"Thorough investigation, huh? I thought gangsters wouldn't be so meticulous," Daniel Davis mused as he relaxed after sending the police away with his lawyer's help.
"Almost got caught there. Luckily, my age limits their ability to dig deeper." Despite his careful planning, Daniel had made several mistakes, such as leaving York's car at the scene. Fortunately, the chaotic, gang-controlled area delayed the fire trucks long enough to burn most evidence beyond recognition.
The purpose of setting the fire was precisely to cover his tracks. With all victims shot and some even shot in the head, it would be hard to pin the murders on a teenager like Daniel unless they brought in Rebecca as a witness.
Even then, the investigating officers could only raise a few suspicions. Thanks to the lawyer's presence, the police had to leave without any concrete evidence.
This was partly due to the lack of surveillance cameras in that area. Any cameras installed by the government were quickly dismantled and sold on the black market, given the locals' resourcefulness.
With York's death, Daniel became an orphan again. Although he should have been placed in an orphanage, York's inheritance and Daniel's age allowed him to live independently, though he still had a legal guardian.
"Yes!" Daniel couldn't contain his excitement after everyone left. He now owned a two-story house with a yard and nearly fifty thousand dollars in savings.
"Good thing for the fifty thousand, or I'd be broke. York had no savings." The house was the only substantial inheritance from York. The fifty thousand dollars were compensation from Umbrella Corporation, along with an older car.
"Three thousand bucks to sell me? You deserved to die." After killing everyone, Daniel found that the money York got for selling him was a mere three thousand dollars.
"Private schools are expensive." Daniel had already discussed his schooling with child services and his lawyer. Good private schools had steep tuition fees.
Daniel aimed for a private school, as public schools lacked resources. He chose Midtown School of Science and Technology, the same school Spider-Man attended, conveniently located near Queens.
Trying to take Spider-Man's opportunity to gain his powers had crossed Daniel's mind, but it was unrealistic. In the Marvel Universe, mutation from radiation exposure was rare. Most people would die rather than mutate.
Human genes are remarkably stable. People don't turn into superheroes from mundane exposures like being pecked by chickens or bitten by dogs.
Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man involved many unique factors that couldn't be replicated. Rather than stealing Peter's chance, Daniel considered studying his abilities post-transformation.
"Kamar-Taj, the Himalayas." Beyond super serums and black technology, magic represented another power source in the Marvel Universe, especially through the Ancient One.
Kamar-Taj's magic was unique. While most people conjured fireballs or similar spells, the Ancient One's lineage crafted various magical weapons for close combat.
Indeed, a mage who doesn't like melee isn't a good mage. Likewise, a warrior who doesn't like ranged attacks isn't a good warrior.
Daniel was particularly interested in Kamar-Taj's teleportation and mirror dimension spells. With enough skill, teleportation could span planets, as Doctor Strange demonstrated by returning to Earth from Titan.
These were the skills Daniel truly sought. If he could, he would have gone to Kamar-Taj long ago instead of attending school.
Kamar-Taj seemed to have no special restrictions on outsiders learning magic. While Doctor Strange's interplanetary portals were impressive, even shorter-range teleportation would be immensely powerful.
One year later, Midtown School of Science and Technology.
Entering the school hallway, Daniel was immediately intercepted by three students. The four of them moved to a corner where Daniel handed over three items and received a stack of cash in return.
"Figures that figurines are the best moneymakers," Daniel chuckled as he stashed the money in his backpack.
Over the past year, Daniel found a profitable venture in selling high-quality, handmade figurines. Thanks to his Op-Op Fruit abilities, he had become a well-known figure in school—a nerd.
In America, girls often favored athletes over academic achievers. Football, basketball—excelling in these sports made one very popular. Cheerleading captaincy was highly coveted, sometimes causing fierce competition among girls.
The openness of this culture was surprising to Daniel, and even after a year, he hadn't fully adjusted.
Naturally, Daniel became an outcast. Typically, students like him were prime targets for bullying, a severe issue in American schools.
Even Peter Parker, the future Spider-Man, faced such bullying due to his academic prowess.
However, teachers valued academic success, offering full scholarships to top students. Athletically talented students received sports scholarships.
Athletes were immensely popular, with female students often flocking to greet famous athletes visiting the school, sometimes even going to extreme lengths.
Daniel, however, wasn't interested in popularity. If he wanted, he could easily compete in the Olympics.
After knocking out three school bullies in one go, no one dared to trouble him again.
"Didn't expect to make this much." Checking his account, Daniel was surprised to see he had earned fifty thousand dollars from selling figurines.
Using his Op-Op Fruit powers, Daniel's handmade figurines had gained a reputation. Orders poured in from online, at school, and even at anime conventions.
Unexpectedly, Captain America's figurines sold best, with some customers requesting life-sized versions.
"Sigh, another failure. Just a little off." Daniel sighed as he examined the snapped web fluid he had been trying to recreate Spider-Man's web shooters. Despite his efforts, he couldn't match their strength.
Beep beep beep.
Hearing the alert from his computer, Daniel opened the chat window. Seeing the message about tonight's action, he smiled and replied, "Don't contact me again. I'm out."
Without waiting for a response, he left the chat group and deleted the chat software.
Over the past year, Daniel had joined the hacker group Rising Tide to learn advanced computer skills.
Rising Tide, a group he was familiar with, aimed to expose government secrets but operated like any other hacker group, doing jobs for money despite its noble facade.
Thanks to its reputation, Rising Tide held significant sway in the hacker community.
Daniel joined to hone his hacking skills, and now that he had, it was time to leave.
Staying in Rising Tide had its perks, like access to valuable intel, but Daniel's plans had changed.
After creating a fake identity and passport using his newfound hacking skills, Daniel decided to pursue his long-standing goal: Kamar-Taj.
Learning hacking had two primary purposes: this mission and artificial intelligence. Stark Industries' J.A.R.V.I.S. intrigued him.
"Hopefully, the Ancient One is reasonable." After posting a temporary closure notice for his online figurine shop, Daniel grabbed his backpack and left.
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