MUP: Chapter 72. Purple Man Strikes Again

[Reputation points]: 7520

In the antique shop, Ryan looked at the contents displayed on the data panel, and his eyes flashed.

With less than 2,500 points or so from the 10,000 needed to get a [Bronze Treasure Chest], Ryan felt the need to work even harder.

Once he had gathered enough reputation points, the first thing he needed to do was to get a C-level card.

'I hope my luck is better this time.'

Ryan's heart was both excited and a little apprehensive about the second C-level card that he would soon get his hands on.

Although the first C-level card [Mizuki], synthesised from the fragments, couldn't be said to be too bad. Even its [Three Body Techniques] ability could be said to be the reason why Ryan could accumulate a large number of points this quickly. However, it wasn't a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. As the first C-level card he got, [Mizuki] did somewhat fall short of Ryan's expectations.

Simply put, it was just a little lame.

Its combat power wasn't that strong, and the ability [Broken Cursed Seal] had such a big side effect, almost turning him demonic.

'You deserve it. You can't even live for more than a few episodes in the anime.'

Ryan silently cursed in his heart. Ryan couldn't help but pray that the results of the [Bronze Treasure Chest] in the future would never be something as lame as [Mizuki] again.

　　...

A few days later, Ryan, who was collecting reputation points from Tony through [Shell] on the streets of New York, got some news from Jessica.

Matt asked the Defenders to gather.

Although feeling surprised that Matt's injury had healed faster than he thought, he couldn't possibly reject the opportunity to collect reputation points. He nodded his head with no hesitation.

Wesley, who had disappeared for a few days, reappeared.

"Why did he suddenly choose a place like this?"

Following the call from Luke, Jessica and Wesley arrived at a somewhat isolated abandoned warehouse in Hell's Kitchen.

Jessica frowned and grumbled as she surveyed the overgrown weeds, trash-strewn floor, and dirty environment of the warehouse.

"It feels like we're doing something shady."

"It's just a cover," Luke explained in a low voice, "We've been at this for quite a while and caused a lot of damage for the Hand and Kingpin. I'm just afraid that they would target the people around us, that's why I chose this place. We were careless when we gathered at Claire's place before. Fortunately, nothing dangerous happened."

Jessica looked up at Luke and saw that he seemed normal. She withdrew her gaze and grimaced, "I still don't like this place."

Luke slightly smiled and said, "It's just a temporary base."

"Matt should be coming soon."

When Luke turned around, he nodded and subconsciously smiled at the clone.

'Something's wrong!'

In the antique shop, Ryan saw Luke and frowned.

He somehow felt that there was something wrong with Luke, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He could only keep watching, to wait and see.

Because there was no evidence, Ryan couldn't act rashly. The only thing he could do was be a little more vigilant while maintaining the silent appearance of the clone.

　　...

A few minutes later.

With the sound of crisp footsteps, Matt, dressed as a lawyer, arrived at the warehouse.

He was holding a guide stick while walking with a slight limp in his steps. It was apparent that his injury hadn't completely recovered.

'Sure enough...'

Seeing that, Ryan was even more confident of his previous guess.

"Luke, what did you call me over for?"

In the warehouse, Matt stopped and asked Luke.

"He called you?" Jessica noticed what Matt's words meant. Her expression turned serious as she said, "But he told me you called us over."

Jessica frowned and turned to look at the tall figure in front of her, "What's all this about?"

Faced with Jessica's question and Matt's confusion, the expression on Luke's face remained unchanged. He continued to maintain his usual low tone and said, "Yes, I was the one who called you over, and Matt too."

Luke's strange behaviour made Matt frown. His keen senses told him that something wasn't right about the whole thing. He wanted to say something, but he suddenly felt that his consciousness was getting blurry.

"As for why ..."

As Luke's words fell...

The steady rhyme of footsteps echoed in the warehouse.

In his signature purple suit, Killgrave appeared in the warehouse. He looked at Jessica and spoke with a smile on his face, "It's because I missed you, Jessica."

"Killgrave!"

Seeing Killgrave in the warehouse, Jessica's expression suddenly changed, and she yelled in alarm.

She never expected that the other party would come looking for her at a time like this.

'Purple Man!'

In the antique shop, Ryan saw the scene in the warehouse, and his expression froze.

Noticing the change on Jessica's face, a relaxed smile appeared on Killgrave's face.

Approaching Jessica, Luke cooperated by stepping back behind him. Apparently, at some point, Killgrave had taken control of Luke with his ability.

"I've always thought that you were a special being like me, Jessica." With his eye sweeping over the people in the warehouse, Killgrave spoke with his usual self-conceited tone, "Apparently, I was wrong. The world is much more interesting than I thought. Like these friends of yours, I'm very surprised by their abilities."

With that, Killgrave glanced back at Luke, who was standing behind him, "Even I can't help but envy an invulnerable body."

"And the one next to you. He obviously can't see anything, but he can fight and move using his senses. I also heard that there was one who could kick ..."

"What the fuck.... do you want... Kill... grave!?"

Interrupting Killgrave's words, Jessica gritted her teeth to resist the attack from Purple Man's ability and asked with difficulty.

Looking at Jessica, who kept struggling against his ability, Killgrave raised his eyebrows and replied with a casual look, "I haven't thought of anything specific, but I know it'll be something interesting. Maybe we can take a stroll to a certain antique shop and say hello to the owner. After all, I still owe him for last time."

Killgrave spoke meaningfully as he covered his arm.