Chapter 16: The Punisher
"I can decrypt it."
Yelena placed the decoy hard drive on the table.
"The condition is giving me a copy of the missing test subjects list."
Six researchers had already been placed in the temporary medical area.
Jean stood beside Lin Yao, her gaze never leaving Yelena.
"What do you want the list for?"
"Someone is paying me to find their missing family member."
Yelena pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Twelve years old, has the ability to change skin color, taken away by DODC last year."
"Official records say she never existed."
Jean's telepathic energy swept gently over.
It only lingered on the surface of Yelena's consciousness.
There were no lies.
But neither was there complete frankness.
"She is indeed looking for someone."
Jean said, "At the same time, she's also planning to copy other data."
Yelena spread her hands.
"When an intelligence operative sees something valuable, they can't just pretend they didn't see it."
Lin Yao placed the real data core on the table.
Just as Yelena reached out, the core suddenly disappeared.
Her movement paused.
"Did you hide it in that space again?"
"You can only access the parts I've filtered."
Lin Yao took out an offline terminal and imported a small segment of files from the data core.
The names of the test subjects were retained.
The base coordinates, the location of Dawn House, and the physical data of Jean and Peter were all deleted.
"The list of missing persons can be given to you."
"Intelligence on anyone found will be shared."
"Data concerning Dawn House is not allowed to be copied."
"You cannot use the test subjects list to exchange for money from any organization."
Yelena looked at him.
"How do you plan to ensure I comply?"
"You can try violating it."
The room fell silent for a fraction of a second.
Yelena did not hear any threat in Lin Yao's tone.
Because that was not a threat.
It was simply a result.
She looked back at the terminal.
"I want my own equipment."
"No."
"My equipment has specialized cracking programs."
"The programs can be copied over, but the equipment stays outside."
Lin Yao raised his hand and pointed to the corner of the wall.
"There is a miniature locator in the sole of your left boot."
"There is a short-range transmitter in the interlayer of your belt."
"There is also a data transfer chip in your earrings."
The smile on Yelena's face slowly faded.
She removed her earrings.
"When did you discover them?"
"Before you walked in."
Lin Yao looked at her cuffs again.
"There's another one."
Yelena was silent for two seconds, then pulled a paper-thin signal sticker from the inside of her sleeve.
The four devices were placed on the table.
Jean looked at Lin Yao.
She had previously only sensed that Yelena was hiding something, and had not discovered these mechanical devices.
Lin Yao did not kill Yelena immediately just because she carried a tracker.
Nor did he pretend to trust her.
Instead, he laid all her methods of potential betrayal out in the open before deciding the scope of cooperation.
This kind of boundary was much more reliable than a mere guarantee.
"Can we start now?"
Lin Yao asked.
Yelena tied up her hair.
"I suddenly feel that you are even harder to work with than the interrogators in the Red Room."
"They need you to obey."
"I only need you to be useful."
Yelena turned on the offline terminal.
The data in the decoy hard drive was quickly exported.
On the surface, it saved the V-Max research logs.
But the real data was all covered by multi-layer encryption.
The first layer required DODC high-level authority.
Lin Yao placed the Grade-A authority card on the scanner.
Unlocked successfully.
The second layer popped up neural authentication.
Yelena looked at him.
"Requires the original driver."
Lin Yao had Peter bring in Scorpion.
As soon as Mac Gargan saw Yelena, he recognized her.
"Black Widow?"
"Former Black Widow."
Yelena glanced at the injuries on his body.
"It looks like you haven't been doing well lately."
Lin Yao pressed the neural interface onto Scorpion's wrist.
"Authenticate."
Scorpion's expression was ugly.
"I already helped you decrypt it once."
"So you should be practiced at it."
The interface pierced into the skin.
The second layer was unlocked.
Just as Scorpion wanted to speak, Lin Yao had Peter drag him away again.
Yelena looked at the closed door.
"You keep maintaining his injuries and won't let him die?"
"He still has authority value left."
"What about when all his authorities are used up?"
"Then we'll see what else he can confess."
Yelena did not continue asking.
She had already gotten her answer.
When the third layer of encryption appeared, a constantly changing red ripple surfaced on the terminal.
[Please enter the neural frequency corresponding to S-17.]
Jean's expression turned cold.
S-17.
Sarah's experiment number.
DODC made Sarah's neural data into one of the keys for the entire V-Max system.
"I can simulate it."
Jean placed her hand on the terminal.
She did not directly invoke all of her telepathic energy, but instead recalled the fragments of Sarah she had encountered in Chapter 12.
The red ripples gradually overlapped.
The third layer was unlocked.
For the first time, Yelena truly stopped her actions.
The hard drive, authority card, Scorpion's neural key, Sarah's neural frequency.
Lin Yao seemed to have just escaped the experimental base, yet he already held everything needed to open DODC's core data in his hands.
She originally thought that by taking the hard drive, she had grasped the initiative in the negotiations.
Only now did she realize that without Lin Yao, the things in her hands couldn't be opened at all.
"You knew beforehand that these were needed?"
"I knew DODC wouldn't put real data behind a single layer of password."
"So I kept everything first."
Lin Yao looked at the screen.
"Corpses have no authority."
"Destroyed equipment has no data."
"That's why I wasn't in a hurry to kill Scorpion."
The final layer of encryption was cracked.
A large number of files popped up simultaneously.
The first was the list of missing test subjects.
Four hundred and seventy-three people.
One hundred and six of them were marked as dead.
One hundred and eighty-two people were sent to external cooperative institutions.
The status of the remaining personnel is unknown.
Yelena quickly found the girl she was commissioned to investigate.
[Serial number E-204.]
[Transfer location: Tombstone Logistics Warehouse Number Two.]
[Status: For sale.]
Her eyes turned cold.
"She is still alive."
"Where is the warehouse?"
Two locations quickly appeared on the map.
One was located at the port.
The other was hidden underground in an abandoned meat processing plant.
Both places belonged to a logistics company controlled by Tombstone.
Moving further down were DODC's technology procurement records.
A large amount of neural suppression and gene stabilization equipment came from a deregistered laboratory.
The equipment designer column did not have Banner's signature.
But the source of the underlying technology was written very clearly.
[Banner's neural suppression research, civilian authorized version.]
Upon seeing this, Peter immediately pulled up the structural diagram of his own suppressor.
The circuit layout was almost identical.
