Bruce walked naturally toward Kingpin’s private elevator.
It was concealed exceptionally well.
If Bruce hadn’t thoroughly scanned the entire house beforehand, he might never have found it.
“Nice painting.”
Hanging in front of the entrance was an enormous oil painting depicting gods battling demons.
Its sheer size perfectly concealed everything behind it.
Beside the painting stood a bust of Copernicus.
Bruce grabbed the bust with both hands and, only with considerable effort, managed to twist it to one side.
As the painting slowly rose, a sleek, futuristic-looking elevator door gradually opened.
There was no sophisticated biometric security—only a single switch at the entrance.
Still, based on Bruce’s assessment, an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to move the bust at all.
After all, the man who designed this mechanism was someone capable of lifting a car with his bare hands.
The fact that Bruce could move it at all was a testament to just how exceptional his own physical condition was.
Stepping inside, the elevator doors slid shut automatically.
Other than an Up button, there was nothing else inside.
A moment later, a sensation of weightlessness washed over him.
Bruce could tell the elevator was descending at an unusually high speed.
Even his ears rang slightly.
No wonder someone who had fought Spider-Man for years possessed such monstrous physical abilities.
When Kingpin’s underground complex finally came into view, even Bruce had to admire the fact that Wilson Fisk had managed to carve out such an enormous facility beneath Brooklyn, New York.
That said, Bruce didn’t think much of it.
From every perspective, this wasn’t a place he’d ever choose as his permanent residence.
At most, it could serve as a temporary base.
For Bruce, somewhere like Wayne Manor—with a naturally formed Batcave beneath it—would always be the ideal headquarters.
The underground facility wasn’t cluttered.
Several old-fashioned button-operated cell phones.
A few notebooks.
Several file folders.
And piles upon piles of training equipment.
Everything here demonstrated Wilson Fisk’s deep distrust of modern technology.
Bruce remained perfectly calm.
Someone like Wilson Fisk would never leave electronic devices in his secret headquarters—anything that could potentially be hacked.
Besides, from Bruce’s understanding, nearly every Spider-Man was something of a technological genius.
Bruce casually picked up one of the notebooks.
As he flipped through its pages, he immediately recognized many familiar names.
Only after seeing its contents did Bruce truly understand how Wilson Fisk had risen to such heights.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say he had nearly come to rule New York City.
Every influential figure in New York seemed to appear in this notebook.
The Mayor of New York City.
The Commissioner of the NYPD.
Members of the New York City Council.
Bruce set down the notebook—a ledger capable of making New York’s entire leadership tremble—and picked up the one lying beside it.
This notebook recorded a different group of people.
The bosses of New York’s criminal underworld were all listed inside.
Their weaknesses.
The locations of their secret hideouts.
Even the locations of the factories they used to generate illegal profits had all been meticulously documented.
If Wilson Fisk ever decided to flip the table and bring everything crashing down, these notebooks alone would be enough to throw all of New York into complete chaos.
And Bruce had every reason to believe that if Kingpin had gathered this much evidence…
Then these notebooks couldn’t possibly be all he possessed.
Bruce closed the notebook.
He decided not to investigate further for now.
These records would undoubtedly prove useful, and he intended to take them with him—but not yet.
Since the notebooks clearly had nothing to do with money…
What surprises might be waiting inside the folders?
The contents truly were a pleasant surprise.
Inside were large quantities of bearer bonds, along with records of Kingpin’s various financial accounts.
Everything pointed to one conclusion.
Bruce had found exactly what he was looking for.
Still, unwilling to risk overlooking anything, he opened the remaining folders.
Two more contained additional bearer bonds.
But the contents of one folder made Bruce’s eyes narrow in surprise.
“S.H.I.E.L.D.?”
That’s right.
Inside was a roster of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents operating in New York.
And it was astonishingly detailed.
Each agent’s rank.
Position.
Even whether an agent preferred hamburgers or hot dogs was carefully recorded.
Every detail was there.
Ordinarily, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent roster would be classified at the highest level.
Bruce refused to believe Kingpin himself possessed an intelligence network capable of obtaining information like this.
The mere fact that these documents had ended up in Kingpin’s hands said more than enough.
Perhaps the reason Kingpin had become the King of New York was directly connected to whoever had supplied him with these files.
Anyone capable of acquiring intelligence this confidential would have no trouble manipulating a handful of New York’s top officials.
It wouldn’t even require much effort.
Bruce suddenly looked up.
If his suspicions were correct…
Then he was in serious danger.
An organization willing to back Kingpin like this would never simply let him grow unchecked.
People who operated this way always wanted more.
It was entirely possible that Kingpin himself had been living under their surveillance the entire time.
Bruce needed to leave.
Immediately.
What he’d thought would be a simple operation had turned into something far more complicated.
After gathering everything he needed, he immediately began searching for another exit.
Someone like Kingpin would never rely on only a single escape route.
As expected, Bruce soon noticed a hidden flaw in the room’s layout.
There really was another way out.
But just as Bruce was about to leave…
The elevator behind him suddenly came to life.
“They really couldn’t have picked a better time,” Bruce muttered.
He immediately pulled a compact portable Batman mask from inside his suit jacket and covered his face.
Then he melted silently into the darkness.
The elevator doors opened.
Steady red laser beams swept methodically across the room, scanning the surroundings.
A heavily armed, highly disciplined tactical squad advanced forward in formation.
Clad entirely in black, there wasn’t a single marking that revealed what organization they belonged to.
“Find the intruder.”
(End of Chapter)