New York Flood

New York City, located in southeastern New York State, was the largest metropolis and commercial port in the United States.

It lay at the mouth of the Hudson River in southeastern New York State, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Composed of the five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, it was the most populous city in the nation.

New York was a world-class city. Its booming economy ensured a constant stream of tourists, and its beaches were among their favorite destinations.

The beaches were bathed in sunlight, and the seawater was clean and clear. Today was no exception.

Groups of tourists in swimsuits sunbathed on the shore, occasionally swimming a few laps before coming back for a drink. If they were lucky, they might even have a romantic encounter.

But at some point, flashes of lightning suddenly appeared far out at sea. Strangely, the sky remained clear and cloudless, yet faint thunder seemed to rumble in the distance.

Coastal weather could change in an instant. Many of the more cautious tourists had already returned to shore, intending to shower and leave.

But before they could reach the showers, waves of startled cries erupted behind them.

They turned around and were scared out of their wits. A white line surged across the horizon, reaching the shore within a few breaths.

It was clearly an enormous wave, more than ten meters high.

"Damn it! It's a tsunami!"

Everyone on the beach was terrified and turned to flee, but how could they possibly outrun such a massive wave? Before they had taken more than a few steps, the wave crushed over them.

Carrying violent energy, the massive wave slammed directly into the shore. Before this natural disaster, every man-made structure was like a pile of building blocks, instantly toppled and swept away with devastating force.

Nick Fury nearly went mad in the helicopter. Fine, they could fight if they wanted to fight, but did they have to cause such a huge disaster?

What place was this? This was New York!

New York was not only the financial center of the United States, but one of the world's financial centers as well. It directly influenced global economics, finance, media, politics, education, entertainment, fashion, and countless other industries. It was widely recognized as the capital of the world.

New York was also one of the United States' industrial centers. Clothing, printing, cosmetics, and other industries all ranked first in the country, while machinery manufacturing, arms production, oil refining, and food processing also held important positions.

But now, half of New York had already been flooded. The losses were simply beyond monetary measure.

This "natural disaster" affected not only New York and the United States, but the entire world.

The United Nations Headquarters was also located in New York City, along the East River on Manhattan Island. The buildings along the river were the ones hit hardest by this flood.

Nick Fury saw with his own eyes that boats could already sail beneath the United Nations Headquarters.

The only thing he could be thankful for was that buildings farther from the coastline had merely been submerged rather than washed away.

The severity of this incident had escalated from a violent event to an act of terrorism.

In other words, even he could no longer contain it.

If Zhan Liu had merely killed May before, Nick Fury could still have paid a price to protect him. But Zhan Liu had now become a terrorist on the same level as Magneto Erik Lehnsherr. No one could protect him.

The U.S. Military had mobilized.

Fighter jets streaked over Nick Fury's head one after another. He sighed and ordered, "Return to S.H.I.E.L.D."

There was no need to keep watching. Those lunatics in the military would use any means necessary to eliminate such a terrorist.

Especially now that Zhan Liu and May's battle had moved out to sea.

If they were still in the city, the military might have held back out of concern for collateral damage to civilians. But out at sea, they would witness the most advanced technological weapons Earth had to offer.

The military would not consider May's safety. Friendly fire and the like were all acceptable losses.

Still, fortunately, he still had the cultivation method for Ultimate Limit Qigong that he had obtained earlier. Without Zhan Liu as an accelerator, scientists might not be able to replicate May's success, but it was not impossible.

He began considering how to launch a new project to study this Qigong cultivation method and where to obtain the funding.

There was also the matter of how to absolve S.H.I.E.L.D. of responsibility for this incident—and who should take the blame.

As he was contemplating this, a series of explosions suddenly rang out behind him. He turned around, and his jaw dropped.

More than ten aircraft exploded in midair before they could even launch their missiles, blooming like giant fireworks.

Zhan Liu lowered his hand and looked at May, whose delighted expression had not yet faded.

"If you're waiting for someone to save you, then give up that thought."

"These technological creations can deal with small fry, but against a War God, they are utterly useless."

"If you want to survive, there is only one path: evolve Current Drive into Magnetic Field Rotation."

Despair appeared on May's face. Ignoring her body, which was on the verge of collapse, she desperately squeezed her cells once more. Arm-thick currents rolled around her body, ionizing the surrounding air and filling it with a scorched stench.

Dragging lightning like thunder serpents behind her, she leaped high into the air again and crashed down toward Zhan Liu.

Nick Fury stared in shock at the crashed aircraft in the distance and the electric glow rising into the sky once more, hesitating over which trump card he should reveal.

If he underestimated Zhan Liu again, exposed a trump card, and it failed to work, then it would have been pointless.

As he hesitated, the pilot in front turned and reported, "Sir, Councilman Pierce is calling."

"Put him through."

"Nick, who is that over in New York? Is it Magneto? How did those planes explode?"

For a moment, Nick Fury had the urge to dump all the blame on Magneto. He had a way to ensure everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. gave the same account. Magneto was already infamous anyway; he would not care about carrying one more accusation.

That would allow him to protect Zhan Liu, then use both persuasion and coercion to make him work for him.

But he immediately dismissed the idea. Zhan Liu was displaying overwhelming power and sweeping aside everything in his path. If they did not show him some real strength, any future cooperation would likely fail to materialize.

Even if they somehow forced a partnership, S.H.I.E.L.D. would never be able to hold the dominant position.

Persuasion and coercion required both a carrot and a stick. Before offering the carrot, he had to give Zhan Liu a beating.

"Pierce, he's an alien, not Magneto. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent May is fighting him, but the situation is very unfavorable. You should be able to see it on the satellite."

"Damn it! The satellite's view is a high-energy zone. We can't see anything clearly. I need your on-site intelligence."

"He fights by manipulating electric currents and magnetic fields. Ordinary aircraft cannot even get close to him."

"A Mutant?"

"No, he isn't a Mutant, but he has superpowers. Perhaps I can contact Professor X and have the X-Men deploy."

"No. The military opposes involving Mutants. This matter must be resolved by humans."

"Nick, I know you have plenty of methods. This is not the time to hide them."

"This matter will first be handled by the military. If the military cannot resolve it, then S.H.I.E.L.D. will handle it. If S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot resolve it, next year's S.H.I.E.L.D. budget will be cut in half."

"Pierce, this won't be so easy."

"Nick, I'm not negotiating with you. I'm notifying you!"

Pierce domineeringly threw out those words and hung up.

Nick Fury's face turned livid as he punched the back of the seat in front of him.

"Damn politicians!"