Hearing Jessica's exclamation, the others grabbed their binoculars and looked.
In the ruins of the collapsed floor, next to Nobu's body, stood a hunched figure with white hair. An elderly Asian person whose face was so deeply wrinkled it seemed about to fold in on itself. They looked over a hundred years old, but from the facial features, you could vaguely see traces of Madame Gao.
"That's definitely Madame Gao," the Punisher said grimly, lowering his binoculars. "No matter how her appearance changes, that sinful aura can't be hidden."
How exactly do you perceive something as abstract as "sinful aura"?
Everyone thought it but nobody said it out loud.
First, they were more curious about Madame Gao's transformation than they wanted to mock Frank's dramatic phrasing. Second, they hadn't forgotten why they came here.
Luke looked at Matt. "Kingpin and his people are in bad shape right now. If we strike now, we can definitely take them down. Then we can either search for evidence and send them to prison, or we can..."
Luke trailed off, glancing at Frank. The implication was clear.
Everyone knew what he meant.
They didn't agree with Frank's philosophy of killing criminals, but dealing with someone like Kingpin couldn't be handled the same way as ordinary criminals.
Sending him to prison was like sending him home for vacation.
"I'm afraid we can't do anything," Daredevil said heavily. "The police are here. If we break in now, we'll be treated as criminals too."
Midtown United Company was a legitimate business that Kingpin used as a front. It enjoyed full legal protection. If they rushed in now, they'd be the ones arrested—no matter how they tried to explain themselves.
"So we came here for nothing?"
Danny sounded frustrated.
"No. We're going after Vongola's Cloud Guardian. He's not dead."
…
Midtown United Company, top floor.
Looking at Wesley—crushed beneath a roof beam, pressed against his chest—Kingpin felt genuine grief.
As the underworld emperor, he rarely had feelings for anyone.
Wesley was one of the exceptions.
He saw Wesley as a true brother, not a disposable asset.
Wesley's death made him furious.
But he knew if he let anger consume him right now, everything would truly be over.
"What do we do now?"
Bullseye asked from behind him.
He glanced at Madame Gao, who stood beside Nobu's body looking like a centenarian, then looked back at Kingpin.
"...Our strength isn't enough to fight Vongola head-on." Kingpin emerged from his grief and analyzed the situation. "A direct confrontation would be difficult. Even if we won by luck, we'd lose too much. It wouldn't be wise. We need someone else to deal with them."
"Who else can handle them now?" Madame Gao couldn't help but sneer at Kingpin's words. "The tricks you usually use won't work on Vongola."
Kingpin's specialty was handing evidence of enemy crimes to police or FBI agencies, then having his own people planted in those organizations lead the raids.
On one hand, the powerful force of national law enforcement. On the other, intel provided by Kingpin himself. Basically no gang could resist that combination.
But Vongola was different.
Their strength was already enough to fight the military. Until U.S. officials figured out Vongola's capabilities or developed a way to handle them without massive losses, they were unlikely to take huge risks attacking them.
Unless Vongola committed suicide by doing something catastrophically stupid.
But expecting your enemy to be stupid was the same as being stupid yourself.
Just wishful thinking.
"Official power may not be enough, but some people are."
"Who?"
The corners of Kingpin's mouth rose slightly. He spoke slowly: "The Defenders."
Hearing this, Madame Gao and Bullseye froze for a moment, then laughed.
Madame Gao praised him: "As expected of you, Kingpin."
The Defenders and the Vongola Family had no grudges or enmity—but one side was the mafia, and the other side was vigilante heroes claiming to deliver justice.
It wouldn't be difficult to provoke them into conflict.
"Before that, we need to find a safe location." Kingpin wasn't pleased by Madame Gao's praise. He continued analyzing. "The Vongola Family definitely won't stop here. They'll launch another offensive soon. Even if we hide, our operations will take heavy hits. So I've thought of a good place."
"Besides that, our own strength is essential as well."
Madame Gao didn't ask where this "good place" was. She knew Kingpin well. If he thought it was secure, it probably was.
Her body began changing in that moment.
The white hair turned black bit by bit. The wrinkles smoothed out gradually. The curved, hunched spine straightened slowly...
For a moment, Kingpin and Bullseye had an illusion: this wasn't an old woman over a hundred years old, but a young woman in her twenties.
But ultimately, Madame Gao didn't become young—she returned to her previous appearance of around sixty years old and stopped transforming.
She gripped her cane and let out a low laugh. "The battle just now consumed considerable time. The plan must be accelerated. Before anything else, it's time for the five fingers of the Hand to gather."
…
[Ding! You obtained 0.03 Faith Points!]
[Ding! You obtained 0.1 Faith Points!]
[Ding! You obtained 0.06 Faith Points!]
[Ding! You obtained 100 Faith Points!]
Hearing the notifications chiming in his mind like rapid-fire alerts, Mr. Quinn seemed not to hear them at all. He'd fallen into deep thought.
"How are they so strong?"
Nobu and Madame Gao, he could understand.
As Kunlun traitors, even though they weren't as powerful as in the comics, they weren't far off either.
Moreover, while TV series like "The Defenders," "Daredevil," and "Iron Fist" related to the Hand plot originally had planned continuations, they weren't filmed due to various reasons. Characters like Madame Gao who were buried without specific death scenes might not have actually died—they could have hidden powerful abilities.
But what about Kingpin and Bullseye?
According to the timeline, Bullseye at this point shouldn't have been enhanced with Adamantium yet. His skills should be peak human level.
And Kingpin was even more absurd—taking a Box Weapon sphere to the face and surviving! Sure, he was more exaggerated in the comics, but wasn't this the movie universe?
It should be tied to the TV shows too!
The Kingpin in the TV series didn't have such an absurd physique.
Unless...
"Because of my arrival, the world line changed and formed a new timeline?"
Quinn stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The Marvel universe had self-awareness, and its various concepts had corresponding cosmic entities. It was particularly sensitive to changes.
Beyond the countless possibilities and parallel universes already mentioned, changes in history, alterations in neighboring universes, and so on would all split into new world lines.
Going back to ancient Marvel lore, mortals might unconsciously create universes in their dreams. And people in those dream universes could create universes when they dreamed.
Because a transmigrator named "Quinn" had arrived in this world, the timeline changing and splitting into a new parallel universe based on the movie universe as its foundation... that was entirely possible.