I'm in an American comic book, and all my teammates are main characters and bosses.

Chapter 24 Daredevil's Journey to the Mental Hospital

Night had fallen, but for Hell's Kitchen, the most exciting part of the day was just beginning.

Hell's Kitchen, the most famous and largest slum in Manhattan. It originally comprised eight blocks, but due to numerous power struggles, it's now much more than just those eight blocks. However, due to the wishes of certain powerful figures, it's ostensibly confined to those eight blocks for its own amusement.

The eight city blocks are interconnected, with hundreds of alleyways and lanes crisscrossing the area. Although it may seem small, hundreds of gangs make their living here. The crisscrossing violent conflicts make the territory highly volatile, and almost every morning the location of deaths and which gang's territory has been swallowed up by another gang must be reassessed.

As the most notorious place in all of New York, Hell's Kitchen's main theme is, of course, unbridled indulgence.

Promiscuity and drug use are commonplace here, even considered a virtue, since they don't affect others. Although it's hell, there are also many "living bodhisattvas" who dress up in flamboyant clothes and offer their bodies to save passersby.

These cheap "male concubines" are very affordable; for just a few dozen dollars, you can indulge in a brief moment of pleasure in a nearby alley. Although the facilities and environment are a bit poor, considering the current "simp economy" that has driven up prices, this simple price is indeed suitable for tired workers to enjoy a little tenderness after a busy day.

Safety measures only affect business, so incidents of accidents happening frequently. To attract customers, many people openly display their apartments by sitting on the street with their legs spread wide. Unfortunately, these are all haunted houses, and at least a few lives have been lost. Even so, this is extremely impactful for Peter, who is still a virgin, so every day after get off work he'd rather walk an extra half hour to avoid this most chaotic area of ​​Hell's Kitchen and take the subway home.

But today, after Parker closed the doors and left the multipsychiatric hospital, a man silently emerged from the shadows.

He was a tall, muscular man wearing a dark red bodysuit. A pair of short sticks were strapped to his waist; from any angle, he looked like a pervert.

A hospital is an absolute impossibility in Hell's Kitchen—unlicensed clinics might be a possibility, since people struggling to make a living there do need a cheap, unregistered place to heal their wounds without being bombarded with questions. But a hospital? Just hearing about it makes you feel like a knife is at your wallet; get as far away from Hell's Kitchen as possible, unless your boss is Kingpin. Otherwise, even the most secure hospital will have its addictive drug cabinet emptied for free the next day.

Matt hadn't paid much attention to this hospital on the edge of Hell's Kitchen before, as similar places were common there. However, Matt's investigation revealed that the hospital was built there because, when it was still an orphanage, the orphanage director had a connection with the police chief across the street. The gangs also needed a place to dispose of the children of their henchmen who had died accidentally, so the orphanage was established.

However, not long after, strange things began to happen frequently in the orphanage. Many people inexplicably started having the same dream—a pale moonlit night, a monster roaming in a deserted island town filled with murderous intent. The same nightmares drove many people insane, and so the orphanage was transformed into a mental hospital.

But after the first person discovered that they could heal themselves shortly after leaving the mental hospital, it gradually fell into disrepair. Coupled with these inexplicable legends, the fact that an orphanage with only a caretaker couldn't generate much profit, and the fact that the police chief across the street had a past with the former director, the mental hospital slowly remained in Hell's Kitchen in a bizarre way.

If that were all, Matt wouldn't have noticed this place. What brought it to his attention was the recent arrest of several Hyena gang members by the sheriff of the police station across the street. As a lawyer, Matt initially assumed it was a case of excessive force, a common occurrence.

To everyone's surprise, after questioning the surviving gang members, it turned out that it wasn't excessive force; the person who broke their bones wasn't that damned Sheriff Smith at all. According to a thug in the gang who spoke Japanese, the person who injured them was a guy in the mental hospital whom a woman called "Ninja-sama"...

This caught Matt's attention.

Ninjas? Are they the Hands? They've established a base in Hell's Kitchen?

Matt wasn't entirely sure, but one thing was certain: this seemingly ordinary mental hospital definitely harbored some enormous secret. From any perspective, he felt it was necessary to investigate.

Now, with the departure of Peter Parker, the only volunteer listed in the materials and a freshman from Imperial University, Matt also leaped off the building. His seemingly robust and strong body displayed astonishing agility; he jumped from the five- or six-meter-high building without injury, and barely even made a sound.

Located in the shadows, Matt reached out and touched the wall.

Matt's eyes were rendered blind in childhood due to radiation contamination, but this visual impairment greatly enhanced his remaining four senses.

His heightened sense of touch enhanced his nervous system beyond imagination. This tactile sensitivity not only allowed him to sense balance and possess superhuman reaction speed, but also enabled him to create a three-dimensional image in his mind through touch and hearing.

Like now, by placing his hand on the wall and giving it a light tap, Matt can then confirm, with the force and auditory feedback, that there are no traps or even cameras on the wall.

Perhaps it was a hidden sentry?

But that doesn't make sense either. If it were a hidden sentry, they should have already spotted it when they were scouting the area.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Matt turned and entered the hospital. He cautiously looked around. Although blind, through the interplay of his senses, Matt clearly "saw" what the two-story building in front of him looked like.

There's a garden in front of the small building, but it's a bit messy, suggesting the owner doesn't like to clean. This has left the lawn, which was originally meant for patients to relax, filled with uneven stones and other odds and ends.

Just as he was thinking, Matt seemed to sense something, paused for a moment, then looked serious and tiptoed to the guardhouse.

There was no one inside, no mechanism, and it wasn't even locked.

