Chapter Twenty-One: The First Signs of Gloom

"Rhodey, honestly, I think the military needs to change its organizational structure. You seem completely oblivious to any impending crisis. That said, these 'happy Hummers' are truly delightful today—at least we managed to escape."

"Tony, that group of red-clad ninjas is still chasing us. Could you please just be quiet for a moment?"

The remaining Hand ninjas were operating two Hummers, initiating a high-speed chase through the streets of Manhattan. Fortunately, neither of the Hummers the Hand had hijacked was armed, and the same went for Tony’s "happy Hummer."

The Hand ninjas had no interest in anyone else; after separating from Tony, most people had not been pursued by them.

"Turn right, get onto Castle Avenue, and head east."

"East? But the nearest base is to the west, and reinforcements are already rushing from that direction."

"My villa is in the east. Go east."

The argument between the two reached no conclusion. The soldier driving kept his hands tight on the steering wheel, unable to afford a single moment of distraction. The current situation didn't allow them to deliberate between east or west; they could only veer wherever there was an open road.

Meanwhile, the Hand ninjas behind them had leaned out of their Hummer, brandishing assault rifles. Though they typically fought with cold weapons, they were not above using modern armaments when necessary.

Just as the ninja proficiently aimed at Tony’s vehicle and prepared to pull the trigger, the ground beneath their Hummer suddenly cracked open.

A giant hand erupted from the concrete, seizing the rear wheels of the speeding vehicle. Sparks showered violently as the metal components of the tires ground against the creature's arm.

Thrown by the inertia, the Hand ninja was ejected from the vehicle, flying onto the road and crashing directly into the trunk of an unlucky bystander's car.

Jector emerged from beneath the ground, briefly scanning the surroundings. Deciding against activating his bio-lasers, he effortlessly tore through the Hummer’s chassis and grabbed the Hand ninja.

Before the ninja could launch any counterattack, Jector crushed his skull. However, the last Hummer chasing Tony had already rounded several corners.

Sensing that the Hand ninjas had been reduced to ash, the carapace on Jector’s back snapped open. Three pairs of massive elytra emitted a roar like the startup of a propeller plane, forcing everyone nearby to cover their ears and drop to the ground. Once airborne, Jector quickly locked onto his target and began weaving through the skyscrapers of New York.

"Rhodey, one of the pursuers is gone. Are your reinforcements here?"

"They’re still on the way. Wait, do you hear that, Tony?"

Tony was initially pondering what Rhodey was talking about, but soon he heard a sound that was both familiar and strange.

"Rhodey, is the military still using propeller aircraft for support?"

"Are you kidding? We’re using the Ray-class fighters you sold us two years ago."

"Then why is there a propeller sound? No, that’s not right—it’s not a propeller. Something is strange..."

It was naturally not a propeller sound; it was the noise of Jector accelerating in mid-air. The propulsion provided by the slight beating of his three pairs of reinforced elytra was no less than the speed of a helicopter—and this was far from his limit.

Chasing a Hummer driving through Manhattan was far too easy.

Locking onto the final Hand ninja with his compound eyes, Jector’s bio-thermal ray organ began to charge. A bio-laser burst forth, striking the Hand pursuers with pinpoint accuracy. The fuel tank detonated, blowing the entire Hummer into the sky and completely obliterating the ninjas inside.

Two blades flew out from the wreckage, embedding themselves in a nearby billboard—a testament to the complete failure of the Hand’s assassination attempt.

After eliminating the last of the Hand ninjas, Jector beat his wings and departed the scene, leaving behind a crowd of bewildered New Yorkers and Tony and Rhodey, who were still staring at the sky from their vehicle.

"What was that? A new weapon of yours?"

"Didn't I say I was quitting the military industry? I always thought you guys would know better what that was. Oscorp is your second-largest supplier, and their bionic technology has always been a favorite of General Strucker’s, hasn't it?"

"I’d rather not discuss that. We’d better stay in the car until reinforcements arrive."

"Maybe this is a 'lucky Hummer,' but sorry, I have better options."

At that moment, Tony’s head of security arrived with his personal vehicle, which offered far better protection than the "happy lucky Hummer." After assessing the surroundings, Tony quickly rolled out from under his car, opened the door, and looked at Rhodey.

"Are you coming?"

"No, I think I’ll stay here."

Half an hour later, reinforcements finally arrived at Tony Stark’s private villa, where they found a heavily intoxicated Tony Stark, a babbling James Rhodes, and a floor covered in empty bottles.

It seemed someone was in for a rough time.

"I warned Colonel Rhodes."

The surviving driver held a bottle of champagne Tony had given him, though it remained unopened. His comrade looked at the bottle, then back at him.

"Share and share alike," his colleague said.

Clearly, the champagne in Tony’s cellar was not cheap.

Now, the military had once again surrounded Tony Stark’s villa. Given that this incident had severely embarrassed New York's security forces, the results of the subsequent investigation would surely be released soon.

***

"The Marine reinforcements were delayed by a full twenty minutes before departing, and our people happened to run into trouble at that exact moment. A group of aggressive lizard-men intercepted them—the same ones that slipped through the net during the last operation.

"The Mobile Task Force was blocked by the lizard-men, and the other teams had their own assignments today."

Fury sat in his director's office, looking at Hill. She was long accustomed to his sour expression and calmly reported the current situation.

"The Army doesn't like Stark Industries; they are closer to Oscorp. As for the Marines, it seems someone called off Colonel Rhodes’ reinforcements. We are investigating. As for our own people..."

A duty schedule appeared on the large screen in Fury’s office.

