Chapter 712 - 684: Crumbling Apart (4)

"Chief Stacy, Radomir’s exoskeleton is out of power..."

"Officer! I have batteries here! You must survive!"

"Chief Stacy, my leg!"

"I’m a doctor, come in quickly, I still have some artificial blood from the clinic..."

"Chief Stacy! The road ahead is blocked!"

"Officer! I know a shortcut from my house..."

The Hydra army was advancing with clenched fists, but the desperate citizens with fiery tempers or destroyed homes grabbed weapons directly—

These weapons might only be civilian-grade, yet the endless attacks had Hydra’s advance on edge!

Moreover, some people’s prosthetics were fully effective, making them super athletes, and industrial-grade prosthetics made turning rebar, concrete, wrenches... these things once used to build a city into weapons easy!

Under George’s lead, NYPD officers moved swiftly over the rubble blocking the roads, moving quickly with their exoskeletons and firefighting tools!

"Chief, Atlas Building is right ahead..."

Boom!

A Rhino Mecha suddenly charged out from the street corner, this huge thing like a drunk strongman, who knew why it chose not to take the boulevard but smashed through a corner of a building...

But this thing is really tough!

A corner of the building was smashed through by Rhino Mecha’s brute force, and its automatic cannon and missiles instantly began locking onto targets based on sensors—

George and the officers had just crawled out of the small path in the ruins, breathing halted beneath its shadow...

But in the next second, a loud crash came from the struck building beside!

The crumbling structure of the building leaned straight towards the Rhino Mecha!

George looked up, seeing several workers dressed in industrial exoskeletons peeking out—

"Hit it! Get ready to discharge the cables!"

Bam!

Rhino Mecha’s massive horn pushed aside the debris, and all four thick mechanical arms moved, slowly separating the hardened concrete chunks...

But inside the building, several thick power cables were thrown out, wrapping around Rhino Mecha like ropes.

The strong current surged inside along the armor, but clearly, such attacks were very limited—

This gigantic mecha seemed highly resistant to electricity!

George decided instantly and led the team to rush past the Rhino Mecha that hadn’t yet broken free!

But as soon as he crossed the ruins, heavy footsteps sounded again nearby...

Bang bang bang bang bang—

Bam!

Spider Woman crashed from the sky headfirst into the rubble!

Breaking through the final barricade, two more Rhino Mechas charged through buildings, blocking the square before what used to be the Atlas Building.

Gwen jumped out of the rubble, her clothes somewhat torn, looking quite disheveled:

Her strength was indeed considerable, but breaking through the tons-heavy Rhino Mecha was still unrealistic.

In the few minutes they were at a loss, the mechas adjusted their stances, their cannons, rockets, and the long metal horns all aimed here...

How can one confront something tougher than a tank, with firepower and agility?

"Dad... Chief Stacy, fall back!"

Gwen looked at the stunned NYPD officers and confused civilians, realizing the tangible limits of being a superhero:

Previous New York, crime festered, impossible to eradicate; no matter how many vigilantes, more formidable roles seemed always involved.

Today’s New York... faces an escalated threat:

War.

She couldn’t pierce Rhino Mecha’s armor, threaten the high-altitude space airship, or stop those planes from attacking nationwide.

Such thoughts occurred to everyone:

They needed an army.

But they had none.

Gwen could only watch helplessly as the Rhino Mecha was about to open fire...

"Hiss——"

A loud and strange roar echoed across the sky, and a green monster descended from the heavens—

Gwen watched in shock as the green monster leaped from over ten meters high Atlas Building ruins, with momentum, tore apart a Rhino Mecha’s head!

It’s Peter!

Lizard-Peter tore apart the Rhino Mecha’s head with one claw, yanking out the missile pod from its back and hurling it at another mecha!

Whoosh——

The sound of a supersonic fighter suddenly came from the sky, and Peter seemed somewhat conscious, holding the scrapped Rhino Mecha in front of himself...

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat...

Boom!

The bullets from the autocannon and the air-to-ground missile hit directly, explosions sparked flames, and Peter, hurling the mecha, charged at another enemy, emerging from the fire!

The flames burned fiercely on him, forcing him to roll along the ground like a beast through the momentum!

Another Rhino Mecha was struck by a companion’s debris, causing a small deformation in the outer armor...

