41: Chapter 41 Desperate New York, Peaceful Courtyard

"Boom—!"

Above Stark Tower, a massive spatial wormhole hung like an ugly black hole embedded in Earth's atmosphere.

Dense swarms of Chitauri stepped on flight boards, pouring into Manhattan like a black flood released from a dam.

Deep blue plasma beams poured down like raindrops, mercilessly bombarding skyscrapers and the panicked crowds.

The sounds of explosions, collapsing buildings, and the desperate screams of civilians completely overwhelmed this bustling international metropolis.

On the streets.

Black Widow Natasha hid behind a burning taxi, firing her dual guns continuously, shooting down a Chitauri soldier diving at low altitude.

But as soon as she poked her head out, she was immediately pinned down by over a dozen plasma beams.

In mid-air.

Iron Man Tony Stark was like a lone bird surrounded by a swarm of wasps.

Micro-missiles and palm repulsors fired constantly, each flash claiming the lives of several alien soldiers.

"Jarvis! Contact the Helicarrier! Is Thor awake? Has Hulk regained his sanity? We need support!" Tony roared anxiously while dodging fire.

"Apologies, sir. The Helicarrier is making an emergency landing, Mr. Thor is in a deep coma, Dr. Banner refuses to transform. Captain Rogers's arms are unable to fight." Jarvis's voice was cold and desperate.

"Damn it!"

Tony looked at the red dots on his radar screen that kept increasing, a profound sense of powerlessness rising in his heart.

The New York Police defense line collapsed completely the moment it made contact.

The National Guard was blocked outside the city.

The Avengers were effectively dead in name.

This wasn't a war at all; it was a one-sided slaughter.

However.

Just as Midtown Manhattan had fallen into a living hell.

Just a few blocks away, Hells Kitchen—once known as the most chaotic and dirtiest place in New York—now presented an extremely eerie silence.

Tenth Avenue, the boundary line of Hells Kitchen.

Hundreds of blood-stained, terrified New York civilians were fleeing frantically toward Hells Kitchen.

Behind them, five Chitauri flight vehicles were in hot pursuit, the energy in their muzzles charging up.

Just as the plasma beams were about to blast the civilians into shreds.

"Whoosh—!"

An extremely thick, deep blue high-frequency laser beam shot out from the end of Tenth Avenue!

The beam swept across the sky with pinpoint accuracy, and the five Chitauri vehicles, along with the alien soldiers on them, were instantly sliced in half by the terrifying heat, exploding into blinding fireballs in the air!

The fleeing civilians stopped in terror, collapsing to the ground.

They looked up.

They saw that at the intersection ahead, a defensive fortification made of scrapped cars and sandbags had been erected at some point.

Above the fortification, Frank Castle, wearing a black tactical vest, was holding an Ion Laser Gun with a highly sci-fi appearance, looking at the street ahead expressionlessly.

And at Frank's feet.

A three-meter-tall alien monster (Venom Hound) with an ink-black body and a gaping maw was sitting there like an extremely well-behaved guard dog.

"This is the territory of the Crimson Court."

Frank did not look at the civilians but stared coldly at the few Chitauri soldiers in the sky attempting to cross the boundary, his voice amplified throughout the entire block.

"The boss's rules. Within this territory, do not touch the civilians."

As soon as he finished speaking.

"Roar!"

The Mad Dog exerted force with all four limbs, its massive body turning into a black afterimage as it surged into the sky.

Its terrifying claws, capable of tearing apart armored vehicles, instantly shredded two Chitauri soldiers in mid-air who were attempting to fire!

Alien blood filled the sky, mixed with mechanical parts raining down to the ground.

The Mad Dog landed, bit off the head of a Chitauri soldier, and began to chew it with relish; the bone-chilling sound of cracking bones made everyone's heart turn cold.

Yet, this horrifying scene made the fleeing New York civilians weep with joy.

It was highly ironic.

The Police and the military, who claimed to stand for justice, had abandoned them, and the superheroes with superpowers were too busy to help themselves.

Instead, it was Lynn, whom officials labeled a "cold-blooded butcher and underworld tyrant," who used the most brutal and iron-fisted methods to hold up an absolutely safe protective umbrella for them in this apocalyptic New York!

No Chitauri dared to cross Tenth Avenue.

Because all alien soldiers who crossed the line, whether infantry or flight vehicles, were vaporized by Frank's Ion Laser Gun within seconds or torn to shreds by the black Mad Dog.

Hells Kitchen had become the only pure land in all of New York at this moment.

...

Fisk Tower, top-floor office.

"Hum."

The air twisted violently, and a deep blue spatial rift appeared out of thin air.

Lynn walked out of the rift with steady strides.

He ignored the furnishings inside the office that had been damaged by the battle and walked straight to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

Outside the window, Midtown Manhattan was ablaze with fire. Thick smoke billowed, and the dense swarms of Chitauri soldiers in the sky were like a plague of locusts.

Lynn pressed the internal communicator on the desk.

"Frank, what are the casualties?"

"Zero casualties, boss. Those alien bugs are weak. I have sealed all block entrances. The territory of the Crimson Court is absolutely safe." The sound of Frank's Ion Laser Gun firing came faintly from the communicator.

"Well done."

Lynn cut off the communication.

He lowered his head and looked at the crimson blood watch on his left wrist.

With the opening of the wormhole, the crimson blood watch's extremely sensitive cosmic-level radar was flashing frantically, emitting an excited buzzing sound.

[Warning: Large-scale alien lifeform invasion detected.]

[Material Analysis: Silicon-carbon-based hybrid lifeforms, accompanied by high-level semi-mechanical biochemical modification genes.]

[Genetic Potential: Medium. But the quantity is extremely massive.]

[Judgment Recommendation: Can perform cluster-style devouring to significantly fill the system's underlying database.]

"Silicon-carbon-based biochemical modification..."

Lynn watched the Chitauri army flying across the sky, and in his deep black pupils, a kind of extremely violent and extremely greedy crimson light gradually burned.

For the Avengers, the massive Chitauri army was a desperate catastrophe capable of destroying human civilization.

But for Lynn, who possessed the crimson blood watch and whose ultimate goal was to devour the genes of the entire Universe.

The scene before him was simply a gluttonous feast where the heavens were chasing him to feed him!

With so much alien genetic material and such dense biochemical resources, he would normally have to cross several galaxies to find them. Now, however, they were all concentrated above New York, packaged and delivered to his doorstep.

"If I just watch, that would be too much of a waste."

Lynn slowly raised his right hand.

His fingertips rested lightly on the gray-black metal dial on his left wrist that was flashing with red light.

Since the Avengers were about to collapse, he didn't mind stepping in himself to help them "share" the pressure.

"Such a huge gene bank."

Lynn stared at the massive cosmic wormhole, his mouth slowly curling into an extremely cruel smile.

"It would be a pity not to eat."