13: Chapter 13 Bloodbath in the Dark Alley, An Encounter with the Punisher

3:00 AM, Hell's Kitchen, Seventh Avenue.

Kingpin's ten-million-dollar U.S. bounty had driven the entire New York underworld completely mad.

Three black SUVs without license plates stopped at the mouth of a dead-end alley. Twelve fully armed mercenaries in heavy body armor, carrying automatic rifles, waded through puddles as they cautiously advanced deep into the alley.

"The boss said we only need the kid's head; it doesn't matter if his body is shredded." The lead mercenary made a tactical hand gesture.

The end of the alley was a brick wall—a dead end—with only a few foul-smelling trash cans.

"No one here. Retreat..."

Before the leader could finish his sentence—

Bang!

The iron fire escape on the third floor above his head suddenly snapped. A dark shadow crashed down like a meteorite, landing squarely on his shoulders.

Crunch!

His cervical and spinal columns were crushed simultaneously with devastating force. The mercenary didn't even have time to scream before he was trampled into a pile of mangled flesh on the ground.

Lynn slowly stood up. Beneath his hood, his dark eyes were cold and piercing.

"Fire!"

The remaining eleven mercenaries were terrified beyond belief and pulled their triggers without hesitation.

Tongues of fire spat out. In an instant, a dense barrage of death was woven within the narrow alley.

Lynn did not retreat; he advanced.

After absorbing the genes of the Inhuman Tombstone, his skin density far exceeded that of high-carbon steel. The bullets hitting him were like striking bulletproof armor, leaving behind only a series of dazzling sparks and distorted slugs.

Lynn rushed into the crowd, his right hand transforming into a blade, precisely chopping into a mercenary's Adam's apple. The throat bone shattered, and the carotid artery burst.

Next, his left hand gripped another man's rifle barrel, twisting it into a pretzel with raw strength, and followed up with a punch that pierced through the man's body armor and chest cavity.

The slaughter neared its end within ten seconds.

Eleven mangled corpses lay scattered across the alley.

Only one mercenary remained, scrambling and crawling toward the alley entrance, his gun long gone.

Standing in a pool of blood, Lynn did not give chase.

He bent down and picked up a deformed assault rifle from the ground.

Just as Lynn was about to throw the rifle to impale the deserter—

Boom!

From the direction of the alley entrance, a 40mm high-explosive grenade trailing a plume of flame shot in with precision, hitting the deserter squarely in the back.

Flames soared. The last mercenary was blown into countless fragments.

Lynn stopped, dropped the rifle, and looked through the smoke toward the mouth of the alley.

A tall, burly man stepped in, treading over the burning remains.

He wore a black tactical trench coat with a massive, pale skull logo printed on his chest. He held an M4 Assault Rifle with an underslung grenade launcher, and his waist was laden with flashbangs and tactical knives.

Frank Castle. The Punisher.

"Stealing my prey?" Lynn narrowed his eyes, his voice icy.

Frank remained expressionless, his eyes, filled with dead silence and killing intent, staring fixedly at Lynn.

"I don't care who you are. Hundreds of gang members have died in Hell's Kitchen these past few days, all by your hand." Frank's voice sounded like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together. "Kingpin is looking for you, and so am I."

"What, are you here for the ten-million-dollar bounty?"

"I'm not interested in money. I only kill scum."

Frank raised his assault rifle, the muzzle locking onto the space between Lynn's eyebrows. "But your methods have crossed the line. This is my hunting ground. Monsters should crawl back into the sewers."

The moment he finished speaking, Frank pulled the trigger.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

He didn't spray; instead, it was an extremely precise three-round burst aimed directly at Lynn's eyes and throat!

Lynn did not close his eyes.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The moment the three bullets hit just below Lynn's eyelids and his Adam's apple, they were deflected by his mutation-enhanced skin.

Frank's pupils constricted sharply.

As a battle-hardened special forces soldier, he immediately realized conventional firearms were useless. Without hesitation, he flicked his left hand, and the grenade launcher under the barrel roared again.

Thump!

An armor-piercing explosive grenade headed straight for Lynn's chest.

The distance was too close; Lynn didn't dodge.

Boom—!

Flames completely engulfed Lynn.

Frank retreated quickly, drawing a large-caliber Desert Eagle from his thigh holster, ready to deliver a finishing shot.

But the next second...

A large hand suddenly lunged out from the smoke, moving at a speed that exceeded the limits of human vision!

Frank felt a blur before his eyes, and his neck was instantly clamped in a death grip. An irresistible, inhuman strength took hold, lifting him bodily off the ground and slamming him hard against the brick wall behind him.

Thud!

The brick wall cracked. The air in Frank's lungs was instantly squeezed out, and his vision went dark.

Lynn held Frank by the neck with one hand, letting the charred remnants of his clothes flutter away in the wind. On his bare chest, there wasn't even a single scratch.

"Good tactics," Lynn said, looking at the struggling Frank. "Unfortunately, you're too weak."

Frank didn't beg for mercy. Enduring the agonizing pain of suffocation, he drew a tactical combat knife with his right hand and stabbed fiercely at the arm Lynn used to choke him.

Clang!

The high-carbon steel knife snapped into two pieces the moment it touched Lynn's arm.

A sense of powerlessness finally flashed in the depths of Frank's eyes. This was not the durability a carbon-based organism should possess.

Frank Castle, The Punisher.

Lynn called out his name and then released his grip.

Frank fell heavily to the ground, coughing violently while staring fixedly at Lynn.

"You know me?"

"Not only do I know you, I appreciate your efficiency in killing." Lynn looked down at him. "But the toys you use are too outdated."

Lynn turned around and walked toward the heap of wreckage from the mercenaries' weapons.

The Bloodtrix on his left wrist, which had been in a dormant state, suddenly lit up with a faint red glow.

Although the energy wasn't enough for a transformation, it was more than sufficient to activate some auxiliary functions.

[Large amount of low-level metallic materials detected.]

[Loading elementary Universe civilization weapon blueprint: High-Frequency Ion Laser Pistol.]

Under Frank's shocked gaze, Lynn pressed his left hand onto a pile of scrapped rifles.

Several dark red bio-metallic threads emerged from the edge of the Bloodtrix, instantly piercing into the scrap metal.

Sizzle—

Those steel components, barrels, and springs seemed to be melted and reorganized by some invisible high temperature.

In just three seconds, the scrap metal on the ground vanished.

In its place was a heavy pistol with a highly sci-fi design, dark red in color, with flickering blue energy circuits flowing through its body.

Lynn picked up the newly "printed" alien weapon and casually aimed it at a scrapped car beside the alley.

He pulled the trigger.

There was no gunshot, only an extremely sharp hum.

Shoom—!

A ghostly blue high-frequency ion beam instantly pierced through the car's hood. Subsequently, the entire car melted and collapsed under the extreme heat, turning into a puddle of white-smoke-emitting molten iron.

Frank's breath hitched.

He was a weapons expert, but in all his life, he had never seen a personal weapon of such terrifying power. No recoil, silent, yet able to melt armor in an instant.

"Running around the streets with a few pieces of scrap metal... you could keep killing until the next century and still never finish off the evil in this world."

Lynn walked up to Frank and tossed the dark red ion laser gun at his feet.

"This gun doesn't need bullets. It automatically recharges by absorbing thermal energy from the air."

Lynn looked into Frank's eyes and made an offer he couldn't refuse. "Work for me. I'll give you absolute power and help you wipe out all the scum you can't stand."

"Welcome to the Crimson Court."