In order to ensure they could take down Nick Fury, Hydra practically deployed all their elites.
Under the orders of Alexander Pierce, they sent an elite squad of over a hundred people, sealing off Hell's Kitchen at top speed, evacuating all civilians within ten nearby blocks, and setting up a tightly woven crossfire blockade.
This old fox knew one thing very well, Fury had always been extremely cunning.
To deal with someone as sly and suspicious as Fury, the only way was to be extremely cautious, striking directly at his weakness with a single fatal blow.
Although Fury had used considerable influence after the war to suppress all news of the God-Slaying incident at the English Channel, Alexander still used Hydra's intelligence network to dig up at least some information on Chen Lin.
But what he knew wasn't much, only that Chen Lin was a very powerful ability user who had participated in the war against the alien invasion.
Adhering to the belief that "it's better to be safe than sorry," Alexander Pierce also sent three Harrier jets. Every elite squad was equipped with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s latest high-end energy weapons, and command was entrusted to his capable subordinate, "Viper."
Viper, also known as Madam Hydra, held extremely high status within Hydra, ranking just below a handful of others.
She was a veteran who had survived since World War II, not only an exceptional poison-making expert, but also possessing skin immune to almost all toxins. She had once massacred several Middle Eastern tribes, earning herself a truly infamous reputation.
But even so, Alexander Pierce still wasn't reassured.
Thus, Hydra's mysterious leader, Hive, whose true appearance no one knew, transformed into a shadow and secretly followed the team. If anything went wrong, he would serve as a powerful hidden trump card.
Hydra had assembled its strongest forces, all to capture Nick Fury alive.
Inside a martial arts school barely over a hundred square meters in size, the room was packed with heavily armed elite agents. At the front stood a woman in a tight green outfit, her seductive beauty and curvaceous figure radiating an intense aura of hormones into the air.
She was Madam Hydra, the Viper, leading the operation.
"Don't make me say it a third time, blackie!"
Viper pressed her gun to Wu Da's head, speaking coldly,
"Have your master hand over Nick Fury, or we'll raze this place to the ground. None of you will escape death!"
Wu Da knelt on the ground, a cold sweat beading on his face. He gritted his teeth and kept silent.
Just moments ago, he had tried to stop these intruders, but before he could act, this ruthless woman had fired two shots into the muscle groups of his thighs, the bullets tearing through the flesh and robbing him of his ability to move.
The other martial arts students fared no better, immediately subdued by the rushing agents.
"Despicable… shameless!"
Wu Da's eyes turned red as he growled in fury,
"You barge into the school, shoot people without a word, don't tell me this is the law of America?!"
"What if I kill you right here?"
Viper smirked as if she had heard a joke, raising her hand to slap the Black man across the face. A flash of contempt glinted in her eyes,
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is the law. S.H.I.E.L.D. is reason. Say one more irrelevant word, and I'll kill you now!"
"If you have the guts, put the gun down!" Wu Da roared, teeth clenched. "Without that gun, you'd be dead eighteen times over already. I could crush your skull with one hand!"
Bang!
Her answer was another slap across the face.
"What era do you think this is? Still believing in this martial arts nonsense?"
Viper's voice was ice-cold.
"These laughable tricks are everywhere on the streets. You think this is some tournament match? Asking your enemy for fairness? Idiot, your head is nothing but muscle!"
"Don't you dare insult my master!"
Wu Da roared, lifting his hand in an attempt to crush the woman's head.
Unfortunately, the nearby agents were ready, one whipped out an electric baton and slammed it against him. A huge current instantly paralyzed his muscles, making him scream in agony as his body convulsed and collapsed to the floor.
"An idiot is still an idiot."
Viper sneered, raising her gun and aiming at the fallen Wu Da.
"Keeping idiots like this is just wasting air. Killing him will serve as a warning to the others, save us some time."
Whoosh
A strange breeze passed by, and Viper's pupils contracted to pinpoints.
Her hand was suddenly empty, the Glock pistol she had been holding had vanished without a trace.
"S.H.I.E.L.D., such mighty authority you have."
A voice filled with anger drew everyone's attention.
Viper turned toward the sound.
At the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor stood a young man in a black martial arts uniform. In his hand was none other than the Glock pistol she had just lost.
"Chen Lin?"
Viper's expression changed slightly. She stepped back while waving her hand.
A dozen elite agents in the room raised their guns in unison, aiming at the young man. Through the martial arts school's windows, dozens of red laser dots from snipers locked onto his vital points.
"Trespassing on my property, injuring my students, how are you going to compensate me for this?"
Chen Lin's expression was calm, his gaze fixed on Viper.
