Hell’s Kitchen in Turmoil

"The plan begins."

After leaving home, Martin Lee pressed the Bluetooth earpiece by his ear and issued the order to the already prepared Demon Gang members.

"Understood, Boss."

A deep, raspy voice came through the radio into Martin’s earpiece. The Demon Gang members hidden throughout New York’s Chinatown sprang into action, pouring toward Hell’s Kitchen, New York’s largest gathering place for gangs.

Before long, Martin Lee’s phone began ringing frantically.

"What are you trying to do, Mr. Negative?!"

A thunderous voice demanded from the phone.

"Just a personal grudge, Kingpin. You know that."

At some point, Martin Lee’s appearance had changed. His whole body now resembled a film negative, rendered in black and white, and his voice had become just as low and raspy as those of the Demon Gang members.

"Just causing trouble for Hammerhead?"

"Just causing trouble for him."

"If you do anything unnecessary, you know the consequences, Mr. Negative."

"Don’t worry, Kingpin. I have no intention of making enemies of every gang in New York."

"That had better be the case."

After a few probing exchanges, Kingpin hung up and instructed the subordinate beside him, "Keep an eye on every movement the Demon Gang makes. As long as they don’t provoke our territory, do nothing."

Besides Kingpin, gangs large and small throughout Hell’s Kitchen were stirred up by the Demon Gang’s movements.

The gangs that knew the inside story and could contact Martin Lee remained fairly calm, but the many smaller gangs that knew nothing gathered nervously within their own territories, bracing themselves for the Demon Gang’s "invasion."

Yet before the Demon Gang’s invasion arrived, quite a few gangs took advantage of the chaos to freely swallow up their neighboring rivals.

The superheroes active in Hell’s Kitchen—Daredevil, The Punisher, and the others—also became tense because of this. However, after learning that it was merely gang warfare, most of them chose to watch from the sidelines.

With no third-party forces intervening, the Demon Gang members charged straight in and smoothly broke into Magia Gang territory.

As the Demon Gang’s longtime rival, the Magia Gang had always kept an eye on its movements. They were not caught off guard, instead having prepared themselves within their territory long in advance.

Even though the Magia Gang’s boss, "Hammerhead" Joseph Haro, still had no idea why the Demon Gang kept targeting him.

Martin Lee, transformed into Mr. Negative, was immensely powerful, and the Demon Gang was slightly stronger than the Magia Gang. Yet once the two sides exchanged fire, the battle fell into a stalemate.

Fighting on home ground gave the Magia Gang some advantage, but more importantly, the Demon Gang was primarily Chinese American, and all its territory was in Chinatown. Its connections could not compare to the Magia Gang’s in Hell’s Kitchen. Once he detected the Demon Gang’s movements, Hammerhead quickly contacted his allies in Hell’s Kitchen, allowing him to hold out against the Demon Gang’s all-out offensive.

"Hmph! A bunch of useless trash!"

Although Mr. Negative had not expected to wipe out the Magia Gang in one wave, the strength of its resistance still exceeded his expectations. He snorted, created a Mind Demon Mask out of Negative Energy, and placed it over his face, preparing to join the battle personally.

Martin’s true identity was not much of a secret in New York’s underworld. However, publicly, he was still a philanthropist who had received the Medal of Freedom. On top of that, he had Kraft to worry about, so whenever he acted as Mr. Negative, he wore a Mind Demon Mask to conceal his identity.

That was also why Hammerhead still could not figure out when he had offended the Demon Gang.

With Mr. Negative joining the fight, the Demon Gang’s offensive immediately became unstoppable. Under his lead, they took down three important Magia Gang territories in succession within an hour.

This finally made the big boss, Hammerhead, unable to sit still. He hurriedly led his men out to intercept them.

"Mr. Negative!"

As a Russian, Hammerhead raised his Chicago Typewriter and emptied a burst at Mr. Negative the moment he saw him.

However, Mr. Negative casually raised an arm and created a Negative Energy Shield before himself, easily blocking the bullets.

"Die!"

Seeing no need to speak with Hammerhead, Mr. Negative waved a hand, ordering the Demon Gang members to continue attacking the Magia Gang while he charged at Hammerhead with a Negative Energy Sword in hand.

Unlike Martin Lee, Joseph Haro had no special abilities. He had merely suffered severe head trauma during a gang shootout, then replaced his skull with an iron one. This prevented bullets from blowing his head apart, and after extensive training, he could easily ram cars over and smash down walls with his iron head. That was how he earned the nickname "Hammerhead."

But before Mr. Negative’s Negative Energy, Hammerhead’s iron head—which had always been invincible in ordinary gang fights—was hardly worth mentioning.

Within just a few minutes, Hammerhead had been slashed until his flesh was torn open and his body was covered in wounds. His already scarred head was split open again, revealing the metallic gleam of the skull within.

Though Hammerhead had never witnessed Mr. Negative’s power firsthand, he had gathered information on him as an enemy and knew he was someone with special abilities. People like that were not uncommon in Hell’s Kitchen.

