Lord of Cinder in American Comics

The unit acted swiftly; the squad that finished off the bodies quickly completed everything and loaded the bodies onto the truck. They then left a small number of defenders, with the rest joining the effort to move the US dollars.

Even with the staff working efficiently and quickly, the entire move still took nearly an hour. Ash and six others waited alongside for the same hour.

Seeing the military trucks loaded with supplies leaving one after another, the officer also prepared to leave. He placed a black canvas bag in front of Ash, saluted again, and turned to leave.

Swag put down his weapon only after everyone else had left; the pressure from this unit was too great.

"Which unit is this? I've never seen it before," Swag asked Ash.

"Sheffield's shadow forces are like Ross's Ghost Squad."

Ash only mentioned a number and didn't say anything more. She reached out and picked up the black canvas bag she had just put down.

"Now it's our turn to divide the money."

## Chapter Nine: The Kingpins

When Ash brought up the topic of splitting the money, Hatch clearly expressed his opinion.

“I don’t need it. Today’s events were entirely my fault, and you were the ones who handled them. I have no right to a share of this money.” After saying that, Hachi quickly took a step back, distancing himself from the others to express his attitude.

Ash recalled the movie plot; it seemed Hatch had a lot of gold hidden in his house, so he must have made quite a bit of money overseas. She decided to leave him be. Ash then turned her attention to the Ghost Squad and Swagger.

“Sir, we’ll listen to you, and we’re heading to Bolivia immediately. We’ll leave everything to you,” the shepherd said, expressing his opinion.

Swagger stood silently to the side. Ash understood somewhat: Swagger's retirement was due to receiving incorrect intelligence, resulting in the death of his teammate as an observer. His calls for backup went unanswered, leaving him to escape the encirclement alone. Back at the operations base, Swagger even beat up the intelligence officer.

Swagger retired voluntarily, and the fact that he didn't go to jail for beating up an intelligence officer is already a testament to his dedication. He's definitely broke now.

“Alright, we’ll split this money into six parts, one for each of you except for Hachi. Shepherds, each of you leave your account number, and I’ll launder the money and transfer it to you, or you can come back to me to collect it after you’ve completed the mission.”

Ash quickly offered a solution: people come to do shady work, whether under orders or as a form of self-sacrifice. Where there's profit, there must be reward—that's an immutable law. This is why Sheffield, even though he's practically broke, still allowed his men to keep this money.

After dividing the loot, the Ghost Squad quickly found a relatively intact gang vehicle abandoned on the road and drove away. Only Ash and his two companions remained behind.

The three of them slowly strolled to the location where the vehicle was hidden. Ash asked Swagger, "Where are you going next? Do you need me to find you a job?"

Swagger stroked the sniper rifle in his hand and said, "I want to go back to Arkansas, live a peaceful life, maybe find a job as a forest fire watcher, and get a dog?"

Ash quickly took some out of his canvas bag and handed it to Swag.

"If you want to rest, then rest properly for a while. There's no need to make yourself suffer. If you need anything, you can come to me anytime."

Swagger took the money and weighed it in his hand. He realized something was wrong.

“My share is too much. What about the others?” Swagger suggested. Everyone knows how much a canvas bag can hold after receiving their share, and if they get too little, others will inevitably have different opinions.

"Don't worry, I'll get my share. Do you have any demobilization pay? I bet you only have a gun pouch and no other assets. Are you planning to build your own cabin when you go back to Arkansas?"

After hearing Ash's words, Swagger thought to himself that he might really need to build his own cabin when he returned to Arkansas.

Seeing Swag's hesitation, Ash added the final straw.

"Besides, you know I'm rich, don't you?"

Swag thought of Ash's past, the military's wealthy chaplain who was said to have enough money to fill the Phoenix Armory. So he silently hid the money in his gun pouch.

"Consider it a loan from me. And thank you." With that, Swagger got into the car he had driven there and drove off.

By the time Hatch drove Ash back to Firelink Shrine, it was already daylight.

At the shrine, Becca slept beside the campfire with her son and daughter, while Snow sat on the steps near the entrance. The Fire Keeper sat on the steps beneath the Throne of Longing.

As soon as Ash and his companion entered the room, Snow became alert. Upon discovering their return, he put away the pistol he had concealed in his bosom and placed it in a hidden holster on his waist.

Hatch woke his wife and children and knelt beside them, explaining something. Snow stood in the doorway, watching Hatch's family with envy, before silently leaving.

