Peter finally understood Felicia's true purpose in finding him; ultimately, it was still about her father. Although she could be said to have personally slain the murderer, the battle against Hydra continued. It was just that Felicia currently had neither the time nor the means to intervene in those affairs.
The situation with the CIA, however, was different. From this, many other things could be inferred. For instance, would she really go to the dragon's den of Colombia and Mexico just to investigate the sharp decline in the quantity of enhancers mentioned by the Defenders? Felicia had been injected with the Super Soldier Serum, but that didn't mean she was immune to bullets or heavy ordnance.
Therefore, her trip was undoubtedly to investigate the CIA—specifically, that Donald Pierce. It was common knowledge that a large portion of the CIA's operational funds was moved through overseas enhancer processing and raw material production; finding leads on the CIA among Mexican and Colombian drug lords was more than logical.
Furthermore, since the shadow of Hydra lurked behind the death of the Cat, there was an extremely high probability that there were Hydra moles within the CIA as well (though, in truth, everyone knew they existed; they just didn't know who they were). Donald Pierce might be an entry point; the line from him to the Cat might lead to information regarding Hydra.
Speaking of which, the man's surname was Pierce, the same as Alexander Pierce, the representative for S.H.I.E.L.D. on the World Security Council.
With this in mind, Peter immediately asked, "While everyone knows the CIA is the biggest drug lord around, I really didn't expect you to head to Mexico and Colombia to investigate. What did you find?"
"The CIA is involved in human trafficking—more specifically, the trafficking of test subjects for human experimentation. I discovered this while looking into Pierce. And strangely enough, the destination for their shipments isn't some lab on the border, but New York."
The more Felicia spoke, the stranger Peter felt. Sent to New York? For what purpose was human trafficking directed toward New York, and human experimentation at that...
"How did you confirm they were conducting human experiments?"
Felicia gave Peter a flat look before continuing, "I investigated, obviously. I encountered quite a few cyborgs in there. Not super-powered mutants, but... more like mechanical cyborgs."
"There's still no reason to send them to New York."
Peter pondered for a moment, then asked Felicia a question in return, "Can you confirm roughly how many people were involved?"
"Possibly thousands already. They've been in this business for several years. And as far as I know, they aren't just sending trafficked individuals, but also a massive number of illegal immigrants. Every year, more and more people cross the border wall, and many of them go missing. It's very likely they are being sent to New York."
New York... New York...
Peter sensed that something was amiss.
"Setting aside whether the CIA has the capacity to hide that many people, New York City already has so many homeless people. Why would they need to recruit from elsewhere? If it were truly for human experimentation, there's absolutely no need to send them to New York. Not only are the Avengers and other sorts of 'gods and monsters' here, but shouldn't such experiments be done in a more secluded place?"
The number of homeless people on the streets of New York had only recently begun to drop... wait...
Felicia looked at Peter, and Peter turned back to look at Felicia. Then, Felicia asked, "Are you thinking the same thing I am?"
"Fisk... and his homeless shelters." Peter took a deep breath. "It seems I need to pay him a visit."
"Kingpin" Wilson Fisk was practicing boxing with his good friend. His friend was, of course, the Prowler, Aaron Davis. The latter could currently only focus entirely on defense, while Kingpin even shared pointers on the essentials of boxing with a smile.
However, Kingpin soon frowned and came to a halt. He turned to look behind him, and the Prowler followed suit, seeing Spider-Man standing leaned against the wall. Kingpin signaled for Aaron not to act rashly, then began removing his boxing gloves while picking up his water bottle.
"Catching Warren was a mistake, Spider-Man. To the police, aside from his early criminal record, he has done nothing wrong. He could even argue that night that he went there to fight alongside you and stop the Hand."
Kingpin finished speaking and took a large gulp of water. Peter countered simply, "He was with Bullseye."
"Yes, but that woman was also with the Hand initially. And since you were already in the middle of a fierce battle, no one could clearly distinguish whether she was friend or foe. Furthermore... Lester was an assassin. Who knows if someone else paid him to do something."
Kingpin looked at Peter and chuckled. "After all, he's dead. No one knows."
With that, he found a chair and sat down. The Prowler quickly handed Kingpin a towel. As Kingpin wiped his sweat, he said, "So, have you come merely to demand an explanation, Spider-Man?"
"No, I've come to congratulate you on your impending release. I'm not wrong, am I? I saw your ad trucks; the slogans were quite humorous. Everyone is calling you 'The Kind-Hearted Mr. Fisk'."
Kingpin laughed.
"A bail agreement has been reached. I'll be out on bail soon. Of course, if you're worried about whether I'll serve as the Mayor of New York, I can only say that until my sentence is finished, I cannot run for office."
Peter looked at Kingpin and then posed a question.
"A massive number of Latin American trafficked persons and illegal immigrants are being funneled into New York by the CIA. Do you know the situation?"
Hearing this, Kingpin let out an "ah" as he realized the context.
"So, you suspect my homeless shelter project is related to this. If I say nothing, tell a lie, or if it truly is related to me, this matter will be reported immediately, and my bail plan will be ruined."
Kingpin looked at Peter with a smile and drank another glass of water. "Fortunately, you are someone who cares about those people even more than you care about whether I stay here. Then I'll be straight with you, Spider-Man. Before the Hand appeared, I actually didn't know about this either."
"But now, I can tell you quite clearly where those people have been sent. All those undead ninjas of the Hand—did you really think they were produced through training in ninjutsu?"
Peter inquired further, "Then why don't they use New York's local homeless? Afraid of being exposed?"
"No, Spider-Man, you're wrong. The reason they don't strike at the local homeless is because I am the one protecting them."