Phantom Kid in the World of American Comics

Chapter 71: The Charity Gala

“Boss?”

There was a hoarse voice on the phone. And by just hearing this voice, one could know that it is an evil person that was talking.

“Bullseye, Daredevil has recently become quite active. He can no longer be left ignored. According to the intelligence, he will go to destroy our arsenal in the west of the city tonight. Bring more men over and kill him!”

“Yes, boss …”

The phone hung up, Kingpin deeply gazed at the vent.

“Phantom Kid, I hope that you will act smarter.”

Obviously, in Kingpin’s opinion, there is no wise person who dares to provoke him.

Especially those in the streets.

Only the self-proclaimed superhero vigilante are not afraid of death, and Phantom Kid is also nominally a criminal. So, theoretically, he is on the same side as Kingpin.

No matter how much has been done to help others, nothing will change; Kid is still a criminal.

Getting mixed up with Daredevil would only put him at odds with both sides at the same time.

   The only one that dared to do this is the madman from eight years ago in Gotham. Kingpin does not believe that another madman like the Joker will appear again.

There are some unspoken rules: even if one’s power is as strong as Kingpin, they must not touch.

However, Kid’s debut time is very short. He should not be able to even sort out his position between heroes and villains. One wonders what Daredevil has promised him, but is it really worth stealing the diamond?

Although the Dresden Green Diamond is precious,  in the eyes of Kingpin, it is not very different from a stone. He values his reputation more.

He wants to let New York … no, to let the whole world know what will happen if you offend Kingpin.

Not just anyone can provoke Kingpin!

At this time, Mathison did not know that Kingpin regarded him as a young rash thief who had been lured by Daredevil. Using the fingerprints of Phineas August, he could enter and exit at will most of the arms research and development laboratories.

But he is also limited to small and medium-sized arms of this kind, mainly, smuggled firearms.

The rest of the rooms were out of his reach, Mathison does not have permission to enter them.

As a result, Mathison obtained a list of buyers who got guns and ammunition from Kingpin, all over the U.S., even overseas markets.

In the list, Mathison saw the name of Ulysses Klaw.

It is the same arms dealer who knows that Wakanda has a large amount of vibranium, and is the only source of vibranium in the black market around the world.

Every year, Ulysses would exchange small amounts of vibranium for Kingpin’s guns and then resell them in Afghanistan.

Kingpin looks like he has no official arms company on the surface, but the weapons he sells are of better quality than Hammer Industries, and much cheaper.

Stark Industries’ arms focus on cutting-edge large weapons, while Hammer Industries focuses on mass-produced individual weapons, which previously accounted for more than 80% of the U.S. military’s share of arms purchases.

However, in the smuggling market and private market, Kingpin occupies the largest share. His trading funds are even far more than Hammer Industries, followed by the Penguin.

Mathison did not read through the list, he mentally noted down a dozen of the largest trading objects.

He could not take away the list, that is absolute suicide.

And it doesn’t make sense to memorize countless small customers either. There were only a few big heads to remember.

«Although this information is not very useful, it is not difficult to convict Wilson of the crime of smuggling arms. But unfortunately, with the power of the Kingpin, this crime can be simply solved by spending a bit of money.»

Mathison said to himself.

«However, Daredevil wants to get this list. It is estimated that, within a few months, he will be able to deal with all the people in it. Giving him this information will be enough.»

After all, his own actions now fall within his normal scope of authority. 

Phineas just returned from a business deal with twists and turns, and compared the list of transactions, there is simply no more reasonable behavior than this.

He couldn’t do other things, otherwise, Mathison would like to search for the location of Kingpin’s vibranium.

So far, the deal with Daredevil is done. And Mathison did not want to shove himself in any extra trouble. So, he settled back into the waiting room, waiting for the start of the charity party.

Of course, before going back, he manipulated the distribution box and laid his touch on some of many other things.

He noticed that there were a lot of people sitting in the waiting room, both men and women, all oozing a smell of blood. Needless to say, they must be Kingpin’s men.

Judging from their clothing, they are all bosses of some sort.

Mathison did not pay attention to them. He sat down coldly where there was no one.

They all seemed to recognize Phineas. But as soon as they glanced in the direction of Mathison, they simply withdrew their eyes, without any conversation between them.

A few hours later, the charity gala officially began.

Mathison mingled with the crowd and entered the venue.

The layout of the venue is the same as what he saw when he first came sneakingly.

No more, no less, exactly three thousand people were invited, so the venue won’t look too crowded.

Kingpin has not come down yet and no one knows what he is doing.

The people present either ran to the ballroom to dance or eat at the table.

It is really worthy of being called: an underworld party.

It was really like a “party”.

Dozens of reporters also came to the filming zone. They were basically from small and unknown media. Newspapers with great influence like The Daily Bugle were not invited at all.

But, looking at these small journalists shivering, you know that they do not want to participate in the event held by Kingpin.

Surprisingly, of the 3,000 “fund members” invited by Kingpin, only about 500 of them were real entrepreneurs.

He wondered if they know that their trusted partners are actually super gangsters in essence?

It is also possible that these capitalists have actually colluded together for a long time.

   Mathison found a place at the table as well and joined to eat and drink.

“Mr. Fisk has arrived!”

Suddenly, a shout rang out, only to see an exclusive elevator slowly descending, and the huge body of Kingpin came out from inside.

Mathison’s eyes stared. The Kingpin he had just seen sitting behind his desk did not have that much of a compelling aura.

But now, at a second glance, Mathison felt a great sense of oppression.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Wilson Charity Gala. The theme of this gala is to raise funds for the reconstruction of a small town in New Mexico. And on behalf of the Wilson Group, I donate the long-cherished Dresden Green Diamond, as I believe you all know.”

When Kingpin walked up to the podium, his whole aura changed again, he actually showed a kind smile and actually looked kind of naive…

Amazing acting skills.

Even the most professional guy in the field, Mathison, couldn’t point out any flaw.

“However, there is one thing that I think you are not aware of by now,” Kingpin paused, then smiled mysteriously and said, “That is, a week ago, I received a teaser letter from Phantom Kid, who took a fancy to the Dresden … that I am about to donate.”

At this statement, the audience was in an uproar.