On his way back to the apartment, Schiller can clearly feel that someone is following him. The improved vision grants by his spider-sense allows him to see someone staring at him from the opposite apartment building.
The building across from him is made entirely of glass and there is a small window that reflected differently from the others, which Schiller notices keenly.
Choosing Hell's Kitchen is not on a whim. After observing for a few days, Schiller has figured out the routines of the residents in the building.
Most of them are office workers and elite white-collar workers. They are mostly single and has regular work hours, with a fixed circle of friends.
It's easy to live among such a crowd for special agents to find flaws.
On the other hand,Hell's Kitchen is different. Although it is the largest slum and gathering place for gangs in Manhattan, New York, and even the entire United States.It had a high population density , a large flow of people. There are also many small and large gangs nested there. And It is the perfect place for Schiller, an outsider who wanted to confuse and deceive.
While life in the upscale apartment is comfortable, it doesn't necessarily compare to the freedom in Hell's Kitchen. Schiller believes that if he continues staying for a few days, at least four or five of his neighbors will turn into agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. There will also be various people with unclear origins trying to get close to him and gather certain information, whether it is about himself or Stark. That's how S.H.I.E.L.D. operates, they doesn't care about your privacy.
Hell's Kitchen is slightly different from Gotham. Although there are also numerous gangs of all sizes, it is less dangerous compared to Gotham.
There are mostly poor people, gamblers, and addicts in Hell's Kitchen, without Scarecrow or Joker, and there are no notorious villains worthy of mention.
Most of the people there are mortal. Although firearms and drugs are rampant, the victims are mostly ordinary people, not those with superpowers.
Schiller plans to make it his first base in the Marvel Universe.
Stark is very efficient in his work. Before long, he manages to persuade some senators to allocate a hospital in Hell's Kitchen.
Some senators takes this opportunity to promote their kindness, claiming that they would not abandon any citizens of New York. However, they never expects the hospital will actually open. After all, it is Hell's Kitchen, a place where even the devil will be cooked.
Open a hospital there? Don't be joking, unless they build the hospital like a concentration camp, pile tanks and cannons at the entrance and have all the doctors and nurses carry machine guns. Maybe there a narrow hope exist; otherwise, all the drugs in there will be emptied overnight.
But regardless of whether the senators believed it or not, a small psychological clinic is established in Hell's Kitchen.
As the most notorious and largest slum in Manhattan, the eight blocks here are a umbrella number.
In fact, it is much larger than eight blocks, with dozens of streets of varying sizes intertwined like a spider's web, with hundreds of gangs overlapping each other.
Some say that the boss of Hell's Kitchen is Kingpin, but that isn't true. In reality, Kingpin's criminal empire extends far beyond Hell's Kitchen. It stretches across the entire eastern United States and even the East Coast.
His business covers the entire United States. Hell's Kitchen might have involved some of his drug and smuggling industries, but he doesn't actually live there, nor does he keep an eye on it all the time.
Daredevil, who is born in Hell's Kitchen, is his archenemy, but they have hardly fought there. The little spider, who has fought Kingpin several times, is still a naive high school student.
Kingpin's ambitions goes far beyond claiming Hell's Kitchen, and he doesn't care about the chaos caused in Hell's Kitchen. After all, there are fires, robberies, kidnappings, fights, and missing persons cases happening there every day. Creating some disturbances is nothing major.
Thus, when Kingpin in San Francisco hears that some of his men have gone insane in Hell's Kitchen, he thinks they have just taken too many drugs and pay little attention to it.
But in Hell's Kitchen, a terrible rumor gradually spread. They hear that in the psychological clinic located in the Ninth Alley at the end of Mary Street, there lives a terrifying mad doctor. Every member of the gang who come to collect protection fees or extort money from him would soon run away in horror and then become mentally unstable.
When this phenomenon first starts, several well-known gang bosses don't believe it and even lead their men to enter. But not long after, they acts like they have encountered monsters. They begin to struggle, scream, run away, and cry out, as if they are possessed by ghosts.
It causes quite a stir, and almost everyone on Mary Street hear about it. The rumors spread quickly.
As the news spread from mouth to mouth, everybody comes to know that they absolutely can't go to Ninth Alley. There is a terrifying curse there that will make you see your greatest fear and eventually drive you insane.
Later, when Schiller, who lives there, starts to go out, everyone is told that he is the owner of the clinic in Ninth Alley. People then realize that it isn't a ghost but rather a peculiar psychologist.
According to Schiller's explanation, those gang bosses have done too many immoral things, and he just provides them with some "friendly" psychological counseling.
As for why they go insane? Perhaps reap what one sows.
It is unbelievable for the people in Hell's Kitchen to believe Schiller's words. Anybody who lives here know that only bad things await them, and criminals make up the majority here. Feeling guilty? How could you expect someone who has been involved in selling firearms, drugs, fighting, threatening, extortion, and gambling since his teenage years to have any kind of consciences? How could such a person feel guilty? And go insane from feeling guilty?
Everyone who hears about this thought that Schiller is a black magician who can curse those people.
But Schiller won't explain further. The fear toxin he has brought from DC is indeed useful, even if it's just the initial version. It has a significant effect on normal people without superpowers.
From the moment he discovers that he can bring things to another world by holding them in his hand, he has the idea of selling them.
Although the power systems of Marvel and DC are different, there exist still many things that can be exchanged and sold to each other. Of course, there are also many things that could be used to counter the enemies on both sides.
