Chapter Thirty-Five: The Frenzied Guild

In the underground chamber, the five fingers of the Hand stood disheveled and covered in dust, their faces contorted with frustration. Were Gu Zhongyan to return here, he would never believe this was the place he had visited so recently. The entire subterranean space was in ruins, debris strewn everywhere. The fact that the chamber had not collapsed was proof of the last vestige of restraint shown by the five. They had all but dismantled the place, yet found no trace of Gu Zhongyan or the Dragonbone. In their fury, the five were forced to admit the truth: their quarry had truly escaped, and they had lost their final hope.

“This can’t be! It’s impossible! How could this happen?” Sokwonda slumped to the ground, his voice hollow, repeating the phrase like a broken record.

Alexandra, her rage barely contained, stood for a long moment before speaking in a low, steely voice: “This can’t be the end. We will find him. Find that sorcerer. Track him down, and reclaim the Dragonbone.”

“How? We don’t even know his name or where he came from,” Gambler muttered, frowning.

“I don’t care!” Alexandra shouted, her anger startling the others—never before had she displayed such fury. “Find him—even if we have to turn New York upside down!”

“Black Void—yes, maybe he’s allied with the Purity Society. He must be. Otherwise, how would a mage know about the Dragonbone?”

“Search! Drop everything else. Dig up every corner, find him for me!”

“But what if we draw the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D…?”

“Let them come!” Alexandra’s eyes blazed red, like a wild beast consumed by rage. “At this point, what does S.H.I.E.L.D. matter? Without the Dragonbone, our souls will be devoured by the Beast. You’ve worshipped it for so long—do you still not understand it? Do you really think it will spare us simply because we’ve served it for years?”

“We have no way out!”

“As long as we can reclaim the Dragonbone—even if everything else is destroyed, as long as we live, a hundred years, two hundred, three hundred—we can always rise again.”

“If we spend four centuries searching for the Dragonbone, then in four centuries we’ll rise anew. What do you say?”

The others hesitated, but in the face of Alexandra’s madness, they could not deny—they truly had no retreat left.

“Damn it, let’s do it. I’ll gather the men right away. If we’re going to die, better to go out fighting than wait for death,” Gambler said, nodding forcefully before storming out.

The remaining three straightened, pledging to exhaust every means to track down Gu Zhongyan and the Dragonbone.

All of this, of course, was entirely unknown to Gu Zhongyan, who had already returned home. He could never have imagined that losing the Dragonbone would drive the Hand to such madness. In his own mind, the Hand was little more than a second-rate organization in the Marvel universe. Even Hydra, which had infiltrated half of S.H.I.E.L.D. and operated globally, dared not act openly, let alone a group whose territory barely extended beyond Hell’s Kitchen.

He assumed that, after losing the Dragonbone, the Hand might stir up some trouble, but nothing beyond their usual antics.

Compared to the Hand, he had far more pressing matters. As mentioned before, his surging magical power stemmed from the Beast’s demonic force. If he wished to fully transform this power into his own, he had to eliminate the Beast and fuse its energy into his newly crafted wand. Using the Beast’s power as the source and the wand as the conduit, he could expand his mind’s sea and unleash magic truly his own.

This was the path he had chosen, distinct from the Marvel magical system. Of course, there was no perfect magical system in the world. Though his path discarded the flaws of Marvel’s, it was not perfect either. Using supernatural energy to expand one’s mind and enhance magic depended on his own magical proficiency. It was like filling an empty bucket: one could pour in water, but the bucket remained finite. Once it was full, if he could not broaden it further, his magical journey would reach its end.

Thus, compared to Marvel’s magic, it was hard to judge which path was superior.

But these were not problems he needed to consider right now. With the wand in hand, his power had grown exponentially. At last, he had the strength to deal with the Beast.

The shrill ring of his phone interrupted his thoughts. Glancing at the caller ID, Gu Zhongyan hesitated a moment before answering.

“Matt? What’s the matter?”

“Shawn, can you come to my place? I think… I need your help,” Matt’s voice trembled on the line.

Gu Zhongyan immediately straightened, sensing something was wrong. “Okay. But can you tell me what happened?”

“It’s the Hand. The Hand has mobilized a massive force, attacking the Purity Society members.”

“Most of them are dead now. I barely managed to save Stick, but his wounds are so severe, even the medicine you gave me isn’t working.”

“I really don’t know what else to do. Can you—can you come help him?” Matt pleaded urgently.

“The Hand? That’s impossible—it’s broad daylight!” Gu Zhongyan glanced out at the sun that still hung in the sky, unable to believe it.

Matt replied, “Sorry, I don’t know what’s happened with the Hand. Ninjas are swarming through Hell’s Kitchen, not bothering to hide at all, moving openly in the streets and alleys.”

“All the city’s news—and even global reports—are covering it now. Hell’s Kitchen has truly become hell.”

Gu Zhongyan’s heart sank. Was this chaos his doing?

Had the loss of the Dragonbone struck the Hand so hard, that they acted in broad daylight? This was far more serious than the turf war between Fisk and Vladimir.

Now, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have to intervene, along with Hydra and all manner of other organizations.

Hell’s Kitchen was about to become the focus of every power’s attention—a focus that could not be underestimated. Gu Zhongyan felt a headache brewing. He sensed that, even after dealing with the Beast, peace would be elusive.

He forced a bitter smile, listening to Matt’s anxious voice. “Okay, okay, Matt, don’t worry. I’ll come right away.”

“Good. But when can you get here? Hell’s Kitchen is chaos, and Stick’s condition is dire. I’m afraid he won’t last much longer.”

“Now!”