After explaining to his wife, Hatch took his family to say goodbye to Ash. Only his youngest daughter, Becca, stared at Ash expectantly, as if waiting for something.

Ash understood when he saw Becca's pleading look. He took out the Holy Bell again and gently shook it. With the clear sound of the bell, a burst of silver light condensed and finally transformed into a golden and silver light barrier that adhered to Becca's body.

[Distorted Light Wall: A lost magic of the ancient golden magical kingdom of Ulasil. It can distort light and deflect spells. It is a type of arcane magic, equivalent to a secret technique, within the realm of light manipulation. The moment the fundamental laws are distorted, all illusions lose their direction.]

“This is a blessing for Becca’s courage,” Ash responded to Becca’s longing.

"This light barrier can block some ranged weapon damage. The color will disappear after a while, but the effect will last for a long time."

Ash estimated that the effect, which she could no longer see, would likely persist until Becca died of old age. Ash decided not to tell Hatch this long time unit to avoid any further trouble.

Watching Hatch leave, Ash and the Fire Keeper returned to their initial state, remaining quietly as if this state could last until the end of the world.

Then a phone rang.

“Mr. Ash, I’m delivering some things to you on behalf of Kingpin.”

Leslie stood at the brass gates of the Firelink Shrine, not taking another step forward. Although he didn't know what Kingpin meant by doing this, Leslie did as Kingpin instructed and dialed the phone number Kingpin had given him from the brass gates.

Leslie didn't move an inch until the phone rang back. He knew most of Kingpin's secrets, but no one had ever made Kingpin so cautious. He had even been repeatedly told in Kingpin's office not to offend this man named Ash.

Looking at the gargoyles lining the road, Leslie didn't notice how Ash got to him. It wasn't until Ash spoke up: "What did Kingpin ask you to deliver to me?"

Lailis instantly straightened up and bent down to hand the file folder in his hand to Ash.

"Kingpin knows that you are currently homeless, so he has chosen an apartment for you. Please rest assured that although it is an apartment, it is spacious enough and the property management services are excellent, so you won't have to worry about anything."

Leslie instantly recited the lines she had already memorized, bent over and stared at the tips of her shoes, not daring to look away.

Ash took the file bag but didn't open it immediately. Seeing Leslie's anxious and fearful expression, he knew that Kingpin had put too much pressure on him.

“Alright, I’ll take it. You can give this to Kingpin while you’re at it.” Ash pulled out a gauntlet, handed it to Leslie, and gestured for him to leave.

Back at Firelink Shrine, Ash told the Fire Keeper about the house Kingpin had given her and prepared to take her there to see it.

"Who is Kingpin?" Fire Keeper asked, as she had no recollection of the name.

"That fat guy from many years ago, when we finished our friendly exchange with the Ancient One and were discussing mission assignments at Firelink Shrine, he accidentally wandered into the campfire anchor point and got dragged out and beaten up by Onion Knight."

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Author's Remarks

The work has been signed for a contract. Thank you all for your support. I also welcome your feedback and suggestions. You can confidently collect and invest in the work. Thank you all.

2022-01-27 06:05

## Chapter Ten: Poor Kingpin

Ash explained Kingpin to the Fire Keeper.

After reaching an agreement with the Ancient One, Ash and the Lords of Cinder began to coordinate various resources and warriors within the Dark Souls world. Inevitably, they sat down together to plan their next steps and assign tasks.

Around that time, Kingpin had already begun his criminal empire plan. On the surface, he was Wilson Grant Fisk, a New York construction contractor and philanthropist. Secretly, he wanted to become the King of Hell's Kitchen, hence the name Kingpin.

While ostensibly a construction contractor, he happened to choose the location of the current fire-lighting ritual site during a site selection process.

At that time, Ash had not yet come to the Marvel Comics world; she had only chosen a location. So, by a twist of fate, Kingpin was transported to the world of Dark Souls.

However, Kingpin was teleported to the first bonfire in the Dark Souls world, quite a distance from Firelink Shrine, and the road was only frequented by rabid undead. Fortunately, Gundyr, the Ashen One, had already been killed by Ashe.

After Kingpin, relying on his 300-pound muscles, smashed the undead on the road to death with his fists and charged towards the Firelink Shrine, he found only a group of ridiculously tall men discussing something around a campfire.

Kingpin roared as he questioned the group of burly men before him, inadvertently kicking over the Elemental Soup that was sitting on the steps. This infuriated Onion Knight, who had painstakingly gathered the ingredients to brew the soup.

