Chapter 73: The Battle of New York (Part 3)
With no special defense systems in the energy center, Kingpin felt relieved. Policies would never allow Osborn to set up self-destruct systems near the city.
Leading an elite team, Kingpin stood at the energy center’s entrance and took a deep breath, inhaling complex particles. A biological map of the energy center formed in his mind.
Putting on his headset, Kingpin signaled his elite squad to infiltrate the energy center. The assault began.
As soon as they entered, everyone halted. Before them lay countless visible explosive traps, dense enough to require an entire squad to clear them.
Kingpin nodded to a team member, their demolition expert. Given the urgency, they couldn’t disarm each trap individually and opted for a more aggressive approach.
After precise calculations, several grenades were tossed, detonating most of the traps along their path.
With the way clear, Kingpin rotated a ring on his right hand.
A defensive suit of armor unfolded from the ring, covering Kingpin entirely. This was a custom suit made by Tony Stark.
Due to Kingpin’s unique abilities, the suit was 90% defensive, ensuring he could recover from any non-lethal injuries.
Inside the energy center, Dr. Selvig was conducting final checks on the portal device. According to Loki’s plan, this point was dispensable, but it was preferable to activate it. This strategic decision explained why only mass-produced Lizard soldiers, and Dr. Selvig were present.
Upon triggering the traps set by Barton, the Lizard soldiers mobilized.
Despite Kingpin’s abilities foiling their ambushes, the Lizard soldiers’ numbers and familiarity with the terrain created significant obstacles. Their fearless nature effectively delayed Kingpin’s team.
Minutes later, Anna, Rogers, and others arrived. With the reinforcements, progress became smooth, and they soon reached Dr. Selvig.
Dr. Selvig stood in the center, connected to Osborn’s energy distribution system.
“You’ve finally arrived…”
Before he could finish, a blast from the rear team knocked him unconscious. There was no time for monologues.
“Is this the Tesseract?”
The group gathered around, staring at the cubic object within the device.
“Why does it look kind of transparent?”
“I’m not sure, but the mission hasn’t concluded yet. Let’s remove it first,” Anna suggested.
The others stepped back, giving Anna and Annie space.
Annie extended two lines from her body, one gold and one blue, connecting to her sister.
Boom!
Black energy enveloped Anna, then surged forward, clashing against the shield.
At that moment, the Tesseract revealed its true power. The attacking energy was teleported elsewhere, showing no visible effect.
“How is this possible? It’s immune to energy attacks?” Anna was shocked.
“Maybe. Let me try!” Rogers retrieved his shield and hurled it.
The shield struck the barrier, rebounding and embedding into the ceiling, nullifying Rogers’ boomerang effect.
Kingpin followed up with an attack,
pouring energy into his right arm, which expanded significantly. He punched the shield, only to be flung back by the rebounded force.
Anna paused, a name flashing in her mind: Accelerator…
But who was that? Why did she think of him? Anna touched her hair, feeling puzzled.
After another minute of futile attempts, the portal was about to open when a voice called from above.
“Excuse me, please step aside.”
They looked up to see a hole in the ceiling, accompanied by the sound of something cutting through the air.
The next second, a silver-white beam pierced the walls, aimed at the shield.
The beam moved faster than anyone could react, only sensing its passage.
Bzzt—the sword penetrated the shield, dissipating it after a few seconds.
A figure leaped through the hole, catching the sword.
“Why are you all staring at me?” Zhao Jian asked.
“Nothing, just surprised,” Anna said, swallowing hard.
“Wait! Don’t be surprised. Who took the Tesseract?!” Rogers pointed out.
“What Tesseract?” Anna turned, finding the central machine empty, the Tesseract seemingly vanished!
“Damn! It’s a trap!” Zhao Jian realized why Loki let Tony, with reduced combat power, delay him.
Simultaneously, Tony noticed Loki vanished from his sight.
“What’s going on?” Tony stopped in mid-air.
Four blue energy pillars answered his question before he could get a response through the earpiece.
One pillar appeared next to Lin Zhengying, revealing the source of his earlier unease.
The energy pillars expanded, opening portals in the New York sky, behind which an alien fleet began advancing.
On the Helicarrier, Banner glanced at Nick Fury.
“Cough, cough, these expensive teas do have their benefits,” Nick awkwardly scratched his nose. His significant miscalculation was the key to the plan’s failure.
But why would someone as cautious as Nick trust an unknown intuition? And why did everyone unanimously believe Nick’s judgment? The answer lay with the Mind Stone in Loki’s possession.
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