"The core of my suppressor was also modified from this set of technology."
"What about the laboratory's location?"
Yelena clicked on the procurement contract.
Upstate New York.
A private laboratory named Grayson Biotechnology.
DODC modified Banner's technology there, and then used the unstable version on Peter and other test subjects.
The most important file was hidden in the funding page.
The transportation fees received by Tombstone only accounted for a very small portion.
In the past two years, over 400 million dollars of DODC's black funds were split and transferred into twenty-seven shell companies.
Yelena continuously tracked the equity.
Eventually, all paths pointed to three funds and one arms company under Fisk Corporation.
Fisk Advanced Defense.
It was the manufacturer of Bullseye's special bullets.
"Kingpin is not just starting to get involved."
Yelena said, "He has long been helping DODC launder money, transport goods, and handle test subjects."
Jean looked at the funding records.
"Then why is he silencing the researchers now?"
"Because DODC is about to collapse."
Lin Yao said, "Cooperating before could make money."
"Continuing to cooperate now will only drag him down with Metzger."
"So he wants to kill the witnesses, take the assets, and leave all the blame to DODC."
Yelena pulled up the latest transfer.
Just after the Kamehameha illuminated New York, twelve funds began transferring simultaneously.
The total amount was close to ninety million dollars.
The receiving companies all belonged to Fisk Corporation.
"Kingpin is emptying out DODC."
"Then let him empty it."
Jean looked at Lin Yao.
"Why not stop him immediately?"
"Whose account the money enters is whose evidence is left behind."
Lin Yao said, "If we freeze it now, we can only get back a portion of the money."
"When he takes over all the weapons, warehouses, personnel, and funds, we will investigate the entire line at once."
Yelena looked at Lin Yao.
Not only was this person not angered by Kingpin's actions of seizing assets,
but instead prepared to let Kingpin continue to gather evidence for him.
She suddenly felt that Kingpin might have underestimated the real trouble.
"A condition needs to be added to our cooperation."
Yelena said.
"The girl in Tombstone's warehouse belongs to me to take away."
"Okay."
"What about the other missing test subjects?"
"Bring back all the living ones."
"For those willing to go with you, you are responsible."
Lin Yao extended his hand.
"You are responsible for decryption and fund tracking."
"I am responsible for ensuring Kingpin and DODC's people don't cross paths with you."
Yelena did not shake his hand immediately.
"It sounds like I am taking on more risk."
"They can't kill me."
Lin Yao said, "So they can only kill you first."
Yelena thought for a moment, and finally shook his hand.
"You really know how to comfort people."
The terminal suddenly popped up a new file.
The file came from the DODC external operations group.
Attached to it was an edited video, as well as a fabricated file of Lin Yao "trafficking test subjects and slaughtering government personnel".
The recipient had only one codename.
[The Punisher.]
Yelena clicked on the nearby traffic surveillance.
Inside the abandoned arsenal, a man wearing black body armor with a white skull printed on his chest was inspecting two anti-armor rocket launchers.
Chapter 17: rocket-propelled grenades didn't even break my clothes.
Boom!
A rocket-propelled grenade smashed into Lin Yao's chest.
The explosion instantly swallowed the entire abandoned highway.
Before the flames could disperse, a second anti-tank rocketwas fired from four hundred meters away.
It did not attack the temporary safety point behind Lin Yao.
Instead, it headed straight for the abandoned freight bridge nearby.
As long as the bridge was blown up, the road leading out of the industrial zone would be completely sealed off.
Lin Yao walked out of the flames.
There wasn't even a tear on the surface of his clothes.
He raised his hand and grabbed the second rocket, his body being pushed back two steps.
The next moment, he threw the rocket toward the uninhabited river surface.
Boom!
A column of water surged dozens of meters into the air.
On a distant rooftop, Frank Castle had already thrown away the empty bazooka and switched to an armor-piercing sniper rifle.
The scope locked onto Lin Yao's eyes.
Bang!
As soon as the special armor-piercing bullet left the muzzle, Lin Yao tilted his head away.
The bullet grazed past his ear and pierced through the concrete wall behind him.
The second shot was not aimed at the head.
Instead, it was shot at the magnetic bomb near Lin Yao's feet.
The chain explosions quickly sealed off the street.
Smoke, flames, and high-frequency sound waves erupted simultaneously.
Frank did not linger, he shouldered his weapon and immediately relocated.
After his first firing point was exposed, he stayed for less than three seconds.
Lin Yao closed his eyes.
His aura perception covered the entire industrial zone.
There were no ordinary residents here.
The nearby factories had long been abandoned, and several access roads had been sealed off in advance.
All the bombs Frank placed avoided buildings that still had signs of life.
Even those two rockets just now only targeted Lin Yao and the abandoned freight bridge.
The opponent was not a suicidal agent sent by DODC.
Nor was he like Bullseye, who did things for money.
He deliberately lured Lin Yao to an uninhabited area before starting his attack.
"At least he's not a mad dog."
Lin Yao soared up into the sky.
Inside the fourth firing point, Frank had just set up his heavy machine gun when a sound of breaking through the air came from above.
Without looking up, he directly pressed the remote control.
Six abandoned trucks around him exploded simultaneously.
The chain shockwave sealed off the aerial route.
Lin Yao projected a Qigong defense.
The flames collided with the invisible barrier, tightly compressed within a range of dozens of meters.
Not a single piece of debris flew toward the distant highway.
Frank vaulted out of the window under the cover of the explosion.
As soon as his feet landed, Lin Yao was already standing behind him.
"The speed is at least three times faster than in the file."
Frank drew his gun with a backhand motion.
Lin Yao grabbed the barrel and clenched his five fingers.
The entire pistol turned into scrap iron.
His other hand swept across Frank's body at the same time.
The sniper rifle, spare magazines, tactical knife, and detonator were all stripped away.
Frank didn't stop.
He threw a punch at Lin Yao's throat.
Bang!
The fist fell.
Lin Yao didn't even tilt his head.
Instead, a sharp pain shot through Frank's fingers.
Lin Yao grabbed his body armor and pinned him against the wall.
"Why not blow up the safety point directly?"
Frank stared at him intently.
"What I want to kill is you."
"Not those kids."
Lin Yao did not let go.
Frank's right hand quietly pressed toward his waist.
Lin Yao had already snapped the remote control a step earlier.
But the timer in the distance still activated.
