Rage

Having learned from the base where Mayor Eaton Hopes lived, Han Lin changed into a black combat suit, put on a black steel mask, and darted across the rooftops under cover of night.

Han Lin pushed his speed to the limit. He had to capture him before word of the senator and the two major generals disappearing reached his ears.

Han Lin knew that the moment Dr. Zola was rescued, someone would take him out of the United States, because without Dr. Zola, Schmidt's energy weapon research and the construction of the Valkyrie Angel would both grind to a halt.

And their mastermind, a mayor with enormous power, would not abandon his cause—especially not his ambition to unite New York's underground empire.

Han Lin rapidly closed in on his destination between the buildings, stopping on the rooftop opposite the mayor's residence. It was an entire apartment floor on the eighth level. Looking at the luxurious apartment, Han Lin gave a slightly mocking smile.

Han Lin looked at the brightly lit room on the eighth floor opposite him. A potbellied, bald, fat middle-aged man was happily flirting with a beautiful, shapely woman in pajamas.

Han Lin took two steps back, accelerated, and leaped toward the other side's window.

Bang... The clattering sound of shattering glass left the two people inside frozen in terror. A moment later, the beautiful woman let out a shrill scream.

"Shut up!" Her scream carried far through the night. Han Lin swiftly knocked her unconscious and threw her onto the floor, giving her face an intimate encounter with the glass shards scattered everywhere.

The scream and the sound of the window breaking caused the neighbors to call the police.

Terrified, Eaton Hopes stared at the black-clad, masked superhuman, his mind rapidly calculating as he searched for a chance to escape.

"Who are you? I'm the mayor of New York. What you're doing is a crime. The police will be here in less than five minutes. If you leave now, I'll pretend none of this ever happened," Eaton Hopes said, feigning calm.

The voice coming through Han Lin's mask was greatly altered. He said to the mayor of New York, "Oh? Have you forgotten what our mayor did early this morning?"

The muffled voice made the other man shudder. It was impossible to tell whether Han Lin's words had frightened him, or whether the cold wind pouring in through the window had done it...

Hydra spies who knew their deeds had been exposed would generally choose to flee or commit suicide. But Mayor Hopes clearly lacked the resolve to die, so after Han Lin finished speaking, he began playing dumb.

"What are you talking about? I got drunk last night and stayed home. I didn't go anywhere. I'll ask you again—who are you? Why did you enter my home like this?"

Watching the mayor continue to deny everything, Han Lin grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air.

As Han Lin's grip slowly tightened, the pampered mayor's face turned red. He frantically slapped at Han Lin's arm, hoping he would put him down. The intense suffocation rapidly depleted the oxygen in the fat man's body.

Before he died, a system prompt sounded. "Do you choose to absorb the enemy?"

Having chosen absorption, Han Lin watched once more as tendrils rapidly sprouted from his hand and swiftly absorbed the fat man into his body.

He searched through the man's memories and found what he wanted. The moment Dr. Zola was rescued, he had been sent aboard Hydra's secret submarine and taken out of the United States.

Han Lin continued looking through the underground organization's intelligence.

As an elite Hydra spy, this mayor of New York had reached the position of mayor because he had the support of the gangs behind him.

When he had still been a minor city councilman, he had used Hydra's network of connections to bring every gang under his control.

He had assassinated the leaders of the three major gangs and promoted his own people in their place, firmly seizing control of all underground forces.

Yet on the surface, he let each gang perform its own duties. The gangs appeared to be fighting for power and profit, but behind the scenes, they were all in the same boat.

Whenever disputes arose, those who died were usually the disobedient members of the gangs. Once most of the disobedient ones were dead, the rest obediently helped the mayor acquire all of New York's underground economy.

Smuggling, drugs, arms, slaves—each gang had its own share and territory.

Han Lin looked through the Hydra spies and assassins hidden among all the gangs. They had all received professional training and brainwashing, meant to appear at various banquets when necessary and assassinate key government figures. The attack on Dr. Erskine had also been the mayor's doing.

The amusing part was that when Han Lin had first crossed into this world, the dockside gang had been one of the mayor's subordinates. After Han Lin wiped them out, the mayor found others to replace them. They had once conducted a large-scale search for Han Lin, yet found nothing. Now Han Lin had returned and found the mayor himself.

What he needed to do now was gather them together and eliminate this cancerous growth. Though they were only ordinary people.

But if they discovered something had happened to the mayor, they would scatter throughout New York. Then finding that assassination force of fewer than fifty people would not be so easy.

Han Lin quickly went to the location of the safe from the man's memories. Opening it, he found it packed with gold bars and cash—more than twice as much as the haul from the docks last time. He slung the entire safe over his back.

Ignoring the woman on the floor, he rushed out through the broken window. Many police cars had already lined up below, sealing off the scene. They saw a dark figure fly out of the window and vanish into the night.

When the police broke in, all they saw was a woman with blood all over her face, a set of oversized clothes lying on the floor, and glass shards scattered everywhere. The police chief could only take the woman back with him first.

Han Lin quickly sent a gathering signal to the leaders of the three major gangs, ordering them to assemble their assassination squads at New York Harbor.

Although Han Lin had issued the secret Hydra order under Eaton Hopes's identity, such a large-scale gathering still made the three leaders suspicious. These people had fought a war in New York just the day before, and this sudden assembly made the meticulous assassins wary.

Han Lin arrived at New York Harbor alone. Standing in the shadows high above, he watched the distant lights and waited for the Hydra members below to gather.

As more and more people appeared below, he was somewhat surprised by the leaders' caution. There were not merely fifty people—there were nearly a hundred, each carrying a pistol or rifle.

The signal Han Lin had sent had not instructed them to bring weapons. With a smile, Han Lin knew that he had probably exposed something, but it did not matter. Before absolute strength, nothing was a problem.

Once no more people seemed likely to arrive,

Han Lin transformed into Eaton Hopes atop a crane tower and descended from a direction they could not see.

Emerging from behind a stack of cargo containers, Han Lin watched the group cautiously raise their guns at him. Looking relaxed, he asked the three leaders, "Is this how you treat your superior?"

"Why did you suddenly gather so many people? We only raided Stark Industries the day before yesterday. It isn't suitable to expose ourselves again!" one of the leaders said to the approaching "Eaton Hopes."

"Sister McKenna once said in the Bible that God is love." Han Lin spoke leisurely. "I don't know whether any of you are believers. Repent for the wrongs you have committed. As for me, I am an apostle of the devil, here to send you to meet God."

As he spoke, Han Lin's hands transformed into a pair of sharp steel claws.

Claw Form (Level 1): Movement speed increased by 20%, attack speed increased by 20%. Charged Pounce: Can lock onto an enemy within 20 meters and launch a charged pounce, increasing damage by 20% to all targets along the direct path.

Han Lin's transformation revealed his original appearance. Before yesterday's raid, everyone had received Han Lin's information, so they knew the Shura of the battlefield very well.

But when a demon stood before them, fear appeared on every face.

They could not imagine that their own spy superior could transform, his entire body rippling with knotted muscles, into another person.

This man had overwhelmed the German army on the European battlefield with an invincible presence in Hydra's files.

And this man had turned into a demon standing before them.

Those claws gleamed with a black-red light, like whispers from hell.

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