The white-haired woman in the cheongsam stood with her eyes half-lidded, a flicker of something dark crossing her pale features. She gazed at Nolan, only a few meters away, and her expression softened into something almost melancholic.
"What a pity, young man," she said, her voice carrying genuine regret. "You've heard things you shouldn't have. After you're gone, I'm afraid I'll never have another chance to taste The Evening Hearth food again."
As a regular customer of The Evening Hearth, Madam Gao clearly recognized who Nolan was.
But even as she spoke those mournful words, a compact women's pistol appeared in her palm with practiced ease. Her hand didn't waver as she aimed it directly at Nolan's chest.
Madam Gao's words dripped honey, but her heart held only venom.
Meanwhile, the blond white man watched Nolan with predatory focus, a grim smile plastered across his face. His raised hand trembled slightly, the metal poker card pinched between his fingers ready to launch at any moment. Unlike Madam Gao, he saw no point in pleasantries. Bullseye never wasted words on the dead.
The air thickened with tension as the standoff dragged on. The silence pressed down on them, heavy and suffocating, like the moment before a thunderstorm breaks.
Then Nolan's eyes narrowed, and a cruel smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. The smile widened, transforming into something unhinged. Laughter burst from him, wild and manic, echoing through the room.
Madam Gao's brow furrowed at the sound. She looked at him with undisguised disgust, her lips curling in distaste. Even the blond assassin seemed thrown off balance by the sudden outburst.
"Little mouse, have you gone mad from fear?" Bullseye barked, glaring at him. "Hey! What the hell are you laughing at?"
Nolan's laughter cut off instantly.
From behind his back, he revealed a palm he'd been concealing. In his hand sat a crystalline sphere the size of a baby's head, pulsing with an eerie, brilliant green light. Before either of them could react, the sphere crumbled into powder in his grip.
Buzz buzz buzz—
A horrifying, high-pitched droning filled the air. Metallic beetles, each no larger than a pinpoint, erupted from the disintegrating sphere in a swarm. They coalesced into a churning cloud of metallic mist that hung before Nolan like a living thing, writhing with purpose.
The mist moved with terrifying intelligence. Before the shocked Madam Gao or the blond man could fully process what was happening, before Bullseye could even complete his attempt to throw his card...
Buzz buzz buzz—
The metal cloud surged forward in the blink of an eye. It engulfed their heads completely, wrapping around them like a suffocating shroud before pouring directly into their skulls through every orifice.
Madam Gao managed only a brief, choked scream. The pistol clattered from her hand to the floor as she stumbled backward, her legs giving out beneath her. She collapsed onto the carpet in a heap.
The blond man dropped to his knees, his face contorting in agony. Crystal-clear fluid leaked from his nose and mouth, dripping onto the floor as his body convulsed.
Nolan stood motionless, watching them with cold detachment. He drew in a slow, deep breath before speaking, his voice devoid of emotion.
"I laughed," he said flatly, "because I suddenly remembered something funny."
The words had barely left his lips when both victims went still. Their struggles ceased.
Several seconds passed in silence. Then, one after another, they rose from the ground. Their movements started stiff and jerky, like puppets learning to walk, before smoothing into something more natural. They approached Nolan with blank expressions and lowered themselves to their knees before him.
"My Lord," they intoned in unison. "Please give your orders."
Nolan looked down at them, these two who moments ago had been ready to kill him. Now their very thoughts, their lives and deaths, belonged to him entirely. He let out a quiet sigh.
"What a waste of my resources," he muttered.
Still, he had to admit the Necron technology was impressively effective. The Mindshackle Scarab was terrifyingly efficient.
After a moment of contemplative silence, Nolan focused on the blond man and asked casually, "Who are you?"
Bullseye knelt with his head raised, his face expressionless as he answered. "Lester Jangles. My professional name is Bullseye."
Nolan's eyes narrowed, and a knowing sneer crossed his face. "If I'm not mistaken, this so-called underground king is Kingpin, isn't he?"
At the question, Bullseye replied obediently, "Kingpin is Wilson Fisk. He dislikes being called by his birth name, so he took the title 'Kingpin' to assert his rule over the criminal underworld."
Nolan made no comment. In truth, from the moment he'd first heard about the underground king, he'd had his suspicions about the man's identity. Wilson Fisk was just another super-villain obsessed with building a criminal empire. At this moment, that's all he was to Nolan.
Shifting his attention, Nolan looked down at Madam Gao, whose face remained equally blank.
"How many people do you command?"
"More than fifty in the Chamber of Commerce," she replied mechanically. "Three hundred and ten scattered throughout the city. I have additional forces in other locations outside America."
"Have the Chamber of Commerce personnel leave first. Then gather everyone under your command and tell them to arm themselves fully. The more weapons they can carry, the better."
Nolan's tone remained flat as he issued his instructions.
Madam Gao rose slowly to her feet. She returned to the room, retrieved her phone, and began making calls.
Then Nolan turned back to Bullseye with new orders.
"Go back and tell Fisk that the Triad has defied his commands and chosen rebellion. Tell him that in three days, they'll attack Kingpin's headquarters. Convince him to summon every gang in New York for defense."
He paused for emphasis. "Remember. Every gang."
Bullseye stood with his expression still numb and vacant. He wiped the transparent fluid from his face with one hand, then turned and descended the stairs without another word.
Eliminate the bugs. Pull out the weeds. That was the plan Nolan had formulated on the spot.
He refused to spend his days wondering which gang members he might encounter during his next food delivery, or which crime lord he might accidentally offend. How could anyone live a quiet, peaceful life with these parasites infesting the city?
If he hadn't stumbled upon their secret meeting today, he would have preferred to stay out of it entirely. Dealing with criminals was supposed to be the job of the police and superheroes.
But the Necron Mindshackle Scarabs were incredibly effective. Too effective, really, and far too convenient to ignore.
Since he'd already seized control of two valuable assets connected to Kingpin, why not exploit the existing tensions between these criminal organizations? Let them tear each other apart.
Nolan walked out of the Chamber of Commerce building with a satisfied smile, carrying a surprisingly heavy takeout container in his hand. Of course, it wasn't actually takeout anymore. It was gang funds Madam Gao had kept stashed in the Chamber of Commerce. Roughly six million dollars.
As far as Nolan was concerned, it was emotional compensation and a rather generous tip from Madam Gao.
He strolled down the street at a leisurely pace, feeling rather pleased with himself.