Nemo didn’t stay in the private hospital room to recover the whole time. On the fourth day of his hospitalization, he returned to the Grimm Group headquarters for a follow-up check-up. The gunshot wound had healed more smoothly than expected, indicating that the long-range shot from the assassin’s superpower hadn’t caused any negative effects on Nemo’s body. Of course, after the check-up, he still needed to return to the hospital room until fully healed.

Taking advantage of this return to the headquarters, Nemo planned to visit Hako’s daughter, Red Plume. However, Matthew suggested that he first go check on Ms. Jennifer, the Hyena boss, who was under protective detention in the experimental zone.

Nemo’s request to Matthew was to help Ms. Jennifer “turn over a new leaf.” He didn’t think this could be achieved in just a few days, but releasing her immediately would likely result in her being caught by the Kingdom’s avengers. Nemo reflected that he hadn’t considered this thoroughly enough at the time. With the Hyena’s involvement becoming essential for the Christmas gift plan, he decided to adjust his strategy.

“Going through legal channels to hand Jennifer over to the police isn’t out of the question, but it’s basically the same as throwing her into a dark alley. Forget about trial and imprisonment; before even being handed over, she’d be taken or killed by the Kingdom. Jennifer begged me, saying that if I could protect her and her subordinates, she’d do anything for me,” Matthew described the situation when he took in this accomplice.

“That’s an interesting line. She’s not just pleading for herself, is she?” Nemo remarked after another dressing change from the billionaire.

“She didn’t start out in the Hyena business. The vast majority of her career was spent in a legitimate biotech company. After the Meteor Shower Event, her business suffered a severe blow, and the temptation of the superpower market led her somewhat astray. Of course, her actions are inexcusable, and she must pay the price for what she’s done,” Matthew said.

“However, as of now, the ‘group abduction and human trafficking allegations’ do not exist,” Matthew continued. “The Kingdom’s delegates don’t want the families or their own identities exposed, and besides, the Hyena team was killed before they could carry out their plot. Legally speaking, Jennifer hasn’t committed a crime; the police never filed a case, and there’s no plaintiff or defendant in court. She voluntarily sought my protection.” The blonde woman working with Bookstore Owner did, indeed, approach Grimm Group for help at KS Man’s suggestion.

“That’s the awkward part. Her life is now in your hands, but you’re not the judge,” Nemo reflected after a moment.

“You want her to turn over a new leaf, but she needs to have the strength to do so. Jennifer is currently hiding in her room, terrified and frozen, unable to move. She’ll do whatever I ask, completely abandoning her own thoughts. In the end, she’s just an ordinary person with insufficient awareness,” Matthew commented precisely.

“What’s the next step?” Nemo finally grasped Matthew’s meaning. Professional villains, much like their superhero counterparts, are hard to come by. In the real world, only criminal organizations and law enforcement, such as the military and police, undergo such systematic training.

“If you want to use the Hyena, then push her a little! That way, I’ll have a reason to help her out, otherwise, I really can’t be bothered. You were the one who insisted on sending her to me in the first place,” Matthew remarked.

“I thought you might have use for Ms. Jennifer, in terms of intelligence or something else. Besides, she was really annoying when she held Red Plume hostage to fight me. I didn’t want to waste time, and mentioning your name made things much easier.”

“You underestimate me. I don’t need her. First, propose to the Kingdom’s delegate that the hyena team be wiped out. When you let Jennifer go, was that to balance out your guilt? Or did you not want her to die too easily?” the billionaire with golden eyes asked, leaning closer to the curly-haired youth.

“Both, I guess?” Nemo admitted frankly. After all, he took good care of his SAN value. In other words, when doing superhero work, he tried to stay as far away as possible from the abyss of heroism that Matthew mentioned. That was a swirling vortex where the lines between good and evil were all mixed up, and Nemo just wanted to focus on doing the small things he was capable of.

“So, Jennifer’s life is actually in your hands, Nemo. It’s up to you whether she reforms. I’ve taken advantage of the chaos with the Kingdom to at least save her subordinates and business. I’m waiting for you to recover a bit more and figure out what to do.” The billionaire continued, always having a plan.

“I’m afraid I can only have her pay off her debts. Reforming is too difficult,” Nemo said as he took the painkillers and a cup of water from Matthew.

“That was your original request. I’m indifferent to what happens to that woman,” Matthew replied.

“Alright, I give up,” Nemo said, acknowledging his failure.

“I’ve handed you the chips, go place the bet!” Matthew patted the curly-haired young man on the back.

“Thanks. By the way, did you really let Red Plume observe the dissection of the sea giant’s body?” Nemo glared at the billionaire.

