Don't be fooled by how casually Lance walked away. After Batman left, he quietly returned. Taking advantage of the fact that the laboratory had not yet been taken over by the police, he slipped away with several vials of Scarecrow's fear toxin.
From his exchange with Batman, he realized he had made a serious mistake.
He had been criticizing Batman for arrogance and recklessness, but in truth, he was no better.
He had been judging the Batman in front of him by the standards of a fully matured version, and he had done the same subconsciously when dealing with Iron Man in the Marvel Universe.
This was wrong, and it was dangerous.
In a world like this, arrogance was a death sentence.
You could be calculating, greedy, even ruthless, but you could never underestimate those who wore capes or armor.
They might be naive or conflicted, but they still possessed the power to destroy you.
At least for now.
Lance decided to adjust his mindset. At the very least, when dealing with superheroes, he needed to stop looking at them from the perspective of someone above them.
Even so, he still had his work to do. When it came to the payment he was owed, he would not give up a single cent.
...
Recently, the residents of Hell's Kitchen had begun to notice a rather absurd law firm.
The owner was named Lance Prescott.
It was not that he was particularly famous, but on the very first day of opening, he had done everything possible to shove the name "Lance Prescott" into the sight of every resident.
He nailed business cards to telephone poles, stuffed them into mailboxes, and even stuck them onto the cardboard signs carried by the homeless.
As the most notorious slum in Manhattan, the so-called "eight blocks" was only a nickname.
In reality, Hell's Kitchen extended far beyond that.
Dozens of streets intersected there, with nearly a hundred gangs entrenched within it.
Some claimed that the ruler of Hell's Kitchen was Kingpin, but that was not entirely accurate.
His criminal empire was vast, and his influence stretched far beyond Hell's Kitchen. Across the eastern United States, even along the entire East Coast, his presence could be found in countless criminal networks.
But Hell's Kitchen? Like Gotham, it had no true master at the moment.
Kingpin's operations were spread across the United States. He might have placed some drug and smuggling businesses in Hell's Kitchen, but in reality, he neither lived here nor needed to keep constant watch over it.
From his previous encounter, Lance judged that Spider-Man was still a newcomer, newly mutated and not yet familiar with his own abilities.
At this stage, Spider-Man had not met Kingpin and had not yet begun his path of fighting crime.
So far, the only one who had clashed with Kingpin was Daredevil, a native of Hell's Kitchen. The two were practically mortal enemies.
But even so, they had never turned Hell's Kitchen into their battlefield.
Kingpin's ambitions were far greater than this place alone. As the name implied, even God would be torn apart and devoured here.
Every day, chaos erupted in all forms. Shootouts, robberies, street fights, and disappearances were nothing unusual.
When his subordinates reported that "a law firm has opened in Hell's Kitchen," Kingpin was in Atlantic City negotiating a casino deal.
He merely hummed in response. "Hmm.. Let's see how many days he lasts."
Then he dismissed the matter entirely.
Even when he later heard that some of his men had entered the firm and fled in terror, he still didn't take it seriously.
It was easier to believe those idiots had gotten high than to believe someone in Hell's Kitchen could scare seasoned thugs into madness.
But the residents of Hell's Kitchen believed it, and the rumors spread rapidly.
They said that near West 51st Street, just off 10th Avenue, next to the original Nelson & Murdock law office, a new firm had opened under the name Lance Prescott.
And inside it was a terrifying lawyer.
Anyone who went there to extort money or demand protection fees would come running out soon after. Some had even gone completely insane.
A few gang leaders, unwilling to lose respect in front of others, personally brought their men to check.
Half an hour later, they burst out through the glass doors screaming, pants soaked, eyes unfocused, looking like men who had just crawled out of hell.
The next day, their gangs were swallowed up.
The incident caused quite a stir. Rumors spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and soon everyone in Hell's Kitchen knew one thing.
Never step into that newly opened law firm.
They said it carried a terrifying curse, one that forced you to face your deepest fears until you lost your mind.
The ripple effect was immediate. The business of the neighboring Nelson & Murdock law firm withered completely.
Or rather, they no longer had a single client.
Lance still had the Stark case, so his income was secure. But the firm next door was in a miserable state.
Out of what he called humanitarian concern, Lance stepped out of his office for the first time since settling in Hell's Kitchen and knocked on the door of Nelson & Murdock.
Unfortunately, perhaps his timing was off. No one answered.
Lance shrugged and returned to his own office.
The gang members who had been watching the firm finally got a clear look at its owner. Seeing that Lance appeared approachable and willing to talk, they gathered around, trying to find out what had driven those men insane.
Lance shrugged.
He said those people had committed too many crimes. Their guilt had built up over time, and after asking him about legal matters, they lost control and were overwhelmed by their own emotions. As for curses or black magic, that was pure nonsense.
"It was simply evil receiving its due."
Even Lance did not believe what he was saying, and it was even less likely that the people of Hell's Kitchen would.
No one here believed that evil met justice. They believed that evil was rewarded.
After all, people who had been holding guns in street shootouts since their teenage years, living off drugs, robbery, and protection money, with an average lifespan barely reaching thirty, were not the type to talk about faith or morality.
In Hell's Kitchen, if you weren't ruthless enough, you would simply be devoured.
No one believed Lance's explanation, but no one dared to challenge it either. They nodded with forced smiles and slipped away the moment he turned his back.
The fact that he had bothered to say anything at all was already generous. He had no intention of offering a detailed explanation.
The fear toxin taken from Scarecrow proved effective, and what surprised Lance even more was that he could bring items from one world into another.
That realization gave him new ideas.
...
Days passed quickly, and soon it was time for the job he had promised Stark.
That day, a black limousine stopped at the entrance of 51st Street in Hell's Kitchen. It was as far as the driver was willing to go.
The window rolled down, revealing Tony Stark behind a pair of sunglasses, one eyebrow raised.
"You actually live here? I thought you were joking."
Lance opened the door and got in, resting his cane across his knees.
"What's wrong with this place? The scenery is nice, the cost of living is low, and most importantly, the locals are honest and straightforward."
"Sure." Stark waved it off. He had no interest in arguing about Hell's Kitchen.
"You know, according to my information, Congress has lined up six expert witnesses, and the military has even sent a colonel to sit in. And right now, my lawyer…"
Stark grabbed Lance by the sleeve and said bluntly, "You smell like you just crawled out of a drug den."
"Sharp nose." Lance shrugged, offering a perfunctory compliment. "Instead of worrying about your lawyer, you should focus on today's closed hearing."
"By the way, is your armor fully charged?"
"What do you mean?" Stark narrowed his eyes. "What exactly are you planning?"
"I never make plans. I improvise." Lance adjusted his cuffs and leaned back into the seat.
"Mr. Stark, I'm just a lawyer. All my weapons are written into the law." He smiled.
___
Thugs from Hell's Kitchen just learned to fear his name.
Next, it's Congress's turn.
You can already read 12 chapters ahead without waiting, at - Patreon.com/CorruptElf