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The Hand's secret Base.
Madame Gao, whose eyes were as black as ink and who exuded a faint black aura, reported respectfully to Shou, who was seated at the head of the table:
"My Lord Shou, the Police have deployed a large number of Officers on the outer streets of Hell's Kitchen. Those civilians and gang members who have been mentally corrupted probably won't be able to break through their defenses."
"Then help them."
At the head of the table, Shou, who had been closing his eyes to rest and enjoying the pleasure of his power continuously increasing, slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes immediately flashed with an eerie, bloody red light.
As the scale of the Riot in Hell's Kitchen continued to grow and the number of participants increased, he had already drawn a considerable amount of power from the malice generated by the chaos and violence.
It was even comparable to the realm he could achieve by utilizing a demon body in the Hell Dimension.
Earth was truly delicious!
Therefore, Shou absolutely could not allow anyone to hinder the implementation of his plan.
He immediately waved his Hand and instructed Madame Gao, Murakami, and others:
"It's time to let those humans witness the power of The Hand. As for those who dare to hinder the spread of 'chaos'... kill them all without mercy!"
"Yes, My Lord!" * 4
...
Queens.
Urged by hunger, a sleepy Gwen finally crawled out of her warm bed and dragged her tired body to the refrigerator.
She managed to find a slightly hardened loaf of bread, a box of oatmeal, and milk inside, then sat at the dusty dining table to enjoy her breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the day...
Although Gwen considered herself not a "good-for-nothing" in life, it was undeniable that her father, George Stacy, had cared for her too well before.
One could even say he was meticulously attentive.
Therefore, ever since her father's death, Gwen's daily life had been completely turned upside down.
Sometimes she even forgot to buy daily necessities.
Not to mention regularly tidying up her room.
Furthermore, the forced "ascension to demonhood" during the battle against the Defenders a few days ago had almost cost Gwen half her life.
After returning home, she slept for three days and two nights before barely recovering her spirits.
But she still looked listless and disheveled.
There was no other way.
Before her mortal body was reforged into an immortal one through the Warp, Gwen's mortal shell was destined to be unable to withstand too much of Khorne's primal power.
So, it was only normal for some after-effects to occur.
Fortunately, the wound on her shoulder, which had been pierced through, had mostly healed automatically during these past few days of rest.
However, even Gwen herself wasn't sure whether this powerful self-healing ability was due to her "spider powers" or the blessing from the Blood God.
But if she thought about it carefully, it should most likely be... the former, right?
After all, when she first became Spider-Woman, some of the injuries Gwen sustained would also heal automatically within a very short time.
It was just that she had never actively paid attention to this aspect at that time.
Then Gwen turned on the TV, preparing to eat while watching.
But as soon as she switched to The Daily Bugle's paid exclusive channel, she was immediately drawn by the breaking news being broadcast and the related footage shot from a helicopter.
Smoke filled the streets of Hell's Kitchen, and people were everywhere.
Almost everyone appearing in the footage was attacking others indiscriminately, or being attacked by others.
Blood stained the ground, and severed limbs were everywhere.
The injured, with bloodied heads, lay sprawled on the ground, their faces pale.
Beside them, several mangled corpses were piled haphazardly.
Such a tragic sight made it seem as if Hell's Kitchen had truly become hell.
The camera quickly switched to the streets leading to the outer areas.
At this moment, a large group of thugs, armed with makeshift weapons, were fiercely confronting the Police in front of the cordon.
They first attempted to violently break through the blockade.
After being successfully stopped, they picked up bricks, stones, and other debris in a fit of rage and hurled them at the Officers holding Riot shields.
From time to time, a few thugs with homemade Molotov cocktails would emerge from behind the crowd and throw them towards the Officers and Police cars.
Several unlucky Officers were splashed with oil and immediately screamed, rolling on the ground.
So the Police had to abandon the first line of defense and were forced to shrink their front line backward...
"Why is Uncle Frank there too?!"
Gwen keenly caught a glimpse of Sheriff Frank Castle in a fleeting shot.
But what truly puzzled her was, what exactly happened in Hell's Kitchen?
How could such a large-scale Riot suddenly break out?
Just then, the live broadcast screen was suddenly split in half. John Jameson appeared in the left half of the screen and said to the camera with a solemn expression:
"Dear viewers, as you can see now, an unprecedented large-scale Riot has suddenly broken out in Hell's Kitchen."
"Due to some currently unknown factor, a large number of residents and gang members, as if maddened, have taken to the streets with weapons and begun to attack others indiscriminately."
"It is especially noteworthy that those who have been attacked will soon also become attackers... Wait a moment, it seems there's another sudden development at the scene."
Before John Jameson could finish speaking, he saw in the live broadcast on the right side of the screen that a group of Hand ninjas, dressed in black bodysuits and wielding katanas, suddenly rushed out from behind the crowd that had been scared away by the high-pressure water cannons.
They swiftly dodged the high-pressure water cannons' spray, then leaped behind the Police cars, swinging their swords at the unsuspecting Officers.
In just a few breaths, more than a dozen Officers fell into pools of blood.
Bang bang bang—
The other Officers, who had come to their senses, pulled out their guns and fired.
However, due to an order from the City Hall's higher-ups before the mission, everyone in this operation was to use non-lethal rubber bullets to avoid causing a negative social Impact and triggering a larger-scale Riot.
So even if someone successfully hit those ninjas, it couldn't cause fatal injuries.
These ninjas, enhanced by Shou's power, had greatly increased physiques and strength, and seemed to have had their pain sensation removed.
Therefore, as long as they weren't unlucky enough to be hit in critical areas like the eyes or temples, even being hit at close range by large-caliber rubber bullets could only slightly slow down their movements.