Three abandoned factories lit up with red light simultaneously.
Peter swung down from above.
"There are still bombs!"
"They are all in empty buildings."
Jean's voice entered the minds of several people directly.
She stood on the periphery of the industrial zone, raising both hands.
Several detonating lines buried underground were snapped simultaneously by telekinesis.
The remaining bombs still exploded.
Lin Yao released Frank, turned around, and opened his palms.
The Qigong defense rapidly expanded.
The explosions within the three factories were forcibly compressed. Although the walls collapsed, the shockwave did not spread outside.
Peter landed on the ground, glanced at the blast radius, and then looked at Frank.
"All the bombs avoided residential areas."
Frank did not answer.
He just stared at Lin Yao, who was walking back from in front of the flames.
Anti-tank rockets, armor-piercing bullets, magnetic bombs, high-frequency sound waves, chain explosions.
All were ineffective.
More importantly, Lin Yao clearly had the ability to kill him in the first place, but only dismantled his weapons instead.
"Why haven't you made a move yet?"
Frank asked.
"Because you are still useful."
Lin Yao pinned him to a metal table.
Yelena walked out from the shadows and threw an offline terminal onto the table.
"Seventy percent of the intelligence you obtained is true."
"That's why it was enough to fool you."
The screen lit up.
The first document was the DODC test subject execution list.
One hundred and six people were marked dead.
Among them, the bodies of seventeen people were never returned to their families.
The second was the silencing order personally issued by Metzger.
Six V-Max researchers, the escort team, and all data needed to be eliminated in the tunnel.
The third was Tombstone's test subject transaction ledger.
Frank did not believe it immediately.
He picked up the terminal and checked the serial numbers one by one.
Weapon batches, personnel names, missing dates, black market transfer records.
Two of the names he had investigated before.
A ten-year-old boy.
A girl who could briefly alter her body density.
Both were officially marked as runaways.
But the ledger showed they were sent to Tombstone's Warehouse No. 2, waiting to be sold.
Frank's eyes turned completely cold.
"Where did these things come from?"
"DODC core hard drive."
Yelena brought up a comparison between the original files and the tampered footage.
"They edited the footage of Lin Yao attacking the experimental base to make it look like he hijacked the test subjects."
"They also deleted the part where Spider-Man participated in the rescue."
Peter took off his mask, but kept his back to Frank so he couldn't see his face.
"No one is controlling me."
"Those test subjects were also rescued by us from DODC's hands."
Frank looked at him.
"Do you know how many people Lin Yao has killed?"
"I know."
"And you still stand with him?"
Peter fell silent for a moment.
"I don't agree with his way of killing."
"But those people at DODC are indeed doing human experiments."
Frank said coldly:
"Hand them over to the law?"
"DODC itself is a part of the law."
"That still doesn't give you the right to decide who dies."
"What if the prison can't hold them?"
Peter wanted to retort, but Lin Yao directly interrupted.
"You can argue later."
He looked at Frank.
"You attacked me because you thought the test subjects fell into my hands."
"Now the evidence tells you that the one truly selling people is Tombstone."
Frank put down the terminal.
"I need to see those kids safe with my own eyes."
"Impossible."
Lin Yao didn't give him any room for negotiation.
"The base location will not be given to someone who just fired rockets at me."
"But you can come along to Tombstone's warehouse."
Frank looked at him.
"You want me to take your orders?"
"During the operation, obey the division of labor."
"You don't have to participate."
Lin Yao pulled up a map of the warehouse.
"But nineteen test subjects are being loaded onto a ship tonight at 12:00."
"If you keep investigating, they'll be shipped out of New York tomorrow."
Frank fell silent.
Lin Yao clearly could have hunted him down just now, but instead suppressed the explosion first.
Because the explosion might affect the distant road.
The opponent also dared to kill, but did not use ordinary people as a price.
This kind of bottom line was not gentle.
But it was stable enough.
"I have Tombstone's transportation route."
Frank took out a hand-drawn map from the interlayer of his body armor.
"And his peripheral outposts, arsenal, and backup dock."
Yelena took the map.
"Where did you get this?"
"Offline channels."
Frank looked at Lin Yao.
"It won't be remotely deleted by DODC, nor tracked by Kingpin."
This was precisely the value of keeping Frank.
Firearms, underground routes, offline intelligence, and combat experience.
Moreover, Frank's behavior was predictable.
He would kill.
But he wouldn't actively harm ordinary civilians and test subjects.
"Conditions."
Lin Yao said.
"During the operation, no firing without confirmation."
"Heavy weapons are prohibited near the test subjects."
"If Commanders and researchers are found, keep them alive for interrogation first."
Frank frowned.
"The people involved in human experiments are still to be kept alive?"
"Deal with them after getting the intelligence."
"If you beat people to death early, will you find the remaining bases?"
Frank did not refute.
Peter immediately said:
"What does deal with them mean?"
Lin Yao glanced at him.
"Now is not the time to discuss this."
Frank put away the map.
"During the operation, I accept the division of labor."
"But I am not joining you."
"I'm not planning to raise you either."
Lin Yao threw the weapons he had just dismantled back to his feet.
"Arsenal location."
"South Brooklyn, beneath the abandoned auto repair shop."
"Inside are anti-tank weapons, plastic explosives, and two modified cars."
"They can all be used tonight."
Yelena looked at the two of them.
"Ten minutes ago, they were still communicating with rockets and fists."
"Now they are already assigning attack routes."
Frank spread out the complete map.
Three red lines respectively represented Tombstone's transport vehicles, escort team, and backup evacuation route.
He pointed at the port warehouse in the center of the map.
"Nineteen test subjects."
"Loading onto the ship tonight at 12:00."
"Buyers include The Hand and two overseas organizations."
"There are heavy weapons in the warehouse."
"And a set of equipment specifically designed to counter Spider-Man."
Peter looked at the time.
Only two hours left until the transfer.
Lin Yao stood up and put the map into his system space.
"Since he's selling people tonight."
"Then he won't have a tomorrow."
Chapter 18: Tombstone's Black Market, I'm Taking Down Both the People and the Ledger
Nineteen iron cages were lined up in the center of the warehouse.
Explosives were placed beneath each cage.
The test subjects wore power-suppression collars around their necks, and automated machine guns were mounted above their heads.
Dozens of buyers stood on the second-floor platform.