“Some researchers discussing Joyce’s superpower remnants accidentally let it slip. They thought the Asian girl couldn’t understand German. I was just as surprised by what knowledge this kid actually has. She kept asking to see samples of the sea giant.”

“She hasn’t been to regular school, so she has more time to focus and specialize in certain areas? For a kid, language doesn’t really have a high threshold; they absorb it quickly. But why did you let her see confidential research?” From his private chats with Red Plume, Nemo learned that Matthew had let the eight-year-old girl see some pretty disturbing things. He had to get to the bottom of it during this visit; otherwise, how would he explain this to Hako?

Matthew shrugged innocently. “What’s the big deal with letting her observe? She was just watching through a screen. The dissection and sampling were done in the Level 4 lab, not in this building. Anyway, it’s just glandular tissue slices, making it hard to tell which creature it came from. It’s much less clear than a whole body. You wouldn’t even recognize what it is. The creature in the frog dissection experiment was still alive! I think that mental shock would be worse. Kids need to develop curiosity about science from an early age. I was doing a lot of research with a scalpel at her age too.”

Don’t expect the billionaire, who never had a childhood, to understand Nemo’s concerns. Even though Nemo was also single, at least he had some common sense! But Red Plume wasn’t exactly an ordinary girl. He needed to check if she had even observed human dissections.

Not that Hako was training her to kill; rather, Nemo speculated that Hako might have taught her various emergency medical skills, which would require knowledge of human anatomy and actual organs. But from what he knew of Hako, Nemo didn’t think he’d let his daughter wield a scalpel herself. This was just Nemo’s instinct.

“I’ll go handle Jennifer’s situation. And just a warning, Matthew, if someone’s daughter is in our care, we’re responsible. Don’t give random advice and it’s not your own child!” Nemo said.

“Oh!” Matthew responded, not really taking it seriously.

※※※

Nemo put on the full KS man suit and went to the room of the voluntary detainee.

“Nice to see you again, Ms. Jennifer.”

“KS man,” the blonde woman muttered his hero code name, her expression complex. This hooded hero had ruined her plans, but also saved her life.

“What happened to the Pole? Is he still alive?” Jennifer couldn’t help herself and asked about the elderly Polish man’s fate.

“He was taken back by the Japanese girl’s father. It’s probably not that easy for him to die. He’s made too many enemies with superpowers, and he knows too much. His remaining value is being slowly drained and negotiated.” Nemo said, watching Jennifer’s eyes grow even more frightened.

“I have good news and bad news for you. Which one would you like to hear first?”

“Bad news.”

“Matthew Grimm just told me he doesn’t need you.”

“And the good news…” Jennifer trembled, staring at the superhero in front of her. Since he was a hero, he surely wouldn’t stand by and watch her get taken by the underground organization, right?

“The good news is that I need you and your hyenas. But I hope you want to do this too, like some kind of volunteer work. Aside from temporary security guarantees, we won’t provide any compensation.”

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

At this point, Jennifer would agree to anything that could help her survive one more day. She didn’t want to die. Since she was a young girl, she’d harbored hatred that had pushed her to climb higher, to escape that dark memory that made her sick.

Nemo handed her a Bible with a bookmark.

The blonde woman opened it, and the bookmark stopped at a passage in the Gospel of Matthew. She stared at it for a long time before suddenly laughing, bending over, tears streaming down her face. Jennifer promised she would unconditionally make the Hyenas cooperate with KS, helping religious personnel “strengthen faith” and doing good deeds like that, which she could do endlessly until her death.

“What do you need me to do?” Jennifer’s laughter turned into a near-screech, and then, in a hoarse voice, she asked.

It seemed that this strong woman had never had a safe childhood, Nemo thought to himself.

“Set up secret clinics at locations in the states I specify. Before Christmas, I’ll send some wolves in sheep’s clothing over. You’ll be responsible for making sure they can stand up and hold a secret Christmas Eve mass or sermon after their surgeries. If it goes smoothly, I hope this practice becomes a tradition, regardless of denomination or nationality.” KS man spoke slowly, his clear, emotionless voice almost sounding like a beautiful chant from a choir.

The blonde woman knelt, hands clasped, bowing her head. She remained still as if in pain, a posture resembling prayer—or a form of receiving punishment—but she didn’t utter a single word of repentance.

“You need to stand up now, Ms. Jennifer. I won’t wait for you to be ready,” the KS man said, turning and leaving.

