It was done by Hydra...
Quinn walked down the street, but his mind was on the recent attack.
Although that group hadn't said anything, there were only three elite forces who had any connection to him and could deploy such well-equipped operatives.
Kingpin, S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra.
First, he could rule out Kingpin.
Because Quinn and Kingpin hadn't gotten involved until last night... well, if you really wanted to count it, it should've been two months ago.
When he'd sent Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki to target people who deserved it and create a social sensation, he'd already intersected with Kingpin.
After all, forty percent of all crime in the United States could be traced back to Kingpin.
And those who deserved death were all scum riddled with sins, inextricably linked to Kingpin's criminal empire.
If only one, two, seven, eight, or even seventy or eighty had died, Kingpin wouldn't care.
But the key issue was that the deaths kept happening, more and more frequently, with a tendency to never stop until everyone was dead.
From Kingpin's perspective, most of these dead people were connected to his own forces. Didn't this look like someone attacking his organization?
So when Quinn had given Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki orders to target the damned and cause social upheaval, he'd already made an enemy of Kingpin.
But Kingpin didn't know he was behind the incidents, so their real intersection was yesterday.
He'd rejected Kingpin's goodwill and had a conflict with Bullseye... Quinn didn't know if Kingpin would come after him because of this, but a guy like Bullseye—loyal only to his desire to kill—would definitely never let it go.
So it was entirely possible the attackers were Kingpin's.
Unfortunately, while Kingpin had no shortage of expendable soldiers, he'd never waste them on a "small-time player" like Quinn.
And those attackers weren't just unafraid of death—they were loyal soldiers absolutely devoted to their organization.
So he could rule out Kingpin.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was the same.
Quinn had already cooperated with S.H.I.E.L.D. three times, and combined with information he'd learned from films and TV shows in his previous life, he was familiar with their methods... Although last night's conversation had been somewhat unpleasant, he'd also released information that interested them, which would 100% lead to probing.
But just probing—not assassination.
This group's behavior was completely inconsistent with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s methods, and could be ruled out at a glance.
After excluding Kingpin and S.H.I.E.L.D., only Hydra remained.
There was no direct connection between Quinn and Hydra, but Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.... Even if they hadn't completely penetrated yet, based on the timeline, they'd infiltrated at least half the organization. Contacting S.H.I.E.L.D. meant contacting Hydra.
The first two cooperations with S.H.I.E.L.D. had gone well. Although he'd revealed having very well-informed intelligence channels, Hydra hadn't taken it seriously.
But last night, he'd revealed knowledge about demons.
In Hydra's eyes, he'd transformed from someone with "good intelligence sources" to someone who "knows the truth of the world"—possibly even a supernatural person with intelligence-gathering abilities.
This was undoubtedly very dangerous for Hydra, which was infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D.
Especially when he'd threatened Fury yesterday that S.H.I.E.L.D. could be disbanded with a single phone call... Those words might sound vague to others, but as the plan's implementers, Hydra might immediately think "Quinn is referring to their action plan"... Although logically speaking, neither Fury nor Coulson would let a second person know about their conversation.
But who knew if their calls were being monitored?
In the original story, Fury had only managed to hide from Hydra's surveillance by faking his death.
Therefore, Hydra had every reason to eliminate him.
And the armed elites' style was very consistent with Hydra's.
However, even knowing the mastermind was Hydra, Quinn didn't care—he was actually looking forward to Hydra's next attack.
As long as someone came looking for trouble, he had reason to display his strength.
The various skills, abilities, and even bizarre items produced by the system could definitely arouse all kinds of amazement, generating massive prayer points.
"Hydra has always acted recklessly. What will the next attack look like?" Quinn's heart filled with anticipation, but he pushed it aside a moment later.
He was more concerned about what he'd have for breakfast than trivial things that might happen in the future.
Since arriving in this world, he'd never neglected himself.
Although he'd made plenty of money, he hadn't saved a penny.
Today would be no different—time to enjoy himself.
Ding! You got 0.001 prayer points!
Ding! You got 0.003 prayer points!
Ding! You got 100 prayer points!
Ding! You got...
"Looks like Tsunayoshi's operation is going smoothly!"
Hearing the sudden system notifications, Quinn paused for a moment, then showed an even brighter smile.
Today was definitely going to be a good day.
…
Harlem.
When the gunshots stopped, people hiding in shops couldn't help peeking outside, and what they saw was an unforgettable scene.
On streets filled with gunpowder smoke, gangsters writhed and groaned in pain.
Roughly estimated, there were as many as five or six hundred.
And standing among this crowd was a tall figure.
A fierce-looking man, with prominent scars on his forehead and cheeks that added considerable menace to his appearance.
He held guns in both hands, his suit jacket draped over his shoulders, and looked down rebelliously at the man beneath his foot. "You trash, it's a great honor to live under Vongola's rule. How dare you resist!"
The man's voice wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for people on both sides of the street to hear clearly.
One by one, their eyes widened.
"What the hell just happened!?"
"Did this man single-handedly take down five or six hundred heavily armed gangsters!?"
"Even Rambo couldn't do that—this is ridiculous!"
"Seriously..."
It had to be said that during this time period, superheroes like Daredevil had begun operating on New York's stage, but ordinary people's thinking hadn't shifted from the pre-superhero world.
However, some people were different—they themselves were different.
In a barbershop.
A muscular Black man stood at the door, looking solemnly at the man in the center of the battlefield.
An older Black man came up beside him and asked, "Luke, are you sure you could beat that person?"
"Yes!" Luke said decisively. "Although I can't single-handedly overwhelm five or six hundred heavily armed gangsters like him, the power of his flame bullets can't break through my defense."
This was ability match-up.
Due to an experimental accident, Luke Cage had gained superhuman strength and near-invulnerable skin.
Although there was an upper limit, judging from the opponent's performance in the recent battle, those flame bullets—which could apparently be fired indefinitely and were far more powerful than regular bullets—still couldn't pierce his defense.
If they fought each other, he'd be invincible.
The old man nodded reassuringly, then advised, "Even so, you shouldn't interfere in gangster shootouts."
"I only fight for the weak and defenseless!"