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Hearing the agonized screams of the five Hand leaders, the elite members of the Hand who were surrounding John Wick and Poole instinctively turned their heads toward the other battlefield.
The moment they saw their leaders defeated, everyone subconsciously slowed their attacks. Seizing the opportunity, Poole found an opening and blocked several blows aimed at John Wick.
At that moment, Smith Doyle turned around and hurled a tear gas grenade toward the Hand members encircling John Wick.
"Boom!"
In an instant, several Hand elites were blasted into the air, their limbs flung in every direction. At the same time, the encirclement around John Wick and Poole was torn open.
John Wick stared at the scene with wide eyes.Was this… the gap between himself and a god?Was Smith really this powerful?
At that moment, the five leaders of the Hand—Alexandra, Madame Gao, Bakuto, Sowande, and Murakami—were all lying on the ground in utter disarray. Their bodies were covered in blast marks, their weapons shattered, and most of their clothing torn to shreds by the explosions.
Under the combat power scanner, their readings—once dozens of points—plummeted rapidly, soon dropping into the single digits, barely six or seven.
Seeing that their values had not fallen to zero, Smith Doyle knew they were still alive—barely breathing.
Madame Gao lay on her back, gasping heavily as she looked at Smith Doyle walking toward her.
"Cough… cough…"
"Smith… this time, your Assassin Brotherhood has won…"
"I'm not asking you to let us go… but could you give us a chance to return to our origins?"
"Out of the five of us, four are willing to commit suicide on the spot. The remaining one is willing to cripple their limbs and martial arts… all so that they may carry the other four bodies back…"
After Madame Gao spoke, the other four leaders began pleading as well:
"Please… give us a chance to return to our origins…"
"Cough… cough…"
Blood spilled from the corner of Madame Gao's mouth as she continued:
"When I return, I will transfer all of the Hand's assets to you. After I die in Japan, the Hand will be completely disbanded."
To someone unaware of the deeper truth, this proposal might have seemed tempting. After all, the Hand's vast resources would be handed over, four of the five leaders would be dead, and the last one severely crippled—no future threat at all.
But Smith Doyle was not ignorant of their secrets.
He stepped on Alexandra's chest and applied just a bit of pressure, crushing her ribcage. She died instantly, her combat power dropping straight to zero.
Seeing this, Madame Gao slowly spoke:
"Smith… did you ever promise me anything?"
Smith Doyle sneered.
"Madame Gao, don't think I don't know what you're planning. You want to use dragon bones to resurrect me, don't you?"
"Do you really think I'd give you that chance?"
Realizing her scheme had been exposed, Madame Gao smiled helplessly.
"Yes… since you resurrected Helen, you must know how to use dragon bones."
"The winner takes all—and you won this round."
"What a pity… We still haven't found a suitable Black Sky vessel. Otherwise, we might not have lost so badly."
After saying that, Madame Gao fell silent, ready to face death. In truth, five hundred years had taken nothing from her. Her only regret was that her cultivation was not refined enough—she could not reach the level of the Ancient One or Yu Huang.
Hearing her words, Smith Doyle raised an eyebrow. Mention of the beasts from the Dark Dimension intrigued him, and he asked:
"Have you found a suitable host for the Black Sky?"
Smith immediately thought of Elektra, Daredevil's lover, who had once been possessed by the Black Sky. Daredevil himself had also been possessed in other universes—strong enough to defeat Wolverine.
At Smith's mention of the Black Sky, a glimmer of hope flashed in Madame Gao's eyes. As leaders of the Hand, all five of them had once been possessed by it to enhance their power—but their compatibility was poor.
To this day, no one truly worthy of the Black Sky had appeared.
The hope in her eyes faded.
"No… we haven't found a suitable vessel."
Smith Doyle felt a hint of disappointment. He had hoped to encounter a truly formidable opponent. As for Elektra, he chose not to mention her.
"In that case," Smith asked calmly, "where are the dragon bones you possess?"
Hearing this, the remaining four laughed together and answered in unison:
"In your dreams!"
Smith Doyle shook his head. As expected—these people would never hand over their treasures, even in death.
"Very well. Then go meet Mephisto."
Energy bullets condensed in Smith Doyle's hands, completely annihilating the five bodies, leaving not a single trace behind.
Meanwhile, the Hand members who had been surrounding John Wick stopped attacking while their leaders were talking to Smith. When they saw all five leaders dead, they immediately committed ritual suicide, cutting open their own bellies to follow their masters.
Smith Doyle didn't care in the slightest. That was simply their way—acting on their own initiative saved him the trouble of cleaning up the trash.
Although Smith Doyle's battle had ended, Hell's Kitchen did not return to peace. After the first wave of attacks, assassins from across New York launched nighttime raids on every remaining Hand stronghold.
Elsewhere—
At the Assassin Brotherhood headquarters, the fighting was just as intense.
The defending assassins were equipped with night-vision goggles and thermal imaging, allowing them to detect the Hand and Kingpin's forces the moment they approached.
They opened fire without hesitation. Under the Brotherhood's terrifying marksmanship, countless attackers were killed or wounded before they could even get close to the fortress.
Among them, Wesley, Cross, and Mr. X showed no fear at all. Activating bullet time, they charged forward with guns blazing in both hands. The three moved as if invincible, mowing down Kingpin's men and forcing them to rout in panic.
Compared to Kingpin's men, the Hand fighters were far more fanatical. Ignoring all orders, they launched desperate, all-or-nothing assaults. Strike teams and ninja squads charged without regard for their lives—but suffered catastrophic losses. Blocked by the three peerless assassins, they were completely wiped out.
As for Bullseye, Kingpin's top enforcer, he was shot in the head by Fox while trying to protect Kingpin. Kingpin himself did not die on the spot, but he was captured alive, unable to escape.
Elsewhere—
Triskelion Tower.
The battle between Smith and the Hand had already triggered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s energy detection systems.
In particular, the Five Fingers Qi techniques and Smith Doyle's free-form energy blasts caused alarms to flash nonstop in New York's anomalous energy monitoring center.
Although there was almost no surveillance near the battlefield, a few recordings still existed, and cameras had captured vague images of several figures.
Having already rested, Phil Coulson hurried back to headquarters.