"Don't take it too hard. I've been practicing martial arts and fighting since I was a kid, so I'm a bit more experienced than you are. The thing is, I've changed my thinking. In a world like this, unarmed combat is going to become less and less effective. The times are changing, and we need to keep up..."
Hong Fei didn't stop talking from the moment he got in the car until he got out. He chattered all the way from the first floor to the seventh, barely pausing for breath.
"By the way, you probably don't have a place to stay right now, do you? Why not come here? Someone in the building is moving out. I can give you a friendly price—30% off! Definitely a friendly price!"
While speaking, Hong Fei took a few jars of ointment from the cabinet, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to apply it.
Frank suddenly frowned. "You prepared this beforehand?"
Hong Fei lowered his head and said casually, "Of course. Better safe than sorry. After all, you know your own temper."
Frank avoided the ointment Hong Fei held out. "What makes you think you could defeat me so easily?" he asked angrily.
Hong Fei looked up, blinked, and shrugged.
Frank was speechless.
The result was obvious, wasn't it?
But what bothered Frank was that they hadn't even fought yet, and Hong Fei had already prepared medicine. Didn't that mean the guy didn't even consider him a real opponent?
Hong Fei's eyes darted around, and he immediately said, "Oh, you misunderstood! I did prepare the medicine in advance, but how would I know if it would be for you or for myself? If I had lost, wouldn't it still be better to be safe?"
Master Hong was quite experienced. Since he needed help, he knew how to talk. Frank gave him face by letting the matter drop.
After applying the ointment to his entire arm, Hong Fei stood up and said, "Twice a day, morning and evening. It'll heal in three days. Don't move it around too much in the meantime, and definitely don't exert any force. Fortunately, you have another hand, so daily life shouldn't be a problem."
Frank sniffed his arm. It smelled strongly of Chinese medicine.
"What kind of deal do you actually want to make?"
"This matter is a bit complicated, even a bit dangerous."
"Hmph!" Frank snorted in disdain.
Hong Fei pointed to the coffee table in front of Frank and said, "The black folder contains the draft I wrote earlier. You can take a look first."
In the bathroom, Hong Fei dried his hands, flicked his fingertips, and the white card appeared instantly.
The portrait on the front of the card was Frank Castle.
Flipping the card over, Hong Fei saw a few lines of text, and a few seconds later, the corners of his mouth curled up wildly.
Passive Skill Card: Human Rage (White)...
When seriously injured, attack and defense increase by 20% for 30 seconds. After it ends, speed decreases by 40% for 10 minutes.
Overall, this skill wasn't great. The positive and negative effects and their durations were quite mismatched.
But the key was, this was a Skill Card!
It was a brand-new discovery that Hong Fei hadn't noticed in the past month.
And this card had dropped from Frank.
Thoughts raced through his mind. A moment later, Hong Fei summarized a few things.
First, Skill Cards should only drop from characters who could independently be called heroes or villains like Frank; otherwise, he would have gained something long ago when he taught so many people a lesson.
Second, Skill Cards were clearly divided into active and passive, and they also had colors. The color should directly represent the level.
Third was the question: does one person only drop one Skill Card, or can they drop different ones multiple times? He could test this after Frank's injury healed.
Finally, Skill Cards weren't ready to use; they needed to be loaded into a card slot first.
The moment he first came into contact with this card, he knew he had one, and only one, skill card slot.
How to get more slots?
He didn't know.
But regardless, the discovery of Skill Cards was very exciting.
With just his martial arts and the Eyes of Death, the things Hong Fei could do were still limited. With the addition of Skill Cards, it seemed as if countless endless future branches had suddenly appeared before him.
Actually, Master Hong had always been a bit anxious.
He was never someone willing to entrust his hope or even his life to others.
In the past, his martial arts were enough to protect himself. Now, let alone one Master Hong, even a hundred wouldn't be enough.
And as a martial artist, even when playing games in his spare time, he never forgot his goal of wanting to become stronger for a moment. The Marvel Universe certainly contained many dangers he wouldn't have encountered before, but behind these heavy dangers, wasn't it also filled with unprecedented opportunities?
Since that was the case, what else was there to say?
Roll up his sleeves and get to work!
In the past month, he had been exploring his abilities, recalling various information, beating up gang members doing bad things, and throwing them at the entrance of the Police station while doing good deeds. While fleecing the gangs, he also churned out quite a few short-term and long-term plans.
Finding and persuading Frank was a temporary plan organized after seeing the other party break out of prison.
The things he needed Frank's help with next were the short-term plans.
Putting away the Skill Card, calming his smile, and leaving the bathroom, he heard Frank's cold voice as soon as he appeared.
"I didn't expect you to actually want to be a Terrorists."
"Hey, Frank, you can't say that!"
Hong Fei glared and quickly added, "The action plan you saw is just on the surface. In fact, I have deeper considerations."
Frank pointed to the TV and said sarcastically, "Can kidnapping an arms dealer actually have depth?"
The TV was playing a speech by Tony Stark.
Hong Fei continued without looking back, "Superficial! You only see the kidnapping in the action, but you don't know that I'm actually doing this to save him."
"Then why didn't the action plan send him directly back to New York, but instead transport him elsewhere?"
Hong Fei set fire to the papers in the folder and said matter-of-factly, "That's simple. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
Frank thought of just a moment ago, and his expression darkened.
"You know, the early preparation for this plan requires a lot of funds. To be honest, I've already applied for a loan. If there's no gain, I'll go bankrupt soon, and then I might have to hand you over to the police for a bounty."
Frank said, "You really are Frank."
"I've always been honest."
Next, Hong Fei directly told Frank the goals and task requirements of the operation called "Saving the Arms Dealer." Frank's excellent military knowledge and his former intelligence network effectively reduced a lot of trouble for Hong Fei, especially the latter. The information he contributed about various businessmen all over the world was something Hong Fei could hardly find quickly even if he wanted to spend money.
By the time night fell, Hong Fei was extremely satisfied looking at the rows of contact information in front of him.
"Frank, you really are my right-hand man. Your value is at least worth a billion dollars!"
Frank smiled coldly, "I just hope you don't break your promise when the time comes."
"Don't worry, when the operation is over, I will definitely tell you the detailed situation of all the leaders of the New York gangs."
"That's good!" Frank paused and then said, "But I feel like you're not doing this for money at all, right?"
Hong Fei said very honestly, "Wrong. Money is certainly my goal, but it's definitely not the only goal. There are many things you can't do without money, and there are some things you can't do even with money. You have to grasp both hands, and both hands must be strong, understand?"
Frank got up directly and changed the subject, "Where is my room?"
Hong Fei pointed out the location of the guest room to him, then looked down at the strings of numbers Frank had written down, and after some thought, picked up his phone and dialed.
After making the calls one by one, the balance in his account also began to shrink.
Three days later.
Hong Fei watched the bald man on his phone giving an acceptance speech for Tony Stark, looked up at Frank and said, "It's time for us to go."
Frank moved his arm gently, with no extra expression on his face, just a slight nod.
Packing their luggage, the two took a taxi straight to the airport.
If you're interested, you can brainstorm and create some Skill Cards that plot characters might drop. The color levels of Skill Cards, from low to high, are White, Green, Blue, Purple, and Orange.
The format is roughly as follows:
Active/Passive Skill Card: Skill Name (Color)
Affiliated Character:
Skill Effect: