A Beautiful Morning

"The killer was highly skilled at infiltration. He bypassed the Fantastic Four’s security and entered this place without anyone noticing, which meant his abilities were even stronger than we had imagined. And his goal was clear: he started with Reed’s two children."

Moon Knight walked to the children’s beds and gestured through the air with both hands, reenacting the killer’s movements as he reconstructed the crime.

"The murder weapon was a knife. It might have been his usual weapon, though it could also have been intended to throw off our judgment. After daybreak, Susan noticed that her children had not gotten up, so she came to call them for breakfast."

As he spoke, Moon Knight moved to the doorway. Invisible Woman lay flat on her back on the floor, a clear bloody hole in the center of her head.

When they arrived, Susan’s eyes had still been open. There had even been a trace of peace in her gaze, as though she had never expected the enemy to kill her. Seeing this, Carter sorrowfully reached out and closed her eyes.

"Susan died suddenly, without any resistance. That showed she had been killed while completely unprepared. After killing the two children, the murderer hid here and waited until Susan, utterly defenseless, pushed open the door before striking."

"As for Human Torch, Thing, and Mister Fantastic, they were killed one after another in the murderer’s ambushes. Clearly, the killer knew the Fantastic Four extremely well. Not just them—he may have specifically investigated every superhero before setting these assassination plans in motion."

Everyone listened quietly to Moon Knight’s reconstruction. At last, Punisher could no longer hold himself back. He shoved Moon Knight aside from the doorway and strode out, speaking rapidly.

"What’s the point of saying all this now? Even if we know how he did it, so what? We have no way to identify him. If you ask me, we should thoroughly investigate the Fantastic Four’s enemies. Anyone capable of this has to be connected to those bastards."

"Kang?" Cable frowned.

When it came to the Fantastic Four’s enemies, Kang the Conqueror was undoubtedly one of the most dangerous. And Kang was not merely the Fantastic Four’s enemy, but the enemy of every other superhero as well. If anyone could have done something like this, Kang was undoubtedly the prime suspect.

"But he hasn’t appeared in a long time, and he exists across different times and spaces. Even if we want to investigate him, it won’t be easy. Cable, can you think of a way?" Misty Knight asked after some thought.

"Honestly, I can’t be sure. Kang’s existence has always been something of an anomaly. I can’t track his exact location; even the Fantastic Four, who specialize in temporal theory, can’t do that." Cable shook his head. "But I don’t think the killer was Kang."

"Why? Kang is the only one with the motive and ability, isn’t he?"

"That’s true, but Kang would never do this without absolute certainty. Even he can’t bear the consequences of damaging the timeline. He isn’t from this time and space to begin with. If he killed so many heroes here, it could very well cause the timeline to collapse."

"If the timeline collapses, I think you understand the consequences better than I do. It could trigger another Multiverse war, perhaps even cause universes to collide and perish."

"But we still can’t rule out Kang, can we? He’s a madman from the future. How can you guarantee that he and his variants wouldn’t commit something this vile?" Kate stared directly at Cable, hoping he could offer an explanation.

"Let me interrupt. On this point, I agree with Cable. The killer might truly not be Kang." Moon Knight spoke up then. He stepped between them and slowly continued.

"Quite a few of us have fought Kang before, so we understand his capabilities. But this time, the killer’s weapons were a knife and a small-caliber handgun. Using antiques like those isn’t Kang’s style."

After a pause, Moon Knight continued. "I also suspected that this was a smokescreen deliberately left for us by the killer, but I don’t think so. The killer doesn’t seem to have any intention of hiding himself. Every crime has been brutally carried out, as if he were flaunting his power before us."

"But even if you’re right, the clues of a knife and a handgun cast far too wide a net. We can’t investigate those two clues in detail. Not to mention anything else—there are countless criminals using knives and guns throughout New York alone," Punisher said coldly.

"There may be many criminals, but there aren’t many who can accomplish something like this." Moon Knight pointed at the Fantastic Four massacre scene and spoke quickly.

"I think we can investigate this detail. Sometimes, the truth is closer than you imagine."

It was another beautiful morning. After quickly eating a cup of instant noodles, Zhang Ye left his home.

In America, breakfast culture was actually quite underdeveloped. Most people ate unappetizing things like bread and cereal for breakfast. Those with the means might make pancakes, fried eggs, and ham themselves, but people rushing to work generally chose roadside fast-food shops instead.

A person’s eating habits could not be changed overnight. Having grown used to buns and noodles, Zhang Ye found it difficult to develop any interest in breakfast here, so he could only make do with instant noodles.

As he walked down the street, the surroundings gradually grew livelier. Hurried pedestrians and early-morning exercisers brought the entire district to life. Taking in the scene, Zhang Ye almost forgot for a moment that this was a world with superheroes.

Until now, Zhang Ye had been focused on piecing together information about this world and had not personally experienced life here. So today, he planned to relax properly and, at the same time, think carefully about how he could gain some benefits for himself here.

If there was anything in this world that interested Zhang Ye, it was undoubtedly the countless varieties of superpowers. After living so long in a materialist world, who would not want to experience something supernatural?

There were many superpowers in the Marvel Universe. Whether mutants or Inhumans, they each possessed their own formidable abilities. But powers created through genetic mutation and human modification were far too uncontrollable, and Zhang Ye was somewhat resistant to them as well, so he ruled them out first.

After excluding forces such as the Phoenix Force and Fairy Force, powers he simply could not control, Zhang Ye ultimately turned his attention to magic and witchcraft.