The Hand ninjas, overseas mercenaries, representatives of private research institutions, and a few masked tycoons.
Tombstone stood in front of the auction stage, raising his hand to point at a young man who could make metal soft.
"Starting bid, eight hundred thousand dollars."
As soon as his voice fell, the main door of the warehouse collapsed with a crash.
Lin Yao stepped on the twisted steel door and walked in.
All the gun barrels turned toward him simultaneously.
Tombstone was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"I thought you would sneak in quietly."
"Why would saving people need to be done sneakily?"
Lin Yao raised his head and glanced at the nineteen iron cages.
His aura perception had already covered the entire warehouse.
Nineteen test subjects.
Two hundred and forty-seven armed guards.
Thirty-six buyers.
Twelve The Hand ninjas.
There were also two armored vehicles prepared for escape underground.
Outside the warehouse, three other reinforcement teams were approaching.
Everyone's positions had already been memorized in his mind.
Jean's voice appeared in the consciousness of Peter, Frank, and Yelena simultaneously.
"Mental communication established."
"Lin Yao marks the targets, I am responsible for synchronization."
Peter was lying flat on top of the warehouse.
Frank was guarding the port highway.
Yelena had already entered the second-floor finance office.
This was the first time they truly acted according to a fixed division of labor.
Tombstone raised his hand.
"Open fire."
Hundreds of bullets shot toward Lin Yao simultaneously.
Lin Yao did not dodge.
The bullets crashed into his body, deforming one after another and falling to the ground.
A few armor-piercing bullets specially designed to deal with enhanced humans hit his eyes, only causing him to blink once.
On the second-floor platform, an overseas mercenary swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"Doesn't the intelligence say he can only block ordinary bullets?"
The smile on Tombstone's face faded a bit.
"Activate hostage control."
Red lights lit up simultaneously beneath the nineteen iron cages.
A guard picked up the remote control.
Jean's telekinesis instantly clamped onto his fingers.
At the same time, Lin Yao's aura markings were transmitted into everyone's minds via mental communication.
Red is the enemy.
White is the test subjects.
Yellow is the command personnel who temporarily need to be kept alive.
"Peter, save the people."
"Received."
Spider-Man dropped from the ceiling.
Webbing simultaneously stuck to the automatic machine guns on four iron cages.
Peter exerted force with both arms, and all the gun muzzles were pulled toward the roof.
Gunshots rang out.
The bullets pierced through the steel beams, yet didn't touch the test subjects.
"Frank, cut off reinforcements."
As Lin Yao's voice fell, an explosion immediately came from outside the warehouse.
It wasn't aimed at personnel.
But rather the road in front of the three reinforcement convoys.
Frank blew up the port drawbridge in advance, and then used armor-piercing bullets to pierce the engine of the first armored vehicle.
The vehicles behind were all blocked off.
"Reinforcements won't be able to get in for at least five minutes."
Frank reloaded his ammunition.
"Don't waste time."
"Yelena, the ledger."
Inside the finance room, Yelena plugged the data interface into the mainframe.
Seven layers of encryption immediately appeared on the screen.
"There is more than just accounts here."
"Tombstone put the buyer list, payment accounts, and transportation routes all on one server."
"Copy all of it."
"Doing it now."
A guard discovered Yelena, raised his gun, and rushed into the finance room.
Yelena didn't even look back, flicking her widows bitebackward.
The electric current struck right in the middle of the opponent's chest.
When the guard fell, she also casually caught the access card he dropped.
In the center of the warehouse, more and more guards surrounded Lin Yao.
They dared not use heavy weapons.
Because the nineteen test subjects and buyers were all nearby.
This was precisely Tombstone's plan.
Using hostages to restrict Lin Yao's Kamehameha and large-scale energy attacks.
"You can destroy this place."
Tombstone walked down the auction stage.
"But these goods will die along with it."
Lin Yao looked at him.
"Who told you that I only know large-scale attacks?"
The next second, Conquerors Haki was released.
It didn't cover the iron cages.
It didn't affect Jean, Peter, Frank, and Yelena.
That invisible shockwave accurately spread along the positions of the enemies marked by Lin Yao.
Inside the warehouse, the bodies of over two hundred ordinary guards froze simultaneously.
Firearms fell to the ground one after another.
Row after row of people lost consciousness.
In less than three seconds, the entire warehouse quieted down.
Only The Hand ninjas, enhanced mercenaries, and a few elites with relatively high mental resistance were still able to stand.
Outside the port, Frank saw this scene through the sniper scope.
Hundreds of enemies.
No firefight.
No explosions.
Not even anyone saw clearly what Lin Yao did.
They just fell neatly like that.
Frank fell silent for half a second.
"Why didn't you use this move on me before?"
Jean's voice transmitted into his mind.
"Because Lin Yao judged that you still had cooperative value."
Frank didn't ask again.
Inside the warehouse, Peter had already arrived in front of the first iron cage.
The suppression collar was connected to the bomb under the cage.
As long as it was forcibly dismantled, the bomb would trigger.
"Too many circuits."
"Give me ten minutes."
"There is no ten minutes."
Lin Yao raised his right hand.
Nineteen ki blasts formed simultaneously.
Each one was only the size of a grain of rice.
Peter's Spider-Sense instantly erupted, instinctively blocking in front of the test subject.
The next second, nineteen beams of faint light passed through the gaps of the iron cages respectively.
Accurately piercing through the power-supplying chip of each suppression collar.
Without touching the explosives.
Without harming the test subjects.
Even the metal clasps fixing the suppression collars remained intact.
Nineteen sets of devices went dark simultaneously.
Peter was stunned for a moment.
Just now, he hadn't even seen the trajectories of all the ki blasts clearly.
Yet Lin Yao had memorized the positions, angles, and structures of the suppression collars for nineteen people during the battle.
"Dismantle them now."
Peter acted immediately.
Tombstone's expression sank completely.
"Charge at them, all of you!"
Twelve The Hand ninjas rushed out simultaneously.
Three enhanced mercenaries raised their energy weapons.
Lin Yao didn't stop his steps.
The first ninja had just approached when his head was shattered by a punch.
The second one swung a knife from behind.
Lin Yao backhanded and grabbed the blade, smashing the person along with the knife into the wall.
The three enhanced mercenaries opened fire simultaneously.
Jean raised her hand.
The energy beams were twisted by telekinesis, turning around to pierce through the chests of the three.
