Daredevil arrived as expected.
But Cohen paid him no mind.
Bang!
The third punch landed hard.
[Mission updated. Check for details.]
Daredevil shouted angrily, "He already lost the ability to fight back! Why did you have to kill him?!"
"I killed him to save you, Daredevil. How can you blame me for that?"
Daredevil clenched his teeth so tightly they ground together. But the demon-faced man in front of him had, in fact, just saved his life.
Suppressing his anger, Daredevil asked coldly, "Fine, him I'll let go. But why did you start a massacre in Hell's Kitchen? Do you even know how many people you've killed?"
"Of course I know."
Cohen shrugged. "Actually, I remember every single one better than anyone."
"You're a monster."
"They all deserved to die."
"Then you should've let the law handle them."
"You? Talking about the law? You're a violent criminal too. Are you telling me you've never broken the law?"
"I've never killed anyone!"
"You're not that different from me. A crime is a crime—whether you kill or not!"
"You—"
In the distance, the sound of police sirens began to wail.
Daredevil shot him a hateful glare. "I swear, I will stop you from killing again!"
"Go ahead and try."
Before the police arrived, Cohen had already vanished from the scene, looping around to return quietly to the church.
Lying in bed, he opened the system. Several reward notifications popped up in front of him.
[Temporary Mission: Punish Evil – Completed]
Completion Rating: Four Stars
Mission Rewards: Master-Level Skill Upgrade Card, Free Attribute Points: 5
[Mission Completed]
Target Level: Black Iron Tier
Promotion: Not Achieved
Cause of Death: Gunshot
Freshness Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Final Emotion: Fear
Emotion Intensity: ★★★☆☆
Overall Mission Evaluation: ★★☆☆☆
Reward: Black Iron Two-Star Gift Pack
[Congratulations! You triggered your first Ten-Kill Streak Bonus – Free Attribute Points: 10]
[Mission Completed]
Target Level: Bronze Tier
Promotion: Not achieved.
Cause of death: Beaten to death by fists.
Freshness: ★★★★★
Final Emotion: Fear.
Emotion Rating: ★★★★★
Overall Task Evaluation: ★★★★★
Special reward for five-star rating. Reward being upgraded...
Reward: Five-Star Bronze Pack, Luck Doubled.
This time could only be described as a massive windfall.
In addition to completing the temporary mission, Cohen had also fulfilled the 17 kills required for the Black Iron level mission, triggered a Ten Kill Streak, and landed his first Bronze-level kill.
The skill upgrade card he received was a first-time reward. As he focused on it, its description immediately popped up in his mind.
It could be used to upgrade any skill—but only from Proficient to Master level.
Currently, he has three eligible skills: Handgun, Traps, and Swimming.
But no need to rush—first, it was time to open the rest of the reward packs.
He opened the Black Iron Pack.
[Congratulations! You've received: Free Attribute Points +3]
As expected, anything under a five-star pack really wasn't worth much.
Finally, the main event: the Five-Star Bronze Pack!
[Congratulations! You've received: Dragon Qi]
He quickly felt a new force surge within his body. With a single thought, this force naturally flowed into his fist.
At once, his fist began to glow, becoming unimaginably hard—like molten steel burning red-hot.
Damn!
Cohen was stunned. Wasn't this the Iron Fist's ability?
Wait... if it worked on his hands, then maybe...
He willed the Dragon Qi to flow further down…
Hiss—
Holy crap! Holy crap! This was a power pulled from a Bronze Pack!?
Even a Gold-level reward would feel cheap in comparison!
Only now did he feel he had finally gained a strong enough foundation to establish himself in the Marvel Universe.
After rolling around on the bed a few times in excitement, he calmed down and started assigning his new attribute points. He also used the skill upgrade card on his Handgun skill.
Then, he pulled up his system interface:
Name: Cohen
Age: 22
Bloodline: Human
Status: Normal
Strength: 15
Speed: 15
Defense: 10
Endurance: 10
Spirit: 20
Skills:
Master of Handguns
Master of Martial Arts
Proficient in Traps
Proficient in Swimming
Adept Sniper
Abilities:
Night Vision
Compound Eyes
Dragon Qi
Items: None
Dungeons: Locked
Parallel Universes: Locked
Main Mission: The guilty must be punished.
