On the streets of Hell's Kitchen, a gang that normally struck fear into others was now fleeing through the narrow alleys in utter panic, scrambling over one another as if some incomparably terrifying existence were hunting them from behind.
Each of them wished they had grown two extra legs. There was not a trace left of their usual ferocity. As they ran, they even threw their guns and weapons onto the ground, afraid that even this small bit of extra weight might slow them down.
From the shadows behind them, Fuma slowly strolled out, unhurried and composed.
"People like you only bring chaos and destruction to society, harming innocent civilians," he said calmly.
"You might as well obediently enter my virtual game world—forget your memories of wrongdoing, play assigned roles in the virtual game, and at least be put to some use."
Victor Shaw thought to himself as he raised a hand. In an instant, a circle of ninjas appeared out of thin air, surrounding the trembling gang members.
"What exactly do you want, Dark Night Ninja?! As long as you let us go, I can give you a huge sum of money!"
Seeing themselves completely surrounded by the ninja army Victor Shaw had summoned, with no way out, the leader forcibly suppressed his fear and tried to persuade him to show mercy.
"Or if there's something you want to accomplish, we can help you do it!"
Judging from both the recent rumours circulating through Hell's Kitchen and the brief clash just now, it was obvious that in front of this bizarre figure—like a ninja character straight out of a video game—their armed force was completely useless. The only option left was to appeal with him.
Victor Shaw gave a disdainful cold laugh. The only thing he wanted was for his daughter to recover. These gangsters who committed every kind of evil clearly had no such ability. There was nothing to talk about.
In order to perfect the virtual game he had designed for his daughter, Victor Shaw needed to gather more consciousnesses to populate the virtual game world and add more in-game characters.
Even though this was for his daughter's sake, Victor Shaw was unwilling to casually drag innocent civilians' consciousnesses into the virtual world.
After all, although transferring one's consciousness into a virtual world would not endanger their life, it would leave them in a vegetative-like state. That would cause enormous pain and harm to their families and friends.
Victor Shaw understood this feeling all too well. Naturally, he would not involve innocent people.
So he set his sights on the notorious gangs of Hell's Kitchen—those dealing drugs, forcing women into prostitution, trafficking weapons and people, and more. To society, these people were nothing but tumors.
With them gone, the surrounding neighborhoods would surely become cleaner, safer places.
For some time now, Victor Shaw had been "hunting" these gang members at night. Because he appeared and disappeared without a trace, and because of his ninja-like image, he became known in Hell's Kitchen rumors as the "Dark Night Ninja."
He had even become an urban legend, striking fear into countless gangs.
Victor Shaw ignored their pleas for mercy. These people were hardly deserving of pity. Every one of them had blood on their hands to some degree. And since he wasn't killing them outright, he felt no psychological burden at all.
Just as he was about to act, Victor Shaw seemed to suddenly think of something and spoke:
"Oh, right—let me tell you something. I'm not called the Dark Night Ninja.
"You can call me 'Fuma.'"
The gang members didn't understand why he said this, but seeing that he hadn't attacked immediately, they thought they saw a glimmer of hope and nodded frantically.
After speaking, Victor Shaw waved his hand. The summoned ninja army immediately hurled light shuriken at the gang members.
Moments later, bodies were strewn across the ground.
Victor Shaw casually glanced at the unconscious gangsters, clapped his hands, and prepared to leave.
"Mr. Fuma, I'm afraid you can't leave just yet."
Tony descended from the sky in his armor, landing on the street.
At the same time, he immediately notified Li Hua and the others at Holy City Hospital.
Victor Shaw turned toward Tony and spoke with certainty:
"We've met before, Tony Stark. When I went after that Weather Memory user, you were there as well."
Tony nodded, staring at him.
"That's right. Ever since I learned about the recent incidents in Hell's Kitchen—gangs being attacked by a mysterious individual—I was sure it was you."
The Hell's Kitchen gang members who had their consciousness stripped away were in exactly the same condition as the HYDRA agents before. Naturally, Tony concluded it was the same person.
He immediately took action—contacting Holy City Hospital and patrolling Hell's Kitchen during the time Victor Shaw usually appeared, trying to find him.
The previous few days, he had always arrived a step too late. Today, he finally made it in time.
"So, you came specifically to find me?" Victor Shaw asked with slight curiosity.
Tony nodded.
"Personally, I hope you'll give up resistance. That way, we can avoid unnecessary conflict."
Victor Shaw let out a disdainful laugh and pointed at the gang members on the ground.
"So Iron Man is arresting me for these evil gangsters? Do you really think you can defeat me?"
His tone was mocking and full of ridicule.
Tony shook his head, glanced at the gang dossiers Jarvis had pulled up, and said:
"These guys absolutely deserve what they got. I'm not here for them."
"Oh?" Victor Shaw became interested. "Then why are you here for me?"
"What does your current activity have to do with Foundation X? Is Foundation X planning something?" Tony asked, exhaling slowly, his tone extremely serious.
Victor Shaw froze for a moment.
"You've had contact with the foundation?"
Tony was also slightly stunned. From Victor Shaw's words, it seemed possible that Wind Demon was not actually an insider of the Foundation—
He might not even know that Tony himself had obtained the Machine Memory from the Foundation.
"No matter what, I hope you can tell me about Foundation X," Tony said, his thoughts complicated.
Victor Shaw shook his head, clearly unwilling to say more. In truth, he didn't know much either—and his daughter's recovery still depended on the Foundation's power.
"Then I'm sorry. I'll have to defeat you first," Tony said, his words carrying a dangerous edge.
Victor Shaw laughed lightly, completely unconcerned.
"If I want to leave, you absolutely can't stop me."
He had no intention of fighting Tony. Though he had great confidence in his own strength, Victor Shaw didn't believe defeating Tony would help him achieve any of his goals.
Tony Stark wasn't a bad person. Though he had once been an arms dealer, he had turned over a new leaf and become a righteous superhero.
Unless absolutely necessary, Victor Shaw didn't want to fight this kind of hero.
He planned to use the power of the game cartridge to leave directly. Although Iron Man possessed high-tech armor, he had no means of countering the Bugster Virus, and thus couldn't stop Fuma's ninja abilities.
(End of Chapter)