Danny Rand spent one night raiding and destroying two of the Hand's cocaine factories, and surprisingly smoothly obtained more information about the Hand from other gangs that had business dealings with them. He originally planned to continue his actions, removing the Hand's strongholds one by one, and finally forcing the Hand's leaders out.
The next day, he made a brief appearance at the company to deal with some trivial matters, then received a communication from Jessica.
Subsequently, Danny Rand, Matt Murdock, and Stick gathered at Jessica's detective agency.
The two sides introduced themselves. Matt glanced at Stick, then stated the purpose of meeting Danny: he wanted to ask Danny if he knew the Hand's intentions for gathering their forces in New York.
"The Chaste, I have indeed heard of it. It's an organization founded by a K'un-Lun predecessor to fight the Hand," Danny nodded, looking at Stick.
"As for the Hand's scheme, although my master didn't explicitly tell me, I destroyed several Hand strongholds in East Asia and obtained some information. The Hand might be trying to release the demon they have worshipped for hundreds of years in New York, planning to sacrifice the countless people of New York to the demon in exchange for powerful strength. If they succeed, countless innocent civilians in New York will surely die at the hands of the demon. And the Hand, having acquired the demon's power, will become even stronger and harder to deal with."
Of course, the information Danny Rand received was deliberately leaked to him by the five leaders of the Hand, aiming to guide Danny, the bearer of the Power of the Dragon, to New York. Once the burial place of the Dragon Bone was found, they could let Danny destroy the so-called altar for the demon's descent. This act would actually break the seal on the Dragon Bone for the Hand, allowing them to smoothly claim it.
As for the demon, it did exist, but it would only appear after Danny broke the Dragon Bone seal. As long as they had the "Beast's" vessel, the Black Sky, they could summon the "Beast's" consciousness at any time. They would then pit the Black Sky against Danny, the inheritor of the Power of the Dragon, hoping for a mutual destruction.
If the Black Sky failed against the Power of the Dragon, the five leaders of the Hand, having already secured the Dragon Bone, could decide their next move based on Danny's condition: either make a quick escape or take advantage of the situation to eliminate the heavily injured and exhausted Danny Rand.
If the Black Sky killed Danny Rand, the inheritor of the Power of the Dragon, they could immediately pledge allegiance to the Black Sky, offering a large number of sacrifices in exchange for greater power. Regardless of the outcome, they had prepared contingency plans.
"A demon?! Do such things really exist?" Jessica asked in disbelief.
"Little girl, there are too many things in this world that mortals cannot comprehend. But I can tell you clearly that the Hand does possess the ability to communicate with legendary demons," Stick said with a tone full of worldly experience.
"Since our goals are the same, why don't we join forces to fight the Hand and thwart their conspiracy?" Matt suggested to Danny.
Danny considered this for a moment, then nodded, agreeing to the alliance. The Chaste had fought the Hand for centuries and certainly knew their old foe better than he did, plus they had plenty of manpower. Having such assistance was definitely a good thing.
"We're joining too," Jessica suddenly interjected.
Danny shook his head: "The Hand is not an ordinary gang organization; their influence is vast, and their methods are cruel. They are definitely not people that ordinary folk can deal with. For your safety, it's better not to get involved."
Jessica smiled: "According to what you said, this Hand wants to summon some demon. If they succeed, it will bring a huge crisis to the entire New York. In that case, this is not just a feud between your two sides; New York is our home, too. I don't want to wake up one morning and see some demon killing and destroying things everywhere. Besides, we are not ordinary people. Don't underestimate us."
Luke Cage also nodded. If it truly threatened to cause a massive disaster, instead of waiting for the disaster to grow and fall upon them, it was better to take the initiative and stop it from happening.
"If Jessica and Luke can help, our chances of success will be greatly increased," Matt had more contact with Jessica and Luke and was relatively clear about their abilities, especially the power of the Gaia Memory that Jessica possessed, which had startled Matt.
Seeing that Jessica and Luke insisted and Matt agreed, Danny said no more. In fact, his earlier advice was just to make sure the two of them thought clearly and didn't get involved on a whim.
After forming the alliance, the group agreed to start taking action tonight, sequentially raiding and destroying the Hand's factory strongholds that Danny Rand had located, to see if they could find clues about the Hand's leaders.
"This Danny Rand has already destroyed several of my factories, and my personnel and business have suffered heavy losses," Madame Gao complained to the others with a serious expression at the Hand's New York headquarters.
"Madame Gao, don't worry. To obtain the Dragon Bone, these losses are necessary and worthwhile," Murakami, one of the Five Fingers, said.
"But the losses cannot continue indefinitely! The Chaste, those relentless pests, have also joined in and are attacking everywhere. If this continues, the Hand's New York branch will be severely damaged in a few days," Madame Gao's face showed distress.
"Indeed, we cannot drag this on too long," Bakuto, another Finger, nodded and said, "Have we been able to pinpoint where the Dragon Bone buried beneath New York is located?"
"Although we cannot lock down the exact location yet, the general area can be confirmed," Madame Gao replied.
"Very well. Tonight, let the Black Sky fight Danny Rand, and let his Power of the Dragon help us determine the precise location of the Dragon Bone," Sowande proposed.
That night, Danny Rand and Matt were preparing to destroy another Hand stronghold. Jessica and Luke were targeting a different stronghold. Stick, meanwhile, led the Chaste's manpower to raid the Hand elsewhere.
Dividing into three routes and causing destruction everywhere, it was no wonder Madame Gao couldn't endure it for more than a few days.
Matt and Danny took down the perimeter guards and rushed into the stronghold, only to be immediately surrounded by Hand ninjas.
"Looks like we walked into an ambush," Danny's fists ignited with the Dragon's chi flames.
"We've destroyed so many of the Hand's factories and strongholds; it would be strange if they weren't prepared," Matt smiled lightly, blocking a shuriken thrown by a Hand ninja.
"But even if they were prepared, it's useless," Danny smiled confidently. The Dragon-shadow flames on his fists intensified, shattering the blades in the hands of the ninjas attacking him. He punched out, and the ninja in front of him was sent flying backward as if hit by a truck, crashing dozens of meters away and unable to get up.
Having dealt with his opponent, Danny was about to help Matt.
Suddenly, a danger warning arose in his heart. He instantly spun around and punched, blocking an attack from a female ninja who emerged from the darkness.
The moment the female ninja appeared, Matt froze for a moment, momentarily losing focus and nearly getting cut by a Hand ninja.
"Elektra? No, Elektra died at the Hand's hands. Maybe my senses are wrong. Since I can't truly see, perhaps some similarity to Elektra caused the error," In his distracted state, Matt was in danger several times. He only snapped out of it when he was cut on the arm, quickly dispatching the Hand ninjas.
Logically, Matt knew it was impossible—Elektra was dead. But emotionally, he hoped it truly was Elektra.
"Elektra?" Matt called out tentatively.
There was no response.
Danny used the Power of the Dragon to dispel the cold, dark chi released by Elektra, and asked strangely, "Matt, do you know her?"
Matt shook his head: "I'm not sure."
"In any case, this female ninja is very dangerous. The eerie black chi on her body can devour life; it must be the power of the demon. If I didn't have the Power of the Dragon, I might not be her match," Danny said with a grave expression, looking at the Hand ninjas they had defeated, who were easily being devoured by the black chi.