Behind Captain America's mask, those blazing eyes looked ready to burst into flames. He glared fiercely at Blaine, then hurled the shield in his hand like a boomerang straight toward him.
The moment Captain America made his move, Falcon, high in the air, released the hidden weapon mounted in the thruster on his back once again—the same concealed weapon that had struck Tony earlier.
At the same time, the flying shield seemed to signal the start of war. Bucky lunged forward and caught it in one motion, his metal arm already fully extended.
…
Boom.
Boom...…
Tony's palm cannons fired continuously, showing no mercy at all. Like Tony, the War Machine also deployed the twin Gatling guns mounted on his shoulders, glowing with blue light as armor-piercing rounds strafed wildly across the field.
Perhaps because they now understood the Bounty Hunter's strength, combined with the shocking scene earlier, no one held back anymore. Past camaraderie was completely forgotten. At this moment, Blaine was their enemy—the kind who had killed their father.
"Hey, did I sleep with your mother or kill your father? Everyone looks like they've got some deep-seated hatred."
Even under such dense firepower, Blaine remained completely unflustered. Just joking—when he had faced collapsing meteorites head-on, he hadn't even changed expression or lost his breath. This was nothing.
Seeing the overwhelming barrage of attacks, just as the five of them thought the Bounty Hunter had no way out, they suddenly saw him raise his arm again. A white mask was pushed out from his palm, directly taking all of their attacks head-on.
The mask instantly expanded dozens of times, enveloping the star-spangled shield, bullets, shells—and the five of them as well.
In the next second, they were stunned to discover that they couldn't move at all. Not only were their bodies frozen inside the white mask, even the bullets already fired were suspended in midair. What kind of ability was this supposed to be…?
"Hmph. It's not a trick,"
"Have you heard of time standing still? Hehe."
Seeing the shock etched deep into their faces, Blaine raised his eyebrows slightly, silently showing off in his own mind.
Then he strolled casually into the mask, brushing aside bullets as he went, and reached out to take Captain America's shield into his hand. After weighing it a few times, he found it surprisingly heavy—perhaps only a bit lighter than the Flood Dragon Trident.
Holding it felt quite natural. He casually swung the shield left and right, blocking all the bullets and shells with ease.
There was also Falcon's flight device. (When Blaine got it in his hand, he realized it was a red flight unit that also housed a 360-degree rotating camera.) Thoughtfully, Blaine put the flight device back for him—though his technique was a little rough. Not only did he fail to reattach it properly, he also punched a hole straight through the thruster.
After finishing all that, Blaine shrugged and twitched the corner of his mouth, as if to say: I didn't mean it.
There was still one left. Bucky hadn't been touched yet, and Blaine was actually quite curious about HYDRA's Winter Soldier program.
HYDRA's people were, in fact, very clever. Just looking at the Winter Soldier project alone, they had managed to transform an ordinary elite soldier into a super-soldier comparable to the United States' classified Super Soldier Program. And there wasn't just one Winter Soldier. Captain America was the one and only super-soldier—but HYDRA had many.
"Hey, there's a saying that fits perfectly."
"HYDRA works hard, while S.H.I.E.L.D. steals and plays tricks."
HYDRA's people were all workaholics. They asked for nothing in return and were truly desperate in their belief.
As for S.H.I.E.L.D., not even counting the Avengers, the staff inside were far more cunning. Blaine still remembered sneaking into S.H.I.E.L.D. once using Shadow Stealth, only to bump into an employee using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s high-precision equipment to play King of Glory…
Blaine walked up to Bucky and suddenly noticed that beneath the man's long bangs, those eyes were filled with viciousness. Using mind reading to peer into his thoughts, Blaine found that Bucky was telling him to get lost and not come any closer…
Damn it. This was intolerable. Blaine reached out and grabbed the fist Bucky had swung earlier, applying just a little force. The steel fist visibly caved in. Even though the arm wasn't made of vibranium yet, who would have thought that steel would feel no different from dough in Blaine's hands…
Three minutes passed quickly.
When the time was up, everyone hurriedly stepped back, instinctively creating distance from Blaine, then began loosening their stiff joints. Beneath his hood, Blaine smiled at them, still holding Captain America's shield, standing motionless as he watched.
…
Three minutes wasn't long, but for these five people, it was probably enough to be remembered for a lifetime.
Because Blaine wore a hood, they couldn't clearly see his face, much less know how many cards he still had left to play. After exchanging glances, they rushed forward again. This time, however, they'd learned their lesson and switched to a rotating assault.
The first to charge was Falcon. Perhaps because Blaine had damaged his thruster earlier, his speed was noticeably slower, and he flew in at an awkward angle.
Blaine had analyzed Falcon before. While this guy's raw strength wasn't impressive, his brain was extremely sharp. Seeing that his speed couldn't keep up, he chose to attack from long range instead.
From the armor on his back, several missiles launched with sharp mechanical clicks. From Falcon's thoughts, Blaine could tell these missiles weren't meant to deal real damage—they were meant to provide cover for the others…
"Hmph. Any cleverness is meaningless in the face of absolute strength."
As soon as he finished speaking, Blaine hurled the shield from his hand. Along its path, it not only intercepted the missiles but also slammed into Falcon with leftover force. If Scarlet Witch hadn't intervened, a direct hit would have completely destroyed him.
The four people waiting on the side weren't slacking like Vision. Tony fired a repulsor blast at the returning shield at just the right moment. Bucky caught it and passed it straight back to Captain America.
This entire sequence required extreme coordination, but for them, it wasn't difficult at all. Among the Avengers, teamwork was second nature.
However, when they looked back at the Bounty Hunter, they realized his figure had vanished once again.
"FRIDAY, track him,"
"I want to see where he is—"
…
Before FRIDAY could answer Tony, the Bounty Hunter reappeared in their field of vision—directly above Falcon's head.
With a single slap, Falcon's thrusters shattered layer by layer. His body immediately plummeted headfirst toward the ground.
The Avengers lost yet another combatant.
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