"He's here! He's here!"
"Is that him?"
"He's dressed just like the Red Swordsman. It should be him."
"So that's it—the person the Red Swordsman arranged to duel was him!"
"Stupid Japanese, he was clearly the one who challenged the Red Swordsman."
The previously boisterous crowd actually parted on its own, opening up a passage.
Johnny Tyson, a longsword at his waist, raised a gourd and took a swig of wine. His eyes were fixed only on the distant White House. He paid no attention to the tanks or helicopters.
Eunuch Tai was all about imposing momentum.
As the enemy drew near, the American soldiers behind the defensive line erupted in commotion.
"He actually dared to come? Is he insane?"
"Does he think one iron sword is enough to deal with armored forces?"
"What a joke!"
"Shut up and return to your positions." Only after the officer gave the order did the soldiers resume combat readiness.
When Eunuch Tai reached five hundred meters from the defensive line, a rebuking voice came through the loudspeakers. "Johnny Tyson, leave immediately!"
"We can pretend nothing happened. We can even let the matter of you slaughtering the Atlanta gangs slide."
The upper echelons of the United States had not known beforehand that Johnny Tyson was the one who had written those two lines. But in the brief time he had openly walked over, several powerful departments had already found his detailed information.
A single Red Swordsman had already displayed considerable value. If they stopped Johnny Tyson before anything truly happened, whether it was the CIA, FBI, S.H.I.E.L.D., or Hydra, they would all extend an olive branch to him.
Such a distinctive powerhouse possessed immense practical and research value.
Up to this point, Hydra and Adam Smith had maintained a harmonious relationship. Although Alexander Pierce dearly wanted to draw Adam's blood and even slice him into specimens, reason told him that preserving their current relationship would bring greater benefits. Thus, he had only secretly ordered someone to collect a few naturally shed hairs and some clipped fingernails.
Eunuch Tai turned a deaf ear. After taking one final drink, he tied the gourd to his waist, placed his right hand on the sword hilt, and revealed a fierce gleam in his eyes.
"Fire!"
The soldiers had never been in the habit of firing only after giving three warnings. If the officer had not said earlier that the big shots needed to speak first, they would have opened fire long ago.
Bullets and autocannon shells formed long metallic torrents that ravaged the street. Eunuch Tai dodged swiftly, his red robes fluttering erratically like a slender willow in the wind—seemingly frail, yet impossible to grasp.
It was not that Eunuch Tai was faster than autocannon shells or even artillery rounds. His reflexes were simply quicker than those of the shooters and artillerymen. The firepower on scene also could not cover every inch of space, and the vibranium longsword in his hand could save him in a pinch, giving Eunuch Tai room to dodge and maneuver.
When direct fire failed to hit him, gun barrels and cannon muzzles shifted angles without restraint. The tourists trapped on the street suffered terribly, severed limbs flying everywhere as blood flowed like a river.
The survivors wailed and screamed, clutching their heads as they fled in blind panic.
A stampede broke out without surprise, leaving the scene in utter chaos.
Those foreigners who had never witnessed the brutal ways of American soldiers, those foreigners brainwashed by Hollywood into believing the United States was a beacon of civilization, probably never imagined that one day they would receive such warm hospitality from the soldiers—the kind that made their very organs burn with terror.
"D-Dad!"
Gwen Stacy, who had been hiding among the crowd in an attempt to avoid her father, finally became afraid and cried out toward Chief George, who was not far ahead.
George, who already possessed Inner Force, actually heard that familiar voice amid the chaos. He spun around abruptly, his face draining of color.
"Gwen!"
He had never expected Gwen to be at the scene as well.
The moment Chief George saw Johnny Tyson, he finally realized that he and Adam Smith were not the only people in the world who had seen Invincible East. In other words, he had been flattering himself these past few days. The man had never been challenging him at all.
Having realized that, and seeing his daughter in danger, George no longer cared about any duel. He immediately pushed through the crowd and rushed toward his daughter, who was being swept along by the human tide.
By the time he held his daughter in his arms, the panicked crowd had already squeezed them into a building beside the street.