※※※

Nemo had never hosted an event in his life. He was the type to skip everything from welcome parties to the Teacher Appreciation Banquet, a true oddball. He couldn’t understand why the class activity group was always so enthusiastic during school anniversaries, holding late-night meetings to make props and posters. Now, he finally understood that when it comes to fate, it’s not about it not coming; it’s simply that the time hasn’t arrived yet.

The sponsors are secured, the booth staff is ready, and an assistant to help with moving goods is still needed. After spending half his life in solitude, Nemo suddenly realized just how useful human connections can be.

KS man arrived at the edge of the blockade line, on the rooftop of an old abandoned apartment building he had once called a safe midway rest stop, to meet the currently most influential duo from the Northern District Seven of the Kingdom’s delegate in Lone Star City.

“Is your gunshot wound healed? Aren’t you afraid of us taking you down one-on-two?” Steel Fist, as usual, greeted with trash talk.

“By your logic, Red Plume has always been in the hands of the Grimm Group,” KS man countered smoothly, causing Steel Fist’s ears to get a painful twist from Hako, he cried out in pain.

“Why don’t you kick me anymore?” the man in the leather jacket asked with a resentful tone, as that would have been less painful.

“Don’t joke about the safety of my daughter,” Hako replied, feeling he had been a bit too indulgent with his partner. Originally, an ordinary person should have been his subordinate or assistant, but whenever Hako had free time, he would focus it on his daughter, leaving the task of establishing authority and managing their territory entirely to Steel Fist. He couldn’t be bothered with Steel Fist pretending to be the partner, and unconsciously, this guy had truly become his partner.

“KS, I can tell from your subtle body movements that your gunshot wound hasn’t fully healed. That wasn’t a regular bullet, you should stay in a safe location and continue your recovery.” Hako, also known as Crazy Doctor Asian, was an ability user of transparent shield barriers, but he did possess professional medical skills and was even a polymath across different medical fields.

Hako had personally felt the power of an armor-piercing bullet smashing through his two layers of shields from a distance, piercing through the metal plate in KS’s bulletproof vest. The piercing power and explosion sound still made him shiver when recalling it. KS’s courage to meet with the North District Compression Killer despite his injury was also quite something.

“Don’t worry, I walked up the stairs to get here and will walk down the stairs when I leave.” Nemo never jeopardized his own health; the injury he sustained wasn’t life-threatening, meaning KS man was still a lethal force. This was also a consistent complaint from Matthew and Tolya. Nemo’s appearance and behavior were indeed very deceptive; when his health bar is just one notch short, he acts all cautious and precious, like he's about to break.

In an emergency, KS man was still capable of fighting, and if Steel Fist tried to ambush him from behind while he was descending the stairs, there was a good chance this quick-reacting superhuman would impale him with a Ryukyu Sai and turn him into a grilled meat skewer. Since KS wasn’t in top shape, his terrifying little gadgets were only going to increase, and he even had unseen backup. After having one of his beloved cars blown up without learning his lesson, Steel Fist would definitely soon lose a second one.

Hako seriously considered the possibility of implementing a dictatorship policy of giving Steel Fist food stamps instead of salary.

The hooded superhero calmly said to the shirtless youth, “I’m just here to inform you that Joyce will need more time to recover to the point where she can live independently. This issue couldn’t be solved in just a few days. It can only be replaced by a more solid friendship bond instead of the soul bond formed by the suspension bridge effect. The trust and understanding of others are rare opportunities, and their becoming friends is also beneficial for Red Plume’s personal growth.”

“She has never interacted with mature women since birth and never mentioned wanting a mother,” the Japanese said.

In any case, having connections with rare healing-type superhumans was certainly not a bad thing for his daughter, and Hako had also been meticulously planning in this regard.

“You’ve done well as both father and mother. Some people are worse off with both parents around than without them,” Nemo generously praised.

“That’s true,” both Hako and Steel Fist agreed with Nemo’s comment, especially the latter part, which struck a chord with everyone present.

“Of course, if you’re in a hurry to take your daughter home, that can be discussed, but I’ve never heard Red Plume say she wants to go home.” Red Plume was also very attached to Nemo, but he wasn’t recuperating in the Grimm Group’s facilities after being shot. Instead, Nemo was chatting with the little girl through forums and text messages, helping to distract her from her obsession with Joyce.

“Red Plume told me that you showed her the sea giant dissection research and also gave her a remote tour of the large water tank where the Green Researchers live.” Hako’s expression seemed to ask if this is appropriate biological education content for an eight-year-old girl.

“So?”