Bam!

A sudden flash of blue light from the Atlas Group Building, an electromagnetic gun struck the opening in the Rhino Mecha with precision!

Immediately following was a dense electromagnetic weapon attack, forcing the mecha to passively take the hits!

Everyone looked towards the direction the bullets were coming from, seeing a group of Atlas Group soldiers counterattacking from the ruins.

Frank waved his arm towards them:

"This way! Move quickly!"

"Hurry!"

George was the first to react; taking advantage of the chaos, he led his men across the battlefield, successfully entering the base of the Atlas Building ruins!

Gwen reacted just as quickly, not caring if Peter had any sense left, she immediately carried him up—

"You’re really crazy, you might not be able to change back!"

As for Peter, an aerial jet bombing nearly took his life, large burns were being healed, but before healing, it was hard for him to go berserk.

He was dragged by Gwen into the collapsed Atlas Building entrance, gasping for air while trying hard to maintain his sanity:

"...I only took a little... Professor Conners has the antidote..."

"You’re really..."

Before Gwen could finish her sentence, George spoke with doubt: "...Peter?"

"Sheriff..."

Peter’s pupils showed no change, and his voice sounded more like a monster.

But compared to the first time he injected the Lizard Serum, this time he had a better understanding of the pharmaceutical, his mind was more determined, and even after being bombed he could clearly stay on the edge of sanity.

George organized his words: "...We brought the mayor here, we need..."

Peter’s pupils moved slightly, looking at Anthony in the medical pod.

"Need treatment, but the medical area is blocked."

"We also need..."

"The army." Peter pointed out the problem sharply, stood up against the wall, grabbing a column from the ground and smashing it towards the door, "...Gwen, help me."

"Okay... huh?"

Gwen reached out to grab a column from the ground, imitating Peter’s action by smashing it towards the door.

But when the name was called, both she and George were stunned for a moment.

However, Frank soon led the way out of the passage, interrupting the awkward topic:

"Good to see you, Sheriff, and Mr. Mayor."

"I am too..." George came to his senses, "We need National Guard support, the mayor thinks you should be able to contact them here."

"We have already restored communications." Frank pointed out the problem, also troubled, "The National Guard was hit harder than us, they could only huddle under the fort.

The enemy’s attack power is strong, and once the air defense system is defeated, they might be hit by ground-penetrating bombs."

Everyone was silent.

After going through great difficulties to break through the enemy’s blockade, encountering countless citizens along the way, who had high hopes for them...

In the end... just like this?

Anthony in the medical pod was somewhat irritable: "Where is the domestic garrison? Our homeland is under attack, where are they?!"

The communicator on Frank relayed a response, sounding like Martin’s voice:

"The military doesn’t know what to do, don’t forget this attack seems to be connected to our unprecedented three-term presidency; I guess the space airship holds the Berry Army’s friend recognition code.

Heh, by the time these idiots figure it out, everyone will be dead."

Gwen bit her lip: "Then... what should we do?"

"Don’t know."

The tone in which Peter said this did not change at all because his mind was already a bit hazy.

He couldn’t even think: saying such a thing was very demoralizing.

[Zzz—]

At this moment, the communicator made a strange noise.

[This is... this is James Buchanan Barnes...]

The communication frequency quickly adjusted, the voice became clearer—someone was using Atlas’ communication standard to transmit information, requesting to spread the information.

[Fellow citizens, I am your President, James Buchanan Barnes.]

[We are facing an unprecedented crisis—we are under attack, our cities, our homes are being destroyed.]

[...The enemy attempts to break us with fear and violence, to take away our pride in freedom and unity.]

[...Raise your heads, straighten your backs, whether you are a doctor, worker, student, or warrior, unite!]

[...We are not defeated!]

[...This is not our doom!]

[But theirs!]

People instinctively looked up—

But isn’t the sky filled with not only the space airship, but also the invader’s airplanes?

Whoosh!

A sonic boom echoed through the sky, a humanoid robot broke through the clouds, followed by dozens of supersonic fighters, with the lights of missiles and gunfire flickering at the cloud edges...

Boom!

The clouds were suddenly illuminated by a violent orange light, the hum of steel came from the sky—

The space airship that once blocked out the sky appeared again beneath the clouds, but this time, it’s crashing!