would never have gone to war with a behemoth like the Yashida family just because James Wesley lost his cousin. Of course, Li Xingzhou didn't step in to help Mariko out of the predicament to save Wesley. He didn't even know Mariko's identity at the time. His brutal treatment of Wesley was purely to uphold the rules of his own territory.

But that didn't stop him from using the incident to curry favor with James Wesley.

"Yashida family?"

Wesley sounded slightly surprised, clearly aware of the name, before thanking him gently:

"Thank you, Leonardo. You really saved Wesley's life. I will teach Wesley another lesson and give you a satisfactory reward."

"Then I'll thank you and look forward to it," Li Xingzhou said with a smile.

"By the way, I called you not only to apologize for what happened to Wesley, but also because I have something important to discuss with you. It's Mr. Fisk's request."

Kingpin wants me to do something?

Are we going to collect debts again?
Li Xingzhou has no immediate plans to leave Kingpin Group.

His current strength and influence are still very weak, and he has some plans that require the help of the Kingpin Group to achieve them. He then said:
"Is there anyone who still dares to owe Mr. Fisk a debt and not pay it back? Which guy is so arrogant?"

"This isn't about collecting debts."

Wesley explained:

"Recently, a number of masked freaks have been popping up in New York, acting as so-called superheroes. Some of them have gone against Mr. Fisk, destroying several of his factories, robbing an underground bank and an armory, and even leaving a declaration of war at the crime scene with the blood of the victims, declaring that they will destroy the Fisk Corporation..."

"A superhero? And he's even declaring war on Mr. Fisk with a blood oath?"

Li Xingzhou felt a surge of interest, but outwardly maintained a hesitant tone:

“Mr. Wesley, as you know, I’m just an ordinary person, and my skills are only exceptional among ordinary people. If it’s just dealing with ordinary people, even if the target is a professional agent, I’m fully confident. But against those masked freaks who fly around with superhuman strength… I’m not making excuses, but I might really be no match for them.” “No, no, no, the ones who have been constantly opposing Mr. Fisk lately aren’t superhumans like Spider-Woman. Judging from the surveillance video left at the scene, they’re just ordinary people wearing masks, playing the role of superheroes. Of course, their strength is also exceptional among ordinary people; at least ordinary gunmen are no match for them. Actually, if Bullseye hadn’t gone to Mexico on a business trip two weeks ago, Mr. Fisk wouldn’t have asked you to take action…”

An ordinary person with exceptional skills?

Could it be the Punisher?

Li Xingzhou guessed in his heart and said:
"Can you send the surveillance video to my phone? I'd like to get a feel for their capabilities first."

"Hold on."

Wesley hung up the phone, and shortly after, Li Xingzhou received a video file. Upon opening it, he found it was a video of a battle taking place in an underground factory.

In the video, a man dressed in black, resembling Batman, is seen wielding a shotgun and rampaging through the area, killing indiscriminately.

His battle suit, resembling a bat-skin coat, was fitted with a breastplate similar to medieval plate armor, allowing him to withstand close-range gunfire. Not only was he an incredibly accurate and ruthless marksman, but he was also exceptionally fierce in close combat, with fists like hammers and legs like heavy axes, capable of snapping a person's neck with a single hand.

Just as Li Xingzhou was finding the man in black to be familiar, another, even more familiar figure burst into the video feed.

It was a little girl with short, dark purple hair, a purple battle suit, a black cloak, and a Zorro-style black eye patch, holding a gun in one hand and a knife in the other.

His skills were exceptionally sharp and his killing was ruthless. Not only did he shoot heads off with every shot, but his samurai sword also caused blood to splatter, heads to roll, and limbs to fall to the ground.

Such a bloody and cruel method of killing is hard to believe, as it was just a little girl who looked no more than twelve or thirteen years old.

"It's actually this father and daughter..."

Li Xingzhou covered his forehead, somewhat speechless.

Upon seeing the little girl in purple, he immediately remembered that the two superheroes who wreaked havoc in Kingpin's underground factory were none other than Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, father and daughter.

These two are truly ruthless killers, their bloodthirstiness comparable to that of the Punisher.

While neither of them possessed superpowers, their skills far surpassed those of ordinary people, and their motor and reflexes were likely at the peak of human potential. No wonder Kingpin's ordinary gunmen were utterly helpless against them.

However, even if this father and daughter are incredibly strong, they haven't truly transcended the realm of ordinary people. If Bullseye were to intervene...

"Luckily Bullseye was on a business trip to Mexico. Otherwise, you would all be dead."

Li Xingzhou shook his head with a sigh, turned off the video, and dialed Wesley's number:

“Mr. Wesley, I’ve seen the video. These two superheroes are within my capabilities. So, where should I wait for them?”

"I'll send you an address. Go there tonight and lie in ambush until they take the bait."

Are you sure they'll take the bait?

"Probably. Mr. Fisk recently strengthened defenses in other areas, even spending a lot of money to purchase intelligent defense systems, leaving only that one vulnerability. These two guys have strong reconnaissance capabilities, they should be able to see which places are difficult to breach, so they might try to exploit that deliberately left vulnerability."

"Given their superior reconnaissance capabilities, could they have figured out it was a trap?"

“Mr. Fisk said they are very confident, almost arrogant. So even if they know it's a trap, they are very likely to try to break into it. After all, they have declared war in blood, haven't they? So it's up to you then.”

"No problem, leave it to me."

(End of this chapter)