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Chapter 25: Violent Interrogation
"Join us, or we'll enjoy your beautiful wife and daughter first, then throw you in the Hudson River."
"Every member of your Zagan gang has already joined Kingpin. Why are you still resisting?"
Hell's Kitchen was a district in Manhattan near the Hudson River. Now at the riverside docks, a gang member pressed a gun to the temple of another gang's lieutenant—a man named Zagan.
Zagan knelt on the ground, hands bound behind his back. The cold barrel against his temple made it throb. He forced an ugly smile onto his face.
"Once night falls, New York's small gangs always lose a few members mysteriously. Meanwhile, a certain gang collects their resources and grows stronger. You work for Kingpin, don't you, Anthony?"
"Correct," Anthony said, licking his lips. "Hurry up and refuse so I can have some fun with your wife."
Around them, seven or eight of Kingpin's armed men along with a dozen newly recruited former Zagan gang members burst into laughter.
"Go ahead and shoot," Zagan said, grinning. "I got drunk last night and killed them both by accident. I'm sober now, but I'm not planning to keep living anyway."
Anthony's face showed a trace of regret.
"The boss specifically instructed us to avoid killing when possible. He wants to absorb other gangs, not just eliminate them."
"But you're an exception."
Bang!
The gunshot rang out. Zagan instinctively closed his eyes.
He thought he was dead, but his pounding heart told him he was still alive.
"How do you miss with the gun pressed against someone's head?"
That absurd thought flashed through Zagan's mind. Then he heard the repeated sounds of fists striking flesh, followed by an almost continuous chorus of breaking bones and screams.
The sounds told Zagan someone had come to save him.
Zagan opened his eyes and saw only a figure with sharp pointed ears appearing and disappearing in the darkness. Each time it emerged, several of Kingpin's gang members collapsed clutching their stomachs or broken limbs, wailing.
Crack, crack.
The gunfire lasted only a few seconds before being replaced by the sound of fists hammering bodies. A few breaths later, even the screams at the dock disappeared. Bodies lay twisted on the ground—impossible to tell if they were dead or alive.
"What happened..."
Zagan couldn't remember knowing anyone capable of taking down over a dozen armed men in seconds. While he was still confused, a gun extended from behind him, once again pressed against his temple.
"Who, who's there! Come out! Come out now or I'll shoot!"
Though the voice trembled and the hand holding the gun shook constantly, Zagan clearly recognized Anthony's voice.
"You took my gun, but you didn't think I had a second one, did you? Come out now!" Anthony shouted.
He'd suddenly taken a heavy blow and blacked out earlier, but the intense pain had jolted him awake. His first instinct was to use Zagan as a hostage.
"Save me! Save me! I don't want to die!"
Zagan, just pulled back from the brink of death only to find a gun at his head again, felt his survival instinct override his death wish. He cried out for help.
Pfft.
On the pitch-black dock, an extremely faint sound emerged. A strand of black webbing adhered tightly to Zagan's leg.
Then Zagan lost his balance. An enormous force dragged him forward, sending him flying into the pointed-eared figure's fist. He felt nearly cut in half and immediately passed out.
"Huh?"
One second Anthony had a hostage, the next second the hostage flew away. His brain couldn't process this supernatural scene and froze momentarily.
Before Anthony could react, the black shadow vanished into the night, then reappeared directly in front of him.
Still no time to shoot. Anthony felt like he'd been hit by a speeding truck, sent flying. While airborne, something grabbed him and violently yanked him back.
"Ah!"
The scream barely left Anthony's vocal cords before a hand seized his throat. A low voice like a demon's spoke.
"Tell me. Where is Kingpin?"
"Ahhh!"
Anthony was losing his mind. He frantically prayed to God, but the only response was a heavy punch to his face that dislocated his jaw on impact.
The intense pain restored a sliver of Anthony's rationality before drowning him in waves of agony again.
Crack!
Batman gripped Anthony's face and applied slight pressure, popping the dislocated jaw back into place. He asked again.
"Tell me. Where is Kingpin?"
Kingpin had invested in Oscorp. Batman wasn't pinning all his hopes of forcing Kingpin to divest on Black Cat alone. He was also using his own methods to find Kingpin.
"I don't know..."
With his jaw restored and pain greatly reduced, Anthony answered reflexively.
Snap!
This time it wasn't his jaw—one of Anthony's fingers broke. Batman stared at him expressionlessly.
"Speak."
"I really don't know, please," Anthony couldn't help sobbing. "I only know the gang boss is Kingpin. His orders come through different people every day. I've never even seen him!"
"Who delivers the orders?" Batman watched the large gang enforcer cry like a child, unmoved.
"I don't know..." Seeing this demon raise his fist again, Anthony wracked his brain. "Don't, don't hit me! They all have one thing in common!"
"What?" Batman lowered his fist.
"They all wear suits!"
Anthony's answer earned him a heavy chop to the back of his head.
Batman searched Anthony's pockets, found a phone, and called the police before vanishing without a trace.
Over ten minutes later, Manhattan precinct vehicles arrived with sirens blaring.
"Captain Stacy, looks like just another gang shootout," his assistant Auggie said, looking at the gang members sprawled everywhere.
George Stacy said nothing, using his flashlight to carefully search every corner. Finally, he found black webbing on Anthony's chest and Zagan's leg.
"Same as the other incidents. The perpetrator is still that guy whose name and face we don't know." George frowned. "We can't let him keep operating with impunity. Pull surveillance footage from the area when we get back. I want to find out who's doing this."
Having left Hell's Kitchen, Batman slipped into a random office building.
"I need to check all surveillance cameras along my route and delete any footage that might have captured me."
"After dawn, I need to assemble a new computer, then visit Dr. Octavius. Hopefully Otto's emotional state is still stable."
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