For example, if Schiller use the fear toxin in Gotham, once the news spread and Jonathan becomes aware of the symptoms of those patients, he will immediately think that it is his fear gas.
But in Marvel, how could Jonathan know about the situation in the Marvel Universe? Logically, Schiller don't have to pay any copyright fees.
After this terrifying rumor spread, there are almost no gang members who dare to come looking for trouble with Schiller anymore.
Of course, the consequence of living in harmony with these criminals is that a superhero came knocking on his door.
On a slightly cold night in Manhattan, Schiller has just brewed a cup of hot coffee. He closes and locks the clinic's door, ready to end a leisurely day of work and get a good night's sleep, continuing to pester Stark tomorrow.
Just as he places the coffee cup on the table,a crisp sound at the door comes to him. Turning around, in the dim light, he sees a tall man in a red tight-fitting suit standing outside.
Schiller picks up the coffee cup and greets, "You seem to be late, Mr. Daredevil."
"Do you know me, Doctor?" Daredevil asks.
"Of course, I know you, Daredevil. You're famous in Hell's Kitchen," Schiller answers.
"But it seems like you've only just arrived here," Daredevil questions.
"But I'm more familiar with your other identity, Matt Murdock, the lawyer."
Daredevil is clearly shocked. He doesn't know how Schiller has figured out his hidden identity.
But Schiller doesn't wait for him to ask and continues, "You achieved remarkable results at Columbia University. Your career path has been smooth after graduation. Not only did you become a good lawyer, but you also seemed to have started your own law firm. Matt, can you tell me why you became Daredevil? Isn't the pride of upholding justice as a lawyer enough for you?"
"Lawyer, upholding justice..." Daredevil sneers, "Perhaps that's what you think. Yes, that's what most people think, that lawyers should fight for the weak and defend the underprivileged. But in reality..."
"In reality? Do you think lawyers shouldn't do that?"
"Of course they should, I mean..."
"Do you think you can't do it in your role as a lawyer? So, you thought you could do it by wearing a ridiculous tight suit and a mask?"
Daredevil says in annoyance, "My decision has nothing to do with you!"
"Do you know? Your tone just now sounded very much like a rebellious little boy," Schiller states.
Daredevil only then realizes that he has fallen into Schiller's linguistic trap ever since he enters the door. The pace of the conversation has been led by him, exposing not only his true identity but also touching on his sensitive points. He takes a deep breath, calms down, "I have to admit, you're a good psychologist and you know how to use some tricks in a conversation. But I still want to ask, who are you? What is your purpose in coming to Hell's Kitchen? Why did those people go insane?"
"You have too many questions. Tonight, I can only answer one. Clearly, I've been working all day and I'm tired. You can't disturb my rest. After all, I'm not a gang member or a criminal," Schiller replies.
"But you drove those gang members insane."
"You have no evidence."
"Police need evidence."
"Do you think you're nobler than the police?"
"Don't beat around the bush with me anymore," Daredevil growls.
"If you listened carefully to what I said, you would know where I come from and how I knew your identity."
Daredevil feels very headache, he dislikes dealing with these cunning opponents, which requires him to remain highly focused at all times. However, due to the shock he just experienced, he no longer remembers his conversation with Schiller when he first arrived. At this moment, when he tries to recall, his mind goes blank.
But if he can't answer, it would make him look stupid, so he remains silent.
"It seems you have already forgotten our conversation just a minute ago. I can't believe it. Being a superhero, you can actually have such a bad memory," Schiller sneers.
Daredevil is secretly annoyed and swears to remember every word Schiller says from now on.
"Two years ago, I used to teach at Columbia University. I saw the list of outstanding graduates, and your name was on it, Matt. And when it came to filling out the graduation plans, you said you would start a law firm within Kansas. Although I am a psychology professor, I acquainted with your professor in university. He mentioned to me that you have indeed fulfilled your dreams."
"Don't change the subject. I want to know how you know Daredevil is Matt."
"Maybe you forget, when you first started on this path, you were wearing the black and yellow suit your father wore during the competition. After I came to Hell's Kitchen, I once went to underground boxing matches. Coincidentally, it seemed that the owner there never changed the style of the boxing attire, probably to save costs."
"I confirm, Daredevil may have been born here, he must be related to underground black market boxers. Through investigation, the gang members you killed are all related to your father's death. And once the identity of your father is revealed, it's not difficult to know yours."
"Why did you investigate me? Because of your guilty conscience?" Matt asks.
"Not really. If you want to rent a place, you need to know who the landlord is, what he does, and it's better to have a good relationship with him."
"I'm not the landlord here." Daredevil sneers.
"Oh, really? Then it seems I found the wrong person. I should go find Kingpin. But it seems I've already made enemies with him. I vaguely remember that among those gang members who came to visit me, someone mentioned that their boss is Kingpin."
"Kingpin? You have information about Kingpin?"
"Kind of. Consider it as my rent payment. I heard from one of his henchmen that their boss is getting impatient with a kid named Daredevil, and he plans to find someone to kill the annoying fly, so you better be careful recently."
Finally, Daredevil hastily returns to his base.
Only after he returns does he realize that he hasn't achieved any of his goals tonight.
He hasn't figured out who Schiller is, nor has he warned him to behave, or investigated whether he's connected to those gangs.
He also doesn't know how he managed to drive those people crazy.
Matt taps his head and suddenly he feels that Schiller's metaphor is correct. He rented his house to a suspicious tenant, who even paid the rent in advance, leaving him with no immediate way to force him to leave, he can only let him swagger around Hell's Kitchen.