# Chapter 8: First Superhero of New York
Daisy looked around the small apartment with curiosity, her eyes scanning the modest living space. "Boss, where's the kitchen?"
"On the right side," Lin Chen replied, gesturing toward a small kitchenette area partially hidden behind a dividing wall.
Daisy disappeared into the kitchen area, and Lin Chen could hear the sounds of cupboards opening and closing, followed by the distinctive hum of a refrigerator door. A few minutes later, she emerged carrying a glass of orange juice, sipping contentedly.
Lin Chen stared at her for a moment, slightly amused by how quickly she had made herself at home.
"Alright then," he said, shaking his head with a slight smile. "You can start working on this old laptop until the new equipment arrives."
He retrieved his worn laptop from a drawer and set it on the coffee table. The device had seen better days—the screen had a slight crack in one corner, and several keys were worn smooth from years of use.
Daisy sat down and opened the laptop, her fingers moving across the keyboard with practiced ease.
After a few minutes of exploration, she looked up with a slightly apologetic expression.
"Boss, this computer's performance really isn't very good," she said diplomatically. "There are many things I won't be able to do with these limited specifications."
"If it's possible, you should provide me with better equipment. I need high-end computer parts. I can assemble them into a system that specializes in searching for encrypted data and tracking real-time events across the city."
Lin Chen nodded. "I already ordered a computer setup. It cost about a thousand dollars and should arrive soon."
Daisy's expression went blank for a moment, then she spoke carefully. "Boss, for the kind of information gathering you're asking me to do—monitoring police frequencies, hacking security cameras, breaking through encrypted databases—I need much more advanced hardware than a thousand-dollar consumer computer can provide."
Before Lin Chen could respond, Daisy had already pulled out her phone and was browsing various electronics websites with focused intensity.
"Let me show you what we actually need," she said, her fingers flying across the screen. Within minutes, she had cancelled his previous order and begun selecting high-performance components: a top-tier processor, professional-grade graphics cards, top quality RAM, multiple solid-state drives, and various networking equipment that Lin Chen didn't fully understand.
When she finally showed him the total, Lin Chen felt his eye twitch slightly. "Twenty-nine thousand five hundred dollars?"
"Actually, this still isn't the ideal setup," Daisy said with an apologetic but determined expression. "If this space wasn't so limited, I would build a complete server rack with multiple machines working in parallel. That would give us truly impressive computing power—enough to break into almost any system in the world."
"But we can use this configuration for now. When we eventually move to a larger facility, we can upgrade the equipment." She smiled sweetly. "Is that okay, boss?"
Lin Chen took a deep breath, mentally calculating how much of his recent windfall had just evaporated. But he recognized that Daisy knew her field far better than he did, and proper tools were essential for the work he needed her to do.
"Fine," he agreed. "Order what you need."
Daisy's face lit up with genuine excitement as she completed the purchase. "The parts should arrive within one or two days. I'll have everything assembled and configured by the end of the week."
Since the new equipment hadn't arrived yet, Daisy had no choice but to work with the old laptop for the time being. Despite the limited hardware, her skills were immediately apparent.
By that afternoon, she had already designed and implemented a preliminary information retrieval system. Lines of code scrolled across the screen as she worked, her hands moving across the keyboard with remarkable speed and precision.
"I've created a program that monitors police radio frequencies, emergency services communications, and various news feeds in real-time," she explained. "It can also access public surveillance cameras and detect anomalous patterns in their footage—things like unusual movement speeds, displays of strength, or energy signatures."
Lin Chen stood behind her, watching her work with genuine appreciation for her skills. Daisy was leaning forward over the coffee table, completely absorbed in her coding, her posture unconsciously revealing her figure.
After a while, Daisy seemed to sense his attention. She looked up at him, then down at herself, and her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
"Boss, what are you doing?" she asked, crossing her arms defensively.
Lin Chen replied with complete sincerity, "Just admiring beauty. It's human nature."
A mischievous smile played across his face. "Besides, beauty should be displayed confidently. Your boss isn't exactly a stranger."
Daisy took a deep breath, straightened her posture with exaggerated dignity, and returned to typing on the keyboard with deliberate focus.
Lin Chen watched for a moment longer with an expression of theatrical disappointment. "Daisy, your perspective is too limited. You should be as broad-minded as your—"
"Boss!" Daisy interrupted, her face turning an even deeper shade of red.
