Chapter 215: Scalp

Where the hell did you dig up these demons and monsters? Arkham Asylum?

Even with Li Cheng's vast experience, seeing these three oddities made him lose his composure: "I've heard of black panthers, but never white panthers—this is outright racial discrimination."

And superhero Hawkeye is a legendary archer—your inferior knockoff, Chicken Eye, isn't actually cross-eyed, is it?! Can you even hold a bow steady?!"

As for Indian Captain America, America Team is Captain America too, right? Is your Avengers' BGM 'The Last of the Mohicans'?!"

Hearing Li Cheng's mockery, the White Panther flew into a rage: "Who are you calling racist?! How dare you?! I'll kill you!"

With that, the White Panther pulled on his hood, flicked out clawed fingers, and assumed a combat stance.

But his hood was a conical white pointed hat—once worn, he looked exactly like a KKK white supremacist.

"I give up." Li Cheng wiped nonexistent sweat from his forehead, glancing around, wondering if he'd stumbled into some parody variety show.

"White Panther, don't take it personally."

Chicken Eye raised his arm, blocking the furious White Panther, then removed his sunglasses; both eyes slanted inward simultaneously as he calmly said: "God wants him to perish, He first drives him mad. Your good days are over—surrender."

"Damn, he really is cross-eyed!"

Li Cheng stared in disbelief, loudly mocking him—Chicken Eye drew his compound longbow and reached for the arrow quiver at his side, but due to his cross-eyed condition, he fumbled several times before finding it.

A superhero this absurd could only be the work of Cervantes.

"America is a melting pot of nations; someone like you, full of prejudice, cannot comprehend the inclusiveness and manifest destiny of this city atop the mountain."

The Indian Captain America raised his circular shield and said gravely: "Since we're all power-users, lay down your weapons—I guarantee your personal safety."

"No thanks—I'd rather die than fall into your hands."

Li Cheng's eye twitched again and again as he pulled a rusty cleaver from thin air.

The White Panther, wearing his KKK hood, struck first, leaping across floor, walls, and ceiling: "Wakanda forever!"

He roared and swiped his claw at Li Cheng's head; the latter stepped back half a pace to evade, then swung his rusty cleaver in an upward slash.

The White Panther matched Li Cheng's speed, lightly tapping the ground and leaping upward, twisting his torso midair, his right foot striking the cleaver's blade.

As he deflected the upward slash, he twisted again, delivering a second spinning kick aimed at Li Cheng's temple.

His speed and agility bore a faint resemblance to the original Black Panther.

Thwack!

Li Cheng raised his right hand, gripping the White Panther's calf with precision; using the opponent's momentum, he slammed him hard into the wall, sending chunks of plaster raining down.

The escaped power-user prisoners on either side of the corridor, who had been dazed moments before, now reacted upon seeing the fight—especially when they noticed the Indian Captain America wore Vanguard Corp uniform—and launched their own attacks.

Ice, lightning, bone spikes, sonic waves, venom.

Among them, one prisoner's power extended a super-long sausage from his pants, swinging it like an elephant's trunk to wrap around Captain America.

"Hah!"

The Indian Captain roared, raising his shield before him.

No one knew what material the shield was made of—it perfectly withstood the first wave of attacks, then he hurled it with force; the metal disc bounced off walls, slicing off scalps and skulls of several prisoners.

The Sausage Power-user lost a large chunk of his sausage to the shield's sharp edge, gushing blood, clutching his groin and screaming in agony.

Behind Captain America, Chicken Eye also moved.

His cross-eyed gaze sharpened; his hands moved with impossible speed, drawing back his longbow and nocking ten arrows of different shapes, firing them all at once.

The ten arrows exploded midair, released electrified nets, or launched paralyzing poison needles, eliminating several of the most conspicuous prisoners in one go.

Meanwhile, Captain America's shield crashed with a thud against the far wall and bounced back, interrupting Li Cheng's attempt to finish off the White Panther.

Are you serious, Ah Zhen?

Li Cheng's expression was priceless: the Avengers' battle sequence had flowed perfectly.

The Level One, Two, and Three power-user prisoners, horrified by the slaughter, instinctively turned and fled, sprinting out of the prison.

But as soon as they reached the open courtyard in front of the prison, the armed helicopters circling overhead opened fire with rotary machine guns, mowing down a heap of prisoners on the spot.

"Hahahaha!"

From the walkie-talkie clipped to Captain America's belt came Cervantes' laughter: "Scared? All three are my upgraded Level Four power-users—indistinguishable from the original Avengers."

"Big difference, dude—anyone can see it!"

Li Cheng retorted: "Marvel's owned by Disney now—I bet you've never seen Disney's reach. You're not afraid Darth Mickey will send you a cease-and-desist letter?"

"Countless people, ghosts, demons, corporations, demons, guilds, fairies, organizations, nations have come for me—let Disney wait in line."

Cervantes shrugged: "Captain, kill him!"

Without waiting for Cervantes' order, the Indian Captain, aided by Chicken Eye's support, swung his shield toward Li Cheng.

"Sigh."

Li Cheng sighed, caught the shield with his left hand, clenched his right fist, and met the Indian Captain's punch head-on.

The latter was indeed a Level Four physical enhancement power-user—his forehead veins bulged, teeth bared, he gritted through: "I can do this all day."

"I can do this all day."

"Have fun."

Li Cheng had no energy left to mock—he activated 【Condensed Qi Internal Explosion Fist】. With a bang, he exploded the Indian Captain's knuckles.

"Captain!"

Chicken Eye's eyes bulged as he fired arrow after arrow.

Li Cheng released a gravity energy sphere at the foremost arrow; the black sphere clung to the arrowhead, abruptly reversing gravity's direction and throwing off the trajectories of all following arrows.

With his 【Instant Thunder】 skill activated, faint currents flickered over Li Cheng's skin.

He reversed his grip on the rusty cleaver and slammed it downward, bisecting the White Panther, who was just rising from the floor, then hurled the cleaver with all his might.

The Indian Captain raised his shield in desperation; its curved surface, like a tank's front armor, deflected the cleaver's path, embedding it into the wall behind, piercing the radiator, dripping steady streams of water.

Missed.

Before the Indian Captain could relax even slightly, Li Cheng said calmly: "The one who can retrieve weapons isn't just you."

Hum—

The rusted cleaver, which the Gear Mechanic had imbued with the 【Returning Force Weapon】 inscription property, trembled violently between the heating pipes, suddenly rebounded, pierced through Hawkeye's chest and abdomen and the Indian Captain's scalp, and flew back into Li Cheng's hand trailing water and fresh blood.

"Next time, send someone stronger to kill me."

Li Cheng stomped the walkie-talkie to pieces, kicked off the ground and leapt through the hole the ash rain had smashed open, vaulted out of the prison, drew the Avenger autocannon mid-air and fired a dense chain of rounds, blasting the unguarded armed helicopter to pieces,

then plugged in the skill USB drive, took the two specially-made helmets that could defend against psychic remote sensing, and teleported back to the crop-duster.

(End of chapter)