The Hand's trafficking facility occupied a warehouse in the Brooklyn industrial district—a location chosen for its isolation, limited surveillance, and proximity to shipping routes. To any outside observer, it appeared as a legitimate logistics company. But Su Chen's enhanced perception detected the truth: reinforced structures, concealed security systems, and the distinctive energy signatures of enhanced individuals within.
"Positions confirmed," Jessica's voice came through the secure communication network Babata had established. "I count eight visible guards on the perimeter, standard patrol patterns. Luke and I are ready for entry on your signal."
"Electronic systems mapped," David reported from his position in a van three blocks away, his equipment jury-rigged from conventional technology and components Babata had discretely provided. "Security cameras, motion sensors, and communication relays all identified. I can shut them down simultaneously, but they'll know something's wrong within thirty seconds."
"Perimeter secured," Saeko confirmed. She and Esdeath had positioned themselves to intercept any escape attempts or reinforcement calls. "No unusual activity detected outside the target zone."
Su Chen stood on a rooftop overlooking the facility, his Dual Pupils analyzing every detail. The golden eye perceived energy flows and structural weaknesses. The silver eye examined dimensional layers, confirming no mystical defenses were active—The Hand was relying on conventional security for this low-priority operation.
"Master," Babata's voice resonated in his consciousness. "I'm detecting approximately thirty-seven individuals inside the facility. Twenty-three match energy signatures consistent with Hand warriors—enhanced but not extraordinary. Fourteen appear to be captives in various stages of processing."
"Captive locations?" Su Chen demanded.
"Concentrated in the eastern section, third floor. Minimal guard presence—they're relying on locked doors and sedation rather than active supervision."
"Typical," Su Chen muttered. The Hand viewed captives as resources to be processed, not immediate threats requiring heavy security. That arrogance would cost them.
"David, commence electronic disruption in thirty seconds," Su Chen commanded. "Jessica, Luke—entry on my mark. Saeko, Esdeath—anyone attempting to leave the facility doesn't make it past the perimeter. Non-lethal containment where possible, but priority is preventing intelligence from escaping."
"Understood," came the coordinated responses.
Su Chen counted down mentally, his tactical mind visualizing the operation's flow. When the counter reached zero, he gave the command: "Execute."
David's fingers danced across his keyboard, and electricity surged from his body into the equipment he'd modified. Electromagnetic pulses, precisely targeted and controlled, struck the facility's electronic infrastructure simultaneously. Security cameras died. Motion sensors failed. Communication systems went silent. For critical seconds, The Hand's technological advantage evaporated.
Jessica and Luke moved immediately. Jessica's enhanced strength allowed her to tear through the reinforced door as if it were cardboard. Luke's unbreakable skin made him immune to the gunfire that erupted from surprised guards. They advanced through the ground floor like an unstoppable force, Jessica's combat pragmatism complementing Luke's straightforward power.
"Contact!" Jessica reported. "Hand warriors responding. These guys are better trained than standard thugs—coordinated attacks, aiming for joints and vulnerable points."
"They're trained to fight enhanced opponents," Su Chen explained calmly, watching through surveillance feeds Babata had hijacked. "Don't let them surround you. Luke, you're the anchor—let them focus on you while Jessica eliminates them from flanking positions."
The battle flowed exactly as Su Chen had anticipated. Hand warriors were skilled, enhanced, and fearless—but they weren't prepared for the combination of Luke's absolute defense and Jessica's tactical brutality. Within three minutes, the ground floor was secure, with twelve Hand warriors unconscious and restrained.
"Moving to captive location," Luke reported, his breathing only slightly elevated despite the combat. "Third floor, eastern section."
"Confirmed," Su Chen acknowledged. "Be advised—I'm detecting movement in the western section. More warriors responding to the breach. Saeko, western perimeter. Cut off their reinforcement route."
"Acknowledged," Saeko's voice carried the calm focus of someone entering combat meditation. Su Chen's enhanced vision tracked her movement as she intercepted six Hand warriors attempting to escape through a side entrance.
The engagement was brief and surgical. Saeko's Supreme Sword Bone generated invisible cutting edges that severed tendons and disabled opponents without killing them. Her centuries of combat experience, accumulated across multiple dimensions, made her movement appear almost supernatural—flowing between attacks, redirecting force, and neutralizing threats with minimal wasted motion.
