The car window rolled down, letting the cool night breeze brush his face.
Corin looked at the brightly lit clusters of buildings across the river, that was Manhattan's nightscape.
Three or five Hydra agents were of course no match for Corin, but unlucky Baring was hit by stray fire again and met God on the spot.
Recalling the information Baring revealed before dying; it turned out that his delivering a letter to Hell's Kitchen was only Baring's opening move to push his faction into the Crowley organization's heartland.
Unfortunately, before Corin even reached the mission site, Baring, impatient, spread the rumor that Corin was a traitor who also possessed important organizational secrets.
What Baring did not expect was that the organization's fanatical followers hated traitors so intensely that their work efficiency rose considerably.
It ultimately resulted in Corin's desperate counterkill.
With Corin's current strength, he no longer cared about the intrigues between gangs.
But he knew that within the next month a secret vibranium deal would take place in Hell's Kitchen.
Vibranium. The metal in Captain America's shield and also the material used to make the Black Panther suit.
Although that metal was extremely expensive, Corin had no concrete idea for now. The information was too vague for him to extract any useful clues.
One location, however, triggered his deep curiosity; the underground exchange in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan.
It was a mixed, shady place. If you had money, you could get dr*gs, women, narcotics, even arms. Likewise, it was where various capitals issued bounty tasks.
As a bounty hunter, even as a rookie, you at least needed to know where to pick up jobs.
That was what Corin aimed for.
He found that although he had killed dozens, if not a hundred, Hydra agents so far, the only bounty money he seemed to have collected was from the scar-faced man in the black clinic.
From the dull memories of his previous life, Hydra infiltrated all walks of society, even leaving traces in S.H.I.E.L.D., but there weren't actually that many agents who got publicly bountied for doing dirty work.
That made Corin decisively abandon the idea of hunting Hydra agents for bounties.
Speaking of money, an arrogant little mustache flashed in Corin's mind, 'Tony Stark.'
Stark Industries was the world's top weapons developer; the man was filthy rich.
This near-demonic genius didn't seem to have become Iron Man yet.
The two million voluntarily transferred by Baring opened a new door for Corin.
This was absolutely not extortion but a mutually agreed transaction.
"Yes, exactly."
There were now over two million dollars in his account. Although he could redeem some abilities, Corin planned to first familiarize himself with the new job environment before deciding.
With that thought, Corin stomped the gas and the Mustang roared. That had been Baring's favorite sound.
With Dynamic Vision's powerful boost, even a speed surge past 300 failed to unsettle Corin.
The bright red taillights vanished at the end of the road.
———
[Washington]
The Triwing Building stood quietly on a small island, night winds rustling leaves and rippling the surrounding water.
[Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division(S.H.I.E.L.D.)]
A rapid clip of high heels echoed outside the director's office.
The bald, one-eyed black man in a black trench coat, Nick Fury, shifted his gaze from the distant Washington Monument back inside.
"Maria, what's going on?"
Maria Hill efficiently placed the file in her hand on the director's desk.
"Director Fury, it's news from Brooklyn."
Her cool exterior revealed a capable military temperament. After a sentence she fell silent, as if to say, 'The file is there. Read it yourself.'
Nick Fury looked at the poised young woman before him and teased.
"Somehow, my eyes haven't been feeling great lately…"
"Sigh!"
"You know, these many years this one eye of mine has endured a lot."
He had no intention of reading the file himself.
Maria Hill quietly rolled her eyes and opened the briefing crisply.
"Hydra's regional leader in Brooklyn has been taken out."
"What?", Upon hearing this, Nick Fury immediately grabbed the file on the desk and read carefully. His expression turned grave.
"I remember Baring has held Brooklyn for nearly ten years. What powerful figure could take him out? A mutant?"
A photo sat at the end of the file. The man in the picture had East Asian features, black messy hair, deep brown eyes, narrow eyes, refined features with a touch of nobility, that was Corin.
"Oh? It's a young man."
Maria Hill promptly added, "It's Corin Roch, Director Fury. When our people arrived, they found that all Hydra agents at the scene were dead from a single blow, necks broken."
"Baring appears to have died in the firefight. It's estimated that at least a thousand rounds were fired; one wall of the bar was nearly destroyed."
"But no blood, DNA, or other traces of Corin were found at the scene."
"Investigations show Hydra's Brooklyn branch had been hunting Corin recently, claiming he was a traitor in possession of important intel."
"What's interesting is… on the way to the Sunset Fence bar before Baring died, a taxi driver reported being robbed."
"Through questioning and matching, we confirmed it was this person."
Nick Fury put the file down and walked back and forth in the office, murmuring.
"Scorpion Baring. We've been watching him for years. He's taken out by some unknown punk?"
Maria Hill spoke with a serious face, "Director Fury, I must remind you, anyone capable of uprooting a Hydra outpost like this is no ordinary person."
Nick Fury licked his lips and nodded slowly.
"Agent Hill, have the Brooklyn team continue to tail this Corin. I want to know more about him."
———
Corin drove across the famous Brooklyn Bridge and did not rush to the location he had found.
Instead, he checked into a Manhattan hotel, leisurely took a shower and changed clothes.
His battle-damaged suit was already in tatters, and after several fights, he reeked of gunpowder and blood. It made him uncomfortable.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Corin felt his standard handsome face was a bit too conspicuous in New York.
So he flipped through the system shop to see if he could find something to change his appearance.
After dozens of pages, just as he was about to give up, his eyes locked onto a talent.
'Wrong set?', A thought flashed by quickly.
As Corin opened the talent description, he let out a long "Ohhhh!"
[Evening Masked Tuxedo → No-Form Mask, 100,000 dollars]
[Description: When you wear the mask, you will become the noblest prince under the stars, suitable for hiding identity and appearance.]
"Exchange!"
After waiting a while with no noticeable change, he opened his panel in puzzlement.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Name: Corin Roch]
[Age: 28]
[Physical Fitness: 9]
[Current Account: 1,901,380 dollars]
[Existing Talents: Sub-Wolverine-level Recovery, Dynamic Vision Lv.1, Jeet Kune Do Mastery, Physical Enhancement Lv1 (2/5 stacks), No-Form Mask]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
The new talent was clearly listed.
He asked the attendant for a half-covering masquerade mask and prepared to test the new talent.
After putting on the mask, Corin immediately felt his aura shift.
Looking in the mirror, his entire body exuded an eerie charm; the eyes beneath the mask seemed noble and wicked.
He had become every woman's poison.
"This… is a bit too handsome."
He accepted the talent with a wry smile. Since it hid his appearance, being extra handsome was fine.
———
Back on the streets of Manhattan, a crisp suit and an English-style overcoat made Corin look dashing.
Girls attending parties turned to look.
He touched the mask in his pocket and, guided by memory, walked in a direction.
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