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Watching Damon sleep soundly after surgery, Jimmy let out a quiet sigh.
"From now on, you really need to be more careful," he muttered. "This isn't a movie."
In the real world, villains did not stay neatly separated into their own stories.
They crossed paths. They overlapped.
After meeting his friendly neighborhood Peter, Jimmy had not fully realized it yet.
But seeing Damon nearly killed by Bullseye finally drove the point home.
He could not afford to relax.
This was reality, not cinema.
One moment you could be fighting Abomination.
Next, a sewer grate might burst open, and Lizard could come crawling out.
Jimmy turned back to the girl.
"Mindy, you don't have to keep watch here. That room over there is yours, You can sleep there."
He softened his voice.
"Damon is fine, In ten days or so, once the wound heals, he'll be up and moving again."
Mindy McCready shook her head.
"I want to stay here with my dad."
Jimmy paused, then nodded.
"All right... I'll get you a bed."
Convincing her was pointless, Jimmy went to find one instead.
Fortunately, Mindy was still small.
A simple single bed would be enough.
…
"Morning, Jimmy."
"Morning, Damon."
They exchanged greetings.
Jimmy could not help thinking that Damon was fundamentally unsuited to being a superhero.
He trusted people too easily.
Even when he trusted good people, that trust could still be exploited.
And not every action taken by a good person led to good results.
Although he was no longer a police officer, Damon still judged peopleas if he were one.
Once he decided someone was good, he assumed everything they did must also be good.
Clearly, both Jimmy and Yinsen had already been categorized that way.
"Damon," Jimmy said, watching him carefully, "are you planning to start again?"
"Maybe," Damon replied. "Mindy hasn't begun training yet, I can't finish this revenge alone."
Jimmy rubbed his forehead.
"Maybe… you could try the legal route."
Damon snorted.
"To hell with the law. Laws are written for the poor And I'm clearly not rich."
Jimmy's tone sharpened.
"Then what's your plan? The man who injured you wasn't ordinary. A casual attack nearly killed you. If you keep going, you'll run into him again."
He paused.
"Do you think you'll be that lucky next time?"
Jimmy sighed.
"And Damon, I'm saying this honestly. You're not suited for revenge missions. You're an excellent investigator. You understand tracking and patterns, but revenge is not your strength."
Damon fell silent.
Once, he might have argued.
Now, he was no longer sure.
Bullseye's casual strike had shaken him deeply.
It planted a dangerous thought.
Maybe it would be better to leave.
Accumulate resources.
Train Mindy properly.
Then return.
…
"Damon," Jimmy said slowly, "if possible, I think you need a team."
He continued before Damon could interrupt.
"Focus on what you're good at. Leave what you're not good at to people who are."
He glanced toward Mindy's room.
"That way, Mindy would also have a better environment to grow up in."
Damon frowned.
"What are you getting at?"
Jimmy smiled.
"You already know what I can do. I have some experience when it comes to fighting."
He spread his hands.
"You want revenge, I want to punish evil. Make sure every crime is answered for."
His expression turned serious.
"But I have zero experience cleaning up traces, zero."
He looked Damon in the eye.
"So, how about this? You teach me how to erase evidence. I help you get revenge. And we clean up the streets along the way."
Jimmy paused, then added lightly.
"If you agree, we can dig a base under my warehouse."
"No," Damon said firmly. "You shouldn't get involved. Yinsen is a good man, You can't drag him into this…"
"No," Jimmy replied, meeting his gaze. "Some things have to be done by someone."
Damon studied Jimmy's expression for a long moment, then looked away.
"Then you'll need training," he said quietly.
"That's a given," Jimmy answered.
To be honest, Jimmy did not think much of it.
Damon's training was designed for ordinary people.
For him, it barely counted as a warm-up.
…
Jimmy listened as Damon lectured.
Today's topic was trace elimination.
How to ensure the police could not find even the smallest clue.
How to confuse footprints.
How to avoid leaving fingerprints.
How to erase presence.
…
"All right," Damon said at last. "That's enough for today. I need to pick up Mindy. School's over."
Jimmy watched Damon pack his things, then took out his phone.
"Yinsen? Damon has something urgent today and can't leave. Can you help pick up Mindy?"
Damon started to object, but Jimmy raised a hand to stop him.
Yinsen agreed without hesitation.
Although Yinsen had little fondness for Damon, especially after learning what he had been teaching Mindy, he was always gentle with the girl.
He even invited her over for meals from time to time.
"Oh, great," Yinsen muttered before hanging up. "An irresponsible father. Fantastic."
"What do you mean by that?" Damon asked, a flicker of excitement buried deep in his eyes.
Jimmy shrugged.
"Exactly what it sounds like. I offered to lend you money, You refused. So now I'll help you earn it."
He paused.
"Otherwise, you won't even be able to pay Mindy's tuition."
"I think you still need more training," Damon said.
Jimmy pulled out a gun and checked it calmly.
"Practice while we train," he replied. "You already have a plan, don't you?"
He glanced at Damon.
"Don't deny it. You've been investigating the flour factory nonstop. It's about time to close the net, isn't it?"
Seeing Jimmy's certainty, Damon stopped pretending.
"All right," he admitted. "I found one of Frank D'Amico's factories."
He continued.
"He's taken heavy losses in recent turf wars. He's planning to relocate the operation, probably move out of the city."
Damon's eyes hardened.
"I figured it would be rude not to leave him a parting gift."
"The money won't be much," he added. "But destroying the factory will hurt him badly."
Jimmy nodded.
"Good. Then let's move."
Jimmy picked up his weapon.
Calling it a gun was generous. It was closer to a handheld cannon.
He cared about firepower, not recoil.
Suppressing an AK with one hand was trivial.
Even a Desert Eagle did not cause the slightest tremor in his grip.
Two modified pistols prepared by Damon were holstered at his sides.
Magazines lined his belt.
Two knives were secured in place.
A heavy coat draped over his body like a cloak, concealing everything beneath.
The hood came up.
Damon watched him, then spoke.
"Jimmy, don't you think we should give ourselves names. Like Stark and Iron Man."
He hesitated, then added.
"And maybe a codename for this operation."
Old habits die hard.
The police instinct to name every mission was burned into Damon's bones.
"All right," Jimmy said. "What do you want to call yourself?"
"When I first started," Damon replied, "I thought of calling myself Big Daddy."
"The comic you drew for Mindy?" Jimmy smirked. "I'll admit, your art wasn't bad. A shame Yinsen threw it into the fireplace."
Damon sighed.
"I know, He did it for Mindy's sake. I get that."
His voice softened.
"But I still need to teach her how to survive. If something happens to me, she has to be able to live on her own."
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