"Did you know?"
Shiratori Riku sounded relaxed, as if chatting over drinks with Kingpin.
"I can hear your heartbeat speeding up and see the cold sweat beading from your pores."
His fingers tightened. The forged-steel cane flattened like putty.
"You are afraid."
A flash of terror crossed Kingpin's eyes, gone in an instant.
He released the cane, stepped back, and pressed something on his wristwatch.
"You think this is over? There are hundreds of fully armed guards in this building..."
Riku appeared in front of him, fast enough to seem like teleportation.
He gripped Kingpin by the throat and lifted the four-hundred-and-fifty-pound giant with ease.
"Sorry, I..."
Riku paused, turning his head toward the window.
"Unexpected guest. Did my flight give me away?"
"No, that is not it. It must be this."
He reached into his pocket and took out the palm-sized reactor he had built in the Creation Workshop.
"At first you were useless to me, but your words just now reminded me."
"I hate trouble, and you happen to be perfect for solving most of it."
"So I have decided. I grant you a new purpose. Accept the mercy of a god."
Violet light flickered in his eyes.
God's Ten-Billion Power surged. Riku sculpted a game virus unknown to this Marvel world and rammed it into Kingpin's body.
"Ah!"
Kingpin screamed, writhing uncontrollably.
Glitchy game-screen effects flickered across his body, strobing on and off.
Seconds later he went still. Riku let go, and the man collapsed bonelessly to the floor.
"Game over."
With that chime, the human identity known as Kingpin formally died.
A few seconds passed. The man on the carpet rose to his knees and bowed his head with reverent devotion.
"Master."
Riku nodded, pleased, and waved a hand.
"You know what comes next. Clean this place up. I am expecting a visitor."
"Yes."
Kingpin summoned staff, cleared the corpses, and withdrew.
Riku sank into the boss chair, comfortable and at ease.
Kingpin's fawning obedience was no mystery. Riku had injected him with a massive dose of game virus.
Even with his metahuman physique, Kingpin could not endure it and died on the spot.
But Riku had not gone to such lengths just to let him die.
In the instant of death, under the joint force of Riku and the virus, Kingpin transformed into a game-born monster - a Bugster.
Once the change was complete, Riku programmed the new being's consciousness like a game character.
Hence the sudden shift in attitude.
As he had said, Riku detested hassle.
He needed a subordinate to handle petty nuisances.
As the underground emperor, Kingpin could sweep away the filth in the shadows and keep strays from nipping at Riku's heels.
Do not be fooled by the death of the human Kingpin.
He was now a Bugster, and far beyond human.
He would not age and would not die, and for that alone he owed Riku a great thanks.
This was a complete-form Bugster, born from fully infecting the human Kingpin.
So long as he was not struck by rule-level or concept-level attacks, he could revive without limit.
He could also teleport at will, and his monsterized body had multiplied in power many times over.
That was the reward Riku had promised.
Aside from coding loyalty to Riku, he added nothing else. Kingpin was still Kingpin.
With the shadow-side hire handled, Riku looked forward to the one on the surface.
A few minutes later, engines roared outside the shattered window.
A red-and-gold figure flew in.
Riku smiled at the man in armor.
"Tell me, the famous Tony Stark, what brings you to my office in the middle of the night?"
Tony was not surprised by the greeting.
In New York, anyone who did not know him might as well be a Martian.
He popped his faceplate, took in the room, then dropped onto the sofa as if at home.
"As far as I know, this tower belongs to Wilson Fisk."
"That is only what your intel can reach."
Riku shrugged, implying Stark's network was lacking.
Tony's face tightened.
He was proud to a fault, and the jab stung.
"You..."
"Enough with the detours."
"You are not here just to chat with an ordinary guy."
Tony fell silent for a beat. He was used to snarking at others, not being snarked at twice in a row with no comeback.
He drew a breath and spoke evenly.
"Fine. I am here with a purpose."
"Not long ago I detected an anomalous energy spike here. Stable and vast."
"I..."