Daredevil’s true identity was a blind lawyer named Matt Murdock.
When he was young, he was involved in an accident that robbed him of his eyesight, but his other senses became extraordinarily sharp as a result.
His hearing, in particular, was exceptional.
Up close, he could hear the sound of insects flapping their wings.
From far away, he could hear faint conversations taking place more than a dozen blocks away.
He could even determine whether someone was lying by listening to their heartbeat.
Therefore, he knew that what Otto had said was true.
But precisely because of this, he was both shocked and deeply saddened.
He was shocked that Otto could communicate with cats and dogs and use food to hire them to work for him.
And he was saddened that someone so young could remain so calm about killing people.
Even if Otto was merely responsible for disposing of the bodies, being this calm clearly meant he was accustomed to doing such things.
How many times did someone have to do this before they could treat it as if it were nothing?
This time, they had acted in self-defense.
But what about before?
After all, there was no way so many fully armed men had shown up at their door simply because they wanted to rob the place.
If this really was nothing more than self-defense, then why hadn’t they called the police?
Why had they handled the aftermath themselves?
They must have done something shady!
Countless thoughts flashed through Matt’s mind.
He had already classified Otto and his Boss as criminals involved in illegal activities and intended to send them to prison.
But he had no evidence.
So he didn’t immediately take action.
Instead, he tried to probe Otto.
“What do you do for a living?”
“We’re a jack-of-all-trades shop!”
As Otto spoke, he used his right hand, which he had more or less wiped clean, to take a business card from his clothes.
“Whether you need someone to find something, hire a fighter, gather information, transport goods, treat injuries or illnesses…”
“As long as you pay, we’ll do anything.”
“Daredevil, if you ever need help in the future, you can come find us too!”
No wonder they had attracted a group of heavily armed attackers!
Matt understood immediately.
Without showing anything on his face, he accepted the business card and continued questioning him.
“You really do anything?”
“What about things that violate the law?”
“We don’t exactly do everything.”
Hearing this, Matt secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps they hadn’t reached the point of being beyond redemption.
“The Boss is a little…
arbitrary when it comes to business.”
“He accepts jobs he likes.
No matter how much money is offered, he refuses jobs he doesn’t like.”
“It all depends on his mood.”
“…”
Matt fell silent.
He had thought Otto meant that his Boss had some kind of moral bottom line when deciding which jobs to accept.
He hadn’t expected it to be completely based on his mood.
People like this were even more frightening than those without any bottom line.
Because someone without a bottom line could still be guarded against.
But with someone who acted entirely according to their mood, you never knew when they might do something completely insane.
Sure enough, Matt still needed to find evidence of their crimes and send them to prison!
Matt took a deep breath and was about to continue fishing for information when Otto continued speaking.
“Although I said it depends on his mood, I think the Boss actually uses his own principles of conduct to decide whether or not to accept a job.”
“Hm?”
Matt paused.
“Why do you say that?”
“In the past, many people came to us with requests.”
“But whenever the job would make someone feel uncomfortable, the Boss refused it no matter how much they offered.”
“On the other hand, there were some jobs that simply felt right to him.”
“Even if the payment was only enough to buy two hamburgers, he still accepted them.”
“After all that, isn’t it still just based on his mood?”
“No.”
“I think it’s based on morality.”
“Morality?”
“That’s right.”
Otto nodded.
“Although most of our jobs involve illegal activities, they don’t make people feel that there’s anything wrong with doing them.”
“Instead, they make you feel that doing it is actually the right thing to do.”
“Nonsense!”
Matt snapped.
“How can there be anything right about breaking the law?”
“Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing, Mr.
Daredevil?”
“…”
Matt fell silent again.
Yes.
Although he was a superhero—a vigilante—there was no law stating that what he did was legal.
Yet he still believed he was doing the right thing.
The people of Hell’s Kitchen also recognized his existence and hoped there would be more superheroes like him protecting the peace.
And the opposite example was Kingpin.
This underworld emperor had committed every kind of vile and filthy act imaginable.
Yet he appeared before the media as a law-abiding businessman and philanthropist who helped others.
Politicians and ordinary citizens alike showered him with enthusiastic praise and tremendous support.
But what about the reality?
He used the enormous influence granted to him by his identity as a businessman and philanthropist to bind himself to the interests of numerous American institutions.
Through coercion, bribery, and various other methods, he controlled important figures on both sides of the law.
He committed countless illegal and utterly inhumane acts, yet no one dared investigate him.
And even when they did investigate, they could never find anything.
Because everything he did was technically legal.
He never left evidence behind that could implicate him.
The law was the minimum standard of morality.
It was not an absolute creed for determining right and wrong.
The law was a weapon meant to protect the interests of the people.
But it could also become a weapon for certain people to exploit others.
If someone constantly talked about obeying the law, then they were certainly rotten to the core and someone you should stay far away from.
“In any case, if you ever need something in the future, you can come here and give it a try.”
“Maybe the Boss will be interested.”
After saying this, Otto turned around and returned to the shop.
The cats and dogs also dispersed on their own.
Matt remained silent for a while before leaving by leaping across the rooftops.
He didn’t go far.
Instead, he stopped on the roof of a building on the neighboring street and began listening in.
This jack-of-all-trades shop seemed different from what he had initially imagined.
It wasn’t the kind of place that would do anything utterly insane simply for money.
But whether they were truly good or bad, he still couldn’t determine.
So he wanted to learn more.
He activated his radar sense.
Countless sounds poured into his ears as he listened to every movement inside the shop.
But he failed to notice that several birds were perched on the roof of the same building, staring intently at him.
No.
With Daredevil’s abilities, it was impossible for him not to notice them.
He simply wasn’t aware of their significance.
Because he had heard two separate conversations taking place in two different locations.
Four people in total.
“The mission failed!”
“J-Team was completely wiped out.
The target is currently shopping in Midtown and appears to be completely unharmed!”
“An unexpected individual appeared beside the target.
He just came into contact with Daredevil and is suspected of possessing the ability to control stray cats and dogs!”
“The target needs to be reassessed.
Withdraw for now and wait for a new plan to be formulated!”
“Understood, sir!”
…
“Leon’s jack-of-all-trades shop was attacked.”
“There’s a stranger dealing with the aftermath.”
“That person just came into contact with Daredevil.
He’s suspected to be a supernatural individual capable of commanding stray cats and dogs.
The two sides did not engage in any further conflict.”
“That person has the key to the shop and appears to know Leon.”
“Leon has been spotted in Midtown.
The target is completely unharmed.”
“What do we do now?”
“First, find out who the person appearing inside the shop is.”
“Also, send someone to contact Daredevil and find out what they talked about.”
“And investigate as quickly as possible who attacked Leon!”
“Understood, sir!”
…
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