The basement was very quiet. The Punisher, Frank Castle, suddenly opened his eyes. His head ached slightly, and he remembered it seemed he was ambushed from behind. That damned assassin had partners, he was too careless.
There was a sudden noise near the door. He instinctively reached for a weapon, only to find that his compound bow and gun were gone, so he had to tense his muscles. To his surprise, it was a slightly thin black-haired young man who walked in.
When he turned around, the Punisher was taken aback because the other person had very clear blue eyes, looking nothing like the assassin type, more like a pampered rich young master.
"Hello, sir. Are you okay?"
The Punisher only then realized his head was wrapped in bandages. He gently touched the back of his head, found it a bit painful, but didn't feel bleeding or dizziness, indicating his injury wasn't serious.
"Sorry to bring you here this way, but we really didn't mean to kidnap you," the young man explained, "It's a bit complicated. How about you first eat something, and we can talk slowly."
The other handed over some food. The Punisher took it with his hand while staring unblinkingly at the young man, asking him, "What's your name?"
"You can call me Bruce." The other person sat in a chair on the right side of a small table by the bed, dumped all the food bought from the supermarket onto the table, picked a sandwich and a box of milk, and started eating by himself.
Watching the way he ate, the Punisher was more certain: this guy must be a young master from a wealthy family. These fast foods bought from a cheap supermarket must be the biggest hardship he's ever experienced in his life.
"Alright, Bruce." The Punisher attempted to take the initiative, saying, "Was it you who attacked me from behind that day?"
"Yes, but I must tell you, there was a reason. We didn't intend to kill you, only to control you, so we had to use this method. Luckily, I controlled my strength well, right?"
"Why did you do this?" the Punisher asked, "You don't look like the mob's lackeys. That black-eyed guy is a professional assassin, and you look..."
"What about me?"
The Punisher turned his hands over, seemingly unable to think of a description for a moment, paused, and then said, "You seem like the unlucky guy in those spy movies who, just because he passed by a crime scene, suddenly got caught in a bloody mess. Pardon me, were your parents killed by some mysterious agency?"
Bruce began to cough violently. The Punisher extended his hands and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to hit a nerve."
"Well, my parents were indeed murdered."
"Were they wealthy?"
"Globally known."
"Are you here to find out the real killer?"
"Sort of." Bruce wiped his mouth and said, "This is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. I know you have a grudge against the mob boss Jigsaw in New York, and you might be planning to stir up trouble for him soon. We knocked you out and brought you here to stop you from going."
"Why do that?"
"An agent killed one of Kingpin's men on Jigsaw's turf. This could provoke a conflict between the two of them, and Manhattan will soon be in chaos, which will draw in the Manfredi family. That's our target."
"That group of Italians? The Mafia is indeed notorious for their crimes. But who is this agent you mentioned?"
"The grey-eyed guy you've met before."
"Is he with the law enforcement agencies?"
"Perhaps he was, but now he's just an assassin." Bruce took another bite of his sandwich and said, "We are here to investigate something."
"What is it?" The Punisher tore open the packaging of the food in his hand, lifted his eyelids, and glanced at Bruce.
"Do you know Norton Experimental Science?"
"What?"
"An investment project by the Manfredi family. Have you heard of any trouble coming from that place?"
The Punisher seriously tried to remember, thought for a moment, and said, "The Manfredi family was driven out of Manhattan long ago. I've only been active in Manhattan and Brooklyn, not too familiar with other places in New York."
"Alright, then how are your relations with The Avengers?"
"I keep to myself, hardly ever deal with them."
Bruce sighed, looking a bit melancholic. The Punisher continued to ask, "What does this have to do with The Avengers?"
"It's too complicated to explain," Bruce seemed a bit troubled, "In short, we suspect that an experimental project funded by the Manfredi family had an accident, which led to severe consequences causing a rift within The Avengers."
"So what do you want?"
"We want to know if this accident really happened, and what exactly it was about." Bruce sighed deeply again and said, "But we discovered through earlier news reports that this might also be related to Hydra."
"Sounds pretty bad," the Punisher said, "What specifically are you referring to by the serious consequences of this experimental accident?"
"It's still too early to conclude. But if true, this experimental accident might have made an Electronic Life become stronger and more terrifying."
"Electronic Life? Did it attack The Avengers?"
"Maybe." Bruce nodded and said, "So, did you feel anything in Manhattan and Brooklyn?"
The Punisher didn't respond; he just sank into his memories. After a while, he took a bite of his sandwich and said, "The location of the experiment project you're investigating, is it in Long Island?"
