I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 650: New Semester, New Atmosphere
"Speaking of which, have you all found dance partners for this year's homecoming festival?"

Once they were all in work mode, Harry, to his own dismay, brought up a very crucial question. Peter's response was to pretend to ignore it and continue patrolling among the skyscrapers of Manhattan, while Amadeus had no such reservations, because unlike Peter and Harry, he had no choice of a dance partner.

"Well, I haven't made any progress. I hope I can find someone before the back-to-school season starts this year."

“You’re not very confident in what you’re saying, Amadeus.” Harry said while using the Spider Drone to check and analyze the situation. The number of dangerous incidents in New York these days has started to decrease exponentially. Of course, there are still some, after all, this is New York.

But at least the number of dangerous incidents that the police are able to report are decreasing.

Conversely, what about dangerous incidents that did not trigger an alarm?
That's the target Spider-Man is looking for.

"Speaking of which, Peter, what about you? Oh, you shouldn't be short of dance partners for homecoming."

Harry made a pointed remark, to which Peter Parker could only chuckle. He flew and swung into Harlem, a predominantly Black neighborhood. While racial discrimination and stereotypes are fundamentally wrong, there are reasons why they exist.

Without delving into its deeper essence, it is true that in the United States, the crime rate in Black communities is much higher than in other areas, while on the other hand, the level of solidarity in Black communities is also higher than in other communities. So, what kind of people would emerge from a community with both a high crime rate and solidarity?

"I installed GPS trackers on the cars of the gang members I investigated last time, intending to dig deeper and deeper to find out who was behind them. It seems that I have basically got them all sorted out. There aren't many places where these cars converge, so I estimate that I can find a lot of information by checking them one by one."

"So that way we can wipe out all these gangs in one fell swoop?"

"That depends on your concept of 'wiping out the whole thing'. Eradicate a gang? Yes, but the question is how to stop these gangs from developing and emerging further. A good mayor, a good president? Or even change the country? If the captain were to run for office, he might actually have a chance."

Peter swung on his web to the first target location, but he didn't say a second thing: the captain was unwilling to participate in the election.

He has always felt a sense of alienation from this era, believing that he is not suited to excessively interfere in it. He doesn't even want to participate in any non-essential propaganda activities, let alone elections. The captain's current activities are mostly related to charity, veterans' welfare, and anti-invasion efforts; he doesn't plan to get involved in anything else.

As for the others, well, do you really expect Tony Stark to run for president? Forget it.

"Besides, if you're hoping to wipe them all out by destroying one or two strongholds that manufacture enhancers, then forget it. If this line of work is profitable, then people will keep coming back for it. And the biggest problem is that the police don't seem to care about this... Ugh, this smell."

Peter activated the air filtration system on his suit. The biggest problem with enhanced senses is that you become much more acutely aware of countless details—smells, sounds, and sights. Sometimes, being a superhero requires a certain level of mental fortitude. Peter pondered this as he moved through the building's ventilation ducts, but suddenly sensed something was amiss. His targets had all lost all movement, seemingly frozen in place. Peter had the cameras filter out their images before jumping down, then sighed helplessly.

All seven or eight people he had originally targeted—the gang's hideout and manufacturing center—were dead.

“Peter? What are these mosaics…”

"Help me contact the NYPD. Someone got me a job before I even got there, and in this way..."

"Was it done by some anti-hero?"

Amadeus's words made Peter, who was analyzing the data on the computer, shake his head. It wasn't Frank who did it, nor was it Logan. These bodies were all killed by having their throats cleanly slit open or their chests pierced by sharp longswords.

The guys who caused all this were incredibly arrogant. They didn't touch any of the cheap chemical equipment or the unfinished enhancement agents inside, as if their only goal was to kill. Peter squinted, carefully examining his surroundings, and then confirmed how they had broken in—the door had been chopped in two.

“Someone who is very skilled with a knife or sword, judging from the bullet holes here, these gangsters must have tried very hard to fight back, but to no avail. Did they all dodge? No, that's not right.”

The number of spent cartridge cases on the ground does not match the number of bullets. Although many bullets hit the ground or embedded themselves in the walls, the numbers are incorrect.

The bloodstains are wrong too. Even Logan would bleed if he were hit, but there's no blood here. Skilled with a knife, no blood... an immortal ninja from the Hand?
Peter paused for a moment, then felt confused. If they really were the Hand's immortal ninjas, why would they go and kill other gang members? Were they just bored? According to previous intelligence, they should have been operating covertly in Hell's Kitchen, so why were they in Harlem?
"Peter? Dude? Why have you been so silent? Have you figured something out?"

"Yes, I roughly know who killed the gang here. It's a criminal organization, but more dangerous than a regular gang. Wait a moment, I'll go check if anything has happened at the other gang strongholds. Hopefully, this is just an isolated incident by the Hand and not a large-scale attack."

This time, Peter didn't think too much about it. The other gang strongholds were still operating as usual. After a brief exchange with Peter, they all collapsed and surrendered. Only that unlucky place was taken down by the Hand. Nobody knew how they had offended them.

"But it's really strange that the Hand, which hadn't made any big moves or caused any trouble before, suddenly popped up like this. I wonder how the Defenders' investigation is going. Hmm, I should go and talk to Matt and the others. Maybe they'll know what the Hand has been up to all this time. These guys aren't particularly dangerous, but it's better to deal with them sooner rather than later."

(End of this chapter)