American Comics: BOSS Invasion

As dawn broke, the prison gates swung open, and five men in varied attire emerged.

“Finally free! When I get home, I’m definitely stepping over a brazier and bathing in water boiled with pomelo leaves to thoroughly cleanse myself of bad luck!”

By a twist of fate, the five men had shared a prison cell and were released on the same day. After months of close quarters, their camaraderie, while not profound, was amicable enough.

Four of the five were homeless vagrants, so they agreed to temporarily reside at Curly’s place.

The group stood in a line, peering around in search of a vehicle.

In the distance, a red motorcade suddenly appeared, the majority of the cars a flamboyant, almost arrogant, crimson. Encircling a vintage luxury car in the center, it slowly pulled up to the prison entrance.

A large group of men in suits and sunglasses piled out, lining up in neat rows, silent as wooden figures. With a synchronized step, they stood on the steps.

This display of uniformity startled the five men, causing them to involuntarily recoil.

Such pomp and circumstance could only mean a big shot was about to be released.

A portly figure, looking like a teapot, clad in a tight-fitting ninja suit under an ill-fitting jacket, glanced back just as the prison gates automatically opened.

A middle-aged man in a checkered suit, sporting a slicked-back hairstyle, a gold watch on his right wrist, and a massive gold ring on his left hand, nonchalantly lit a cigar.

The prison guard on duty even flashed a fawning smile, using a cigar lighter to help the man light up.

Two bodyguards abruptly unfurled a roll of red carpet, neatly laying it on the ground, followed by two more people who produced a roll of fine white gauze to cover the red carpet.

With all the preparations complete, the rear door of the luxury car was opened, and a lavishly dressed woman stepped out, rushing into the middle-aged man's arms, cooing, “Daddy!”

The five men stood dumbfounded on the side, blankly watching the boss put on a show, at a loss for words.

Pleased to be greeted by his daughter, the middle-aged man embraced her and turned to ask, “How’s business been while I was away?”

An underling replied, “The first few months were smooth sailing. But recently, a vigilante called the Punisher has emerged in Central, rumored to specifically target those dealing in ‘laundry detergent.’

The middle-aged man raised a hand. “Enough! This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go home!”

At the boss’s command, his subordinates immediately executed his orders. The group of men in black moved swiftly and precisely. In less than thirty seconds, they returned to their positions, rolled up the carpet again, and the motorcade quickly disappeared from the men’s sight.

The five men then gathered together again.

Teapot, seeing his brothers craning their necks, feigned disdain and said, “Tch! Why be so envious? Next time we get out, we’ll put on an even grander show, won’t we?”

The four men simultaneously gave him the middle finger.

Subsequently, the men stood by the roadside, incessantly waving to flag down a minibus.

However, five or six buses passed by without stopping, no matter how they waved.

The men grew annoyed.

Rhino Hide said, “This won’t do. Teapot, you lie down in the middle of the road. I refuse to believe they won’t stop!”

Teapot, of course, refused. “Why don’t you go? You want me to die? Didn’t you see those bastards slamming on the gas? They’re trying to fly over the prison, afraid of being tainted by bad luck for even a second longer. Forget about me lying in the middle of the road; even if the five of us lay there together, they wouldn’t even see us!”

As the men were exchanging bad ideas, three black official cars suddenly drove up from the end of the road and stopped right in front of them.

They initially thought another group had come to welcome a big shot, and hurriedly turned their heads to look, only to find that this time, the prison gates remained closed.

When they turned back around, a woman had appeared before them.

Tomie, dressed in a neat office suit, expressionless, slowly removed her plain glasses and coldly said, “Teapot, Rhino Hide, Curly, Ginseng, and Big Earth, are these your names?”

The men exchanged glances, looked at the official cars, and simultaneously took a step back, shaking their heads in unison, then pretending to look around.

