The old man, acting like nothing had happened, seemed to have completely forgotten that he was just knocked out by Leon in three seconds.
Wiping away the dried blood from his nose, he stood up, walked over to Leon and Matt, leaned his cane over his shoulder, grabbed a drink, and took a swig in midair.
"If you're not joking, I think we have a chance this time," the old man said, glancing in Leon's direction.
Leon had a new level of respect for this old man now: *He knows how to adapt!*
"So, what's your opinion?" Leon asked, deciding that professional matters should be left to professionals. At least when it came to causing trouble for the Hand, the old man was undoubtedly the expert. He had been fighting them his whole life, after all. How could he not have experience?
"Before that," the old man said, "I want to know, just how strong are you?"
"Isn't what I've shown enough?"
"Not enough."
Leon clapped both Matt and the old man on the shoulder and stood up. "Alright, let's find a secluded spot, and I'll give you both a proper demonstration!"
...
At an abandoned junkyard, the old man touched a pile of metal scraps in front of him. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes when Leon shot up this car, he wouldn't have believed that two guns could fire so many bullets! Fifty seconds! Fifty seconds of continuous fire turned a pickup truck into a pile of scrap metal!
The heat radiating from the nearby wreckage reminded the old man that things were even worse here. This was the aftermath of one of Leon's "Spirit Bombs."
Four scrapped cars had been lined up, and one Spirit Bomb had pierced through them all. The shockwave had even triggered a small explosion on the ground.
When Leon mentioned that each of his clones could use a Spirit Bomb, both the old man and Matt fell into silence.
"Well? Now do you believe I'm not just going to get myself killed by the Hand?"
*We believe you, boss! We really do!*
Matt took it relatively well. He had already mentally prepared himself after learning that Leon had single-handedly dismantled Kingpin's entire organization. With a person like Leon, there was no telling what kind of weird powers he might possess.
Although seeing it in person—humanly possible feats and what seemed like magical artifacts—was still quite the shock, Matt was able to smile.
The old man, however, had a harder time. He had been a regular person from the start, and a blind one at that. The pain and effort it took to hone his martial arts skills to their current, near-superhuman level over the years—how much suffering he had endured!
But even so, in front of Leon's sheer power, he was hopelessly fragile.
At this point, the old man understood that when they were back in Leon's house, Leon had shown mercy. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been two warnings.
He didn't even need to use the Spirit Bombs. Just the two guns alone were enough for the old man to realize he couldn't withstand it. Maybe he could dodge one or two shots, but fifty or a hundred? Impossible.
And yet…
The old man crouched down and touched the still-warm remains of the pickup truck. *What about five hundred or a thousand bullets?*
Feeling a bit dejected, he got up, leaning on his cane and taking in the coolness of the quiet night.
It wasn't that he was upset about being surpassed by a younger man. No, what pained him was: *Why didn't Leon appear sooner?*
"If you had shown up earlier, I wouldn't have sent all those warriors from the Chaste to die…"
This was a thought the old man kept to himself.
But in the end, Leon had appeared.
The old man tilted his head in Leon's direction, and a slight smile crept across his usually stern face.
*It's good that you showed up. It's good you showed up...*
"Now I believe you can take down the Hand all by yourself."
He smiled briefly, unnoticed by anyone, before reverting to his usual unapproachable and grumpy self.
He had grown accustomed to it.
"I also believe you really held back earlier."
"So, what do you say? Shall we move out now?"
Leon, as impatient as ever, believed in swift revenge—why wait a decade when you can act overnight?
The old man, however, advised caution: "Don't be in such a rush. We should wait for the right moment—a chance to take them all down at once."
Just then, Leon's phone rang.
Hmm? He didn't have any more houses to burn down!
Suspicious, he answered the call. As expected, it was Coulson.
"Hello? …Right now? …Oh, right! …Then why call me? Are you short on people? …A friend, huh? So… Yeah, yeah, Coulson, let me put it this way: that guy is my dear friend, like a brother from another mother!"
"You better pay up!"
"...…"
"Oh, alright! Haha, working with SHIELD sure is satisfying. Hold tight, I'm on my way!"
Hanging up, Leon's smile was evident, even through his mask. Even the two blind men could sense Leon's excitement.
Well, of course, Leon had just gone bankrupt, and now another chance to make money had come along—another chance to squeeze SHIELD for all they're worth!
Once Leon's mood calmed down, the old man said, "It seems like you have something else to attend to today. Let me inform you when we're ready to wipe out the Hand."
Leon thought for a moment and agreed. He exchanged contact info with Matt, officially adding a second contact to his phone.
It wasn't that Leon didn't want to exchange numbers with the old man; the old man didn't even own a phone.
With everything settled, Leon said his goodbyes and flew off to make some money.
Leaving behind two blind men standing there. No one spoke.
After a long while: "Did he… really leave?"
That was the old man.
Matt replied with a bit of melancholy, "Yeah, he really left."
Silence again.
"Do you know where we are?"
"Do you, Master?"
Silence.
The silence was like a bridge over the quiet night.
...
Flying through the air, Leon had the nagging feeling he had forgotten something. After thinking for a while, he gave up.
He was more interested in making money right now!
After flying for a bit, Leon slowed down and stopped midair. He took out his phone.
"Matt?"
"...Hey, don't start cursing! That's not very becoming of a top-tier lawyer!"
"Alright, alright! I'm coming right now!"
Shutting off his phone, Leon remembered—he had flown the two of them here and landed in some remote area. If he just left them behind, they wouldn't starve to death, but they'd definitely have a rough time!
Call the police? Ask a friend to pick them up?
Matt had too much pride for that.
...
After dropping the two back at Matt's house, Leon hurriedly flew off again. After flying a while, he stopped and pulled out his phone once more.
"Hello? Coulson, uh, where are you guys? I forgot to ask earlier..."
"Oh, Stark Industries! Got it, got it! Where am I? On my way, almost there!"
Hanging up, Leon muttered to himself: "Iron Monger? Wonder if I can steal the glory…"
And with that, he sped up, disappearing into the night.
**Author's Note: Please vote and add to your favorites!**