Part of the reason was that Matthew's own mastery of Armant Haki still wasn't strong enough.
Conqueror's Haki could strike directly at a demon's soul and spirit, but in terms of raw killing power, the greatest effect still ca from the Glint-Glint Fruit.
To a certain extent, the fruit's light-based properties naturally restrained demons. Combined with its overwhelming destructive force and high-density energy explosions, it gave him the basic foundation needed to hunt them.
To put it simply, Matthew's own overall strength still wasn't high enough. His Armant Haki and Conqueror's Haki had yet to reach the level of an Admiral, let alone monsters like Garp, Roger, or Whitebeard.
At his current level, even ordinary physical attacks coated in Armant Haki were still not enough to directly kill demons.
The Glint-Glint Fruit, however, could do it.
Once his overall strength reached a higher threshold, once his Armant Haki advanced to a sufficient level, he would be able to crush demons with a single punch.
In the end, it still ca down to one thing.
He had to keep training.
Fortunately, hunting demons would not interfere with that.
Aside from manifesting Devil Fruits, battle itself was also a form of training for Matthew.
The path of growth was never about static repetition or simply overwhelming weaker opponents. It required intense battles—brutal clashes, even desperate struggles fought on the edge of defeat.
Combat was a catalyst, one that drew out everything accumulated through training and forced it to ignite all at once, allowing him to grow in the midst of battle.
In that sense, it was killing two birds with one stone.
"Boss?"
Neagley's voice broke through his thoughts. Matthew glanced sideways to see her focused on the road, hands steady on the wheel as she drove.
"Hm?"
"Thank you," Neagley said, seemingly out of the blue.
Matthew raised an eyebrow slightly. "For what?"
"Thank you for bringing onto a far more exciting path."
Without turning her head, Neagley spoke with complete seriousness.
A faint smile touched the corner of Matthew's lips, but he said nothing.
Neagley continued speaking on her own.
"After I retired, I went through a very long period of confusion. I didn't know what I was supposed to do anymore. I tried a lot of different jobs, hoping to fill that emptiness inside , but I failed."
"But you made find that fighting spirit again—the heart that once pushed forward."
"You even gave a completely different road to walk."
Her voice remained calm, but beneath that calmness burned sothing incredibly intense.
She had joined the military not only because of her family background, but because she herself had never been soone content with an ordinary life. Deep down, she possessed an adventurous spirit that most people lacked.
She was unwilling to live a diocre life.
She had once believed that the Special Investigation Unit 101 would be her final destination, but after retiring, she had fallen into confusion all over again.
The fact that she had never married, and had not even found a lover until now, was proof enough of that.
Deep down, she had always longed to return to the battlefield.
Matthew had given her that chance again.
More than that, he had offered her a path far more colorful and extraordinary than anything she had known before.
Hydra. Super soldiers. Demons. Hell.
Things she had never even imagined before were now appearing one after another in front of her.
And on top of that, Matthew had given her the power of the mo-mo Fruit.
Neagley had always been a smart woman. There were no fools in the Special Investigation Unit.
The fact that Matthew was willing to entrust her with such an ability ant only one thing—he trusted her.
She liked that feeling.
She enjoyed being needed, being trusted, being valued.
Most importantly of all, Matthew's way of doing things suited her perfectly.
Then the only thing Neagley could offer in return was loyalty.
Absolute loyalty.
"It's still too early for that, Neagley."
Even without using Observation Haki, Matthew could clearly feel the burning passion in the woman beside him.
Why had he entrusted sothing as important as the mo-mo Fruit to Neagley?
Because he had already figured out exactly what kind of person she was.
As long as she was given trust—and the things she truly needed—she would beco one of his most loyal soldiers.
And the truth proved exactly that.
There were far too many people like Neagley in this world.
Matthew was a cautious man, and he also possessed an extrely strong desire for control. Unlike Nick Fury, whose nature was to trust no one, Matthew had sothing more than just Observation Haki.
He had absolute confidence in himself.
Observation Haki allowed him to perceive the emotions of others.
Humans were creatures skilled at disguise, but under Observation Haki, their truest emotions could never escape his perception. Even demons—beings naturally cunning and masters of deception—could not hide from his senses, let alone ordinary humans.
During his ti with Neagley, he had been able to clearly feel every subtle change in her emotions.
And beyond that, his greatest confidence had always been himself.
He was never afraid of betrayal.
In this universe, the highest law was power.
Because of that, he was never stingy. On the contrary, he could be incredibly generous.
"Cool~ I'm starting to worry I might fall for you, Boss."
Neagley let out a whistle and instantly returned to her usual carefree, sharp-witted self.
Matthew gave a small smile and shot back casually, "I'm still underage, you know. Don't go down a criminal path, Neagley,"
"Ha! Criminal!" Neagley burst into laughter, deliberately stressing the word criminal, as if to say—and what exactly have we been doing all this ti?
"Where should I look for you next?"
"Magrave."
Matthew turned his gaze back toward the window, watching the roadside scenery flash past.
It was ti for him to go ho.
…
Inside a floor of the Triskelion in Washington, D.C., a bald, dark-skinned man wearing a high-collared sweater and an eye patch stood behind a one-way glass window, quietly sipping his coffee as he listened.
On the other side sat a timid-looking girl with glasses.
Electrodes were attached to her temples and forehead, thin wires connecting her to monitoring equipnt. Across from her, several agents and analysts questioned her while keeping a close eye on the data being displayed.
The one-eyed man watched the girl with deep, unreadable eyes.
After a long while, he finally turned and walked away.
He moved down the corridor and arrived at the spacious main hall. The polished marble floors reflected the light cleanly, while the walls and interior decorations all carried a sleek, modern style.
Stopping in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, he looked out over the city, now covered in a pale layer of white snow.
On the surface, it seed as though he was admiring the view, but in reality, his thoughts had long since drifted elsewhere.
At that mont, footsteps approached behind him.
"Your coffee's getting cold, Nick."
Nick turned his head.
"And what brings you to headquarters today, Pierce?"
Pierce, dressed neatly in a suit, had already walked up beside him, holding a steaming cup of coffee of his own.
Pierce was the forr Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and now served as Secretary of the World Security Council, responsible for coordinating with Nick Fury and the current S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership.
Under normal circumstances, he rarely ca to headquarters unless sothing major had happened.
Thinking of recent events, Nick Fury had already guessed the reason for his visit.
Sure enough, Pierce got straight to the point.
"The Devil's Kettle."
"This is no small matter, Nick."
"It's a headache, certainly."
Faced with Pierce—his forr superior and an old friend—Nick Fury made no attempt to hide the truth.
Demons.
Matthew.
The latter could be set aside for the mont. At the very least, he was still a human whose past could be traced and whose background appeared clean.
But what Jennifer had caused through the Devil's Kettle…
That was the real source of Fury's headache.
...
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