Kingpin watched Dan and Evolto vanish into thin air, but he wasn't surprised.
Since obtaining the Fear Gaia Memory, Kingpin could also move around freely using the Fear Mud, so it was not strange that these two mysterious figures from the so-called Foundation X could come and go as they pleased.
Kingpin removed the Fear Memory, reverted to human form, and his gaze swept over the office desk he had casually destroyed and his broken cane.
"Notify David to come and clean this up, and in the meantime, summon all high-level executives who report directly to me."
Having personally experienced the powerful strength of the Gaia Memory, Kingpin clearly understood that selling these Memories would not be as simple as selling any other commodity.
Once an item that grants such power appears on the market, it will definitely attract attention from all sides. If he didn't act cautiously and keep it secret, he could very likely bring trouble upon himself. At least until he fully controlled the power of the Fear Memory and used the Gaia Memories to build a powerful force of his own.
Although he didn't know when Utopia would send the Gaia Memories, it was better to prepare in advance and be safe than sorry.
Kingpin turned to overlook the entirety of New York from the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows. Holding the Fear Memory in his hand, his eyes were filled with fervent ambition. With the power of the Fear Memory, the entire New York underworld would fall into his grasp.
No, not just New York. If he fully controlled the power of enough Gaia Memories, the entire United States would be within his reach.
The Punisher, Frank Castle, was a former U.S. Marine Corps officer with the rank of Captain.
For his outstanding and powerful performance in the Marine Corps, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, three Silver Star Medals, four Purple Heart Medals, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. After retiring from the Vietnam War, he served as a military training instructor.
During a picnic with his wife and children in a park, he witnessed a mob execution. His entire family of four was tragically gunned down on the spot by the mob.
Frank, who miraculously survived, used his intelligence system to track down the murderers of his wife and children and brought them to justice through the legal system.
However, the mob evaded punishment using various means and legal loopholes. Completely despairing of the justice system, Frank decided to use his own methods to seek justice for his wife and children and adopted a kill-all approach to any criminal.
Thus, the Punisher was born.
Under the cover of the night in New York, the Punisher Frank, who terrorized the underground gang criminals, quietly infiltrated a warehouse belonging to a gang selling arms and drugs in the outer city suburbs of New York.
Recently, Frank had been monitoring this gang and had located their main base. It was rumored that this gang was also connected to Kingpin, the biggest figure in the New York City underworld.
However, Frank didn't care about any of that. The Punisher had only one word for any evil: kill.
Under the cover of night, Frank easily dealt with the perimeter guards, then quietly slipped into the cargo warehouse from the back. He opened the arms crates.
He selected the weapons he would take with him after eliminating all the gang members. He then designed simple detonating devices so that the weapons could be completely destroyed once he left.
After all arrangements were made, he casually hung a string of grenades on himself and slowly approached the section of the warehouse where the gang members were gathered.
As a lone vigilante and not a wealthy person, the most difficult aspect of the Punisher's heroic work was obtaining sufficient weapons and equipment. Buying weapons and gear, whether through legitimate gun stores or the black market, was a huge expense. Frank didn't have a regular job, and his only source of income was from robbing the rich to help the poor while punishing these criminals.
The weapons intended for trade in this gang warehouse naturally couldn't be wasted.
After silently eliminating the guards outside with a knife, Frank pressed against the corner wall by a window, observing the situation inside the warehouse and the distribution of personnel.
Once he finished his reconnaissance, he made a simple detonating device with a grenade at the main entrance. Then, climbing onto the roof, he caused a disturbance outside the door, and a grenade exploded.
"What's going on out there? Don't tell me you're playing some boring game with the grenades in the supply room?" the gang leader inside the warehouse questioned loudly after hearing the noise.
However, there was dead silence outside, with no response.
"Boss, something's not right. Why is there no sound from the guards outside?" a subordinate next to the leader said.
Raul Cerei snorted: "A few of you go and see what's happening outside."
At the same time, he reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a mysterious item he had recently acquired, a wondrous device called the Gaia Memory that could give him superhuman strength.
Three or five gang members picked up their weapons and carefully approached the door, opening it.
Boom! The grenade exploded. The massive shockwave instantly ripped the warehouse door to shreds, and the nearby gang members were thrown back like broken sacks. They flew more than ten meters before hitting the ground, barely breathing, with one unlucky person even missing limbs.
Even other gang members closer to the door were injured by the flying shrapnel.
Frank also seized the moment when everyone's attention was focused on the door to throw grenades at the densely packed areas of the gang members inside the warehouse.
A series of explosions rang out, and the dozens of gang members inside the warehouse immediately suffered heavy casualties, with more than half injured or killed.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Frank swung down on a rope like a divine soldier descending from the sky, and a burst of fire from his submachine gun mowed down the majority of the remaining standing gang members.
"Damn it, who are you?" Raul, hiding behind cover, hissed fiercely, looking at his decimated crew. "Don't you know that our Beast Gang works for Lord Kingpin? You must have a death wish to offend Lord Kingpin!"
Frank responded with a sneer, tossing two more grenades, which sent the gang members trying to fight back tumbling over.
"It's the Punisher!" a nearby subordinate spotted Frank's iconic outfit and reported to Raul.
"The Punisher," Raul gritted his teeth, knowing the situation wouldn't end well. The Punisher's reputation was forged with the lives of countless gang members.
However, if this were before, Raul would definitely be terrified and thinking of how to escape. But now, with his superhuman strength:
"So what if it's the Punisher?" Raul smirked, pulling out the Gaia Memory.
"Beast."
After transforming into the Beast Dopant, Raul completely ignored Frank's suppressing fire, stood up, and charged at Frank.
"What the hell is this thing?" Frank couldn't help but curse, looking at the suddenly appearing monster.
The bullets from his submachine gun had virtually no effect on this monster.
Seeing that the situation was clearly going wrong, Frank threw his remaining grenades, while simultaneously retreating to avoid the charge.
Retreating to the warehouse entrance, Frank kept his gun pointed warily at the firelight from the grenade explosion that hadn't yet dissipated. He had a feeling that the monster wouldn't be dealt with so easily.
Sure enough, with a roar like that of a wild beast, Raul, transformed into the Beast Dopant, rushed out of the flames. The shrapnel wounds and burn marks caused by the explosion were rapidly healing at a visible rate.
"Incredible defense, and regeneration!" Frank's pupils contracted in silent amazement.
Despite his surprise, Frank's actions were quick. Taking advantage of Raul's beast-like roar to the sky, declaring his powerful strength, Frank immediately turned and ran.
He had no choice. The current situation was very clear. Neither grenades nor a submachine gun could inflict any effective threat on this monster that had suddenly appeared. Remaining where he was would clearly not end well. Frank was a tactical master and knew exactly when to press the attack and when to execute a strategic transfer.
Raul was just about to demonstrate his powerful strength, especially against the notoriously famous Punisher, which brought a unique sense of excitement.
However, Frank turned and ran without a word, which made Raul pause for a moment. You're the Punisher, renowned and feared by countless gang members. You just ran away?
But Raul only paused for a moment, then burst into a wild, triumphant laughter: "Punisher! You dared to trespass into my Beast Gang and hurt so many of my brothers. Now that you've seen my power, you think you can run? Do you think you can escape?"
Without thinking twice, he immediately gave chase.
(End of this chapter)