The remaining The Hand ninjas still wanted to approach the iron cages.
Peter's webbing had already sealed off the path.
Frank fired continuously from outside the warehouse.
Every single shot hit the ninjas' sword-holding wrists or knees.
He didn't directly hit their heads.
There might still be intelligence on The Hand strongholds on these people.
He remembered the rules before the operation very clearly.
Tombstone stomped and shattered the ground with one foot.
The skin all over his body gradually turned into a pale rock color.
He took off his suit, revealing a physique far broader and thicker than ordinary people.
"Do you think that defeating a few ordinary people means you can take over my business?"
Lin Yao stopped in front of him.
"I have no interest in your business."
"I only want the people, the money, and the ledger."
Tombstone threw a punch over.
Lin Yao did not dodge.
The fist hit the center of his chest squarely.
The ground beneath his feet cracked instantly.
Tombstone threw punches continuously.
Head, ribs, throat.
Every single punch was enough to pierce an armored vehicle.
Lin Yao remained standing in place the entire time.
He was testing Tombstone's strength.
He was also observing the energy changes when the opponent's petrified skin withstood the impact.
The harder Tombstone fought, the faster he got.
The warehouse floor trembled continuously.
The buyers on the second-floor platform had long stopped running away.
Everyone was looking at Lin Yao.
Tombstone threw more than twenty punches in a row.
Yet Lin Yao didn't retreat even a single step.
"Is that all?"
Tombstone's movements paused for an instant.
Lin Yao raised his right fist.
He didn't use ki blasts.
He didn't activate Conquerors Haki.
It was purely Saiyan strength.
Boom!
The fist struck Tombstone's chest.
His proud petrified skin first caved in, then shattered over a large area.
His entire body flew backward upside down.
The first wall was smashed through.
The second wall was smashed through.
The third wall exploded open as well.
Tombstone finally smashed into a port container, his body embedded in the twisted steel plates.
The warehouse completely quieted down.
Peter looked at those three humanoid holes.
Yelena stood on the second-floor platform, still holding the transaction ledger she had just finished copying.
Frank also saw the collapsed part on Tombstone's chest through the sniper scope.
No one doubted the gap between the two sides anymore.
Lin Yao walked up to the container.
Tombstone wasn't dead yet.
Almost all of his sternum was broken, and his petrified skin could no longer recover.
"Main server permissions."
Tombstone spat out a mouthful of blood.
"You won't get it."
"Then we'll use your hand."
Lin Yao grabbed his wrist and pressed his palm against the biometric scanner.
Verification passed.
The underground vault opened.
Inside were neatly stacked cash, gold bars, potions, and DODC equipment.
Yelena quickly checked the accounts.
"Three million dollars in cash."
"And a complete transaction ledger."
"The largest payment comes from a shell company under Fisk."
She pulled up the records.
Fisk Corporation had paid twenty million dollars in advance, demanding Tombstone to concentrate all DODC test subjects, suppression devices, and transportation channels into this warehouse.
Yelena frowned.
"The route is too clean."
"The warehouse location, escape routes, and reinforcement times all look like someone intentionally delivered them into our hands."
Frank walked in from outside.
"Kingpin wants us to clean up Tombstone for him."
Tombstone obviously heard it as well.
He stared intently at the payment records.
"Fisk..."
He finally understood.
Kingpin paying in advance wasn't to buy goods.
But to gather all the evidence and personnel together, and then leak the warehouse location to Lin Yao.
As long as Tombstone died, the New York underground transportation lines would open up.
Kingpin could take over all channels without wasting a single soldier.
Tombstone reached out to touch the backup remote control at his waist.
He wanted to trigger the warehouse's self-destruction.
Lin Yao stepped on his hand a step ahead.
"You are no longer useful."
A kick fell down.
Tombstone's head and the container's steel plates caved in simultaneously.
The breath of life completely vanished.
Seeing this scene, Peter's body stiffened for a moment.
But the nineteen test subjects hadn't all been evacuated yet.
Now was not the time to argue.
Jean gave orders through mental communication:
"Peter, continue the evacuation."
"Yelena, copy all buyer data."
"Frank, check the underground vault."
"Lin Yao, the genetic equipment is in the northwest corner of the warehouse."
This was the first time Jean didn't wait for Lin Yao to speak, directly taking over the overall coordination of the scene.
No one objected.
Peter led the test subjects away from the iron cages.
Frank checked the weapons and explosives.
Yelena backed up all the accounts in triplicate and cut off the remote deletion program.
Lin Yao walked to the northwest corner.
A silver device over two meters tall stood on the metal platform.
The screen read:
[Genetic Resonance Device.]
[Target Sample: Spider Mutant.]
[Remote Permissions: DODC.]
Just as Lin Yao was about to dismantle the energy module, the device suddenly lit up automatically.
A red ripple instantly swept across the entire warehouse.
Peter's body suddenly stiffened.
His fingers began to elongate.
His nails pierced through his gloves.
His teeth became sharp.
A large amount of organic webbing spewed uncontrollably from his wrists, sticking all over the surrounding walls.
Peter fell to his knees on the ground.
In his Spider-Sense, the heartbeats of the nineteen test subjects simultaneously turned into danger signals.
He slowly raised his head.
Beneath the mask, his eyes had completely lost reason.
Chapter 19: Spider-Man Completely Out of Control
Peter knelt on the ground, his fingers having already pierced through his gloves.
The ten phalanges continuously lengthened, and black barbs grew from his fingertips.
A large amount of organic webbing spewed from his wrists, instantly sealing off the warehouse exit.
The nineteen test subjects who had just been rescued did not have time to evacuate before they were trapped in place by the webbing.
Their terrified heartbeats mixed together.
In Peter's overloaded Spider-Sense, every heartbeat turned into an impending attack.
He abruptly raised his head.
The white lenses on his mask rapidly contracted.
The next second, Peter vanished from where he stood.
"Everyone, fall back!"
Lin Yao took a step to block in front of the test subjects.
An afterimage struck from the side.
Peter's five fingers spread open, the sharp barbs aiming straight for Lin Yao's throat.
Lin Yao raised his hand to grab his wrist.
Peter's Spider-Sense gave an early warning, his body forcefully twisting mid-air, his toes brushing past Lin Yao's arm as he flipped behind him.
Webbing shot out simultaneously.
Wrapping directly toward Lin Yao's eyes and joints.
