In the woods outside the city.
Black Widow and Bruce Banner stood there.
Towering trees grew thick all around them, concealing their figures.
Bruce Banner held a pair of binoculars in both hands, watching Captain Locke's armed squad up ahead.
Through gaps in the layers of green leaves, the two of them could clearly see the large, military-green heavy weapons not far away.
The fearsome Mobile Close-In Weapon System, and the Patriot Missile Systems with dozens of launch tubes...
"With all this heavy firepower, are they after that Mutant too?" Bruce Banner asked, frowning.
"My initial assessment is that they intend to capture a Level Four Mutant. I can't believe they brought out so many heavy weapons..."
Black Widow Natasha furrowed her brow slightly.
Her gaze settled on the Sentinel Robot among Locke's troops, as well as several massive M1A2 Main Battle Tanks concealed in the woods.
"It doesn't look like they're trying to capture him alive. It looks more like they want to kill that Mutant."
"Isn't our purpose in coming here to stop that Mutant from destroying the city?" Bruce Banner said beside her.
"Now's the perfect time to save him. Then we can have a proper talk."
Black Widow shook her head and replied:
"That won't work, Bruce. Relations between Mutants and humans are very tense."
"Why?" Bruce Banner asked, confused. "Aren't Mutants people too?"
"No. Mutants aren't people," Black Widow said.
Seeing the confusion on Bruce Banner's face, she explained:
"Ever since a Mutant who called himself Professor X introduced the concept of Mutants,
the American government discovered the existence of the Mutant population. Most of them risk losing control of their abilities.
And when their abilities run wild, the consequences can be terrifying.
So many ordinary people feared that Mutants would lose control and began treating them like outcasts. Even the American government viewed them that way."
Hearing this, Bruce Banner was stunned.
So there were bad people among the Mutants?
But Mutant abilities could easily go out of control. Wasn't that a lot like the Hulk inside him...?
"Look, that Mutant's coming out!"
At Natasha's words, Bruce Banner hurriedly raised his binoculars and looked toward the base entrance.
Sure enough, a tall, heavily muscled man emerged from the opening.
With a group of Mutant children in tow, Lynn moved through the base at a leisurely pace.
He had to use his own senses to keep track of every Mutant child, ensuring they wouldn't be killed by a sudden ambush.
He also had to hunt down every last scumbag in the base.
Once he'd killed everyone inside, he would take the children outside and destroy Base 10 completely.
But...
"M1A2 Main Battle Tanks in position!"
"Armed Fighter Jets in position!"
"CIWS and Patriot Missile Systems in position!"
Several kilometers away from the base,
countless terrifying modern weapons were already poised to fire.
The barrels of the CIWS, glinting with a cold light, were trained on the base.
The dense launch tubes of the Patriot Missile Systems were ready to unleash their payloads.
Armed Fighter Jets and two M1A2 Main Battle Tanks were also waiting for the signal.
With Lynn's exceptional eyesight and hearing, he could already make out the armed personnel a kilometer ahead.
And from not far away, he even heard a familiar name.
"Black Widow and Bruce Banner?" Lynn frowned. "The Hulk's here too?"
If he remembered correctly, the Hulk should have already joined the Avengers by now.
So why was the Hulk here too?
Was this S.H.I.E.L.D.'s doing?
While Lynn was pondering this,
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless missiles streaked toward him like fireworks, trailing flames as they tore through the air with ear-splitting howls.
Ten thousand bullets, packed with terrifying kinetic energy, surged toward him like a steel flood!
The air shook as countless streams of steel came hurtling in.
Bullets and shells fired together, raining down on that spot in a frenzy.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shells exploded in an instant, sending powerful shock waves in every direction.
Before the rocks could even scatter, more shells erupted in a series of heart-stopping blasts.
Stones were blasted apart, and smoke billowed everywhere.
A torrent of firepower poured down, reducing the hill where Base 10 stood to dust in an instant.
Captain Locke gazed at the flattened hill ahead, his smile growing wider and wider.
"Damn Mutant! You should be dead now!"
From the very beginning, he'd never intended to capture Subject 52 alive.
That damned Mutant had not only destroyed Base 10, but had also killed his subordinate, Cavan.
Captain Locke hated Subject 52 with every fiber of his being.
A Mutant like that deserved to be riddled with bullets by a steel flood!
Logan stared at the terrifying heavy weapons unleashing firepower all at once, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
All that terrifying firepower, just to deal with one Mutant...
Wasn't that a bit of an overreaction?
After all, Mutants weren't gods. How could anyone withstand firepower that terrifying?
He gazed at the hill that had been flattened and shook his head.
It looked like Subject 52 had died beneath that overwhelming barrage.
Hans and Matthews, standing nearby, were just as doubtful that the Mutant who'd been hit could have survived.
After all, an entire hill had been leveled. What level of Mutant could possibly withstand a relentless barrage of such terrifying firepower?
Not far away, Black Widow and Bruce Banner watched as a hill was pounded relentlessly until it was flattened.
Their expressions turned grave.
Natasha pondered for a moment, then turned to Bruce Banner and said, "Let's go."
"Just like that?" Bruce asked, puzzled.
Hadn't they come here to find that Mutant?
Why were they leaving so soon?
"Do you think he could survive firepower that terrifying?" Black Widow asked in return.
"Why not? Look, isn't that a person in the smoke?"
At Bruce Banner's words, Black Widow's eyes narrowed. She quickly raised her binoculars and looked ahead.
Rumble!!
Terrifying explosions roared as vicious shock waves erupted through the air, engulfing the entire area.
Dense smoke swallowed the whole region, leaving hundreds of meters around it riddled with craters.
The terrifying steel flood continued to ravage the area. Shells roared like falling meteors, one after another.
The deafening blasts echoed for dozens of kilometers.
Even in downtown New York, people could hear the distant rumble.
The ground trembled, rocks flew in every direction, and clouds of dust surged into the air as the wind howled.
Only after more than ten minutes of bombing did the terrifying heavy weapons finally fall silent.
Soon, the smoke began to disperse, stretching into strands and wisps that drifted in every direction and gradually faded.
Seeing this, Captain Locke could no longer hold back his smile.
"That damn Subject 52 and those Mutant bastards he rescued should've all been blown to mush, right?"
"Heh, boss, what kind of Mutant could survive firepower this terrifying?" Jeremiah laughed beside him.
How could mere Mutants stand against America's modern weapons?
Captain Locke nodded and was about to speak, but his expression abruptly froze.
His smile stiffened, and his pupils contracted sharply, as if he'd seen something utterly unbelievable.
Jeremiah's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly pulled out his binoculars and followed Locke's gaze.
Through the smoke, a straight-backed figure in black and gold slowly came into view.
Tiny golden bolts of electricity, like little snakes, flickered and crackled through the air amid the smoke and wind!
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