Black Iron Targets: 0/19
Bronze Targets: 0/3
Latest Mission: Silver Hunt
Silver-Level Target: 0/1
Creed: Through slaughter, find redemption.
With these stats, and the explosive power of Dragon Qi, next time he was definitely going to beat the crap out of that ungrateful bastard!
The next day, the church opened as usual.
David was on the second floor, continuing his surveillance on the target—Wolf.
Although the first Bronze kill had already been completed, the second and third five-star Bronze reward packs would still require careful planning.
Cohen, as usual, listened to the confessions of the faithful.
Thanks to the numerous church events he'd hosted in recent days, Emma Church had gained quite a bit of local fame.
After about ten minutes, Cohen, smiling as always, sent the latest confessor on their way.
As he turned around, he called upstairs to David:
"David, add this guy named Jack to the target list. His sins are in desperate need of God's forgiveness."
Just then, a sharply dressed man in a suit appeared at the door.
Cohen recognized him instantly—that man who must appear in every newbie zone.
Phil Coulson walked up with a big smile:
"Hello, Father. I'm Phil Coulson, from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."
"Agent Coulson, hello… Uh, I didn't quite catch that—Strategic what now?"
Homeland Defense... Strategic Homeland Defense and Logistics, hmm... Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division!"
"Oh, I'll remember it now!"
Coulson looked a bit embarrassed and quickly changed the subject.
"Can we talk?"
"Of course."
Cohen looked around and noticed a few quiet worshippers in the small chapel, then said,
"Let's talk in the garden."
The garden was filled with the gentle fragrance of flowers, and the once sparse plants were now blooming beautifully.
The death of one life may bring vitality to another—just as when a whale falls, a thousand creatures thrive.
Cohen glanced back at Agent Coulson, whose receding hairline was quite noticeable. Interestingly, the system did not flag him as a target.
That sparked some curiosity in Cohen.
Would the system ever consider this bald guy a target?
"Agent Coulson, what brings you here?"
"There's been a homicidal maniac active in Hell's Kitchen recently. Have you heard anything about that, Father Cohen?"
"Of course!
You mean the guy in red leather with the devil horns—Daredevil?"
Coulson froze for a second, quickly replying:
"No, no, I meant the actual murderer—the one with the demon face."
"Oh!"
Cohen nodded with feigned realization.
"I thought the two were basically the same thing."
"Why would you think that?"
Coulson looked puzzled and a bit suspicious.
Cohen pointed toward the confessional booth.
"I've heard many confessions. Quite a few people have cried their hearts out, recounting the cruelty of Daredevil.
But strangely enough, no one has ever said anything bad about the guy with the demon face."
Coulson looked at him speechless.
Are you seriously saying you don't know why?
He shook his head. "Actually, I came to ask if you've heard anything—any clues about the demon-faced killer."
Cohen's heart skipped a beat, his brows furrowed slightly.
"Why come to me?"
Coulson shrugged.
"Just like you said, with so many people coming to you for confession, there's bound to be some clues, right?"
"Well…"
Cohen shook his head.
"Agent Coulson, I'm sorry—I can't help you. What's said in the confessional stays in the confessional. It's sacred. I have a duty of secrecy."
"No, no, Father.
You don't have to give us anything specific. No names, no places, no events—just a hint or a clue.
I don't think God would blame you for this. In fact, you might be saving hundreds of lives."
Sigh… but I would blame myself, Cohen replied sorrowfully, wearing a face of moral torment.
Just as Coulson was about to give up, Cohen's voice came faintly:
"I heard the origins of the demon-faced killer may be somehow tied to Daredevil.
But I don't know the specifics—you'll have to investigate that yourselves."
Coulson left Emma Church with a furrowed brow.
He had only come here on a hunch. He hadn't expected to actually get any useful information—let alone something this unexpected.
Originally, the rise of the "demon face" killer in Hell's Kitchen hadn't raised much of a red flag.
But after Bullseye was killed, they realized this "demon face" might be far more dangerous than they had estimated.
And now… he might even be entangled with Daredevil?
After a moment of thought, Coulson made a decision.
Fine. Then we'll investigate Daredevil too.
He made a call.
"Director, I'd like to request that we add Daredevil to the priority investigation list.
He was already on the watchlist anyway—might as well clear up everything now."
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Then came a deep, steady voice—the voice of a Black man:
"I understand."
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