"I'm a man who likes to reason. If you can't give me a proper explanation, don't blame me for holding every single one of you accountable."
"Compensate?"
Viper let out a cold laugh, clenching her fist.
"This is my reasoning, have Nick Fury come out on his own, and I'll make sure you die quickly. What do you think of that as compensation?"
Another dozen agents burst through the wall, each holding a weapon with six black barrels, all aimed at the black-robed young man.
"Pleased, very pleased."
Chen Lin grinned, showing a row of pristine white teeth. "Just now, you said martial arts are useless?"
"Isn't that so?"
Viper sneered, taking the firearm handed to her from the side and expertly loading it.
"I'll ask you a question."
Even with dozens of guns pointed at him, Chen Lin showed not the slightest trace of panic. Instead, he asked, "Within seven steps, which is faster, a gun, or a fist?"
"Hahaha, are you out of your mind?"
Viper was amused by the question, but a flash of cruelty passed through her eyes. "Beyond seven steps, the gun is faster. Within seven steps, the gun is still faster, fast and accurate!"
"Is that so?"
Chen Lin raised his hand, fingers tightening like an iron clamp, and crushed the Glock pistol in his grip.
Everyone's expression changed instantly, this was steel, yet he had crushed it by hand. Just how strong was this man?
"Then let's find out."
A cold gleam flashed in Chen Lin's eyes as he slowly stepped forward. "Let's see, within seven steps, is it my fist that's faster, or your gun?"
"Fire!!!"
A chill shot down Viper's spine, as if an invisible hand had gripped her throat. Her voice trembled as she shouted, "Kill him! Shoot him dead!"
From a distance beyond seven steps, Chen Lin was instantly engulfed by a hail of bullets.
The metal storm tore through the air with devastating force, reducing the martial arts hall to rubble in moments. The aged floorboards splintered and flew apart under the barrage.
But in the very next instant, Chen Lin appeared right in front of Viper.
One hand clamped around her throat, he lifted her bodily from the ground, the ice in his eyes unmelting. "Looks to me like… beyond seven steps, my fist is still faster."
Viper struggled desperately, but the fingers around her neck were like an unyielding vise, tightening further and further.
Her face flushed red, then purple, as if about to suffocate. She struck at Chen Lin wildly, even releasing a fierce poison, yet the man showed no reaction, breathing in so much toxic gas and still unharmed.
"K-kill… kill him!"
Viper forced out the words with difficulty, signaling the others to finish him off.
Bang bang bang bang bang
Shell casings clattered across the floor as another storm of bullets howled toward Chen Lin.
But then, something far more terrifying happened,
Countless bullets froze in mid-air around him, as if they had struck an invisible wall.
"Annoying."
Chen Lin cast them a sidelong glance, a tide of psychic force surging from him.
Whoosh..whoosh..whoosh
The suspended bullets reversed course, shooting back at even greater speed.
Within seconds, every agent in the hall had been shot, each bullet to the head, each shot instantly fatal.
Viper was stunned, her eyes wide with fear.
"I already told you…"
Chen Lin sighed lightly. "I prefer reasoning things out, but I don't mind using a little physical persuasion. Since you were the ones who provoked me first, if I kill you now… you shouldn't have any complaints, right?"
"No… you can't… kill me!"
Seeing the killing intent in his eyes, Viper was completely overcome with dread. "We're S.H.I.E.L.D.… you can't… do this!"
"So what?"
Chen Lin grinned. "By your logic, strong ones make the rules, the weak follow them. And right now… I am the law."
The moment the words left his mouth, his fingers twisted sharply.
A crisp crack echoed, Viper's eyes dimmed, her head slumping lifelessly to one side.
After disposing of her, Chen Lin turned his gaze toward another corner, speaking faintly. "The rat hiding in the gutter over there, after watching the show for so long, your people are dead. Don't you plan on coming out?"
From the shadows, Beehive's heart jolted, he'd been discovered?
Before the thought could fully register, Chen Lin suddenly stepped forward. The ground for dozens of meters around cracked beneath his feet like a herd of elephants had charged through. He rushed forward like a humanoid tyrannosaurus, his training robes snapping in the air, one hand raised in a knife-hand stance.
"Since you won't come out, then take my Air-Splitting Palm!"
His knife-hand fell like a blade, its force as though it could split mountains and rivers. In the shadows, Beehive's face changed drastically, he felt as if a real blade was cleaving toward him, every hair on his body standing on end, his cheek stinging as if cut.
Boom!
The air itself exploded with a thunderous roar, forming a tunnel through sheer force.
The shockwave blasted straight through the wall, collapsing it entirely. The entire martial arts hall shook violently as Beehive spat blood and was hurled backward.