Lin Yao shook off the webbing, and Peter had already charged toward the nearest test subject.
That was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy.
His ability only briefly softened metal.
At this moment, however, he was treated by Peter as the most dangerous enemy.
Lin Yao instantly caught up, grabbing Peter by the back of his neck with one hand.
Peter's body shrank downward eerily.
His shoulder joint voluntarily dislocated, sliding out of Lin Yao's grasp.
With a backhanded kick, he struck Lin Yao's chin.
Bang!
Lin Yao was not injured.
Peter, however, used the reaction force to spring up onto the warehouse steel beams.
"His strength is still rising."
Jean's voice transmitted into everyone's consciousness.
"The gene resonance device is continuously stimulating his aggressive instincts."
Frank had already raised his sniper rifle.
The muzzle locked onto Peter's head.
"I can snap his spine."
"Put it down."
Lin Yao did not look back.
"If he charges at the children, I don't have a second option."
"Then wait until I fail before firing."
Frank stared at Peter for several seconds, ultimately shifting his crosshairs away.
He didn't believe in miracles.
But Lin Yao had just crushed Tombstone head-on.
If even Lin Yao couldn't suppress Spider-Man, he would indeed have no choice but to kill Peter.
"Jean, sever the mental connection of the others."
Lin Yao said, "Leave only the three of us."
Jean immediately complied.
The communication inside the minds of the nineteen test subjects completely vanished.
Afterwards, her mental power approached the surface layer of Peter's consciousness.
Without entering his memories.
Nor reading his identity secrets.
Only locking onto that continuously magnifying desire to attack.
"He's still inside."
Jean closed her eyes.
"But the spider instincts have suppressed all sounds."
"Can you make him hear me?"
"At most a few seconds."
"That's enough."
In the corner of the warehouse, the gene resonance device lit up once again.
Red ripples swept across Peter's body.
He let out a suppressed low roar.
The muscles on his back rapidly bulged.
His teeth became even sharper.
The sound of bones regrowing even emanated from beneath his mask.
Lin Yao turned his head to look at the device.
A new prompt appeared on the screen.
[Suppressor backdoor connection successful.]
[Target gene activity: 176 percent.]
[Feral instinct released.]
[Remote control permission: Metzger.]
"It's not caused by the device alone."
Yelena quickly checked the terminal.
"The suppressor on Peter's body is the receiver."
"Through the suppressor's backdoor, the DODC sent the resonance signal directly into his nervous system."
Peter pounced down from the steel beam.
This time, he didn't attack the test subjects.
Instead, he locked onto Yelena, who was checking the device.
Yelena had just raised her widows bite when Peter already appeared in front of her.
Lin Yao slammed in from the side.
The two of them crashed through the warehouse wall simultaneously.
Peter flipped over and landed amidst the rubble.
Lin Yao closely followed with a punch blasted out.
Peter dodged to the left in advance.
The wind of the fist brushed past his body, piercing straight through the container behind him.
The second punch struck from the right side.
Relying on his Spider-Sense once again, Peter bent his waist in advance.
For the third time, Lin Yao reached out to grab his waist directly.
Yet before the palm closed, Peter shot out webbing, forcefully changing his direction of movement.
Lin Yao struck out more than a dozen times consecutively.
Not once did he truly catch Peter.
The overloaded Spider-Sense could pre-perceive almost all attack intentions in advance.
Peter landed on top of an abandoned vehicle, a low hiss emanating from his throat.
Frank saw this scene through the broken wall.
"Before he even dodged Lin Yao, he knew where the fist would come from."
Jean looked at Lin Yao. "Then how do we catch him?"
Lin Yao loosened his wrists.
"Make it so he can't perceive which one is real."
He charged toward Peter once more.
His right fist raised.
Peter's Spider-Sense immediately issued a warning, his body dodging to the right.
But Lin Yao did not throw a punch.
The real attack came from the left leg.
Just as Peter prepared to retreat, another sense of danger emerged from above.
An air bullet.
He flipped over to dodge the air bullet.
Lin Yao still did not attack.
The third sense of danger came from behind.
The fourth came from beneath his feet.
The fifth came from Frank in the distance.
A massive amount of aura was released by Lin Yaosimultaneously.
Every single strand carried an attack intent sufficient to injure Peter.
The Spider-Sense fell into chaos for the first time.
It could judge danger.
Yet it couldn't judge which one Lin Yao would choose.
Peter's movements slowed by half a beat.
Lin Yao grabbed hold of his wrist.
Peter immediately opened his mouth to bite Lin Yao's neck.
Lin Yao didn't dodge.
The teeth bit down on the skin, unable to even draw blood.
Peter's other hand stabbed toward Lin Yao's eyes.
Lin Yao tilted his head to avoid it, his knee slamming into Peter's abdomen.
The strength was controlled within a range that wouldn't shatter his internal organs.
Peter's body arched, yet he still struggled frantically.
Webbing wrapped around Lin Yao's neck and arms.
While his legs locked around his waist.
Lin Yao grabbed Peter and smashed him directly into the ground.
Boom!
The ground depressed.
Peter landed on his back, but used the rebound force to flip back up once more.
Lin Yao did not give him a second chance to escape.
Conquerors Haki instantly erupted.
It didn't cover the entire warehouse.
All the pressure was concentrated on Peter.
That wildly expanding spider instinct abruptly stagnated.
All danger alarms in Peter's mind fell silent simultaneously.
Jean seized this opportunity.
Mental power pierced into the surface layer of his aggressive desire.
"Peter!"
She delivered Lin Yao's voice directly into Peter's consciousness.
"Listen clearly."
"The person in front of you is not an enemy."
Peter's body trembled violently.
A discontinuous voice came from beneath the mask.
"Run..."
"Let them... run..."
He hadn't completely lost consciousness yet.
He was just desperately stopping his body from attacking others.
Lin Yao's Qi entered his body along Peter's spine.
The aura was divided into more than a dozen wisps.
Respectively sealing off some nerve nodes of his shoulders, wrists, waist, and legs.
It wasn't permanent damage.
It just made it impossible for the feral instinct to control all muscles simultaneously.
Peter's right hand hung down.
Followed by his left leg.
He still wanted to attack, but had lost complete mobility.
"The backdoor signal is still strengthening!"
Yelena shouted.
The readings of the gene resonance device had already exceeded two hundred percent.
