Luke Cage didn't hesitate.
He strode forward, bent down, and with one hand on each, easily picked up Matt and Elektra's cold bodies.
One was a friend he had once fought alongside.
One was his friend's lover, and also an enemy.
Now, they were just heavy, cooling flesh and blood.
Luke's face was devoid of expression, but his taut jawline betrayed the towering rage within him.
Danny Rand stood beside him, the golden light of his Iron Fist long extinguished, leaving only a look of bewilderment and sorrow on his face.
"Go!"
William growled, leading the way towards the rooftop where the nightingale had landed.
"contract, clear the scene of all traces, all surveillance footage, physical deletion."
His brain was working overtime, every command clear and ruthless.
"Tony, cover us! Lure S.H.I.E.L.D.'s drones away!"
"Got it, got it."
Tony's voice came from inside the armor, tinged with fatigue.
He ascended, his armor's thrusters tracing two dazzling arcs as he flew at high speed in the opposite direction of the S.H.I.E.L.D. quinjet, simultaneously releasing several high-intensity decoy signals.
In the night sky, several approaching drones immediately changed direction, chasing the more threatening "target."
Taking advantage of this brief window, William, Luke with the two bodies, and a distraught Danny, quickly boarded the nightingale stealth shuttle.
The hatch closed silently.
The shuttle's engines switched to silent mode, becoming a shadow that blended into the night, silently departing from this Hell's Kitchen, filled with death and betrayal... Inside the cabin.
The atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like water could be wrung from it.
Luke Cage laid the two bodies side by side on the cold floor, then leaned against the bulkhead, sitting down without a word, his hands buried in his hair, his tall frame emanating profound sorrow.
Danny Rand knelt beside Matt's body, reaching out as if to close his lifeless eyes, but his hand fell weakly halfway.
William stood at the cockpit door, watching it all.
His heart was bleeding.
Not out of sympathy.
But because of the losses.
Huge losses!
Three died in one night.
Matt Murdock, Elektra Natchios, Moon Knight (mentally dead, roughly equivalent to scrapped).
Especially Matt Murdock.
The client committed suicide with his own exclusive item.
What kind of hellish joke is this?
"Master of Risk Management Personally Hands Client Suicide Tools" – if that headline appeared in The Daily Bugle, he could just buy a ticket home.
William's fists were clenched tightly.
Just then, Tony also boarded the automatically piloting shuttle via remote connection.
He disengaged his armor, revealing a sweat-soaked T-shirt, his face etched with exhaustion and gravity.
He glanced at the bodies on the ground, then at the dejected duo of Defenders, finally settling his gaze on William.
"Fury's calls, I've hung up on him three times already."
Tony's voice was hoarse, "He probably wants to blast me with a Helicarrier right now."
"Let him blast."
William said expressionlessly, "You have insurance anyway."
Tony was choked by his words.
"This is no time for jokes, William."
Tony's expression grew serious, "We took two bodies from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cordon. Elektra aside, what about Daredevil? He's a superhero, how do you plan to clean this up?"
"Clean up?"
William sneered, "Why should I clean up?"
"They are my clients. Clients die in accidents, and as an insurer, I'm here to handle the 'after-sales service,' which is perfectly reasonable."
"You call this an accident?"
Tony pointed to the deep ligature mark on Matt's neck, "He committed suicide with your equipment! What is that called legally? Assisted suicide? Manslaughter?"
William's eye twitched.
"This is improper use of the product."
He argued forcefully, "A kitchen knife can also be used to kill people, but you can't sue the kitchenware factory, can you?"
The nightingale landed smoothly on North Brother Island.
The hatch opened, and a salty sea breeze blew in.
"Where is this?"
"My office."
William was concise.
He led the way out of the cabin, taking the group through a cluster of buildings to an isolation hospital.
Through iris and palm print scans, a heavy alloy door slid open silently, revealing a brightly lit, futuristic underground passage behind it.
The sadness on Danny and Luke's faces was instantly replaced by shock.
They followed William through the long passage, finally arriving at a huge biological laboratory, like something out of a movie.
A one-armed man in a white coat, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with an elegant demeanor, was waiting for them at the entrance.
Dr. Curtis Connors.
"Boss."
Dr. Connors nodded at William, then his gaze fell on the two bodies Luke held.
In his eyes, there was no surprise or fear, only a kind of... curiosity and focus that a researcher would show upon seeing a rare specimen.
"Put them... on those."
Dr. Connors pointed to the two metal dissection tables in the center of the laboratory.
Luke took a deep breath and, as instructed, gently placed Matt and Elektra's bodies on the cold tables.
Under the lights, their death poses were clearly visible to everyone.
The fatal ligature mark on Matt's neck, the bloody gaping wound in Elektra's abdomen.
Tony Stark looked at the laboratory before him, then at the calm Dr. Connors, and finally at William.
"So, this is what you call 'after-sales service'?"
William didn't answer him.
Because, in his mind, that cold, long-unheard system prompt sounded.
"Warning: Client 'Matt Murdock' confirmed deceased."
"Cause of death determined: Suicide."
"Associated item: Exclusive item 'foolproof plan'."
"System evaluation: Due to the client's suicide using an exclusive item provided by the host, it has caused extremely severe negative impact on the host's credibility and business."
Just as William was experiencing an unprecedented financial storm within, Dr. Connors in the laboratory suddenly let out a soft exclamation.
"Interesting."
Everyone's gaze focused on him.
Dr. Connors was holding a handheld scanner, aiming it at Matt's body.
On the scanner's screen, a faint but extremely stubborn black energy was coiled at the heart of the corpse, slowly pulsating.
"His body is dead."
Dr. Connors adjusted his glasses, a hint of excitement in his voice, "But this energy... is still alive."
"It's... absorbing surrounding life energy, albeit extremely slowly."
"What?"
Danny Rand rushed forward, "What did you say? Matt, he..."
"No, your friend is dead, brain dead, irreversible."
Dr. Connors calmly interrupted him, "But the thing parasitic in his body, that 'Beast'... left a seed."
"A... dark seed, that could sprout again at any time."
The entire laboratory instantly fell into a deathly silence.
Just then.
William's personal terminal vibrated frantically.
Caller ID: A blocked number.
William took a deep breath and answered the call.
A one-eyed, furious face appeared on the holographic projection.
"Rodriguez!"
Nick Fury's voice seemed to pierce the screen, ready to devour William whole.
"You'd better give me an explanation!"
"An explanation that will keep me from wiping your little island off the map!"
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