"These things were arranged long ago for regional peacekeeping and counter-terrorism. In principle, this is their daily work; there’s nothing wrong with it. There were also warnings about those lizard-men, and you signed off on the report two days ago."

The series of events today made Fury feel uneasy. Things felt too well-arranged, which made them feel unnatural.

But being paranoid wouldn't solve the problem, and Fury had no evidence that anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. was sabotaging things. So, he simply ordered Hill to prepare two more task forces to handle any potential special circumstances.

"Recruiting more personnel requires the Council’s approval. They don't seem to like us having too much manpower or excessive lethal force, Director."

"I’ll deal with the Council with Pierce. Hill, get the personnel draft ready. By the way, what’s the status on the 'frozen meat'?"

"We are finding a way to thaw it safely. We’ve recruited some experts in this field, but it will take time."

"Safety first. He is of great significance to us and the entire country."

"I know. So, how do we resolve this matter? The Council and the government are both asking what that thing is. It will be hard to keep them quiet, and the Special Operations Forces are asking questions as well. Honestly, compared to Tony Stark being assassinated by a group of ninjas at his own press conference, these two matters are even more important."

Hill pressed a button, and the screen displayed a purple lightning storm so bright that it caused the cameras to overexpose.

"A mutant. They must have been accidentally caught up in this."

"You think so too? This mutant is worth watching, but for now, everyone’s eyes are on this guy."

Hill pointed to the figure of Jector. The video clip showed him—

"They’re all asking if this is a super-soldier weapon you pulled from some WWII military base. Why keep it hidden so tightly? Why never tell them, only revealing it after Tony Stark was attacked? The military is already starting to bid on it. You’d better go explain this to Minister Pierce and the others personally. This humanoid beetle is getting much more attention than the lizard crisis Connors caused."

With that, Hill left Fury’s office. The various events of the past few days reminded him of things from many years ago.

Fury looked at the purple lightning on the video, then shifted his attention to the Hand ninjas and Jector. After gathering his thoughts, he temporarily set both matters aside. He took out his custom-made phone and dialed a specific number.

"Beep..."

"Hello?"

"Romanoff, I have a new mission."

"Fury? Can you give me a few minutes? I’m busy."

"I’ll give you three minutes."

***

When Lynn returned to his small house in the Ebony District, Jessica wasn't home yet; school hadn't ended. Lynn had taken a roundabout path to get home. Although his mutant powers had finally been exposed to the public eye because of the Hand, that was fine.

It was only a part of his mutant abilities, so Lynn didn't care much.

Compared to Jector’s grand display of power at the time, Lynn felt his own performance had been fine—natural enough that no one would link Jector to him.

However, being a mutant wasn't exactly a good thing. Many in this world held pure malice toward mutants. Though it hadn't erupted yet, it was only a matter of time. There were plenty of such people.

After Lynn displayed his powers, he wouldn't be surprised if someone came knocking on his door before long.

"The next part will be tricky... If there are too many things to handle, maintaining a double identity isn't that simple."

*Ding-dong.*

"Your delivery."

"..."

Lynn didn't think he had any packages, and he sensed no energy fluctuations outside the door.

*Ding-dong.*

The doorbell rang again. Lynn finally opened the door; there was no point in avoiding what couldn't be avoided. Since someone was sending him something, it meant someone had already targeted him.

"Let me see who it is."

The courier saw Lynn come out and looked relieved. This meant he could go deliver the next item. If it weren't for the fact that this item required a signature, he would have been on his way to the next house.

"Your letter, Mr. Cid."

"Thanks. May I ask who the sender is?"

Lynn smiled as he took the letter. The envelope felt normal—the weight of paper.

"Let me see... it’s not written. Strange..."

"It’s fine. I’ll take it. Do I need to sign anywhere?"

"Of course, please sign here."

After the courier left, Lynn opened the letter on the spot. After reading it, he roughly knew who had sent it.

"Blade."

Currently, only one person in this world knew enough about him: Blade, Eric Brooks.

Lynn had no particular thoughts about him. Blade’s strength was decent; the memory of his fight with Daken was still fresh. Blade wasn't a Blood God, and it wasn't realistic to try to do anything to him. Even if he knew where Blade was, Lynn intended to leave him alone.

Blade was a loner, silent and indifferent to outside affairs.

He wasn't worried about Blade leaking his secret.

The letter contained nothing but two words. Lynn sighed and dialed the only number in the phone Blade had given him.

"What do you want?"

"Do you have a place where we can talk in detail?"

"Come to the Ebony District. I live at 66. It’s the infamous haunted house in this area; it’s easy to find."

"I’ll come to see you at midnight."

With that, Blade hung up.

There was only one likely reason Blade would approach Lynn: the problem of vampires. He had probably encountered something he couldn't handle on his own. If he didn't know Lynn, Blade would have likely dealt with it alone.

But now that he knew Lynn, he had someone to consult.

He picked up Jessica from school and bought some ingredients for dinner on the way. After cooking and watching some soap operas with Jessica, he urged her to go to her room to rest once night fell. Lynn checked the evening news; the reports of Tony Stark’s attack were still scrolling.

Clearly, this was a bombshell, and the subtext revealed that New York was becoming increasingly unstable. Many citizens were worried, and Manhattan’s real estate prices had even dipped slightly.

Time passed quickly. Lynn checked his phone.

Almost time.

Lynn heard the sound of a window opening and closing, and he sensed a life force behind him.

"What kind of trouble this time?"

"Do you know the Blood Covenant?"

"I guessed as much. Sit down; let’s talk it over."