"Huhhhh—!"
The elderly vendor suddenly gasped, clutching her chest...
First, she was shocked after misunderstanding Ye Li's relationship with Alita, then almost got her neck slashed by a flying shield...
At her age, she couldn't handle this kind of shock...
"What's wrong with her?"
Alita looked at the kind old lady's sudden state, a bit anxious.
Ye Li helped support the vendor, "It's fine, probably a sudden heart issue—I can handle it."
"Who did this?"
Hearing that Ye Li could handle it, Alita turned her head angrily toward the attacker———
This person's appearance.
Ye Li found it very familiar.
Neck-length hair...
Muscular build...
Black mask...
Cold gaze...
Dressed in combat gear, a large rifle in his right hand, and a shiny silver metal arm on the left, with a Soviet red star insignia near the shoulder...
———It was unmistakably the [Winter Soldier], Bucky!
Not far from Bucky,
Captain America, Steve Rogers, came to a halt. He had been rushing toward the vendor to help...
Turns out, he had been fighting the Winter Soldier here and had thrown his shield.
But Bucky had caught it perfectly and casually tossed it aside—right in the vendor's direction...
"What the—?"
Seeing his shield caught so easily by a young girl, Steve Rogers was a bit surprised...
This was a vibranium alloy shield, after all...
Not some cardboard prop...
How could just anyone catch it?
Captain America now felt like Thor watching someone casually lift his hammer...
Ye Li glanced at Steve's shocked expression and chuckled inwardly: 'Even you get to experience your weapon being toyed with, huh, Rogers...'
"President Ye! So it's you."
Ye Li's smile, caught Steve's attention.
The surprise on Steve's face quickly faded.
If it was President Ye, then it all made sense...
If the people around Ye Li weren't extraordinary, then Steve Rogers would be surprised.
"Don't run!"
Steve didn't have time to chat with Ye Li and shouted as he chased after the fleeing Winter Soldier.
However, someone was faster!
Hu————!
Whoosh———!
Alita, wielding Cap's shield, sprinted toward Bucky. Though made of metal, her body moved with surprising agility and lightness!
Tap tap tap.
She even stepped lightly along the street walls, catching up to Bucky within seconds.
"Before evil, I will never stand idly by!"
The mechanical girl leapt off the wall, twisting mid-air, sweeping her knee toward the side of the Winter Soldier's head———
"Judgment!"
Bucky saw the reflection of her metal knee in his eyes—his cold pupils rippled with shock...
For the first time, he encountered such a powerful opponent...
At the last second.
Bang!
He raised his rifle to block———
Clack...
———Blocking the strike at the cost of the gun falling apart...
Suddenly!
Trained like a demon, the Winter Soldier didn't miss the opening during Alita's attack and swung his silver metal arm at her!
Clang~!!
The sound of metal colliding.
Both sides were momentarily stunned!
"Oh~ you're a cyborg too?"
The mechanical girl's slender metal palm caught Bucky's fist with ease———
"But it looks like your modifications are a bit lacking..."
Peng~!
The Winter Soldier didn't waste words—he retracted his fist and swung again!
This time, Alita simply raised the shield in her left hand and blocked it easily———
Peng~!
Peng~!
Peng~!
Bucky tried attacking from different angles, but Alita blocked every strike with her shield.
Clearly, his physical coordination was no match for the nano-tech-built agile body of the mechanical girl.
"This shield of yours is pretty handy~" Alita assumed the shield belonged to Bucky.
"You've had your turn. Now it's mine!"
With that,
She blurred into motion, using fists, feet, and shield—constantly attacking from Bucky's blind spots———
Bang!
Clang~
Boom!
Smack!
Alita's movements lacked any robotic clunkiness.
She moved like a martial arts master,
Using fists, palm strikes, high kicks, and shield bashes,
Beating Bucky so he couldn't even fight back,
Basically forced to cover his head and take the hits...
"So strong... Is she one of the new Super Heroes?"
Steve, watching his shield being wielded so fiercely, crossed his arms and watched. Since Bucky's mask hadn't fallen off, he hadn't recognized his best bud yet... so he strolled over to chat with Ye Li.
"What's her name? Iron Girl?"
Ye Li dismissed the name, "Don't go slapping Tony's label on Alita."
Meanwhile,
Alita was getting bored of the beating,
And prepared to end the fight———
Her fingers lit up with blue plasma flames, which then spread across the vibranium shield in her hand...
"Here's a lesson for you! Be more careful next time!"
With that, the mechanical girl dodged one last counterattack and swung her plasma-covered shield down!
Zzzzzzzrra~———!!
The shield sliced through like a hot knife through butter,
Slicing through the silver arm...
Clang~
A metallic crash echoed.
In Bucky's disbelieving eyes, his left arm was now just a red-hot, glowing stump...
The Winter Soldier... got his arm cut off ahead of schedule...