Chapter 99: Alexandra's Collection

Other places had not been greatly affected, after all, the distance was too far. Whether it was the remnant power of The Beast or the clash between SHIELD and HYDRA, it could not spread that far. But for the people of Hell's Kitchen, it was destined to be a sleepless night. The Beast's remnant forces, those dissipating soul energies and mental fluctuations carrying an aura of sin and desire, were not truly threatening to those with kind hearts and strong wills. They were no more enticing than the five million dollars right before them, or more likely to drive someone to crime. Yet Hell's Kitchen was different. Here was the stronghold of gangsters, the worst, dirtiest, and most chaotic place in New York's security, where crime flourished everywhere. Now, these crimes had been magnified by The Beast's remnant power, freeing many suppressed desires and giving rise to a torrent of criminal acts. There were gang wars and small-time thugs robbing and stealing. Even ordinary civilians had begun to commit crimes. Maintaining order was the police's responsibility. However, just as SHIELD had become a Hydra branch, the NYPD had long been a branch of Wilson Fisk, that is, Kingpin's forces. Those policemen harbored sinful desires no less than the gangsters. When they too began to commit crimes, who would maintain order? Who would enforce the law? The only good fortune was that heroes still existed in the night. That night in Hell's Kitchen, many had seen the heroes with their faces obscured, or rather, the vigilantes. The slender old man leaning on a cane, the tall woman wielding two short swords, the sturdy man carrying two tactical short sticks, the ghostly knight riding a motorcycle, of course also that chubby fellow. For these suddenly emerging vigilantes, the gangsters felt anger and fear, while most ordinary people expressed welcome. Yet there were also those envious, jealous, or cursing them, for human hearts are the hardest to fathom and the least controllable. No matter what, starting from this night, Hell's Kitchen and even all of New York began to spread legends of the Punisher, the Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Black Void, and the Old Man of the Staff. And not just them. There were many criminals in this world, but heroes were lacking too. When confronted with evil, someone always stepped forward. For example, a private female detective who liked black clothing, liked to drink, and could fly, a bald black man who was bulletproof, a former U.S. Marine who declared, "As long as you are guilty, you die." Of course, Lao Wang did not care about these. Although he had acted as a vigilante, he had little interest in it. Such matters could be left entirely to others. Whether Robbie or Matt, they would be very happy. Even that Kingpin who manipulated the NYPD was merely an insignificant small fry, perfect for Matt to practice on. Fighting dungeons and bosses certainly required considering gains. Lao Wang had no interest in touching corpses, after all, the most important and precious five had already been cast into the Heart of Azeroth. But there was no doubt that an organization existing for a thousand years must have vast industrial chains, financial reserves, and hidden treasures in abundance. Old Madam's nest was in China, Uncle Village's in Japan, Suowanda's in Africa, the gangsters' in Europe; Lao Wang was far away. But Alexandra's nest was right in New York, her treasures hidden there. Within reach. Through facial recognition, Skye who had blacked out the NYPD and road monitoring systems quickly located several places Alexandra frequented, including companies she controlled and the villa where she had lived longest. Taking advantage of the night, Lao Wang personally went there. His eyes lit up. From ancient times to the present, no matter how many faces Alexandra changed or identities she assumed, she was always a Western noblewoman with connections to many historical figures, such as Mozart and Beethoven, Galileo and Newton. As a noblewoman, she naturally carried the demeanor and taste of one. She had a dedicated room for collecting antiques, quite large, with more than one, filled with fine things. Beethoven's manuscripts, Stradivarius violins, Van Gogh's famous paintings, Wang Xizhi's authentic works. In addition to these were name wines aged for many years, limited-edition name teas, precious name flowers, million-dollar evening gowns and undergarments, ancient records and DVDs. These things were hard to assess in value. The Lao Wang who had been at the bottom of society in both lifetimes could only be sure they were very valuable. Many people in this world were not so conspicuous, not listed on the Forbes rich list, nor owning many companies or stocks, yet that did not mean they truly had no money; their wealth simply existed in another form. If truly evaluating wealth, Tony Stark did not count for much, and even Black Panther might not be the richest in the Marvel Earth. Let alone other matters. The artifacts of Kamar-Taj and the Three Temples could not be exchanged for all the vibranium in Wakanda. Alexandra was such a person too. Her wealth was, of course, not limited to these; bank accounts, safes, stocks, holding companies, obtaining them would not be easy. Regarding these, Lao Wang had a complete and perfect plan, and the beginning of it all required the Dark Scripture Laboratory to have certain results, such as brain mapping technology or memory upload technology. With Fitz and Simmons joining, the progress should speed up considerably. Thinking of those two extraordinary young scientists, Lao Wang felt the Dark Scripture Laboratory had a bright future. Directly casting all things into the Heart of Azeroth, Lao Wang waved his sleeves, not taking away a single cloud.

SHIELD's Trident headquarters, the director's office. The long meeting finally ended, Lao Dan rubbed his eyes and yawned. Such meetings were truly boring; the high-level councilors understood nothing of SHIELD's specific operations, their decisions mixing too many political factors and interests, long deviating from SHIELD's original purpose. Lao Dan considered himself an old hand in politics, but dealing with those fellows still left him somewhat weary. Fortunately, Pierce was still helping him. Recalling his immediate superior who had single-handedly promoted him, Lao Dan sincerely hoped he was not a Hydra person, otherwise it would truly be troublesome. For that would mean SHIELD fundamentally was not Hydra, and there was no "Hydra extremist undercover in SHIELD," but rather "brave black man undercover in Hydra, successfully developing a batch of assets," a solid undercover cop-and-gangster film. Too bad. The phone rang; it was Black Widow. Lao Dan took a deep breath, adjusting his voice to a low, magnetic tone: "Say." "The Punisher killed The Beast and the four-fingered, HYDRA has disintegrated, the NYPD has taken over, we have successfully withdrawn, twenty-four people died in this mission, forty-two seriously injured." Black Widow reported. "I will send people to negotiate with the NYPD and take over this matter in SHIELD's name." Lao Dan thought briefly, then said, "Evacuate the injured; you and Agent Barton take people to several places and bring back the things there." He hung up the phone and sent several addresses. These were all locations found with great difficulty, including HYDRA's secret bases and Alexandra's villa, where much fine treasure was hidden. For example, the Resurrection Coffin and Dragon Bone promised by the Punisher, and Alexandra's private collection. SHIELD had tens of billions in anonymous donations every year, enough. But since the day he became director, he had continuously trained secret agents and built secret bases. All of this required money, large sums; even as director, it was hard to misappropriate SHIELD funds without leaving traces, perhaps already clear to the Hydra who controlled him. When SHIELD took over, although much wealth could be obtained from HYDRA, it would not be his. He hoped Alexandra's collection could bring him a surprise. According to existing intelligence, if those treasures were auctioned, their value should not be less than five hundred million. To quickly have five hundred million in the account, Lao Dan's mood instantly improved a lot.