Chapter 42: My Dearest Uncle~

Seeing the hulking man surrender so swiftly and completely, even Luca and Shamira found themselves momentarily exchanging bewildered glances.

In truth, when the two had followed the man to this secluded pier earlier, they had been bracing themselves for a fierce confrontation. Shamira had even been contemplating how to persuade her young master to call off the operation before she had parked the car. Who would have guessed that when Luca activated his [Tracking Glasses] to scan the warehouse via thermal imaging, he would discover only four guards on duty? After a quick consultation, the pair decided to capitalize on the moment and force their way in. As it turned out, the four unfortunate guards had been neutralized by Shamira silently before they could even make a sound.

The bearded man currently sitting with his hands raised—the one who appeared to be the gang leader—was the last remaining threat identified by Luca's thermal scan. However, Luca ignored the man, who looked entirely compliant and ready to confess everything. Instead, he walked straight past the trembling giant and approached the wooden door behind him.

He reached out and gently pushed the door open. Inside the room, a man with his hands and feet tightly bound was struggling on the floor, inching his way toward the door. Luca leaned down slightly to look at the man, whose mouth was taped shut. Whether due to the lighting, the transparent semi-rimless glasses on Luca's face were suddenly obscured by a bright white reflection, making it impossible to read his expression.

"My dear uncle, is this the partner you chose?"

Indeed, the man trussed up like a prisoner was none other than Luca's opportunistic uncle, Dragan. It was precisely because he had detected "Dragan" via thermal imaging that Luca had ignored the bearded man in the outer room and walked straight in here.

"Oh, my mistake. It seems you can't speak like this~"

Luca’s smile remained as he reached out toward the man's face and ripped the tape off Dragan’s mouth in one sharp motion.

"Riiip."

A crisp sound echoed, followed immediately by Dragan’s pained cries. Seeing a few stray whiskers stuck to the tape, Luca tossed it aside with a look of disgust.

"Luca! Luca! You have to believe me, I didn't do those things! It was Kingpin! That man forced me into this. I’m your uncle, how could I ever want to send people to assassinate you?"

As soon as he could speak, Dragan ignored the burning pain on his face and began to weep and plead, his face a distorted mess of tears and snot. Luca, however, felt no sympathy; if anything, he recoiled half a step in even greater repulsion. Even though his right hand was a mechanical prosthetic crafted by Stark, Luca had no desire to get any filth on it.

Nevertheless, Dragan’s words caused the playful look behind Luca’s lenses to sharpen into something serious. Previously, upon discovering that there were only a few low-level thugs in the warehouse and that Dragan was being held captive here—far from Hell's Kitchen—Luca had assumed his earlier suspicions were merely biases stemming from his knowledge of the Marvel universe. He had thought that perhaps this had nothing to do with Kingpin at all, and that everything was just his own overactive imagination. He had hoped that once he dealt with this group, he could finally rest easy.

Who would have thought that Dragan would blurt out the name of the true mastermind the moment he opened his mouth?

*Damn it, it really isn't that simple,* Luca cursed inwardly, though his face remained impassive.

Seeing Luca’s expressionless mask, Dragan became even more terrified and scrambled to plead further. "Luca, for the sake of your mother Gina, spare me this time! It’s all Kingpin’s fault. He approached me and pushed me to compete with you for the company. And those who tried to kill you were sent by Barton! If you want revenge, go find him!"

Before Luca could react, the bearded man in the outer room, who had been quietly awaiting his "judgment," suddenly erupted into a torrent of abuse.

"Bullshit! Dragan, you bastard! It was you who came to me and asked to pull this job! And wasn't Kingpin screwed over by you too? Why the hell are you acting like the innocent one here? You gutter-crawling parasite! You rat! You son of a bitch!"

Listening to the continuous barrage of curses from the next room, Luca’s expression finally relaxed, a look of genuine intrigue returning to his face as he stared intently into Dragan’s eyes.

"Oh ho~ I take it he is the Barton you mentioned?"

"My dear uncle, it seems you haven't been telling me the truth, have you?"

Faced with Luca's calm and collected demeanor, Dragan panicked. He tried to offer an explanation, but Luca pressed a foot onto his head to silence him. Ignoring Dragan, who was racking his brain to find a way to deflect blame, Luca stood up and gave an order to Baymax, who was waiting outside.

"Baymax, help me take that bearded man to the open area outside the warehouse and keep him under control. Don't let him run, and don't let him make a sound."

At these words, Baymax, who had been staring blankly at the spiderwebs on the ceiling, stood at attention.

"Baymax understands." (●—●)

Baymax trotted over to the man named Barton, covered his bearded mouth with one large hand, and gripped his shoulder firmly with the other.

"Hello. I am now taking you outside. Please do not struggle violently to avoid injury." (●—●)

Without waiting for a response, Baymax dragged the man out of the room and onto the warehouse floor, holding him perfectly still. Baymax’s grip was like an iron clamp; no matter how Barton struggled, he couldn't budge. Eventually, he went limp like a fish pulled from the water, his body sagging as he stood there, motionless.

Seeing that Baymax had the man under control, Shamira stepped into the room. "Young Master, let me handle the dirty work."

After a disdainful glance at the cowering Dragan, she stood behind Luca like a silent, stone-faced guard.

"Alright. Now that the irrelevant parties are gone, it's time for you, Uncle, to help clear up my confusion."

"However, if your answers differ in any way from what Barton says, I suspect someone is going to be punished for it~"