“Miss, you’ve got the wrong people. How could we have such ridiculous names? Listen to ‘Rhino Hide,’ is that even a name?” Teapot loudly mocked.

Rhino Hide cursed inwardly but also loudly said, “That’s right, who would be named ‘Teapot’? Even a watering pot looks better than a teapot, at least it’s worth more!”

Tomie remained expressionless. “Very well, it seems it’s you lot. Now, look into my eyes!”

At Tomie’s command, a flicker of black light flashed within her pupils. The men’s previously evasive gazes were suddenly drawn in, as if by a magnet, involuntarily locking onto Tomie’s eyes.

This gaze had a dire effect. Black energy spread, gently hooking their vacant eyes, instantly rendering them dull and lifeless.

Tomie directly turned around and snapped her fingers. “Good, now get in the car!”

The five men involuntarily boarded the cars, and the motorcade quickly disappeared down the road.

---

As dawn barely broke, the police once again received an urgent call.

The surrounding patrol units arrived at the scene immediately, quickly cordoning it off and calling for backup.

By the time the main force arrived, the sky was already fully illuminated.

Officer Liu walked along the cordon, greeted by his subordinates along the way.

His assistant, who had been following him, went in to speak with the investigation team, then returned with a report.

“Sir, are you not going to take a look this time?”

Officer Liu said calmly, “There’s nothing to see. The coroner has already examined everything in detail, right? Just read it out. If it’s the same person, there might be obvious clues left behind!”

The assistant nodded, feeling a headache coming on. “This Pig Head Butcher is indeed too cunning. We’ve been tracking him for two weeks straight and haven’t found a single lead.

I have a feeling he has extensive counter-surveillance experience, like a scout active on the battlefield, observing others while concealing himself as much as possible.”

Officer Liu said, "Enough with the nonsense. We don't have much time; we have an important meeting to attend later!"

The assistant nodded and said, "Alright, alright. Actually, the basic information hasn't changed much. It's basically consistent with the six bodies we found before.

If I had to point out a difference, the other six bodies died from knife wounds, while this body died from a long-range shot.

Moreover, after confirming the target's death, the killer deliberately approached the target at close range and left a pig's head.

I suspect that the killer might be bored with close-quarters assassinations and chose long-range sniping..."

The assistant was interrupted by Officer Liu before he could finish speaking.

"Wait a minute, this time it was a long-range sniper shot?"

Officer Liu's expression immediately turned serious.

The assistant was somewhat bewildered: "Yes, is there a problem?"

"What is the degree of damage to the body?"

The assistant's expression was a little unnatural: "The sniper rifle is likely a military model with tremendous power. The entire head was shattered, and the surrounding walls and ground were covered in tissue fragments."

Officer Liu suddenly reached out: "Show me the photos of the scene!"

The assistant quickly handed over the documents. Officer Liu quickly flipped through them, and his expression gradually became strange.

"How could such a big change happen, switching from close-range killing to long-range sniping?

Isn't he afraid that the loud gunshot will expose his current location?"

The assistant watched the officer talking to himself beside him, not saying a word.

Having followed Officer Liu for many years, he deeply understood the man's strength.

How many major cases had Officer Liu solved by extracting clues from these seemingly insignificant details, thereby finding important leads.

Officer Liu stood on the spot and pondered for a long time, then suddenly slammed his fist into his palm.

"That's right, this is a copycat crime. This case is very likely to be a breakthrough point. Notify the technical department to dig out this person's identity as soon as possible!"

Officer Liu rubbed his temples: "I always have a very bad feeling now. The wanted order issued last time..."

Before he could finish speaking, another subordinate rushed over.

"Officer, we got the surveillance video from the audio-visual store across the street. We found crucial evidence. The deceased is very likely a wanted person!"

Officer Liu paused, but the assistant hurriedly asked: "Is it a key suspect in the Pig Head Butcher case?"

"Yes, yes, it's that Yao guy, what's his full name again?"