"Six tangos down," Saeko reported. "All alive, all restrained. These warriors are enhanced—faster reflexes, increased pain tolerance, and they're not going into shock despite their injuries. Definite biological modification beyond normal training."
"Noted," Su Chen confirmed. "That confirms The Hand is using enhancement techniques on their standard forces, not just elite operatives. We'll need samples for analysis."
"Already collected," Saeko replied. A bio-collection kit—ostensibly standard S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment but actually Babata's work—contained blood and tissue samples that would reveal exactly what methods The Hand employed.
On the third floor, Luke and Jessica reached the captive holding area. The scene that greeted them was grim—fourteen people in various states of consciousness, some sedated, others showing signs of psychological conditioning, all confined in cells that would have been impossible to escape without enhanced strength.
"We've got the captives," Jessica reported, her voice tight with controlled anger. "Some of them are in bad shape. We need medical extraction immediately."
"Ambulances are standing by three blocks away," Su Chen confirmed. "S.H.I.E.L.D. resources, responding to an anonymous tip about a trafficking operation. They'll provide medical care and processing without connecting this to our network."
"Convenient," Luke observed as he tore cell doors from their frames with casual strength. "You planned this entire operation, including the cover story and official response."
"That's what coordination means," Su Chen replied. "Now get the captives out. I'm detecting additional Hand presence in the basement level—something they were guarding more carefully than the surface operations."
"Want me to check it out?" Luke asked.
"Negative," Su Chen commanded. "Your priority is captive extraction. I'll handle the basement personally."
He moved from his observation position, using his Formation Arrangement cultivation to enhance his physical capabilities while keeping his true power signature suppressed. The approach to the facility was silent, his movement enhanced by techniques that made him effectively invisible to normal perception.
The basement entrance was more heavily secured—reinforced door, mystical wards that pulsed with energy Su Chen recognized from his Perfect World experiences, and two guards who radiated power levels significantly above the standard Hand warriors.
"Elite operatives," Su Chen assessed. These weren't simple enhanced soldiers. They were individuals who'd undergone extensive modification and training, possibly including the resurrection techniques The Hand was known for.
He approached directly, making no attempt at stealth once within their perception range. The guards reacted instantly—one drew a katana that glowed with faint red energy, the other's hands ignited with dark flames that shouldn't have been possible through conventional means.
"Trespassers die," the sword-wielder stated in heavily accented English. "The Hand does not forgive intrusion."
"The Hand doesn't need to forgive," Su Chen replied calmly. "You just need to surrender and provide information about your organization's structure. Comply, and you'll be treated fairly. Resist, and you'll be subdued. Either way, I'm going into that basement."
The guards attacked without further conversation.
The sword-wielder moved with supernatural speed, his enhanced blade seeking Su Chen's vital points in a series of strikes that demonstrated centuries of accumulated technique—literally, if Su Chen's assessment of the resurrection signs he detected were accurate.
But centuries of technique, even enhanced by mystical energy, couldn't bridge the gap between a skilled warrior and someone who'd achieved Formation Arrangement cultivation.
Su Chen's hand moved, and his Supreme Sword Bone activated for a fraction of a second. An invisible cutting edge intercepted the mystical blade, and the sword shattered into fragments. Before the guard could react, Su Chen's palm struck his solar plexus with precisely calculated force—enough to incapacitate without permanent injury, but delivering a clear message about the power differential.
The second guard's dark flames washed over Su Chen and died against his Indestructible Diamond Body—the conceptual defense treating mystical fire the same way it treated conventional attacks. Impossible to penetrate without overwhelming force.
Su Chen closed the distance and delivered a strike to the guard's temple, consciousness fleeing instantly.
"Two elite operatives neutralized," he reported to his team. "Minimal resistance. Proceeding into basement."
The basement door's wards recognized the threat Su Chen represented and flared to life—protective enchantments designed to repel intruders. But Su Chen had studied mystical principles across multiple universes. He understood the fundamental structure of such wards.
His Formation Arrangement cultivation allowed him to inscribe counter-formations directly into reality, disrupting the wards' energy flow and causing them to collapse inward. The door opened without further resistance.
