Chapter 76: The Trail of the Dragon Bone

At the Assassin Brotherhood headquarters.

Smith Doyle returned to the castle with John Wick and Pool. Seeing Helen waiting anxiously for her husband, Smith patted John's shoulder and said:"Go be with your wife. She's probably worried sick after tonight."

John walked over to Helen, and the two embraced. Then Helen turned to thank Pool as well.

Looking at the gathered crowd, Smith said:"The Five Fingers of the Hand are dead. They won't be coming back. Spread the word — I expect the Hand as an organization to disappear soon enough."

When everyone heard that Smith had eliminated the Hand's five leaders, they couldn't help but admire him. Fox spoke up:"God, while you were dealing with the Hand's leaders, they launched an attack here too."

"A large force of Hand operatives and Kingpin's men assaulted us together. But we were ready and killed them all, capturing Kingpin alive."

Hearing the headquarters had been attacked, Smith wasn't surprised in the least. And that Kingpin himself had joined in… he chuckled."Looks like our last target saved us the trouble and delivered himself. That's one less thing for us to do."

"As for Kingpin — see what money and resources you can squeeze out of him, then send him on his way."

Fox nodded and replied:"Understood. We'll take care of it."

Smith then remembered the matter of the dragon bone and said:"Get in touch with Rand Corporation. Have them transfer ownership of that half-finished skyscraper in Hell's Kitchen to us."

"Tell their director that the Hand is gone — they'll cooperate and sign it over."

Rand, having been effectively controlled by the Hand, had a leadership that knew better than to disrespect a victor.

"The dragon bone is buried beneath it. Digging it up is going to be our next major focus."

Everyone nodded — the dragon bone was far too important to take lightly.

The next day.

At the Triskelion.

Phil Coulson once again knocked on Nick Fury's office door.

When it opened, Coulson stepped in and began his report."Director, last night our New York energy monitors detected an enormous and unknown energy spike in Hell's Kitchen."

"Based on our agents' overnight investigation and nearby surveillance footage, we can confirm that Smith Doyle, leader of the Assassin Brotherhood, fought the Hand's five leaders there and won."

As he spoke, Coulson placed a tablet in front of Fury.

Fury tapped the screen and skimmed through the report. It described the Assassin Brotherhood's global bounty on the Hand, John Wick's raid on the Hand's flour factory that lured out the Five Fingers, Smith Doyle's rescue, and the battle.

It also included a summary of the Hand and Kingpin's failed assault on the Brotherhood's headquarters.

Finishing the written report, Fury opened the attached video. The footage, though grainy even after SHIELD's enhancement, clearly showed Smith Doyle descending into the street and unleashing energy blasts at the Five Fingers.

Fury's expression hardened. He ordered:"Upgrade Smith Doyle's threat level to S-Class."

"And have Intel analyze what he displayed. I want a full investigation of his past — every detail, from his childhood to when he first showed extraordinary abilities."

Previously, Fury hadn't seen Doyle as much of a threat — strong, yes, and leader of a powerful faction, but no worse than an enhanced Captain America. Potentially even an ally.

But what he'd seen on the video… energy attacks from his hands, causing devastation rivaling or exceeding grenades? That was something else entirely.

Weapons can be confiscated or detected. But a man who can unleash that kind of destructive power at will… is not easy to contain.

And they still didn't know his limits — whether he could unleash even stronger attacks, or how many he could fire in a given time.

Fury couldn't afford to ignore that.

Coulson nodded:"I'll assign people to dig into his history. The agent embedded in the Brotherhood is also trying to gather intel by posing as a worshipful chronicler of God's deeds."

"And about his rescue of Tony Stark — I was planning to leverage Pepper Potts to get answers. But given what Doyle can apparently do, it seems he truly was capable of pulling it off."

"Also, the Brotherhood has started selling access to their wax bath treatments. Looks like all the lab-building and equipment-buying has made them take money seriously."

Fury considered that for a moment."The wax bath is no match for our own research, but it's still valuable. Secure some slots just in case, and send a few wounded personnel there — test the effects and see if we can reverse-engineer it."

"And what about their research lab? Have we identified the lead scientist or any collaborating teams?"

Coulson shook his head and reported:"So far, no notable scientists are attached to their lab. They haven't even recruited any outside researchers. But on the financial side, Fox has formed several teams to short Stark Industries stock and acquire shares."

"That could be an angle of approach — though we'd need a very capable operative."

Fury thought for a moment and asked:"Indeed. Between Mockingbird and Black Widow, who do you think is better suited for the job?"

