"That's not true! I swear I'm not lying!"
In the room, facing Daredevil, who was lying on the bed pale and looking bitter, Lynch immediately hit him with a trio of denials.
Seeing Lynch so serious about defending himself, Matt started to believe him, at least a little.
After thinking for a while, he said, "Okay, I'll believe you for now, but did you do something?"
Even though he believed Lynch's words, Matt, with his super hearing and experience playing lie detector, noticed a hint of unease in Lynch and felt suspicious.
Lynch paused for a moment and then asked, "Is that lady kinda short and looks young?"
Matt was stunned for a second before answering, "Yeah, do you know her?"
"Yes."
Lynch nodded, thinking to himself, I know her very well.
If his guess was right, the lady must be Jessica Jones—the strongest woman in Hell's Kitchen.
This female superhero, or rather superhuman, came from the local Hell's Kitchen hero team—the Defenders.
Jessica lost her entire family in a car accident when she was young, but she gained superhuman abilities—super strength, stamina, defense, and even short bursts of flight.
After growing up, she had a short stint as a superhero but was forced to quit due to a twisted villain who tormented her.
That villain was Kilgrave, a mind-controlling psychopath who haunted her for life.
Kilgrave had the ability to control people, and after meeting Jessica, he held her captive for eight months.
Jessica eventually escaped from his grasp and took her revenge on him later.
But even though revenge brought some relief, the trauma Kilgrave caused would never heal.
Because of that nightmare, Jessica developed PTSD, drowned herself in alcohol, engaged in reckless behavior, and lived in a haze of depression.
No longer able to return to her superhero life, Jessica opened a detective agency in Hell's Kitchen called "Alias," where she took on small cases like catching cheating spouses for a living.
A once mighty and heroic woman had turned into a broken and rebellious figure due to her tragic past.
Though her unique character and tragic story had their own appeal, Lynch, in his past life, often wondered:
What would Jessica's life have been like if she had never met Kilgrave?
Now, as Lynch pondered this question, a sense of unease crept into his heart.
Fortunately, Lynch had come to this world and had the means to find out the answer.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Jessica was already under Kilgrave's control.
As for the details, he'd have to meet her to be sure.
"Her name is Jessica Jones. Her powers are somewhat like mine, but not as strong. But if you try to go head-to-head with her..."
Looking at Daredevil, wrapped head to toe in white bandages, struggling to move, Lynch shook his head in regret.
Matt's face twitched. This close brush with death was a severe loss, and it was his own fault for underestimating her.
But who would have thought that this seemingly harmless young woman would be a powerhouse?
In that situation, even without knowing his opponent, Daredevil couldn't pass up the chance to take action.
Who knew when he'd get another shot at catching the killer?
"How could I have known she was so dangerous?"
Matt was frustrated and confused, asking, "Why would a girl like her target pretty women? What's her motive?"
He couldn't understand it. Before discovering Jessica, he had thought the killer was a man because all the victims were young, beautiful women.
Was she... into women?
Seeing the strange look on Matt's face, Lynch guessed he was probably thinking about something odd.
"Keep your thoughts pure, Matt."
Lynch scolded him righteously and then said, "Jessica is being controlled by a psycho named Kilgrave. He's the real culprit!"
Hearing this, Matt connected the dots, finally understanding everything.
But he was even more shocked, asking with a strange expression, "So this psycho has the ability to control people, but he just uses it to fulfill his... physical needs?"
He furrowed his brow, completely unable to comprehend Kilgrave's twisted thinking.
"I told you, he's a psycho. If he were sane, would he still be called a psycho?"
Lynch sighed, feeling sorry for Kilgrave's wasted potential.
Even among the many villainous psychos, Kilgrave was one of the lowest.
With such a powerful ability, Kilgrave could've controlled presidents, billionaires. He could've launched nukes, caused economic collapses—destroying cities or even nations with ease.
But instead of chasing grand ambitions, he spent all his time indulging in control and imprisonment play. He was a disgrace to villains everywhere!
"But how does his power work? Can he really control anyone at will?"
Matt was worried. If Kilgrave's ability had no limits and he could control anyone easily, how could they possibly stop him?
What if Matt himself fell under Kilgrave's control?
"Don't worry."
Lynch waved his hand, signaling Matt not to panic.
"His ability works like a virus. He controls people through words, but it has a range limit."
Lynch wasn't concerned about being affected by Kilgrave's powers at all.
In the comics, Kilgrave's ability was based on releasing pheromones, and then using speech to control others.