Peter's heart began to beat irregularly.
If this dragged on any longer, he might not just go out of control, but directly die from genetic collapse.
Cold sweat oozed from Jean's forehead.
"The desire to attack can no longer be suppressed."
"Then beat him awake."
Lin Yao released the Qi sealing Peter's right arm.
Allowing him to regain a single attack opportunity.
Peter indeed threw a punch.
Through aura perception, Lin Yao captured the instant when his consciousness briefly floated out of his instincts.
The moment Peter threw his punch, a trace of hesitation appeared in his life aura.
That was Peter himself stopping his body.
Lin Yao threw a punch.
Bang!
The fist struck Peter's face.
Without using the strength that could kill Tombstone.
The impact precisely shook the head nerves, instantly interrupting the overloaded consciousness.
Peter flew backward, crashing into a pile of empty wooden crates.
All webbing lost control simultaneously.
The sharp teeth began to slowly retract.
The barbs on his fingertips also stopped growing.
Jean immediately entered the surface layer of the aggressive desire, locking the remaining feral nature at the edge of his consciousness.
Yelena pulled out the signal module of the gene resonance device.
The red ripples completely vanished.
The warehouse returned to quietness.
The nineteen test subjects were still hiding behind Jean's telekinetic barrier.
Not a single person was injured.
Frank put away his sniper rifle.
"If you weren't here, I would blow a hole through his head."
"That's why I told you to wait."
Lin Yao walked toward Peter.
Peter lay among the shattered wooden crates, his chest heaving violently.
After a dozen seconds, he slowly opened his eyes.
"Did I lose control again?"
"This time you didn't lose control on your own."
Yelena threw the signal module beside him.
"The DODC remotely opened the backdoor in your suppressor."
"But that backdoor has always been on you."
Peter looked down at his wrists.
Organic webbing was still uncontrollably seeping out.
"I almost hurt those kids."
Jean walked to his side.
"You kept telling them to run in your consciousness."
"This doesn't mean you can continue pretending everything is fine."
Peter fell silent.
Previously, he could tell himself that last time was just excessive pressure.
As long as he was more careful, he could control it.
Yet this time, Metzger only needed to remotely press a switch to turn him into a monster that couldn't tell friend from foe.
Lin Yao picked up the damaged suppressor.
"Peter, hand over your physical data."
Peter raised his head.
"Including blood, neural, and genetic records."
"I need to know what the DODC did to you."
The past Peter would not have agreed.
Once identity, blood, and genetic data were leaked, all secrets might be exposed.
But just now, if Lin Yao's strength had gone slightly out of control, he would already be dead.
If Lin Yao weren't here, someone among the nineteen test subjects might have also died at his hands.
Peter reached out and took off his mask.
Bruises caused by Lin Yao's fist still lingered on his face.
"Give me a computer."
Yelena connected the DODC terminal to an offline device.
Peter entered a password that only he knew.
A physical monitoring record hidden deep within the suppressor was completely exported.
Bone density.
Muscle changes.
Web-gland activity.
Spider-Sense fluctuations.
Feral instinct index.
And the DODC remote control code.
Jean looked at the data.
"They have been recording your changes all along."
"Waiting for you to become the way they want."
Peter stared at the screen for a long time.
Ultimately pushing all the files in front of Lin Yao.
"I can't solve this."
This was the first time he actively admitted it.
"Help me."
The system didn't pop up a reward.
But Lin Yao knew that this was more valuable than an ordinary check-in.
Spider-Man had truly handed his life and the right to dispose of him after losing control into his hands for the first time.
Peter put his mask back on.
"There's someone who might be able to understand these data."
"Who?"
"He has studied genetic changes, neural suppression, and even more severe losses of control."
Peter brought up an encrypted contact method.
There was only one name on the screen.
Bruce Banner.
Chapter 20 Dawn House
The water pipe in the underground maintenance station burst.
A large amount of cold water sprayed out from the wall, instantly flooding the corridor.
A girl of about ten years old curled up in the corner, holding her head tightly with both hands.
She had just had a nightmare.
Her ability went out of control with her emotions, directly causing the nearby water pressure to skyrocket.
On the other side, a teenage boy whose skin could release high temperatures was woken up by the water, and his body immediately burst into flames.
Steam instantly filled the corridor.
More than a dozen test subjects woke up simultaneously.
Some screamed, some activated their abilities, and others thought DODC had tracked them down again, grabbing metal stools and smashing them toward the door.
Jean raised her hands.
Telekinesis caught all the flying objects.
Her voice entered everyone's mind simultaneously.
"There are no enemies."
"Stay where you are."
Lin Yao walked over from the other end of the corridor and stepped heavily on the burst main pipe.
His aura covered it, directly suppressing the gushing water flow.
Peter crawled on the ceiling, wrapping the breach tightly with web-fluid.
Frank stood at the exit, his muzzle always pointing downwards.
Yelena hauled back two children who were preparing to escape through the ventilation duct.
Twenty-six test subjects.
Six researchers.
Plus Lin Yao, Jean, Peter, Yelena, and Frank.
This underground maintenance station was already so crowded that even turning around was difficult.
The air was stagnant.
Medical supplies were insufficient.
There were only two toilets.
Once someone's ability went out of control, everyone would suffer along with them.
Lin Yao glanced at the accumulated water on the ground.
"We are moving today."
Peter dropped down from the ceiling.
"Where to?"
"It's already been bought."
Yelena raised her head.
"When?"
"When you were decrypting the hard drive."
Lin Yao produced a real estate transfer document.
Tombstone had a dozen shell logistics companies under his name.
One of them held the mortgage claims of an abandoned industrial park in eastern Brooklyn.
The original owner had been in debt for many years, the park had long ceased production, and the bank was unwilling to take it over.
Lin Yao used 1.8 million out of the three million in cash to buy all the claims, and then had the shell company complete the asset takeover.
The procedures were very crude.
But it was enough to hold the control of the park in his hands.
Yelena flipped through a few pages of the document.
"You bought an industrial park overnight?"
"You cracked the flow of four hundred million dollars overnight."
Lin Yao took back the document.
"To each their own."
Frank looked at the address.
"That place is close to the freight railway, with a river on the east side and only one main road on the west."
"Suitable for defense."
"There are also old cold storage rooms and maintenance tunnels underground."
Peter added, "The network lines have long been abandoned. After rewiring, it will be difficult for the outside world to access them directly."