Chapter 76: The Trail of the Dragon Bone

At the Assassin Brotherhood headquarters.

Smith Doyle returned to the castle with John Wick and Pool. Seeing Helen waiting anxiously for her husband, Smith patted John's shoulder and said:"Go be with your wife. She's probably worried sick after tonight."

John walked over to Helen, and the two embraced. Then Helen turned to thank Pool as well.

Looking at the gathered crowd, Smith said:"The Five Fingers of the Hand are dead. They won't be coming back. Spread the word — I expect the Hand as an organization to disappear soon enough."

When everyone heard that Smith had eliminated the Hand's five leaders, they couldn't help but admire him. Fox spoke up:"God, while you were dealing with the Hand's leaders, they launched an attack here too."

"A large force of Hand operatives and Kingpin's men assaulted us together. But we were ready and killed them all, capturing Kingpin alive."

Hearing the headquarters had been attacked, Smith wasn't surprised in the least. And that Kingpin himself had joined in… he chuckled."Looks like our last target saved us the trouble and delivered himself. That's one less thing for us to do."

"As for Kingpin — see what money and resources you can squeeze out of him, then send him on his way."

Fox nodded and replied:"Understood. We'll take care of it."

Smith then remembered the matter of the dragon bone and said:"Get in touch with Rand Corporation. Have them transfer ownership of that half-finished skyscraper in Hell's Kitchen to us."

"Tell their director that the Hand is gone — they'll cooperate and sign it over."

Rand, having been effectively controlled by the Hand, had a leadership that knew better than to disrespect a victor.

"The dragon bone is buried beneath it. Digging it up is going to be our next major focus."

Everyone nodded — the dragon bone was far too important to take lightly.

The next day.

At the Triskelion.

Phil Coulson once again knocked on Nick Fury's office door.

When it opened, Coulson stepped in and began his report."Director, last night our New York energy monitors detected an enormous and unknown energy spike in Hell's Kitchen."

"Based on our agents' overnight investigation and nearby surveillance footage, we can confirm that Smith Doyle, leader of the Assassin Brotherhood, fought the Hand's five leaders there and won."

As he spoke, Coulson placed a tablet in front of Fury.

Fury tapped the screen and skimmed through the report. It described the Assassin Brotherhood's global bounty on the Hand, John Wick's raid on the Hand's flour factory that lured out the Five Fingers, Smith Doyle's rescue, and the battle.

It also included a summary of the Hand and Kingpin's failed assault on the Brotherhood's headquarters.

Finishing the written report, Fury opened the attached video. The footage, though grainy even after SHIELD's enhancement, clearly showed Smith Doyle descending into the street and unleashing energy blasts at the Five Fingers.

Fury's expression hardened. He ordered:"Upgrade Smith Doyle's threat level to S-Class."

"And have Intel analyze what he displayed. I want a full investigation of his past — every detail, from his childhood to when he first showed extraordinary abilities."

Previously, Fury hadn't seen Doyle as much of a threat — strong, yes, and leader of a powerful faction, but no worse than an enhanced Captain America. Potentially even an ally.

But what he'd seen on the video… energy attacks from his hands, causing devastation rivaling or exceeding grenades? That was something else entirely.

Weapons can be confiscated or detected. But a man who can unleash that kind of destructive power at will… is not easy to contain.

And they still didn't know his limits — whether he could unleash even stronger attacks, or how many he could fire in a given time.

Fury couldn't afford to ignore that.

Coulson nodded:"I'll assign people to dig into his history. The agent embedded in the Brotherhood is also trying to gather intel by posing as a worshipful chronicler of God's deeds."

"And about his rescue of Tony Stark — I was planning to leverage Pepper Potts to get answers. But given what Doyle can apparently do, it seems he truly was capable of pulling it off."

"Also, the Brotherhood has started selling access to their wax bath treatments. Looks like all the lab-building and equipment-buying has made them take money seriously."

Fury considered that for a moment."The wax bath is no match for our own research, but it's still valuable. Secure some slots just in case, and send a few wounded personnel there — test the effects and see if we can reverse-engineer it."

"And what about their research lab? Have we identified the lead scientist or any collaborating teams?"

Coulson shook his head and reported:"So far, no notable scientists are attached to their lab. They haven't even recruited any outside researchers. But on the financial side, Fox has formed several teams to short Stark Industries stock and acquire shares."

"That could be an angle of approach — though we'd need a very capable operative."

Fury thought for a moment and asked:"Indeed. Between Mockingbird and Black Widow, who do you think is better suited for the job?"

(End of Chapter)

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