No one answered. The assistant, including the other police officers in the group, all looked at Officer Liu.

Officer Liu closed his eyes and pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly opened his eyes, sighed softly, patted his forehead, and turned to leave.

"Call the forensic doctor to dissect this body, and then notify the brothers in other areas to discuss the closing of the Pig Head Butcher case.

Separate this case. I suspect that someone may have hired a murderer. Sniper rifles, such professional weapons, are impossible for non-professionals to obtain.

Contact the Special Crimes Unit and find their leader, Officer Chen, and ask them to provide assistance!"

The assistant quickly saluted and agreed loudly.

The surrounding police officers quickly took action, and the efficiency immediately increased a lot.

Officer Liu walked out while gently patting his forehead, sighing, "This is troublesome. I have to deal with that Chen guy again. That old fox is not easy to deal with!"

Officer Liu shook his head and walked away.

Officer Liu felt a headache, but he didn't know that Officer Chen's head hurt even more.

Sitting in the police station's restaurant, all he heard were complaints from his colleagues.

"Is this Punisher crazy? He's been frequently on the move lately, killing more than 30 bigwigs who sell laundry detergent in a row. Each death is extremely tragic. The higher-ups are pushing this case onto us. Isn't that a mistake? We are responsible for major international cases. Shouldn't they throw this laundry detergent thing to the Narcotics Division?"

"Stop complaining. The higher-ups probably think we handled the Retribution Fund case too well this time, wiping out all the killers in one fell swoop, and the police didn't leave any traces. Maybe they think we've all become Superman!"

When saying this, although people were laughing, the tone didn't sound like a joke at all, but rather like complaining.

"If you ask me, there's nothing wrong with it. Anyway, they're not good people. It would be good if all the laundry detergent sellers died!"

"Violence for violence won't solve the problem!"

There are always people who argue when people are chatting. Officer Chen had heard this kind of arguing conversation many times today.

Speaking of which, it was a bit innocent. The higher-ups had pushed this major case down for no reason, making the entire team a little flustered.

They had personally surveyed the scene. Those corpses lying in disarray, with their tragic and unbearable deaths, were even more exaggerated than a battlefield.

It gave people a feeling of not knowing where to start.

In just one week, the other party had created more than 30 massacre scenes, but it would take the police at least a month to clean up these scenes. In addition to mobilizing a large number of people, it would also waste a lot of equipment and resources.

The Punisher eliminated evil and brought peace, killing people and leaving without a trace. He was happy.

But it was hard work for the police to clean up, which made many people angry.

At this time, a subordinate walked over quickly: "Le Ge, Officer Liu from the Major Crimes Unit asked someone to order a report, saying they wanted a copy of the killer information we have."

Officer Chen nodded: "Is there a problem?"

The subordinate smiled bitterly: "Our information was originally very complete, but after this incident, more than 90% of the agents died unexpectedly, and many killers in Hong Kong Island were also implicated. Our current database is also incomplete, so Officer Liu is a little dissatisfied!"

Officer Chen said helplessly: "Explain it to them properly. We can't do anything about this! By the way, say hello to the colleagues in the Major Crimes Unit. This laundry detergent massacre has caused a lot of noise, and the media is joining in the fun, and public opinion has been stirred up again.

We may need a large number of people in a while. I hope the brothers in the Major Crimes Unit can provide support!"

"I know!" The subordinate nodded and turned to leave.

The phone suddenly rang.

Officer Chen answered, and an anxious voice immediately came from the other side.

"Officer, we received a tip that the people from the four major families in Hong Kong Island are gathering all the distributors for a meeting, seemingly to solve the threat of the Punisher."

Officer Chen's spirits lifted: "Where?"

"It's in the West Kowloon Pier warehouse area. All four major families have been dispatched this time. The scene will definitely be big, with at least 100 people!"

"Notify the brothers to assemble and set off immediately!"

Officer Chen put down his coffee cup, put on his coat, and strode out.