But here, Matt smelled many different scents.

It's not just the smell of human sweat, but also the smell of blood, and even the smell of organs being cut open.

These lingering scents were so faint that even police dogs couldn't detect them. But even this extremely faint scent still made Matt involuntarily frown.

People died here, many people died. One person was particularly tragic; the lingering smell of so many organs could only have been left if the person had been split open vertically.

But if that's the case, why is there nothing left here except for a faint lingering smell?

Matt was certain that if there was so much stench of viscous matter, the guardhouse, not very spacious and riddled with unsanitary corners, could never have been properly cleaned. But now, there wasn't a single piece of flesh on the table, the floor, or even in those hard-to-find crevices. Apart from the smell, nothing else was there; there wasn't even a trace of the body being moved.

He tried to construct a three-dimensional image in his mind of the murder and the disposal of the body. But unfortunately, no matter how much Matt simulated the behavior of the victim and the murderer in his mind, he could not establish a complete logical explanation for the cause of this.

So, what exactly is the reason for this?

With that thought in mind, Matt took a deep breath, then squatted down to carefully sense everything around him.

Outside the door, Ron held a glass of water and watched silently as Matt jumped down from the wall, climbed over the wall, and then ran into the guardhouse, where he lay on the ground like a pervert, sniffing and touching Matt.

I heard some versions of Matt have studied in Japan? That makes sense, after all, anything is possible in an abandoned universe.

With that thought in mind, Ron also picked up a glass of water to rinse his mouth.

It wasn't a problem when he was standing, but as Ron rinsed his mouth, the undisguised sound of the water quickly alerted Matt.

Matt jerked his head up and looked at Ron, gripping the short stick at his waist warily, ready for battle. Ron, who was drinking water, was also taken aback when he saw Matt's expression. After staring at Matt for a moment, he belatedly slapped his forehead—damn it, he almost forgot Matt was blind.

After staring at a blind man for a long time, Ron tilted his head for no apparent reason and said, "What are you doing sneaking into my orphanage when you have so many cases to handle?"

You spotted me?!

Hearing the sounds around him, Matt immediately drew a pair of short sticks from his waist, simultaneously amplifying his senses as much as possible. He looked around, constantly listening to the sounds, smelling the surrounding atmosphere, and sensing the vibrations. But unfortunately, even so, Matt still couldn't find where his opponent was hiding.

Looking at Matt, who was standing in front of him looking around curiously, Ron twitched the corner of his mouth—his mental state had stabilized considerably after his first mission. But how should he put it? Should he say, as expected of an abandoned universe? Why did he feel like his eccentric self was more suited to this place?

Thinking it over, Ron also adjusted his own state—or rather, made sure Matt could sense him.

This, however, immediately made Matt tense. It wasn't hard to understand. Matt hadn't sensed Ron in the surrounding environment. Now, Ron had suddenly broken his concealment. In Matt's perception, he had suddenly appeared right in front of him.

At other times it wouldn't be a problem, but in this kind of infiltration operation, a sudden appearance of a living person made Matt instinctively want to dodge behind him and create distance. Unfortunately, the guardhouse was small and there was simply no room for the Daredevil to move around. In a moment of carelessness, he even knocked over a pen holder on the table.

Seeing this, Ron also said, "I mean, it can't be that serious. I dropped out of junior high school, and you, a top graduate of Columbia University, are so scared just because I casually greeted you? People will think I'm promoting the idea that education is useless."

Upon hearing this, Matt hesitated. Looking at Ron in front of him, and sensing the image that had been constructed in his mind through his superhuman senses, Matt asked with some doubt, "You...know me?"

"Of course I know him! Matt Murdoch, right? A great lawyer, a disciple of Stick, Daredevil, a vigilante. But vigilantes are one thing, why are you coming to me? I haven't done anything to you."

Shrugged, Ron said nonchalantly, "Speaking of which, Uncle Daredevil, how many girlfriends do you have? I heard that after you went blind, your other four senses became unusually sharp, so will you instantly die when you're clapping?"

"Well, you know what I mean, right?" Ron said, extending his hand in a stroking motion, "The pleasure from friction, the temperature, the humidity. You can also feel the hormones secreted by the glands inside your body more clearly, hear the other person's breathing more delicately... tsk tsk, just thinking about it makes me feel overwhelmed!"

After a moment of silence, Matt took a deep breath and said, "How do you know me? I've never seen you before, and I'm sure this is the first time I've ever met someone like you..."

As he spoke, Matt felt somewhat powerless—he would rather the guy in front of him had thrown a punch, so that at least he would have a reason to retaliate and be able to escape more easily.

But now, the other party not only recognized him at a glance, but also seemed to know him very well.

Heaven have mercy! Even the closest of friends shouldn't joke about something like this!

Erica knew that discussing this matter with others would get her killed!

Upon hearing this, Ron simply pointed behind Matt and said:

"Don't be so nervous. Actually, I'm a good person. For example, the guy behind you drew his sword and was ready to fight as soon as he saw you."

Are there other people?!

Hearing Ron's words, Matt instinctively turned around. At first, Matt didn't sense anything. But as he focused his attention, he quickly noticed a tiny humanoid figure silently watching him from the corner.

A faint metallic tang wafted in the air, indicating that the other party had already silently drawn their sword. Perhaps if I had made even a single wrong move, I would already be decapitated.

Having learned of the situation here through the squad's communication system, they immediately took Moonshadow Candy and arrived. Now, however, Ron's words have exposed their deception—

The wolf didn't say much; it simply stood there calmly after dispelling its stealth, remaining silent.

(End of this chapter)