After a brief conversation with Aunt May and confirming that Ben Parker was safe, Kagura Hitomi returned home.
Since she had already healed all of Ben's physical injuries, all he needed now was some rest. When he woke up, he'd be good as new—no lingering effects at all.
'Hmm~ Hmmm♫~ Hmm♪!'
Running into Ben Parker's attack was completely unexpected.
It was perfect timing, in the perfect place—leading to a perfect encounter.
"Mmm ~♪ This must be fate!"
The girl let her imagination run wild...
But while some things could only happen by chance, others were within her power to control.
As she had suspected earlier, New York didn't seem all that safe.
Unlike Gotham's brooding caped crusader, who had nothing better to do than prowl the city at night and beat criminals to a pulp, no such superhero existed in present-day New York.
And as for their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man? He was still just an adorable little kid.
What made things even more suspicious was that, despite Rhodes Island Industries' efforts to improve public safety, crime rates weren't dropping as expected.
In fact, they seemed to be climbing again.
That was a major red flag.
'Could HYDRA be up to something again?'
'This needed to be investigated.'
'No—this definitely needed to be investigated.'
———————————————————————
Manhattan, New York – Kagura Hitomi's Basement
Kagura Hitomi sat in her chair, two holographic screens floating before her.
One displayed a prototype plan for a global defense system.
The other showed crime statistics for New York City and other major metropolitan areas across the country.
Reducing crime wasn't a new goal for Rhodes Island Industries.
Kagura had already provided law enforcement with advanced weapons, next-gen surveillance tools, and state-of-the-art forensic and security equipment.
In fact, crime rates had steadily declined ever since Rhodes Island Industries was founded.
But now, for some reason, it looked like they were climbing back up again.
"Going up and down like this... What are you, the stock market?"
Had she not done enough?
"Cortana, pull up a data map of recent crimes in New York. Let me see what's going on."
"Command confirmed."
As Cortana processed the request, red dots began appearing all over the holographic map of New York City.
"Crime Activity data from the past month has been fully loaded."
"Have there been any unusual trends? Because this map looks way too crowded for my liking."
Kagura twirled a strand of her silver hair between her fingers.
"Extract the data and analyze crime rate changes from the Stark Expo incident until now."
"Your instincts are sharp, Master."
A graph appeared before her, projected in midair.
"Ever since Hammer Industries was acquired, crime in New York has skyrocketed. Violent crimes, gang wars—everything is escalating. It's reached a level that even the NYPD can't handle."
"Oh?" Kagura frowned. Something was definitely off.
"Can you use cloud-based data mining to determine the cause of this trend?"
"I'm on it, Master."
After a moment, Cortana responded.
"Preliminary analysis suggests that, for unknown reasons, a large quantity of advanced weapons—originally belonging to Hammer Industries—has flooded the black market.
"This has fueled the surge in violent crime. Notably, there are even reports of Palladium Arc Reactors being traded illegally."
"Wait, what?!"
Hearing this, Kagura immediately straightened up.
"Didn't we conduct a full inventory and audit when we took over Hammer Industries?"
"Yes, Master."
"We thoroughly accounted for all weapons and equipment. However, Hammer Industries' records were a complete disaster—riddled with loopholes and inconsistencies."
"It's highly likely that a hidden faction managed to stash away and smuggle out some of their gear."
"A hidden faction? HYDRA again...?" Kagura's expression darkened.
"So, they're trying to squeeze one last payday out of Hammer Industries' corpse, huh? An Arc Reactor alone is worth a fortune."
She bit her lip.
"Whatever their plan is, these heavily armed criminals and black market operations need to be shut down. Immediately."
"Cortana, can we track the location of the stolen Arc Reactors?"
"Master, Rhodes Island Industries' spectrometer satellites are already repositioning to scan for Palladium signatures across New York."
"In approximately 13 minutes and 57 seconds, we'll have a full map of all anomalous readings."
"Cross-referencing this with previous Hammer-HYDRA interactions, we should be able to pinpoint the major black market hubs."
"Perfect. Once we have the locations, inform Bucky Barnes. He'll lead the strike teams."
Kagura stood up.
"It's time for Griffin Security to step in. These black market hideouts are like tumors—if we don't cut them out, we'll never have real peace."
"Shall I notify Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark?" Cortana asked.
"No. S.H.I.E.L.D. is still riddled with HYDRA moles—I don't want to tip them off."
"As for Mr. Stark… he's been through enough lately. Let's let him rest. I don't need to rely on him for everything—I'm not his daughter."
"Understood, Master." Cortana promptly executed the command.
"Coordinates for the black market hubs are being compiled. Preparing an action plan."
Kagura casually pulled on a hoodie.
Her White Moon combat suit could generate directly over her skin, eliminating the need to change outfits before battle.
But after the Ben Parker incident, she had realized another small problem.
Sure, she didn't need to change clothes anymore—but every time she got into a fight, she ended up ruining an outfit.
She wasn't a clothing retailer! Clothes cost money!
It was painful seeing them get destroyed every time she fought.
On the other hand, walking around in White Moon all the time wasn't ideal—it was too eye-catching, and it negated the suit's stealth advantage.
After thinking it over, Kagura programmed White Moon to partially activate, generating things like shoes, undergarments, and a holographic disguise for her hair.
That was enough.
For the rest, she could just throw on a hoodie.
Wait.
Why did that sound kinda weird?
"Master, the analysis is complete."
Soon, Cortana reported back.
"We've identified a central hub for illegal arms distribution."
"Advanced weapons and Arc Reactors are being funneled from this location. Additionally, four other black market hideouts have been marked."
"Got it. Tell Bucky Barnes his mission is to take out those secondary hideouts."
Kagura's gold eyes narrowed.
"As for the central hub—I'll handle it myself."
Selling advanced weaponry on my turf?
Who the hell thought that was a good idea?
After getting ready, Kagura stepped out the door.
Her upgraded earpiece now projected a small HUD in front of her eyes, providing real-time data.
"Cortana, mark the target location. Prepare to activate the North American Near-Earth Orbit Arsenal."
"Command confirmed, Master."
Kagura didn't expect she'd need the heavy weapons from orbit for a mere black market bust—but better to be prepared.
What if they pulled out something like Iron Man's drone army?
...
Wait.
Was that a jinx?
———————————————————————
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