Elsewhere.
In an ordinary, completely obscure safe house in Hell's Kitchen, New York.
A refined-looking man was currently having his hands locked by a mechanical bracket.
His head was firmly fixed facing forward, his eyes propped open by special speculums, and blinders placed on both sides of his head, forcing him to stare incessantly at the screen flashing with colorful patterns in front of him.
At this moment, another man, dressed in a suit and behaving elegantly like a gentleman...
Stood beside the machine holding the refined man, speaking softly.
"Obedience brings rewards."
"Are you willing to obey now? Wesley."
If anyone familiar with the history of the CIA during the Cold War were present, they would immediately recognize this as a brainwashing technique similar to the MK-Ultra project.
And the person currently strapped to the machine undergoing brainwashing was none other than James Wesley, once Kingpin's most trusted subordinate.
However, the man who was once second only to one in the New York underworld was now being ravaged like a stray dog.
Yet even so, Wesley seemed unwilling to give up his loyalty to Kingpin.
"Shut up! I will avenge Wilson!"
The elegant man smiled nonchalantly at this.
"Fine. But actually, I have plenty of time."
With that, he ignored Wesley, who was gritting his teeth in persistence, and turned to leave the sealed room.
Once he walked out the door.
A young woman, seemingly a subordinate of the elegant man, stepped forward carefully and asked in confusion.
"Sir, the forces left by Kingpin seem to be..."
The young woman wanted to say "insignificant," but after a brief hesitation, she corrected herself.
"They seem easy for us to take over. Why spend so much effort to control such a minor character?"
Saying this, she subconsciously glanced at the "brainwashing room," as if she held no regard for Wesley inside, or even the former Kingpin.
However, the elegant man didn't seem to mind his subordinate's attitude. He simply explained gently.
"Remember, people are always the most important asset. Wilson Fisk's remnant forces are indeed insignificant, but this subordinate of his is truly a talent."
The man paused slightly, looking at the "brainwashing room" again, then smiled.
"Besides, this isn't for me. He can only be considered... a just-right gift."
With that, the man strode away, leaving the bewildered female subordinate behind.
...
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Contrary to everyone's expectations...
Hell's Kitchen, having lost Kingpin, didn't improve. Instead, without the most suppressive underworld emperor, the entire district seemed to be in constant turmoil.
Luca's actions that night were like lighting a long-dormant powder keg.
Revenge, slaughter, fights for profit—these gangs, large and small, whose relationships were never harmonious to begin with, had completely descended into madness.
Even though the NYPD had deployed the ESU (Emergency Service Unit) multiple times to suppress the riots in coordination with the Hell's Kitchen precinct, and privately "interviewed" the larger gang leaders individually...
As soon as the police force withdrew, it wouldn't be long before these gang thugs escalated conflicts again over some inexplicable minor friction.
It was as if these people weren't fighting for profit anymore, but simply wanted to destroy Hell's Kitchen completely.
In the past week, theft, fraud, and similar crimes had basically disappeared from Hell's Kitchen.
Whenever the police dispatcher picked up the phone, it was invariably a shooting incident.
Even now, these gang riots were beginning to show signs of spreading beyond Hell's Kitchen.
The police, already overwhelmed by the aftermath of the Battle of New York, were beginning to consider applying to the municipal government to mobilize the National Guard for suppression.
However, the instigator of all this...
Luca was currently staying at home quite leisurely.
Well... saying "leisurely" was a bit of an exaggeration, as Luca was actually getting "beaten up" in his courtyard right now.
In the courtyard of the Aurantius family villa, Shield Mountain, who was asked by Luca to accompany him for combat practice, looked at Luca sitting on the ground and said awkwardly.
"Master, I actually think the previous prosthetic arm that looked more realistic suited you better."
Shield Mountain, who had been busy outside these past few days, really couldn't understand why his young master wanted to modify the mechanical arm Tony Stark gave him into its current appearance.
How to put it?
Shield Mountain felt this mechanical arm looked weird...
Especially when it was vibrating up and down!
Seeing Shield Mountain's strange look, Luca, having just been thrown to the ground, patted his butt helplessly and stood up again.
I'd love to make it look realistic too! But I don't have the ability!
Of course, Luca was thinking of modifying the existing arm into a realistic prosthetic. He wasn't willing to abandon this arm and go back to using the "low-end product" made by Stark.
At this moment, as the entire mechanical arm vibrated up and down continuously, it began to emit a glowing emerald green light.
Perhaps to others, this glow was just a light effect added for fun.
But in reality, Luca could feel the pain from being knocked down by Shield Mountain disappearing rapidly.
Even the muscle soreness from the prolonged sparring session was recovering at an extremely fast rate.
That's right, this was the core ability of the mechanical prosthetic named [Sweet Surrender] that Luca had just synthesized a few days ago.
As long as the arm vibrated, a healing energy would slowly cure Luca's injuries.
In fact, Luca had secretly tested it himself.
Even relatively severe puncture wounds could be completely healed by continuously vibrating the arm.
Moreover, Luca vaguely felt that if he sacrificed the arm by destroying it, he could instantly heal significant injuries.
Of course, unless absolutely necessary, Luca definitely wouldn't waste such a treasure.
And the reason Luca was so satisfied with this prosthetic wasn't just because of its healing effect.
After standing up, Luca moved his arm again.
Then he beckoned to Shield Mountain again and said softly.
"Again!"