Bucky would not regret his actions.
He was protecting Skye, and there was a cause and effect to the situation. The gang members' target was very clear. If he had to choose again, he would still protect Skye first, not letting her be implicated by that veteran's family.
But seeing innocent children fall in a pool of blood still made him burn with rage!
"Uncle! You! You!…"
Skye, behind Bucky, was badly frightened, and at least half of the reason was because she was on Bucky's back, watching, almost from a first-person perspective, two living people get shot in the head, with red and white matter spewing out from behind…
"Don't be afraid, it's okay!"
Bucky didn't have time to offer more comfort. Instead, he ran to the two gang members who had been shot and fallen but weren't dead yet, and with two flying kicks, knocked them unconscious!
"Cough, cough, cough!… Son!!"
The veteran was extremely tough and resilient. He had been shot three times in the back, yet he remained conscious, his bloodshot eyes fixed on his son lying in a pool of blood.
Bucky also quickly went over, helped up the boy who was about the same age as Skye, and felt his neck—there was no pulse!
But it was not time to give up yet!
Instantly, an Electric Short Circuit arced across the small boy in Bucky's arms, causing his body to convulse instantly!
Things that can kill sometimes can also save lives!
Although the Electromagnetic Short Circuit skill was not a defibrillator, in this situation, the child had lost too much blood and his heart had stopped. It was a desperate attempt to save a life!
"Son! What are you doing!?"
The veteran was still crawling with difficulty, and seeing this, he roared like a wounded beast!
Bucky, however, ignored him, only feeling the small boy's artery. After the first Electric Short Circuit, there was still no pulse!
But it didn't matter, Electromagnetic Short Circuit lasts for 3 seconds, meaning it will hit three times!
There's a second… and a third!
Just after the third Electric Short Circuit, Bucky, who still hadn't felt a pulse, looked a bit disheartened, but then he felt a faint tremor in his fingers, followed by another!
Bucky was instantly overjoyed, and then a red and blue neon block flickered in his hand, transforming into a [ReviveX Type I] treatment injection, which he jabbed into the child's chest!
"You let go of my son!…"
The veteran finally crawled to Bucky's side at this moment, and just as he was about to pounce on Bucky like a hungry wolf, he saw his son, in the other's arms, begin to breathe again!
"He's okay for now, but your wife… I'm sorry."
Bucky handed the child in his arms to the veteran, but then said with a somber expression, "I'm sorry."
"Really!?… Maria! No… No!!!"
The veteran, who had just been overjoyed but then saw Bucky's expression, couldn't help but turn his head, only to find that his wife also lay in a pool of blood, with blood seeping from around her head, and his young daughter, neither crying nor making a fuss, was already scared senseless, sitting dazedly beside her mother.
The veteran then remembered that his wife, in his arms, had been motionless. When he struggled to crawl towards his son, his wife had slipped from his embrace to the ground.
Unexpectedly, this man's wife was also named Maria.
A man's tears do not fall easily. Bucky saw the veteran's eyes almost burst, and two lines of light red tears rolled down, feeling a surge of sympathy.
"Save her! Please save her!"
But this boy was pulled back from the brink of death because he still had a last breath and enough luck.
Bucky truly could do nothing for the veteran's wife.
The veteran crawled back to his wife's side, embracing her blood-soaked head, looking at Bucky with a last shred of hope amidst his despair.
But Bucky shook his head, plunging him completely into despair, saying, "I'm sorry, your wife is already… Your children still need treatment, and it's not safe here either."
Bucky walked over and gave the veteran a treatment injection as well. He had also been shot three times and was bleeding profusely; his willpower was truly incredibly strong.
"…" The veteran fell silent for a moment, then looked at the four gang members lying on the ground, his expression suddenly turning as ferocious as a demon!
And with his injuries relieved and strength returning to his body, he unhesitatingly rushed forward!
"Look after your children! Your two children!"
Bucky grabbed the veteran, staring directly into his almost frantic eyes.
"I!… Lisa, Frank."
The veteran's expression struggled, finally shifting from rage to sorrow. He walked to his young daughter, picked her up, and then walked to his son's side.
"Agent Fury, I need a rapid response team, the kind from that night… How do I know who I killed?… Hey, it's not my business, I just happened to run into it, at the southeast corner of Central Park. Anyway, hurry up, there are survivors, don't let the police take them away."
Bucky called the person he had previously thought not to bother with every little thing, knowing that Agent Fury would just delegate it anyway. So, when Nick Fury gave him his ID, he seized the opportunity to get his phone number.
"You know Fury? Nick Fury?"
Just as he hung up, he heard the veteran's hoarse voice ask this question.
"Yes… You know him too? Johnny Lind, what do you prefer to be called?"
"Frank Castle."
My goodness, it's… it's him after all!
Bucky had thought this situation felt vaguely familiar, a sense of déjà vu, but he couldn't recall it at the moment.
This was indeed the famous street anti-hero he had been thinking about earlier, Punisher, Frank Castle!
Bucky knew that Frank became the Punisher, who dealt with violence with violence and believed "if you are guilty, you die," precisely because his wife and children were killed by gang members. Some were caught in gang crossfire, some were intentionally harmed, some were part of a conspiracy against him, and some even involved his entire extended family, but in all cases, his wife and children died.
He just hadn't expected it to happen at this time, and that he would encounter it but not be able to completely change his fate.
Life is unpredictable… Although this could be considered that because of Bucky's appearance, Frank saved his two children.
But not being able to save Frank's wife, Bucky, feeling that he couldn't completely change Frank's fate, suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness.
If he had been stronger, if he could have directly sent that car full of people flying the moment he discovered the situation, such a human tragedy would not have occurred at all.
Witnessing all of this firsthand, and almost letting Frank's son's life slip through his fingers, Bucky, experiencing that feeling of powerlessness, now wished even more that he could become stronger.
Even if the Punisher never appeared again, so what?
Bucky would rather see a happy family of four than a dark anti-hero.
Before long, the sound of a car engine was heard, but no police sirens.
S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived before the police could clean up the scene.
Bucky gritted his teeth. He had taken care of this matter, and he would see who was causing trouble for Frank.
ADVANCE CHAPTER AVAILABLE IN PATREON
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