A gleam flashed in Bruce's eyes. He coughed a few times, pretending to be surprised, and said, "How do you know?!"
He chewed the food in his mouth forcefully, drank two sips of water to swallow it all, then stood up and said, "You know something, don't you?"
"It's not exactly me." The Punisher shook his head and said, "You guys should go ask Spider-Man about this."
"Spider-Man? Why would he know anything?"
"About two months ago, which was just at the beginning of autumn as you know, that time is the peak tourist season, but Long Island had a massive blackout. Many vacation villas and hotels lost power, which severely affected the tourism revenue for that quarter, even prompting a local congressman to apologize."
"Wow, that's a big deal. So what exactly caused the power outage?"
"Electro," said the Punisher. "At least, that's the official explanation. Electro was causing trouble in Long Island, and Spider-Man battled with him, ultimately leading to the massive blackout."
"From what you're saying, you don't seem to believe it?"
"Hmph." The Punisher snorted, saying, "Electro is an electrician, Spider-Man is just a worker—they're not going to a vacation villa area on Long Island. A glass of sparkling wine there could wipe out a day's wages for them. Even if they ran into each other there, they definitely wouldn't fight there."
Bruce opened his mouth, at a loss for words to respond to this reasoning. Seeing his expression, the Punisher sneered and said, "Yeah, you're a rich kid. Your main task in life is to bounce around top vacation spots around the world. If nothing happened to your family, you'd probably be lying on a lounge chair on a Long Island beach, sunbathing right now."
"I wouldn't squeeze in with others; I always go to our private beach." Bruce said with a pout.
The Punisher raised an eyebrow: "Seems like you're richer than I thought."
"That's all in the past; let's not mention it. If it wasn't Electro, could it have been the accident we want to investigate?"
"I wouldn't know about that. You guys will have to find Spider-Man. Only he knows best whether it was Electro's doing. If he says no, there's likely something inside."
Bruce immediately picked up his phone to text Shiller. He typed quickly. The Punisher looked at his profile and said, "Did he save you?"
"Uh..." Bruce looked up, his face blank, and indeed his mind froze for a few seconds. He said, "No, why would you think that?"
"If not, how did you two become partners?"
"We're not partners. If you have to say it, we're only temporarily teamed up because we're investigating the same thing."
"He doesn't seem like someone who would team up with just anyone. I can only tell you that he's more professional than you think." The Punisher stood up and sat in the chair across the small table, carefully examining Bruce, saying, "You must be useful for something."
"Of course." Bruce didn't deny it and said, "What if I say I'm a detective, would you believe me?"
"You have a good brain." The Punisher nodded.
Bruce was a little surprised. He looked at the Punisher and asked, "Don't you think I should be useless and call me a stupid agent?"
"Because you're not useless. At least you've managed to get the information you wanted from me. Although I'm not against telling you, I'm actually a person who can be easily angered. You chose the only way out, which proves you're smart enough."
"What should I say? Thank you for the compliment?" Bruce rolled his eyes.
"And you're quite brave too." The Punisher suddenly laughed and said, "You're the first person to hit me with a club and still dare appear in front of me after I wake up. You have no idea how surprised I was when you walked in."
"You won't kill me." Bruce continued to message without looking up and said, "You are a soldier, a former career soldier, served in the Marine Corps around 2000 to 2005, performed excellently during your service, received many medals, and even became an instructor. But after retiring, you encountered some unfortunate incidents and then decided to fight violence with violence, always at odds with the New York Mob, who view you as a thorn in their side."
"Seems like your talents lie in this area." The Punisher was not surprised and said, "And you don't seem to oppose my methods."
Bruce showed a bit of confusion, he looked at the Punisher and said, "Oppose what methods of yours?"
"Most superheroes don't want to associate with me." The Punisher paused and then continued, "They think I'm too violent, dealing with criminals without any humanitarian spirit, and have killed too many, with blood on my hands, they all steer clear of me."
"Oh, you're talking about that. But honestly, I'm past the age of debating whether to kill or not," Bruce continued typing, "Whether I kill or not is none of your business, and whether you kill or not is none of my business?"
The Punisher seemed amused by his deliberately mature attitude and said, "Past that age? You talk like you're much older. You should be in your early 20s?"
Bruce looked up and smiled at him and said, "I'm almost 30."
"Well, you look quite young."
"That's what everyone says. You know why I look young?"
"Why?"
"People who worry tend to look old. If you worry less about petty things like whether to kill or not, you can do it too."
The Punisher laughed heartily.