Fortunately, some Officers had taken advantage of the chaos to run back to their cars and replace the magazines filled with non-lethal rubber bullets with live ammunition.
This prevented the entire defense line from being completely overrun.
But even so, the scene was still in utter chaos.
"Those are The Hand ninjas..."
At this moment, John Jameson's voice rang out again, "It can finally be confirmed now that this Riot was entirely planned and executed by The Hand."
"Although we don't know their true purpose for doing this yet, it must be related to this unknown... which is spreading rapidly among people like a plague..."
John Jameson paused slightly, seemingly thinking about how to describe the current situation.
Finally, he decided to use "corruption" as a placeholder.
"Although it sounds a bit absurd, as you can see, this unknown 'corruption' has caused the people of Hell's Kitchen to fall into a state of infighting.
If The Hand's actions cannot be successfully contained, I believe it won't be long before it spreads throughout the entire city."
Although he spoke seriously, Old Jameson, who had long been accustomed to big scenes by Karl's side, showed no signs of panic on his face and immediately gave an extremely accurate judgment.
Most of the old fans in the live broadcast room also appeared very calm.
After all, in the past few months, they had witnessed many more brutal major events than the current scene, following The Daily Bugle's cameras.
Their "threshold" for sudden events had already been raised very high.
So now, as long as Old Jameson hadn't run away and was still broadcasting, they weren't bothered, each of them as steady as an old dog.
But what they didn't know was that the building where The Daily Bugle was located had already been protected by the Deathwalkers sent by the Wizard Society.
Selena even personally took a helicopter to follow the war reporters to the front line to film the footage.
So even if this Riot ultimately got out of control and spread throughout New York, The Daily Bugle's employees would have ample time to evacuate.
The remaining small portion of new fans or passersby in the live broadcast room were greatly frightened by such a scene.
Some even skillfully jumped into their cars, grabbed cash and credit cards, and hurriedly embarked on their escape.
However.
Often, as soon as the car drove out of the community, it was immediately blocked on the road.
Because as the situation escalated rapidly, many people had the same idea as them...
"Oh no, Uncle Frank is in danger."
Gwen suddenly stood up, ravenously stuffing the bread in her Hand into her mouth, then rushed back to her room to change into her Spider-Woman suit, and leaped out of the window.
Whether it was out of the selfish desire to have him help find the true culprit behind her father's murder, or simply unable to bear seeing a good Police Officer like her father, who was loyal to his duty, die tragically on the streets, Gwen could not choose to stand by.
Furthermore, she also had an unsettled score with The Hand.
She had already learned from the hospital that the youths, referred to as "sacrifices," had been abducted.
The surge of anger in her heart and a mysteriously boiling fighting spirit immediately dispelled Gwen's previous listless state.
Her petite figure swung agilely back and forth between the tall buildings.
Finally, after a few swings, she disappeared into the dark night.
...
Outer streets of Hell's Kitchen.
"Damn it, have these ninjas all been possessed by Terminators? Why are they so hard to kill?"
"Yeah, unless you get a headshot or hit their heart, these guys will still pounce like zombies..."
"Officer, what do we do? If this continues, the defense line will collapse!"
Due to the large number of Officers killed by the ninjas, and the rioters inside Hell's Kitchen taking the opportunity to constantly assault the defense line, the situation on the ground had become increasingly precarious.
The middle-aged Officer in charge of defending this street could only grit his teeth and shout:
"Stop talking nonsense, all of you hold the line for me... Absolutely no shooting at civilians, except for those damned ninjas."
"The General Bureau just sent word that the National Guard has mobilized troops to support us."
"Also, City Hall has leased a Superpower Squad from the Vought Corporation, and they will arrive here soon... By then, it will be the death of those damned ninjas."
There was no other way.
The number of civilians involved in this Riot was simply too large.
And conventional dispersal and deterrence methods were completely ineffective against these maddened individuals.
They couldn't possibly kill all tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets of Hell's Kitchen in front of the live cameras of The Daily Bugle and other major news outlets, could they?
If they did that, it's likely that by tomorrow morning, the other forty-nine states of America, excluding New York, would declare independence under the banner of respecting human rights.
So... what else could he do besides holding the line?
Fortunately, the Vought Corporation's Superpower Squad didn't make everyone wait too long.
Soon, Black Noir, one of The Seven, completely encased in black leather armor, led four "second-tier heroes" to the intersection of Hell's Kitchen and Eighth Avenue.
They were Blindspot, who was blind but possessed super hearing and immense strength.
Impact, who possessed super speed, capable of reaching 342 meters/second at full sprint, and claimed to be the second-fastest man in the World (A-Train is currently the fastest).
Steel Claw Woman, who possessed a pair of freely retractable carbon steel claws and had used these sharp claws to tear through tanks.
And Falcon, who possessed astonishing shooting accuracy and was said to be able to achieve perfect aim with a bow and arrow.
Although the Danger Assessment Department had evaluated it, the higher-ups at the Vought Corporation unanimously believed that this was merely a relatively low-risk, ordinary mass Riot.
However, from the lineup, it was not difficult to see that the higher-ups still attached great importance to this rare opportunity to create publicity.
That's why they specifically sent Black Noir and carefully selected four team members who could shine in combat.
"WTF? What the hell, why are there only five people?"
Upon seeing this, the Officers immediately felt a sense of bewilderment, as if "New York's finances were bankrupt, so City Hall couldn't afford it."
Black Noir ignored the Officers and said nothing, instead raising his Hand and pointing at The Hand ninjas across the street who were hunting down Officers.
The four Superpower Squad members behind him immediately understood and rushed towards the ninjas...