In the TV version, it was changed to a virus infection, but it still worked through speech.
Whether it was pheromones or a virus, it had no effect on someone with Lynch's steel body.
"Can you resist his control?"
Matt asked curiously.
"Of course."
Lynch waved dismissively and confidently said, "Leave this matter to me. You just focus on recovering."
Matt hesitated for a moment. Realizing that he might actually be more of a burden than help, he nodded.
Still, after pursuing this case for so long, he couldn't help but ask out of concern, "What are you going to do?"
"Hmm..."
Lynch thought for a moment.
"Kick down his door and finish him off?"
Matt froze and frowned.
After a moment of silent contemplation, he looked up and seriously said to Lynch, "I think we should bring him to court. We don't have the right to kill him."
Lynch wasn't surprised by this response at all.
He knew Daredevil well. Matt Murdock had always upheld his no-kill principle.
But this didn't mean Daredevil was a naive idealist. He had his reasons for not killing.
Matt was a devout, though somewhat non-practicing, Catholic.
He believed that only God had the right to judge sinners, and no one else had the authority to take a life, even a criminal's.
Beyond that, as a lawyer, he also believed that besides God, only the law could decide someone's guilt.
When both God and law failed, he would then seek God's forgiveness while exploiting legal loopholes, transforming into a devil in the night to punish the guilty.
Not killing was his steadfast principle, his creed.
Even when fighting Kingpin, he never intended to kill him. In the original story, after defeating Kingpin, Daredevil chose not to kill his lifelong enemy, but instead sent him to prison.
When Lynch later killed Kingpin in a fit of rage, Daredevil didn't know. Even if he had known, he wouldn't have been able to stop Lynch, so Kingpin eventually died.
Daredevil, being smart, knew deep down that Hell's Kitchen would never improve as long as Kingpin lived.
But instead of killing Kingpin himself, Daredevil would have chosen to slowly weaken his power through prolonged battles until he was finally defeated.
That was how Daredevil operated. It might seem stubborn and rigid, but wasn't that part of his charm?
In a world where everyone seeks the fastest, easiest way to achieve their goals, aren't those who stick to their principles and beliefs worthy of respect?
It was precisely because of Daredevil's unique charm that Lynch admired and respected him.
But that didn't mean Lynch would follow Matt's advice on this matter.
"No, Matt. They can't handle him."
Lynch responded seriously to Matt, "He can control all the ordinary people. If you send him to the police or the court, do you realize how dangerous that could be?"
Matt was silent for a while, realizing that Lynch had a point.
Was it really appropriate to treat superpowered criminals the same way as normal ones?
He had little experience dealing with superpowered villains, since his enemies were usually just regular people.
But he still felt uneasy about killing Kilgrave. It went against his beliefs.
"Isn't there another way?"
Matt asked, hesitating.
"There is."
Lynch nodded.
"There's an organization that specializes in dealing with people like him."
"Oh?"
Matt was surprised. He hadn't expected such an organization to exist.
But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
After all, with more and more superpowered individuals appearing in recent years, it would be strange if there wasn't a special organization to handle them.
"What organization?"
Matt asked.
Lynch grinned and said, "S.H.I.E.L.D."
"S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Matt said, surprised. "I've heard of them."
"Have you?"
Lynch wasn't surprised either, considering how Nick Fury had probably investigated everyone he'd come into contact with.
With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents everywhere, it was hard for the still-developing Daredevil to keep many secrets.
Who knew, maybe Fury would even recruit Daredevil into the Avengers one day.
"Good. They have experience dealing with superpowered criminals. Afterward, we can hand Kilgrave over to them."
"Okay."
"That works too."
Matt thought this arrangement was pretty reasonable. After all, he was just a vigilante, dealing with ordinary people was his thing. Handing over superpowered criminals to the professionals was probably the best approach.
"Rest well. I'll inform you if there's any progress."
Lynch said his goodbye and prepared to leave.
As he reached the door, Matt's curious voice rang out, "You're walking out?"
"Yeah, why?"
Lynch was puzzled.
Matt burst into laughter, "I thought you'd fly out the window!"
Lynch smiled helplessly at Matt's sudden tease, thinking to himself, Was I that showy before?
"I'm learning to act like a regular person these days."
Upon hearing this, Matt's face turned back into his usual poker-faced expression. He said bluntly, "Get going, don't interrupt my rest!"
Learning to be a regular person, how annoying!
Lynch, feeling he had finally won this round, left the hospital with a satisfied smile, strolling out leisurely.