7. The Main Battlefield in Manhattan and the Separate Front in Queens
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Hawk finally suppressed the fiery passion within him and chose not to join the fray on the main battlefield in Manhattan.
The Leviathan beast belonging to the Citan bio-warfare fortress roared as it emerged from the spatial gate, its massive body stretching out, clad in thick alloy armor.
Putting aside whether he could defeat the Leviathan beast, the sheer size difference alone was like comparing the earth to the sky.
Moreover,
If he had the sacred armor, Hawk might have gone to the main battlefield to join the excitement.
But for now, it was better not to.
Besides, Queens was already infested with Citan soldiers swarming like locusts—there was no need to rush to Manhattan.
That battlefield belonged to the original Avengers, not to him.
He had grown stronger.
But that was all it was—just growth.
The awakening of his cosmos was only a beginning, a starting point.
Not an ending, nor a conclusion.
So...
Hawk stayed put, not venturing anywhere nor taking the initiative; instead, he crouched by his doorstep, like a hunter waiting patiently for prey, ready to trap the Citan soldiers rampaging nearby as they came to reinforce their fallen comrades.
This was far easier than taking the offensive himself.
After all, Citan soldiers could fly—he could not.
Most importantly,
The apartment block where he lived was in a slum.
What was a slum?
Well,
An ambulance took at least half an hour to reach their neighborhood after receiving a call, whereas in Manhattan’s wealthy districts, it took no more than three minutes.
The surveillance situation was similar.
If in rich neighborhoods even the garbage bins in alleys had cameras pointed at them, the main roads in the slums were devoid of surveillance.
And even if there were cameras, they wouldn’t last till the next day—they would be swiftly removed and sold by some street kids that very night.
Very quickly.
Standing in the shadows, Hawk spotted two Citan soldiers flying nearby, alerted by the death of their comrades, rushing in on their flying vehicles.
His eyes lit up.
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Two minutes later.
“Thud!”
“Thud!”
Amid the ruins of the apartment, two more ugly corpses joined the two that Hawk had previously arranged meticulously, lest the Citan soldiers miss them.
Upon sensing the pilots’ deaths, the two equally grotesque flying vehicles turned and flew off in one direction.
Watching silently, Hawk retreated once more into the shadows.
A minute later,
Detecting the rapid increase in Citan casualties in Queens, a signal was sent down from the Citan mothership hovering above the wormhole over Manhattan.
In the next moment,
Several Citan soldiers nearby, roaring fiercely and unleashing full firepower, ruthlessly destroying buildings, vehicles, and slaughtering humans, abruptly turned around.
Upon receiving the signal, they quickly regrouped toward the source of the roar that had just echoed over Jackson Heights.
They had received orders to head there.
Roaring, the Citan soldiers gathered behind their leader, who was taller, stronger, and whose flying vehicle appeared even more menacing than the others’.
Together, they descended over the neighborhood.
In an instant,
They saw the four ravaged corpses of their comrades arranged in neat rows amid the apartment ruins.
“Screech! Hiss!”
At the sight of their fallen comrades, the leader and six soldiers froze momentarily.
The next second,
They seemed to recover, as if receiving new orders; their flying vehicles restarted.
In the blink of an eye, the leader and six soldiers swiftly scattered, then formed a ring around the neighborhood below.
Their snake-like eyes, devoid of any emotion or hesitation, pulled the triggers on their flying vehicles’ energy weapons.
Like cold-blooded biological weapons.
In an instant,
Energy blasts rained down like a celestial net, bombarding the streets below in a sweeping barrage.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Buildings shattered, roads cracked, and vehicles on the streets exploded and burst into flames.
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Surrounding the neighborhood, the Citan soldiers in the sky fired relentlessly, expressionless and mechanical, their claw-like fingers gripping the triggers without release.
Only after the entire neighborhood was engulfed in smoke and dust, their energy blasts expended, and their leader the first to cease fire, did they simultaneously release their triggers like a tightly synchronized machine.
The entire block had been reduced to rubble.
Cracking old apartment buildings,
Occasional explosions from burning vehicles.
At this moment, this place looked more like war-torn Iraq than anywhere else.
Perched on his flying vehicle, the Citan leader, with slightly larger green bean-shaped eyes, scanned the eerily silent, deserted neighborhood once more before withdrawing his gaze.
Having received the latest orders, he prepared to withdraw.
Under such overwhelming, covering fire from the powerful Citan soldiers, no life could survive by chance.
Especially these primitive Earthlings, who couldn’t even leave their own planet.
Therefore...
From the wormhole, the Citan alien mothership, controlling and issuing commands, sent fresh orders to the Citan leader through the soldiers’ line of sight.
As the leader turned, six Citan soldiers followed suit, adjusting their flying vehicles.
But just as these six soldiers began to turn,
Suddenly, one companion aboard a flying vehicle convulsed like a boiled shrimp, arching backward, accompanied by a sharp pop as the armor covering his chest exploded open.
The next second,
One, two, three, four, five.
Before the remaining five Citan soldiers could react, they met the same fate as their comrade.
The moment their backs faced the neighborhood, their chests exploded open, creating fist-sized holes.
Their torsos ripped from back to front, as if punched through by a powerful fist.
Almost simultaneously with the explosions in the six soldiers’ chests, six thunderous punches rang out!
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The Citan leader, who had turned on his flying vehicle at the instant his six team members’ chests exploded, heard the cracking sounds by his ear.
Mechanical and unhesitating, he leapt to the right, jumping off his flying vehicle without a second thought.
The next moment,
His own flying vehicle, which looked even more menacing than the others, seemed struck by something and exploded midair.
Boom!
...