"Black Rose, please go to your deaths, gentlemen~"
The exact split second those words fell, a violent tremor suddenly radiated from the thick, bulletproof glass of the White House.
Boom—
The sound was dull yet powerful, resembling a heavy sledgehammer violently smashing against everyone's hearts. Immediately following was a second impact, a third...
Outside the windows, a mountain-shouting, sea-tsunami-like roar of fury penetrated the walls and bypassed the soundproofing materials, permeating clearly into the interior:
"Step down!" "Liars!" "Get out of the White House!"
Mr. President's face turned deathly pale in an instant as he stumbled and ran over to the French windows. With just a single glance, his legs went entirely soft.
Outside the windows, the entirety of Pennsylvania Avenue had been completely submerged by a furious tide of people.
They held up all sorts of homemade banners, brandished their fists, and their faces were contorted out of sheer rage. Resembling a succession of red tidal waves, they encircled the isolated island of the White House on all sides.
The White House guards held riot shields, desperately defending the main gates with all their might, striving hard not to let the enraged crowd charge inside.
But that pitifully small manpower of theirs, before that ocean of fury, resembled a few jagged rocks about to be shattered and swept away. Heaven knew how much longer they could hold out.
Watching the chaotic mess down below, the group of high-ranking officials inside the office merely felt a blast of cold air surge straight from the soles of their feet to the absolute top of their skulls. They finally realized a fact so terrifying that it caused their very souls to tremble.
They had previously prided themselves on thinking that those superheroes were nothing more than a bunch of simple-minded, physically developed pawns who could be played with at will in the palms of their hands.
But in reality... they themselves were the pawns. Furthermore, they were a group of irredeemably foolish pawns who had stepped straight into a trap without even knowing it, still gloating with self-satisfaction!
From beginning to end, there had only ever been one true chess player—Peter Parker.
This guy had already predicted every single one of their actions right from the absolute start. He had even planted spies around them long ago.
Every single one of their conspiracies, every word of dialogue, and every step of their self-styled brilliant strategies was completely transparent and open before him.
The opponent was merely beating them at their own game, looking at them with a cold gaze as they slipped the noose around their own necks step by step, and then personally kicked away the stool beneath their feet!
Only... realizing this point now was already far too late.
Listening to the shouting and cursing drawing closer and louder outside the doors, General Mac's face was as pale as paper. He could no longer maintain that composed posture as a four-star general; like a completely wiped-out gambler, his eyes were bloodshot as he shrieked hysterically:
"Fire! Fire! Mobilize the police force, call in the military! Suppress these damn commoners immediately! Gun them all down for me!"
However, before he could even finish his words, the President swung around abruptly. His eyes were crimson, resembling a wild beast forced into a dead end as he roared furiously:
"Idiot! Do you honestly believe that at a time like this, those police and military forces will still listen to our commands? Do you think they possess the guts to go against a damn monster like the Adjudicator?!"
Almost at the exact split second his words fell...
In the sky, three silhouettes tore through the cloud layer, carrying an unmatchable momentum as they hovered directly above the White House.
One was clad in dark-gold armor, his skull mask reflecting a grim, cold glare under the sunlight, looking exactly like a sovereign returning from hell.
One wore a gold-and-red streamlined armor, the arc reactor on his chest radiating the light of technology and the future—the Iron God of the mortal realm.
One wore a star-spangled uniform of blue and red, holding a circular shield, representing the spirit and faith of an entire era.
It was precisely the Adjudicator, Iron Man, and Captain America—the Big Three of superheroes!
The moment they materialized, the originally noisy and furious crowd down below instantly fell into a bizarre state of silence. Immediately following was an even more crazed, even more deafening cheer!
"The Arbiter!"
"Iron Man!"
"Captain!"
That cheering converged into a wave of sound, nearly flipping the sky over the entirety of Washington, D.C. upside down.
Peter hovered in mid-air. Beneath his dark-gold mask, his gaze calmly swept across the fanatical crowd down below, and across those politicians inside the White House whose faces were as gray as death. He didn't speak; he merely raised his hand slowly.
The crowd fell silent once more. Everyone tilted their heads up, watching the three silhouettes in the sky with a gaze that was almost akin to a religious pilgrimage.
At this time, Tony Stark's armor faceplate opened, exposing that face familiar to the entire world with a trace of a cynical smile, yet his gaze was more serious than ever before.
"Everyone, I know you are furious."
"To tell you the truth, I am furious too. While we were fighting at the front lines to protect this world, some individuals were hiding in the rear, calculating how to sell us out, and how to sell you out!"
His voice permeated clearly across the entire square via the armor's amplification system.
"They attempted to divide us, and attempted to use lies and conspiracies to tarnish the title of heroes. They told you that superheroes are a threat, that they need to be monitored, and that they need to be registered."
"But today, I want to ask you all," Tony's voice abruptly pitched up, "when that monster named Solus descended, and when the crisis of destruction enveloped every single one of us, was it their Act that protected you, or was it us?!"
"It was you!"
Within the crowd, it was unknown who was the first to shout out. Immediately following, a mountain-shouting, sea-tsunami-like response echoed through the skies:
"It was you!"
Captain America, Steve Rogers, also took a step forward. His upright and power-filled voice carried a force capable of soothing people's hearts:
"We never seek power, nor do we ever long to stand above anyone else. We fight hard solely because it is the right thing to do."
"Protecting the innocent and combating evil—this is our sole creed."
"But today, someone has tarnished this creed and has betrayed your trust. They never consider this country; they do it solely to satisfy their own filthy, selfish desires."
"Individuals like this are not fit to lead this country anymore!"
The moment Cap's words finished, the populace's emotions were thoroughly ignited:
"Not fit! Step down!"
"Get lost, resign!"
At the entrance of the White House, those guards who had still been bitterly holding out looked at one another. Ultimately, a young guard was the first to toss away the riot shield in his hand.
A crisp thud resonated, resembling the pushing over of the first domino. Immediately following was a second, a third...
All the guards laid down their weapons, even turning around to join the protesting crowd, raising their middle fingers toward the direction where the Oval Office was situated.
To say it again—for a few thousand bucks a month, why on earth would you put your life on the line?! It was already at a time like this, and you still want to go sell your lives for that gang of bastards who didn't even invite them to their orgies? Only a fool would do such a stupid thing!
At this point, the final line of defense for the White House was thoroughly declared lost. The furious public charged into the White House entirely unimpeded, dragging out those high-ranking government officials who had once stood high and mighty, one by one.
Today was destined to be the most extraordinary day for America in the over two hundred years since its founding!
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