“Then, can she stay a little longer? I’ve been a bit busy with negotiations recently,” Hako asked pragmatically. Free information was something that shouldn’t be passed up, especially since father and daughter would have long phone conversations every night. Sometimes, you could even hear researchers seriously reminding the girl in the background that information not meant for the public shouldn’t be shared with family members, rather than just cutting off the call.

One could only say that the Grimm Group was full of magical people and things, surprisingly quite suitable as a daycare center.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for the little girl to be away from her guardian for too long. It’s true that the scientists at the Grimm Group pamper her, but they have no common sense. You’re just the same. Red Plume’s never been to school and hasn’t been tricked or bullied by anyone, has she? It’s because she didn’t have any friends before! The day educational theory loses to life’s unexpected twists, you’ll be burning the candle at both ends. This time, her kidnapping is a lesson.” Nemo wasn’t convinced. “She can ‘pretend’ to be an eight-year-old child, but Red Plume is truly only eight. If she has to act like a child, then it’s the father’s fault for being so useless that he can’t even find her a few peers on the same level.”

“I’m not expecting her to be normal. Health and strength are more important, after all, the whole world has gone mad.” Hako was never a traditional parent.

“What I’m saying is that expert evaluations say your daughter is quite normal. She enjoys new environments and new friends, but she will also miss her twisted, murderous father. But your karmic baggage is too heavy to get into the Grimm Group. You should really think about that. Also, the favor you owe me, I need to cash in on it now.”

“Fine, you put up the conditions, I don’t like owing people either.”

“I need help with kidnapping a grown man, someone strong, skilled in the business, hardworking, and willing to work for about a month straight.” Nemo looked at Steel Fist.

“No problem, Steel Fist will be your man.” Hako said without batting an eye.

“Wait, did I just hear ‘kidnap a grown man’ and ‘for a month’?” The man in the leather jacket repeated, incredulous. “Such an exciting thing, I can’t miss this! Count me in!”

“The actual operation will wait for my notification. I’m not so heartless as to take people away while you’re all busy. The workload between single missions can be adjusted, so it won’t take up all of Steel Fist’s time. You’ll still be able to make good use of his free time, Hako.”

“So my vacation’s ruined? No!” Steel Fist let out a tragic wail. It was clear he was hoping to use this as an excuse to avoid some troublesome work.

“It’s probably going to be busy until after Thanksgiving. Steel Fist, do you practice a religion? If not, it probably doesn’t matter. After all, you freelancers can take time off flexibly whenever you want,” Nemo said.

“My parents are overly devout, so my answer is: Screw Jehovah and the Messiah! I only believe in myself.” Steel Fist cursed loudly at the sky.

“Good,” KS man said as he left through the stairwell.

After KS man had been gone for a full five minutes, Steel Fist suddenly snapped out of it.

“I can’t believe I forgot to ask him who we’re kidnapping.” It was all because the superhero had made such a huge contrast with his criminal declaration that Steel Fist got carried away and didn’t think of anything.

“From KS’s tone, it’s not just one person; it’s a group of them. He became even more restless after getting injured.” Hako chuckled softly.

“With his way of doing things, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day he’s kicked off the superhero rankings and joins our kingdom.” Steel Fist said.

Bookstore Owner, who had suffered numerous attacks from KS, noted that no other delegate from the Kingdom had the same level of insidiousness as this ninja superhero.

“I think that’s the one thing that’s absolutely impossible,” Hako said slowly.

“Why?” Steel Fist was unconvinced.

“Because the one who made KS into a superhero isn’t in the Kingdom, but standing at a much higher level.”

“Tch! Over here, because the ‘king’ hasn’t shown up yet, we have to watch the factions above us mess things up. I really hope the one who wins and becomes the ‘king’ isn’t from those groups. None of them are someone I look forward to. Even our own boss, he could’ve joined the elders’ circle, but he voluntarily stayed in the middle ranks. I don’t know what he’s thinking.” Steel Fist lowered his voice to complain.

“At least our boss doesn’t want to be king. You can be sure of that. He’s said that a ‘king’ must be someone worthy of your and my following—an eternal existence. It feels like he’s brewing some very interesting plot, and he won’t be jealous of his subordinates’ talents or complain about everything. That’s why I decided to join him under his protection in Lone Star City.” Hako calmly gazed at the night sky.

“Clearly, no other boss was willing to take in a lunatic like you who activates the juice maker at the slightest provocation. Only our boss doesn’t mind.” Steel Fist accidentally let the truth slip.

“I’ll tell KS the favor is half off and that he’s welcome to take his time.” Hako’s dark eyes locked onto his companion, the same way one eyes discounted items at a Japanese supermarket, sending a chill down Steel Fist’s spine.