"Boom!"

A massive figure burst through the wall of a nearby building and charged out, slamming a shoulder into the unprepared Mr. Negative. It drove him forward, smashing through several walls in succession before Mr. Negative erupted with Negative Energy and hurled it away.

"Cough, cough… Damn it…"

Mr. Negative struggled up from the rubble, his left arm hanging limply at his side. He gently touched his left ribs and immediately felt a sharp stab of pain. Clearly, he had been badly injured as well.

The Negative Energy Martin Lee had gained through human experimentation gave him superhuman strength, but its power was more inclined toward affecting others’ minds and launching energy attacks. It did improve his physical condition, but not by much.

"Alexei!"

Mr. Negative stared fixedly at his ambusher and ground out his name through clenched teeth.

Like Joseph Haro, Alexei Mikhailovich Sytsevich was also Russian. Unlike Hammerhead, who had carved out a vast territory, Alexei was simple-minded and had always drifted through Hell’s Kitchen as hired muscle. Later, he was tricked into undergoing human experimentation and forcibly covered in Rhino Hide, gaining near invulnerability and physical abilities far beyond those of an ordinary person.

Rhino, Alexei, climbed up from the ground and shook his dazed head. A rough breath blasted from his nostrils as he glared back at Mr. Negative.

Alexei was not intelligent, but his combat ability ranked among the best in Hell’s Kitchen. He was not helping Hammerhead out of any "fellow countryman’s loyalty." He was simply being paid.

And if someone paid him, then he worked for them. Alexei’s way of thinking was that simple.

"Ha!"

Alexei lowered his head, aiming the Rhino Horn on his head at Mr. Negative. With a roar, he pushed off the ground and charged at him like a furious rhinoceros.

"Damn… This is trouble!"

Mr. Negative created several Negative Energy Spears and hurled them at Alexei. At the same time, Negative Energy burst from beneath his feet, launching him to the side.

The black spears struck Alexei, drawing painful cries from him, but they could not inflict much damage. Instead, Alexei snapped every one of them as he charged through.

Having retreated among his subordinates, Mr. Negative narrowed his eyes and surveyed the surroundings. Hammerhead had already vanished without a trace, leaving only a group of men and Alexei behind to hold him back.

"We’re leaving!"

After pursing his lips, Mr. Negative reluctantly gave the order to withdraw.

Apart from creating blades and launching energy attacks, Mr. Negative’s most formidable ability was actually Negative Energy corruption. Put simply, it amplified the negative emotions in others’ hearts. It was naturally devastating against ordinary people or those who had experienced particular grief, but against the villains of Hell’s Kitchen, its effects were far less obvious.

If he had not been ambushed, he could have continued tangling with Alexei. But his injuries were severe now, and he could not stop this overbearing Rhino. Beyond him, the Demon Gang had no especially outstanding individual fighters. If they kept fighting, Alexei would only turn everything upside down.

"I still underestimated Hell’s Kitchen…"

Surrounded by Demon Gang members, Mr. Negative left Hell’s Kitchen and looked back unwillingly at the Magia Gang’s base.

As one of New York’s biggest gang leaders, Mr. Negative naturally could not have ignored a special place like Hell’s Kitchen. But his sphere of influence was ultimately confined to Chinatown. Though he knew of special figures like Kingpin, Alexei, Daredevil, and the rest, he had never had much direct contact with them. Most of his dealings with Hell’s Kitchen had been retaliatory attacks against the Magia Gang.

That was why Alexei had caught him completely off guard.

Just as Mr. Negative did not understand Hell’s Kitchen, Hell’s Kitchen had not previously understood Mr. Negative’s strength very well either. Since he had failed to settle everything in one battle this time, it would be much harder to force Hammerhead out again. Even if he did force him out, Hammerhead would surely be fully prepared.

But eliminating the Magia Gang did not require killing Hammerhead. As long as he kept destroying the Magia Gang’s businesses and assets, the hungry wolves of Hell’s Kitchen would naturally kick it while it was down, swarm in, and carve the Magia Gang apart.

Even if it meant losing eight hundred to kill a thousand, Mr. Negative would not hesitate for the sake of revenge. However, as an outsider, the Demon Gang could launch one large-scale surprise attack against the Magia Gang, but if it became a prolonged conflict, Hell’s Kitchen’s big shots like Kingpin would not allow it. With Alexei as an example, Mr. Negative would no longer underestimate those people.

"Tell the others to withdraw as well…"

Mr. Negative clutched his ribs and gave the order unwillingly.

"Send a few more men to Kraft. Ensure his safety."

Today, I took Zhongyuan to get its second dose of Myo-3 at the hospital. It behaved the moment we got there, so I thought I’d have the doctor trim its nails while we were at it. But the instant anyone touched its paws, it started hissing at people and even scared the doctor… In the end, the nails still didn’t get trimmed. ┑(￣Д￣)┍