Lin Chen chuckled and headed downstairs to give her space to work. He had learned that teasing his new assistant was surprisingly entertaining, though he made a mental note not to push things too far.
About an hour later, Daisy's voice called down from upstairs. "Boss! I've completed the first generation model of the retrieval software!"
"From now on, I can monitor the situation across New York in real-time. I should be able to find the battles you need as soon as possible."
Lin Chen's expression brightened considerably. "Excellent work."
He returned upstairs to find Daisy's laptop screen divided into multiple windows, each displaying different feeds—police scanner transcripts, news alerts, and a grid of security camera views cycling through various locations across the city.
"Then let's start working," he said, settling into a chair beside her.
Daisy's fingers danced across the keyboard, and streams of code appeared on the screen. Camera feeds flashed by one after another, cycling through hundreds of different views across New York.
Data scrolled past in real-time, filtered and analyzed by her custom algorithms.
Ten minutes later, Daisy's eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. "Boss, there seems to be a situation on West 37th Street in Hell's Kitchen."
Lin Chen leaned forward with immediate interest. "Show me."
Daisy tapped several keys, and a specific camera feed expanded to fill most of the screen.
The image showed a man wearing dark clothing and distinctive red-tinted sunglasses rushing into a commercial building.
"This individual is known as Daredevil," Daisy explained, her fingers already pulling up additional information. "One of the upper floors of this building is reportedly a criminal operation—drugs and weapons trafficking. Based on his trajectory and known behavior patterns, he's probably going to confront them."
Lin Chen studied the figure on the screen with recognition. Matt Murdock—Daredevil. A blind lawyer who used his superhuman senses to fight crime in Hell's Kitchen. The man possessed top-tier hand-to-hand combat skills, extraordinary sensory abilities that more than compensated for his blindness, and a physical conditioning that approached peak human levels.
While Daredevil couldn't match the raw power of mutants or enhanced individuals, his skills and abilities were still extremely valuable from Lin Chen's perspective.
"Check the exact address," Lin Chen instructed.
Daisy's fingers flew across the keyboard, and within seconds she had pulled up the building's information and plotted a route map that immediately appeared on Lin Chen's phone.
"I've installed a special navigation app on your phone," Daisy explained proudly. "I can send addresses directly to it, and we can maintain an encrypted voice channel that's virtually impossible to intercept or trace."
Lin Chen looked at his capable new assistant with genuine satisfaction. The investment in hiring her was already paying dividends.
He waved his hand, and a black face mask materialized from his system storage space, falling neatly into his palm. Without hesitation, he walked to the window and opened it wide.
Whoosh!
His enhanced physique launched him into the air in a single powerful leap. He shot out of the window and disappeared from Daisy's sight in an instant, leaving her staring in amazement at his departure.
High above the city streets, Lin Chen moved from rooftop to rooftop with fluid grace, his enhanced strength and agility making the jumps look effortless.
He wore Bluetooth earphones connected to his phone, maintaining the communication channel with Daisy.
"Can you find out what situation Daredevil is walking into?" Lin Chen asked as he leaped between buildings.
"Wait a moment!" Daisy's young voice came through clearly despite his rapid movement.
After a brief pause, she continued with obvious anger in her tone. "These people are dealing in drugs and illegal weapons. Damn it!"
Lin Chen's eyes grew cold behind his mask. Drug trafficking and weapons dealing—the kind of criminal activity that destroyed countless innocent lives. "I'm almost there."
Inside the building, on the eighth floor, a bald man sat in a luxurious office reviewing security camera footage on his computer. When he saw the blind man entering his building's lobby, fury contorted his scarred face.
"Damn it, why is this blind bastard here?" he snarled, immediately pressing an intercom button. "Stop that man! I want him dead before he reaches this floor!"
"Yes, boss!" came the response from multiple voices.
Daredevil moved through the building with purpose, his enhanced senses painting a detailed picture of his surroundings despite his blindness. He could hear heartbeats on the upper floors—many of them, all armed, all preparing for his arrival.
The elevator dinged as it reached the ground floor. He stepped inside and pressed the button for the eighth floor, his expression grim behind his red-tinted glasses.