Jean looked at the twenty-six test subjects.
"The medical area, isolation area, and children's area must all be separated."
Lin Yao nodded.
"Start moving now."
There was no motorcade.
No trucks either.
Lin Yao put all the medicines, equipment, account books, and gene resonance devices into his system space.
Large bed frames and medical pods were moved directly into the air by him.
Peter stood on the roof of the industrial park, watching tons of equipment fly in from the night sky and land neatly into the designated areas.
"It took me three days to move last time."
Yelena stood nearby.
"That's because you can't fly."
Lin Yao made six round trips.
Before dawn, the underground maintenance station had been completely cleared out.
The abandoned industrial park had a total of four factory buildings, one office building, two warehouses, and an underground cold storage area.
Lin Yao converted the office building into a living area.
Factory Building No. 1 served as the medical area.
Factory Building No. 2 was designated as the training area.
Factory Building No. 3 stored equipment and supplies.
The outermost warehouse was handed over to Frank.
"An explosion-proof wall is needed here."
Frank walked around the park.
"Set up roadblocks on the main road, install underwater sensors in the river, and leave three firepower points on the roof."
"Explosives cannot be close to the living area."
Peter reminded him.
"I know."
Frank glanced at him.
"I know the blast range better than you do."
Just as the two were about to continue arguing, Jean's voice entered their consciousness simultaneously.
"Get to work first."
Frank walked towards the warehouse in silence.
Peter also turned around to install surveillance cameras.
Yelena was in charge of supplies.
Using the underground channels left by Tombstone, she bought twenty-six beds, three generators, a large amount of food, medicine, clothing, and building materials within half a day.
All goods were delivered through four different companies.
Not a single truck knew the complete destination.
Peter re-laid an independent network.
The cameras only recorded the external areas.
There was no surveillance inside the living area.
Jean established a mental alert.
Whenever any unfamiliar consciousness approached the park, she would sense it at the first moment.
Lin Yao flew around the industrial park once.
Aura perception covered the surrounding blocks.
Three surveillance points.
Two un-plated cars.
And a woman lying on a distant rooftop with a steady heartbeat.
He didn't deal with her.
The other party had no weapons, nor did she approach the park; she was just taking pictures.
Keep her for now and see who she sends messages to.
In the afternoon, the twenty-six test subjects were brought to Factory Building No. 1.
Medical beds had already been set up here.
On the wall were posted each person's physical examination and ability risk level.
The youngest child was only eight years old.
The oldest was already twenty-three.
Some wanted to stay.
Some prepared to leave after finding their families.
There were also three people who completely distrusted any organization and stayed close to the exit all the time.
Lin Yao did not urge them to be grateful.
He stood in front of everyone and directly announced the rules.
"First, no one is forcing you to join."
"If you want to leave, you can bring it up."
"After confirming that it won't expose the location of others, I will arrange routes and identities."
"Second, reading other people's consciousness at will is prohibited internally."
"The same goes for Jean."
Someone subconsciously looked at Jean.
Jean nodded calmly.
"Without emergency danger or personal consent, I will not enter anyone's memories."
"Third, anyone who intentionally exposes the base or sells other people's information to DODC and underground organizations will be dealt with directly."
The expressions of several older test subjects changed slightly.
Lin Yao did not explain the meaning of 'dealing with'.
Everyone could understand.
"Fourth, obey commands during combat."
"If you are unwilling to obey, you can leave in advance."
"Fifth, report power out-of-control immediately."
"If you conceal an out-of-control situation and cause injury to others, I will deal with it personally."
The girl who had just detonated the water pipe lowered her head.
Lin Yao looked at her.
"You lost control today, but you didn't conceal it."
"After the training area is built, Jean will teach you control."
The girl raised her head.
"I don't have to be locked up?"
"If you can control it, you train."
"If you can't control it, then you go into isolation."
This set of rules could hardly be called gentle.
But it quickly brought the chaos to a stop.
No one needed to guess how they would be treated.
Nor would anyone be forcibly locked into a room with the excuse of 'for everyone's good'.
Jean took the personnel list.
From this moment on, she was responsible for the living area, mental security, and ability training.
Peter was responsible for surveillance, the network, and emergency rescue.
Frank was responsible for perimeter defense.
Yelena was responsible for supplies, identities, and external intelligence.
Lin Yao was responsible for all final decisions, as well as dealing with enemies they couldn't handle.
When night fell, a temporary wooden sign had already been hung at the entrance of the office building.
A little boy holding a paint bucket asked,
"What is this place called?"
Everyone looked at Lin Yao.
The places DODC gave them only had numbers.
Laboratories, observation rooms, isolation areas.
Never a name.
Lin Yao looked at the living area where the lights had just turned on.
"Dawn House."
The boy tilted his head.
"Why?"
"Because when you came out of the laboratory, it was about to dawn."
Jean stood aside, the corners of her mouth curving up gently.
She took the paintbrush and wrote four words on the wooden sign.
Dawn House.
...
On a distant rooftop, Jessica Jones pressed the shutter.
She had been watching here for six hours.
Kingpin's task for her was very simple.
Investigate the private armed force Lin Yao formed in the abandoned industrial park.
Record the number of test subjects.
Look for weaponry, training facilities, and exploitable weaknesses.
But in the first batch of photos she took, there were no lined-up soldiers.
Only newly installed medical beds.
Rooms piled with children's clothes.
Fire alarms installed by Peter.
Jean leading several children to practice controlling their abilities.
And a whole box of unfilled identity application materials.
The training area indeed existed.
The defense line was also very tight.
But those test subjects weren't forced to hold guns.
Some were learning to control fire.
Some were practicing restoring metal to its original state.
And some were just sitting by the window eating a freshly delivered pizza.
Jessica pulled up the data Kingpin gave her.
It read:
"[Lin Yao is building a private army composed of test subjects.]"
She glanced at the children's room in the lens again.
Kingpin's intelligence was too far off from the scene in front of her.
Her phone vibrated.
The contact person from Fisk Corporation sent a message.
"[Send all clear human faces.]"
Jessica opened the photos.
Deleting the frontal close-ups of the children one by one.
Finally, only photos of the factory buildings, walls, supply trucks, and Lin Yao transporting equipment from the air were kept.
She clicked send.
Then she looked at the newly hung wooden sign at the entrance of the office building.
Dawn House.