Chapter 28: Is This the Famous Hell’s Kitchen?
Some of the streetlights were no longer working, leaving behind only rusted iron poles that leaned crookedly along the sidewalk. And even stranger, there were barely any people passing through this area.
There were no pedestrians running in panic, no cars stopping because of the commotion. Instead, there were only two groups of armed men shooting at each other as if this place belonged entirely to them.
Was this still Manhattan?
Oh!
Wait a second... was this the famous Hell’s Kitchen?
If that was true, then everything suddenly started to make sense. Hell’s Kitchen was indeed known as a place that was far from safe. A neighborhood whose reputation was filled with stories of crime, illegal trades, and violence that often happened without much interference from the law.
On top of that, the area was well known for being filled with gangsters and mafia.
No wonder these people dared to open fire in the middle of the street like lunatics.
So that was the reason they were acting like there was no tomorrow?
Wait a minute... if this really was Hell’s Kitchen, did this world have Daredevil? Wasn’t that guy supposed to appear in places like this?
A masked vigilante who loved interfering in the affairs of criminals.
Wasn’t Daredevil going to show up to stop this chaos?
Hm... What was that?
I narrowed my eyes toward the street, trying to focus on something that felt strange in the middle of the chaos.
Near the location of the gunfight, slightly away from the two groups that were busy shooting at each other, there was a man and a woman sitting casually beside a car parked along the side of the street.
They didn’t even look like they were hiding.
There was no panic on their faces.
Were they crazy?
Bullets were flying around them, the sound of gunfire echoing nonstop, yet they remained seated as if they were simply waiting for someone to arrive.
Wait a second... that man...
I leaned slightly forward from the edge of the rooftop to get a clearer look.
From this distance, the man’s face was starting to become visible.
His skin... was purple.
A man with purple skin.
Was that man a mutant?
A few seconds later, a name flashed through my mind like a spark.
Ah! Right... Purple Man.
Or better known as Zebediah Killgrave.
That strange, crazy bastard.
A man with the ability to control other people’s minds using nothing but his voice. Someone who could make people do whatever that bastard ordered, as if their own will had been completely taken away.
Damn... did that mean the two groups currently shooting at each other weren’t fighting because of some ordinary conflict?
Were they just puppets being forced to kill each other by that disgusting man?
If that was true...
I narrowed my eyes while continuing to stare at the purple-skinned man sitting calmly near the car.
Should I kill him right now?
I immediately restrained that thought.
Killing Killgrave now might sound easy, but confronting someone like Killgrave without a clear plan could easily turn into a massive mistake.
But how exactly was I supposed to deal with someone like him?
If I jumped down from this rooftop and approached him directly, wouldn’t that just be pure stupidity?
I remained standing at the edge of the roof while observing the purple-skinned man from a distance. Down below, the sound of gunfire continued to echo. Bullets slammed into cars and the walls of old buildings lining the narrow street. Occasionally, angry shouts from the gangsters could be heard as they kept firing at each other.
Yet Killgrave didn’t seem bothered by any of it.
Hm... If my memory was correct, Killgrave could directly control other people through the commands he spoke. Once someone heard Killgrave’s voice and received his order, their body would immediately obey him without any ability to resist.
However, Killgrave’s ability does not work from an extremely long distance like Professor X’s.
Besides that, Killgrave also needs to give a verbal command first in order for his victims to be affected.
If that’s the case… then what I actually need to do should be fairly simple.
Close that man’s mouth.
Cover that man’s eyes.
Then I will tie both of his hands.
If that man cannot speak and cannot move freely, then his ability will not be very useful.
Hmm… alright.
It sounds fairly easy if I think about it that way.
Let’s do it.
Ah, wait a second… I suddenly fell silent.
Another thought suddenly appeared in my head.
Wasn’t everything I just remembered only the version from the MCU?
If I remembered correctly, in the comic version, Purple Man’s ability was actually far more dangerous. That man’s power continued to evolve over time.
In several stories, Killgrave could even control people without speaking at all. With nothing more than his thoughts, Killgrave was able to influence the people around him.
There were even stories claiming that Killgrave could influence people from quite a distance.
I let out a quiet sigh.
Not to mention that some versions of the story said Killgrave possessed a strange regenerative ability. Wounds that should have been fatal could recover again, as if Killgrave’s body was unusually difficult to truly kill.
The problem now was… this world was Earth 76.
This was indeed a comic version of the world, but it was not the main universe.
So the question now was fairly clear.
Was Purple Man’s ability in this world just as strong as the main comic version?
Or was it closer to the MCU version, which was far weaker?
While I was still thinking about that, a system window suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
[Daily Mission: Zebediah Killgrave, a mutant who awakened his ability from a young age and was born with a cruel nature. Killgrave murdered both of his parents while still a teenager, and afterward began assaulting various women. Since then, Killgrave has continued committing numerous crimes.]
[Completion Condition: Kill Killgrave]
[Reward: Mind Control Resistance]
“What?” I blinked in surprise. “This time it’s a Skill?”
Usually I only received strange items like the Spider Watch or Spider Robot. Those things were certainly useful, but they were still just tools.
But this time it was different.
The reward was an actual ability.
That genuinely surprised me.
Was it because I was about to face Killgrave?
If I remembered correctly, almost all Spider-Men actually did not have special protection against mind control.
They could still be influenced by people like Emma Frost or Charles Xavier.
Even so, because of their incredibly strong determination and willpower, they were often able to resist or break free from weaker mind control—like Killgrave’s.
So was the system giving me this ability because I was going to defeat that man?
I thought about it for a moment.
Yeah… not bad.
I slowly nodded, then shifted my gaze back toward the distance.
My eyes landed on the purple-skinned man who was still standing casually near the car, as if he didn’t care about the chaos happening around him.
Purple Man stood there calmly, watching the two groups of gangsters exchanging gunfire in the late afternoon. The sound of gunshots echoed loudly between the old buildings of Hell’s Kitchen, bouncing off dull brick walls and cracked windows that had not been replaced for years.
Muzzle flashes flickered repeatedly like tiny bursts of lightning appearing again and again in the narrow alley.
In the middle of that chaos, the purple-skinned man simply stood there leisurely. Killgrave’s hands did not even show the slightest sign of tension. His expression was almost flat, as if the brutal scene unfolding in front of him was nothing more than an ordinary afternoon entertainment that just happened to pass before his eyes.
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