Outside the building, a figure suddenly appeared on the exterior wall six stories above ground. Lin Chen clung to the brick surface with ease, his enhanced strength making it trivial to support his weight.
"Which floor?" he asked through his earpiece.
In the distance, Daisy's fingers flew across her keyboard, hacking into the elevator's camera system. She watched the floor indicator light up as Daredevil selected his destination.
"The eighth floor!" she replied quickly.
More keystrokes produced a three-dimensional wireframe model of the building on her screen. The eighth floor was highlighted in yellow, making it stand out clearly.
Lin Chen appeared as a red dot on the exterior wall, while Daredevil showed as a green dot inside the elevator.
The 3D map was immediately transmitted to Lin Chen's phone, complete with all the highlighted features.
"I've marked the eighth floor and tagged Daredevil as green," Daisy explained. "The layout shows multiple rooms on that level."
Lin Chen pulled out his phone briefly to review the map. "This is incredibly convenient. Good work."
He studied the layout and identified a window that led directly into one of the rooms on the eighth floor. Moving with spider-like agility, he climbed up the building's exterior until he reached the correct window.
Taking a brief moment to observe the interior through the glass, Lin Chen saw exactly what he expected—a room full of armed men pulling weapons from storage cabinets, clearly preparing to ambush Daredevil when he emerged from the elevator.
Without hesitation, Lin Chen smashed through the window in a shower of glass.
Thud!
He landed gracefully in the center of the room, glass fragments falling around him like glittering rain.
Every person in the room froze, staring at the masked intruder who had just crashed through their eighth-floor window as if it were a ground-level entrance.
The burly criminals looked at Lin Chen, taking in his mask and casual stance.
Their expressions shifted from surprise to confusion to hostile intent.
Lin Chen looked at the assembled criminals and coughed slightly. "Please, continue what you were doing. Don't mind me. I'm just passing through."
However, his reasonable suggestion was not well received.
"Who the hell is this?!" one of the criminals shouted.
"Sh*t!
Kill him!"
another yelled, raising a machete.
The weapons came up—knives, pipe rods, even a few firearms—as the criminals rushed forward as a group.
Lin Chen sighed heavily. "You really don't understand reasonable conversation. Isn't it better to live for a few more minutes?"
Despite his philosophical objection to unnecessary violence, Lin Chen wasn't particularly troubled by what was about to happen. These were drug dealers, women traffickers, arms traffickers—people who had chosen to profit from the suffering of others. If they encountered justice in his hands rather than Daredevil's, the world would be no worse for it.
The first man reached him, machete raised high and glinting in the fluorescent light.
Lin Chen's hand shot out with blinding speed, catching the man's throat before the blade could descend. The criminal's eyes widened in shock as he tried to comprehend how his target had moved so impossibly fast.
Crack!
Lin Chen's fingers tightened, and the man's neck broke cleanly.
The body dropped to the floor before the other criminals fully processed what had happened.
Then Lin Chen moved like a storm through the room.
His enhanced speed made him appear as little more than a blur.
Each motion was economical and precise—grab, twist, snap. Bodies fell one after another, their weapons clattering uselessly to the floor.
Several criminals managed to slash at him with their knives, but Lin Chen didn't bother dodging.
The blades struck his enhanced skin and simply bounced off, unable to penetrate his superhuman durability.
He caught the attackers' wrists, snapped their necks with clinical efficiency, and hurled their bodies against the wall with bone-shattering force.
Through her camera access, Daisy watched the scene unfold with a mixture of horror and awe.
Her hand flew to her mouth as she witnessed her new boss systematically eliminate an entire room of armed criminals with terrifying ease.
"Oh my God," she whispered. "What kind of monster did I agree to work for?"
The remaining criminals were paralyzed with terror, having just watched their companions die in seconds at the hands of what appeared to be an unstoppable killing machine.
Crack! Crack!
Crack!
The sounds continued as Lin Chen finished his work with brutal efficiency. Within less than a minute, every criminal in the room lay dead or dying.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The final bodies hit the floor, and silence descended on the room except for the settling of disturbed dust and the distant sound of the elevator continuing its ascent.
Through the camera feed, Daisy stared at the carnage with wide eyes, her heart pounding. She swallowed hard and murmured to herself, "My boss is incredibly powerful..."
She found herself looking at the masked figure on the screen with a mixture of fear and reluctant admiration. "If only he could be more serious normally," she muttered under her breath.