The basement was not what Su Chen expected.
Instead of a storage area or additional holding cells, he found a laboratory—mystical and technological elements combined in ways that suggested collaboration between The Hand's ancient techniques and modern scientific understanding. Cultivation chambers lined the walls, each containing a human subject in various stages of enhancement. Mystical inscriptions covered every surface, and at the center of it all stood a figure Su Chen recognized from intelligence reports.
"Nobu Yoshioka," Su Chen identified. One of The Hand's senior operatives, believed to be centuries old, and reportedly killed and resurrected multiple times. "You're overseeing enhancement experiments personally. This facility is more important than it appeared."
Nobu turned, his expression showing neither surprise nor concern. "You are well-informed, intruder. But information without power is meaningless. You have disrupted a minor operation and believe you have struck a blow against The Hand. You understand nothing."
"Then educate me," Su Chen replied, his Dual Pupils analyzing every detail of the laboratory while maintaining focus on Nobu. "What is The Hand actually doing? These enhancement experiments, the trafficking, the expansion into North America—what's the ultimate objective?"
"We serve the Beast," Nobu stated flatly. "Our purpose is eternal. Your interference is temporary. You will die, be forgotten, and The Hand will continue."
"The Beast," Su Chen repeated, recognizing the reference from intelligence he'd compiled. One of The Hand's mystical practices involved summoning and serving an entity from another dimension—something that granted them power in exchange for service and sacrifice. "You're gathering subjects to feed to a dimensional entity. The enhancement experiments are to make them more valuable offerings."
Nobu's expression flickered—surprise that Su Chen had deduced the truth so quickly. "You understand more than expected. That makes you dangerous. The Hand eliminates dangerous threats."
He moved, and Su Chen immediately understood why Nobu was considered elite even among The Hand's enhanced warriors.
The speed was extraordinary—not quite as fast as Su Chen's full capabilities, but faster than anything purely physical enhancement should have allowed. Nobu's strikes came from impossible angles, his body seeming to teleport short distances as mystical energy propelled him through space.
But Su Chen had fought opponents far more powerful across multiple dimensions. He'd battled Sovereign-level entities, cosmic threats, and beings that could reshape reality. Nobu, for all his enhanced capabilities and centuries of experience, was fighting beyond his weight class.
Su Chen's Formation Arrangement cultivation activated fully, his dimensional masking burning away as he stopped holding back. His speed increased exponentially, his perception expanding to encompass every variable simultaneously. He didn't just react to Nobu's attacks—he predicted them, reading the energy flows that preceded each strike and positioning himself to counter before the attack even began.
"Impossible," Nobu gasped as his most refined techniques failed to land. "What are you?"
"Someone who exists beyond your framework of understanding," Su Chen replied. His hand shot forward, bypassing Nobu's defenses and seizing his throat. Lifting the centuries-old warrior off the ground required minimal effort. "Now, you're going to tell me everything about The Hand's operations in North America. Leadership structure, operational objectives, and most importantly—the location of the dimensional gateway you're using to contact the Beast."
"I will tell you nothing," Nobu snarled, his hands clawing at Su Chen's grip without effect. "I have died before and will die again. Death holds no power over The Hand's servants."
"I'm not threatening you with death," Su Chen said quietly. "I'm threatening you with permanent incapacitation. I can destroy your ability to be resurrected—sever the mystical connection between your consciousness and whatever dimensional anchor The Hand uses to bring you back. Then you'll experience true death, final and absolute."
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in Nobu's eyes. Centuries of confidence, built on the knowledge that death was temporary, crumbled when faced with someone who understood the mechanics of their resurrection and could disrupt it.
"You cannot—" Nobu began.
Su Chen's Supreme Sword Bone activated, generating a cutting edge that existed on multiple dimensional layers simultaneously. He brought it to Nobu's chest, not cutting flesh but severing something deeper—the mystical connection that bound Nobu's soul to The Hand's resurrection rituals.
Nobu screamed as he felt the connection break, felt the safety net he'd relied on for centuries disappear. "Stop! I'll talk! I'll tell you what you want to know!"
"Smart choice," Su Chen said, lowering Nobu but maintaining his grip. "Start talking. Everything about The Hand's structure in New York."