By then, Eunuch Tai had long since crossed the mere five hundred meters and leaped into the defensive line.
Yet what awaited him was not a one-sided slaughter, but a carefully arranged trap.
The Americans were not fools either. Multiple departments had analyzed Adam Smith's attack patterns and reached a unanimous conclusion: ordinary combat personnel absolutely could not be allowed to engage him in close quarters.
The battle that had taken place three months earlier in front of the Wall Street Stock Exchange had fully proven that conclusion.
At a distance, ordinary combat personnel could still use their weapons to inflict some harm on their opponent. Once dragged into close combat, however, it would become a one-sided slaughter.
Thus, when setting up the defensive line, the military had already considered the possibility of the enemy breaking through. To that end, they had dug a trench two hundred meters wide and fifty meters deep behind the line.
The trench had been covered with camouflage cloth the entire time, while soldiers heading to the guard posts had crossed it using metal plates.
The moment the commander saw the red-clad figure leap over the defensive line, he immediately gave the order. "Pull it open!"
Suspended in midair, Eunuch Tai looked down at the pitch-black trench beneath him, a trace of surprise appearing on his face.
The military and government personnel in the distance watched Johnny Tyson fall straight into the trench, smug smiles appearing on their faces.
Even the fiercest beast could not defeat a cunning hunter.
They were the hunters.
"Rest assured, everyone. High-concentration anesthetic gas was placed down there beforehand. There's no way he can climb back—"
Before the self-satisfied commander could finish speaking, the red figure floated gracefully out of the trench.
"Im-possible!"
The commander was stunned, unable to believe it.
"Special metal plates cover all the walls! Not even a snake could crawl up them!"
Clearly, they knew nothing about the lightness skill passed down by Invincible East, much less that Eunuch Tai held a vibranium sword capable of giving him purchase on the walls.
Alexander Pierce had clearly not shared the footage of Adam Smith practicing swordsmanship in the forest with them. Otherwise, these people would not have been confident enough to attempt a live capture. They would have used powerful weapons to kill Eunuch Tai the instant he fell into the pit.
"Hehehe..." This time, it was Eunuch Tai who revealed a savage grin.
The red shadow charged in, sword light flashing.
Several heads flew into the air, blood spraying toward the sky.
Eunuch Tai did not entangle himself with the enemy. His sole focus was charging toward the White House.
"Have the armored forces block the street! Stop him!"
The tanks in the rear started up one after another, filling the entire street. If it had been an ordinary enemy, there truly would have been nowhere to go.
Eunuch Tai did not take the ordinary path. He leaped high into the air and bounded forward atop the tanks, moving even faster than he had on the road.
The vibranium longsword in his hand was indeed unlikely to pierce the outer armor of main battle tanks, but Eunuch Tai's goal was not to destroy the armored forces. Why would he stubbornly fight them head-on?
Inside the command tent near the White House, the heads of several departments wore grim expressions. They had thought the defensive line was impregnable, yet it had been breached by a single man.
"The best way to deal with superpowered individuals is with other superpowered individuals."
Nick Fury, who had seen Captain Marvel, had understood this principle many years ago. That was also why he had pushed the Avengers Plan with all his strength.
Unlike the bureaucrats around him who had never opened their eyes to the universe, Nick Fury had long witnessed the powerful individual lifeforms in the cosmos. He deeply understood that against powerful enemies, humanity's existing military forces could not accomplish much.
It was not that American soldiers were useless, but that they could not leverage their advantages in numbers against powerful individuals. After all, the enemy would not foolishly stand still and endure saturated fire.
"Damn it, are we really going to leave the White House's safety to that sissy?" These tough men felt humiliated.
"This is bad!"
The surveillance officer in front of the screens suddenly shouted, "Enemies in red clothing have appeared in other directions too!"
Department heads, including Nick Fury, hurried over to the screens, their expressions changing drastically.
They had not expected there to be more than one enemy.
"Where did they all come from?"
"Similar clothes and appearance... could these people belong to the same organization?"
"This is troublesome. One of them was already hard enough to deal with, and now..."
"How about... asking the President to temporarily relocate?"
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