Jack Baldo of Catarina, the Onion Knight from the land of fine wine and song, is straightforward and doesn't hold back when angry; he'll just take action.

Without using any weapons, Onion even removed his armor and calmed Kingpin down with his fists.

Thus, Kingpin became the second Earthling to arrive in the Dark Souls world, after the Ancient One.

Ash's reminder made the Fire Keeper recall Kingpin, whom she had met before.

"So it was that man with the conflicting emotions of kindness and anger within him."

The Fire Keeper can gaze into the abyss, and she can certainly gaze into her own heart. In her eyes, Kingpin possesses a contradictory soul. Of course, this is also related to Kingpin's very existence.

Kingpin's father was a low-level gangster who died in a shootout. It was then that Kingpin began to plan to build his own underworld empire based on the survival of the fittest.

Born in Hell's Kitchen, he knew that Hell's Kitchen could not be changed, and only by building a more powerful 'underworld empire' could he control the entire Hell's Kitchen.

After Ash allowed him to return to Earth, King didn't leave immediately. If he hadn't witnessed the cruelty and destruction of the Dark Souls world, King would never have imagined that the world could still exist like this.

So Kingpin stayed, following the Onion Knight around all day, inquiring about the world bit by bit. Until he finished eating all the edible food the Onion Knight had collected, and was beaten up by the Onion Knight again.

Kingpin, having returned to Earth, changed his plans to build a criminal empire where organized crime could be conducted like a business transaction. Instead, he collected the land surrounding the Firelink Shrine on Earth and secretly donated it to Ash.

“Since the world is going to change, I need to change too.” Kingpin held this view and, based on some dubious information he had learned from Onion, drove out the five major gangs of Hell’s Kitchen.

Kingpin stood atop his Fisk Tower, awaiting the message and gauntlets that Leslie brought back.

The moment Kingpin saw Leslie alive, he knew Ash had accepted his allegiance. Although the donations had been made secretly before, the matter hadn't been made public. While this might have left some semblance of goodwill, the bond was shallow. As long as Ash accepted his gift, it meant that Ash had officially accepted him and would protect him.

“This is something Mr. Ash gave you.” Leslie placed the gauntlets on the desk in front of Kingpin.

After gesturing for Leslie to leave, Jin Bing picked up the hand guards from the table.

Having once followed the Onion Knight, Kingpin had witnessed the Onion Knight unleash those magical powers. Although he wanted to learn from the Onion Knight, he could never seem to master them.

It wasn't until the Onion Knight told him that Ash was conducting some new research that could attach combat skills to weapons, allowing Earthlings to use weapons from the Dark Souls world.

With the gauntlets on, Kingpin felt the warmth emanating from them, and a surge of power flowed through his body, slowly repairing the hidden injuries he had sustained during training.

'Is this the enhanced weapon with the Blessed Gem effect that Onion Knight mentioned?'

'Then let's try out combat skills.'

Jin crossed his wrists, and a stream of energy burst forth from his body and adhered to his body surface.

Then, he gathered his fist under his ribs, stepped forward, and suddenly threw a punch. A visible shockwave was seen as Kingpin's fist lashed out, smashing the solid wood desk in front of him and hurtling unstoppably toward the distant wall.

With a loud thud, the wall in front of Kingpin was pierced, leaving a large hole two meters in diameter.

Hearing the noise, Leslie directed his men, armed with weapons, to rush over.

"Leslie, call the cleaning staff to clean this up. Don't make a big fuss about it."

Seeing this, Kingpin had no choice but to instruct Leslie to handle the incident. He then left.

Although Leslie was puzzled as to how Kingpin had caused such a commotion, a good underling's first duty was to carry out his boss's orders and not ask questions he shouldn't. Clearly, Kingpin didn't want anyone else to know about this.

Just as Leslie was diligently issuing gag orders to his underlings, Kingpin, clutching the gauntlets, walked into another office. The power of the gauntlets amazed him, and two combat techniques flashed through his mind.

'But why is it called Mushroom Fist?' Kingpin was full of questions about this combat technique.

[Gauntlets: Thick leather concealing iron spikes, used as punching weapons. Can be equipped in both hands when wielded. Weapon Art: Endurance. Crossing wrists temporarily increases toughness. Using Endurance reduces damage taken. Weapon Art: Mushroom Punch. In the Black Forest courtyard and the Great Tree Hole, live a group of anthropomorphic mushroom spirits. Don't try to arouse their hostility, or the mushroom daddy (or mommy?) will unleash a shockwave-filled punch, showing you what 'one-punch super mushroom' truly means.]