Over the next thirty minutes, while his team completed extraction operations above, Su Chen interrogated Nobu with methodical thoroughness. The information that emerged painted a picture far more extensive than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence had suggested.
The Hand had five fingers—senior operatives who oversaw different aspects of their operations. Nobu was one of them, responsible for enhancement and recruitment. The others controlled finance, mystical research, military operations, and communication with the Beast. Together, they answered to someone known only as "the Master," whose identity even Nobu claimed not to know.
Their objective in North America was expansion—establishing a power base that would allow them to open a permanent dimensional gateway for the Beast, granting it access to Earth's realm. The enhancement experiments were indeed to create more valuable offerings, but also to build an army capable of protecting the gateway once it was established.
"And the location of this gateway?" Su Chen demanded.
"Not yet established," Nobu admitted. "We are still gathering resources and preparing the ritual. It will take months, possibly years. But when it is complete, the Beast will reward the Hand with power beyond imagination."
Su Chen filed away every detail, his mind already processing how this information affected his strategic position. The Hand was a more significant threat than he'd anticipated—not just a criminal organization, but cultists preparing a dimensional invasion.
"Master," Babata's voice cut through his interrogation. "S.H.I.E.L.D. emergency broadcast. Tony Stark's mansion in Malibu is under attack. Initial reports suggest assault by enhanced individuals wearing advanced power armor. Stark's arc reactor technology appears to be the target."
"Obadiah Stane's move," Su Chen identified immediately. "He's using stolen Iron Man technology to eliminate Tony and claim control of the company. Timeline's accelerating faster than I projected."
"Orders?" Babata inquired.
Su Chen made a split-second decision. "Continue monitoring. Don't intervene unless Stark's life is in immediate danger. He needs to overcome this challenge himself—it's what will transform him from an arms dealer to Iron Man. But be ready for rapid response if it looks like he's going to lose."
He turned his attention back to Nobu. "You're coming with us. You'll be detained, and the information you've provided will be verified. If you've lied, the permanent severance of your resurrection connection will be completed. If you've been truthful, you'll be held as a valuable intelligence asset."
"The Hand will come for me," Nobu warned.
"Let them try," Su Chen replied coldly. "That will give me an opportunity to meet more of your organization's leadership. Now move."
The extraction was completed within two hours. Captives were transferred to S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facilities under the cover story of a trafficking bust. Hand warriors were secured and transported to holding cells Su Chen had prepared—facilities enhanced with formations that would prevent mystical escape or resurrection. And Nobu, stripped of his mystical connection and power, was secured in a specially prepared cell where Su Chen could continue his interrogation.
By dawn, the warehouse was empty except for Su Chen's team conducting final sweeps.
"That was more significant than a simple trafficking operation," Jessica observed. "We just disrupted a cult preparing a dimensional invasion."
"Which is exactly the kind of threat our network is designed to handle," Su Chen confirmed. "S.H.I.E.L.D. would have taken months to investigate The Hand properly, and by then the gateway might have been established. We moved fast, struck hard, and extracted intelligence that will allow us to dismantle their entire operation."
"What about Stark?" Luke asked. "I saw the news feeds. His mansion was attacked by someone wearing stolen versions of his armor. Is that connected to what we're doing?"
"Different threat, same pattern," Su Chen replied. "Enhanced individuals, advanced technology, and organizations operating in shadows. Stark will handle his situation. Our focus remains on The Hand. We've identified their structure, captured one of their leaders, and we're going to systematically dismantle every operation they have in North America."
He looked at his assembled team—street-level heroes who'd just conducted a military operation against a centuries-old mystical organization and succeeded. They were proving more capable than he'd initially projected.
"Good work, everyone," Su Chen acknowledged. "You've demonstrated that our network can handle complex threats effectively. This is just the beginning. The Hand will retaliate, other organizations will take notice, and we need to be ready for escalation."
"Bring it on," Jessica said grimly. "I've seen what they do to people. If we can stop that, I'm in for the long haul."
The others nodded agreement, and Su Chen felt satisfaction at how quickly they were developing into a cohesive force.
The harvest continued. And now his network had proven it could face ancient threats and emerge victorious.
The convergence was coming, and Su Chen intended to be ready when it arrived.