Bullseye scanned the man before him with a fleeting look of interest, seemingly intrigued by the mention of the person known as the Grim Reaper.
The Butcher?
He casually picked up the dossier to examine it. His expression subtly changed upon seeing the contents.
"Hmm, over two hundred people slaughtered within four months? Truly a bona fide butcher."
"Actually, it's five hundred. Just yesterday, over two hundred gunmen, including Hermano Del himself, were killed in their office in Queens."
Hearing this, Bullseye put down the dossier, his lips curling into a cold smile.
"Do you consider him a threat, Mr. Kingpin?"
The man before him was none other than Kingpin, one of New York's most significant gang leaders.
Kingpin, with his hands crossed under his chin, gave a completely opposite answer: "No, I consider him an excellent warrior, killer, assassin."
"I'm quite interested in him," he repeated.
"You want to recruit him? That's not a good choice." Bullseye immediately frowned, confident and proud of his own abilities, but not foolish.
The resume displayed in the dossier already revealed the capabilities of the other party.
A formidable opponent; killing him would require time to find the right opportunity and prepare enough plans for a successful assassination. Facing him directly, whether he could win was uncertain, let alone capturing him alive for Kingpin.
"Among those he's killed are only gang members; he must have a certain psychology towards gangs. Your identity alone makes it impossible to recruit him."
"Just a try. If it doesn't work, then we'll kill him."
Kingpin was not ready to give up. Now, with everything going his way, he believed that with the right conditions, he could make anyone serve him.
But if it didn't work out, he wouldn't show mercy.
"Alright, but it won't be cheap."
"I'll give you a satisfactory reward, Bullseye." Kingpin was unconcerned, never stingy if it meant achieving his goals.
Bullseye nodded, picked up the dossier, and left.
Kingpin took a cigar from his cigarette case and put it in his mouth, standing up to look out the huge floor-to-ceiling window behind him, overlooking the streets and buildings below, as if surveying his own kingdom.
He was like a giant, crafting his own legend, and a legendary kings needed more helpers.
He was confident of this.
Would the one called the Butcher become one of his excellent aides?
...
A month swiftly passed, and it was now September. Autumn had quietly arrived, and the temperatures in New York were gradually cooling. The city's residents had switched to autumn clothing.
Still in Queens, Bi Xiao lived in his old house, on the third floor of a large apartment building.
Bi Xiao woke up from his sleep, finished his morning routine, and dressed in a gray sweater and black hoodie, sweatpants, and white sneakers, ready to go out, young and strong, fully displaying his youthful appearance and demeanor.
Opening the door, he was greeted by two people walking down the corridor.
A black woman and a middle-aged man.
"Hey, good morning, little John," the black woman greeted Bi Xiao warmly as he prepared to leave.
John Shaw was his English name; after all, one must adapt when living here.
Bi Xiao responded politely: "Good morning, Aunt Mary."
"Wow, you've really changed a lot, just growing up. Do you want Aunt Mary to introduce you to a beautiful girlfriend?"
The black woman was cheerful and humorous.
Bi Xiao knew she was joking and blushed slightly, waving his hand: "I'm off for a morning run, goodbye, Aunt Mary."
"Oh, by the way, be careful lately. I heard there's a serial killer in Queens."
"I know, Aunt Mary."
Bi Xiao nodded seriously in response and left.
As for the middle-aged man, Bi Xiao simply nodded; he did not know the man, who seemed just to be a tenant here.
They would not have much interaction.
"What a nice kid, just a pity..." Mary's tone was one of admiration and regret for Bi Xiao, knowing what the seventeen-year-old had been through as a neighbor.
But over the past six months, it seemed the kid had found his rhythm again.
Bi Xiao's hearing was far beyond normal; of course, he heard Mary's words behind him, but he didn't mind.
He was no longer the confused child he had been after his parents' death. Although he had the body's original memories and emotional connections to those nurturing parents, they couldn't affect him personally, nor would his personality change due to the memories.
It's worth noting that when he first crossed into this body, the memories were not fully intact.
Initially, the massive influx of another person's decade of memories might have caused a brain overload and collapse due to the sudden pressure.
The brain automatically blocked a large chunk of useless information. Later, as the golden finger appeared and he fully enhanced, including his brain, he could handle more information and gradually accessed all the memories of the body.
Of course, this was just a minor episode, as long as it didn't affect him personally, he generally ignored this experience.
Due to his rampage in Queens over the past four months, killing gang members, the crime rate in the area had sharply decreased. Some thugs, knowing there was a terrifying Grim Reaper slaughtering in Queens and fearing they might be Targeted next, either fled or simply stayed indoors.
Even though Bi Xiao hadn't taken any action for a month, the neighborhood remained relatively calm.
More people were out for morning runs; early in the morning, he could see many people jogging along the roadside.
Bi Xiao's morning runs were mainly a simple way to sense subtle changes in his body and to understand muscle utilization through this activity.
But to put it plainly, he was bored. Now that he was not short on money and didn't need to work, he spent his days at home, either learning various subjects through a new computer or books, including chemistry, physics, martial arts, shooting, and more.
His enhanced brain processed information at a stunning speed, giving him a powerful accelerated learning ability. Within seconds, he could learn and master a skill, like shooting. Previously without any shooting experience, he had become a top-level marksman after some real combat.
With his clear, photographic memory and perfect recall, he could forever remember anything he saw.
Bi Xiao would not waste these talents.