Lin Chen's voice came through her earpiece, causing her to jump. "Hey, little assistant, I'm still on the channel. Isn't it a bit awkward to talk about me when I can hear everything you're saying?"
Daisy's face flushed red with embarrassment, and she made a small noise of protest that was half mortification and half indignation.
After teasing his assistant, Lin Chen moved to the window and adjusted the blinds to obscure the view of the carnage from outside observers. He then proceeded to search the room systematically, opening drawers and checking storage areas.
In a side corridor, he discovered a large black duffel bag. Opening it revealed tightly packed bundles of currency—clearly the proceeds from the criminal operation.
Without hesitation, Lin Chen stored the bag in his system's dimensional storage space and was preparing to leave when his enhanced senses detected something moving toward him at high speed.
He turned and caught the projectile easily—a metal billy club that had been hurled with considerable force and accuracy.
Standing in the doorway was Daredevil, his red-tinted glasses reflecting the fluorescent lights. The blind vigilante's enhanced senses had clearly detected Lin Chen's presence, though he couldn't have "seen" the carnage in the traditional sense.
[DING! DETECTED: Combat Skills +2.5 from master martial artist]
[DING! DETECTED: Sensory Enhancement +0.8 from supernatural perception]
[DING! DETECTED: Mental Power +0.4 from enhanced concentration and willpower]
[DING! DETECTED: Strong Perception Ability]
[Daredevil's Strong Perception Ability: Daredevil is blind. Due to personal opportunities, he has obtained a powerful and extraordinary perception ability.
Through his hearing and perception system, he can automatically generate images in his mind.]
Seeing this, Lin Chen's heart bloomed with joy.
Daredevil immediately moved into an aggressive stance and launched himself at Lin Chen, his movements displaying the decades of martial arts training that made him one of Hell's Kitchen's most feared vigilantes.
But Lin Chen didn't move. He simply stood in place like an iron pillar, his enhanced physique making him immovable to someone of Daredevil's strength level.
Daredevil's attacks—punches, kicks, and grappling attempts—all failed to budge Lin Chen even slightly. It was like trying to fight a statue.
After a few moments of futile combat, Lin Chen spoke calmly. "Mr. Murdock, I'm not with these criminals."
Daredevil immediately retreated several steps, putting distance between himself and this unexpectedly powerful individual. His enhanced senses were screaming danger signals, warning him that the person before him was far more dangerous than any opponent he had previously encountered.
"Who are you?" Daredevil demanded, his body tense and ready to flee if necessary.
"Just someone who happened to be in the area," Lin Chen replied. "These criminals won't be hurting anyone else. Consider it a favor."
After a brief but tense conversation in which Lin Chen convinced the vigilante that he wasn't an enemy, Daredevil cautiously withdrew.
Despite his reservations about the masked stranger's lethal methods, he couldn't argue with the results.
Lin Chen moved to the window and, with a single powerful leap, launched himself toward the adjacent building.
He disappeared into the night, leaving Daredevil alone with his thoughts about this new player in Hell's Kitchen.
Back at the apartment, Lin Chen materialized from the shadows and removed his mask. He pulled the black duffel bag from his system storage and dropped it on the sofa beside Daisy.
"Count this," he instructed casually.
Daisy looked at the bag with wide eyes, then carefully unzipped it to reveal the stacks of currency inside.
She began the tedious process of counting, her fingers working through the bills methodically.
Half an hour later, she finally looked up with an expression of shocked excitement. "It's 1.2 million dollars!"
Lin Chen's face broke into a genuine smile of satisfaction. Between his underground fighting winnings, the money recovered from the loan sharks, and now this unexpected windfall, his financial situation had transformed from desperate to comfortable in just a few days.
Meanwhile, in a different part of Hell's Kitchen, a massive man sat in a luxurious penthouse office, reviewing security camera footage from the incident.
Wilson Fisk, known throughout the underworld as Kingpin—watched the masked intruder's brutal efficiency with cold, calculating eyes.
"Find out who this person is," he ordered his subordinates in a voice that promised terrible consequences for failure. "And find out why they're interfering in my territory."
The game was becoming more complex, and new players were entering the board. But Lin Chen was confident that his combination of power, knowledge, and growing resources would keep him ahead of the competition.
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