The Feast, a private charity relief center located in Midtown Manhattan, New York, is funded and operated by the renowned Chinese-American entrepreneur and philanthropist Martin Li.
Aunt May also works here, and after becoming Spider-Man, Peter specifically came here to help Aunt May a few times. At the same time, he also took the opportunity to check on Martin Li. What put his mind at ease was that both his spider-sense and scans indicated that The Feast had no issues, and Martin Li was not Mister Negative.
At least, not yet.
Peter was the second to arrive. The first was Daredevil, who had been waiting on the rooftop of The Feast building since early evening, only nodding slightly when Spider-Man arrived. Today, Peter wasn't wearing his high-tech suit but his old costume—inconvenient, but without any high-tech equipment, the key was safety.
Next to arrive were Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Luke was quite sensitive, looking around nervously. Jessica, on the other hand, sat to the side, lost in thought.
Another familiar face also showed up: the Punisher, Frank Castle, who had gotten wind of the meeting from who knows where. He sat there bored, looking ready to go on a killing spree at any moment.
Felicia was the last to arrive. When she showed up in her Black Cat costume, everyone else was quite surprised, as no one had mentioned she would be coming. When Peter said there was someone else, they had expected Captain America.
Even Felicia herself hadn't expected the "costume party" to be attended by such a motley crew; she had thought it would be a few Avengers.
"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen? I thought he was just an urban legend."
"Every urban legend has a basis, Miss," Daredevil ignored her comment and turned his gaze (though he couldn't see) to Spider-Man: "Everyone you called is here."
"Alright, let's go over it again—usually, I use this line to introduce myself."
Peter analyzed the current situation: "Mr. Cage escaped from Rikers Island prison and told us that the US military is conducting illegal human experiments to research a super-soldier serum. And according to the information provided by Ms. Black Cat, these experiments are not part of the US military's usual operations but are derived from a Hydra serum stolen from Soviet territory."
Information flowed and was shared at this moment, largely revolving around the following points: The US military is researching the Erskine Serum, which modifies the recipient based on their inner thoughts. However, this serum has an extremely high fatality rate; Luke Cage was the only test subject to survive.
At the same time, because the Erskine Serum research failed, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 21st century, Walter Hardy, the Cat, was blackmailed by the CIA to go to Russia and steal a Soviet version of the super-soldier serum. However, what he stole was a Hydra super-soldier serum. After obtaining a sample of the genuine super-soldier serum, the US military is now experimenting with the original Erskine Serum. This indirectly implies that it was the Hydra serum that made US military scientists understand the true purpose of the Erskine Serum, thus advancing their research progress.
Furthermore, according to Kingpin's description, there have been disappearances and human trafficking incidents involving homeless people and the poor in New York over the years, backed by a powerful force Kingpin couldn't afford to provoke. It's worth noting that when Kingpin was arrested by the FBI, he manipulated his controlled corrupt NYPD officers to fight with the FBI. This further confirms the opponent's power, making it highly probable that it's the US military, which requires a large amount of human experimental material.
Finally, individuals like Tandy Bowen, who were not originally part of the missing persons' demographic, also mysteriously disappeared. There is no direct evidence yet of a direct link, but it can be tentatively included.
"Hydra has not only infiltrated the Soviet Union but also the US military."
Jessica Jones, after gathering the intelligence, summarized: "The Cat's death is the most suspicious part. Even if he died, his mission was completed, but the super-soldier serum container he delivered back had no Hydra markings, which is inconsistent with previous descriptions. In other words, this was very likely orchestrated by Hydra; they swapped the serum container's packaging to allow the US military to proceed with their research as planned."
Or, perhaps the US military itself was already entirely infiltrated by Hydra. However, this is unlikely; if that were the case, there would have been no need to discover the issues with the Erskine Serum and initiate research so late. It's highly probable that before this, even with Hydra's infiltration, they couldn't access the blood samples drawn from Captain America used to replicate the Erskine Serum.
But once the Hydra serum was in place, the US military's new research project gave them this opportunity.
"In other words, the current US military's research department is very likely controlled by Hydra."
Daredevil offered a very grim conclusion. Everyone looked at Spider-Man. If they, this group, were to confront the US military, it would undoubtedly be a futile effort; only the Avengers could confront them on all levels.
"The Avengers will stand with you; I can assure you of that. But I have to tell you something: I have reason to suspect that S.H.I.E.L.D. has also been infiltrated by Hydra."
Peter delivered a very bad piece of news to everyone, along with its ripple effects: "So, until the Avengers return to New York, to avoid tipping them off, I can't inform them. And considering the time factor, it's highly likely that only we can stop Hydra and the US military."
"Where do we start?"
Felicia looked at Peter; this was the most crucial question now. After a moment of thought, Peter made a deduction based on the additional information he knew about "Dagger Tandy Bowen."
"Since Hydra immediately relocated the experimental equipment from under Rikers Island, it indicates their experiments have reached a critical stage. Now they have blood samples from Steve Rogers and Luke Cage. They will most likely analyze these two samples to determine what influences the success of Erskine Serum injections."
If Tandy Bowen was indeed kidnapped by Hydra, it must be because her DNA also meets the requirements for Erskine Serum injection.
"The Avengers base has Captain's blood information, but we can't conduct tests there. Is there anywhere else that can help?"
Oscorp could also help, but considering the Project Beast Force is at Oscorp, it's likely already been infiltrated by Hydra like a sieve.
At this moment, Daredevil had a solution.
"I have an... acquaintance, he might be able to help."
"We also need to draw Hydra out, to attract their attention." Luke Cage, who had been silent, finally spoke. As the initial focus and core of this storm, he looked at everyone present: "Right? We need to buy enough time. If I... reveal everything, if I blow this wide open, can we buy ourselves time?"
He looked at Daredevil.
"I have an excellent lawyer; he can definitely buy me enough time."