Everyone in the Ultimate Team was completely stunned.
To be honest, although Ultimate Tony had spoken very highly of Zhou Cheng, the members of the Ultimate Team—each possessing extraordinary abilities—had never truly taken Zhou Cheng seriously.
A superpowered individual?
It wasn't like they had never seen one before.
In fact, many of them were superpowered themselves.
And flying wasn't anything unusual either. Didn't Janet, the Wasp, also fly?
But who could have imagined that Zhou Cheng's strength would be so absurdly terrifying?
Tank missiles with his bare body?
What the hell was this guy made of? Steel?
And with a single palm strike, he destroyed a mech warrior even larger than Iron Man's armor. Didn't that mean he could casually one-shot Iron Man too?
Then there was the speedster.
Although the footage only captured a blurry shadow, everyone knew it was a speedster.
Yet even such a person was helpless before Zhou Cheng.
Quicksilver, especially, felt a deep sense of dread.
His greatest confidence was his speed, but speed clearly meant nothing against Zhou Cheng.
Although he couldn't tell from the blurry footage whether Hurricane was faster than himself, one thing was certain:
This Zhou Cheng was an enormous threat.
Very strong.
Ridiculously strong.
Not just Quicksilver—even the other members of the Ultimate Team were secretly shocked.
Now they finally understood why Tony had brought this man here at such a critical moment.
If they could truly gain his help, it would be a massive advantage.
Especially now that Captain America was imprisoned and Thor was gone from the Ultimate Team.
And Tony had emphasized Zhou Cheng's identity:
A mercenary.
Which meant getting his help wasn't difficult at all.
Nick Fury immediately understood what to do.
"Zhou, let's talk."
Nick Fury walked over seriously.
"Sure."
Zhou Cheng calmly spread his hands.
"You name your request, I set the price, you pay. No bargaining. Simple as that."
"That's fair."
Nick Fury nodded and got straight to the point.
"I need you to deal with their superhuman strike team."
Swipe!
As he spoke, Fury took out a tablet and displayed several profiles before everyone.
This was thanks to Tony's earlier warning, which had prompted Fury to investigate the Liberators ahead of time.
Although they hadn't uncovered much, SHIELD had still gathered some fragmented intelligence.
This superhuman squad roster was one of the key findings.
Originally, Fury had intended to continue digging deeper.
But before they could act further, the Liberators launched a full-scale assault.
Completely catching everyone off guard.
"This is Colonel Al-Rahman. He's a super soldier similar to Captain America and specializes in close combat."
"And by the way, he's also their commander."
"This one is Swarm. He can control insects. The more bugs he summons, the stronger he becomes."
"This is Multiple Man. He can split himself into dozens of copies. Fighting him means fighting an entire crowd."
"And this monster here is called Abomination. As you can see, he's an extremely fanatical Hulk admirer."
"The most troublesome one is him."
Finally, Fury displayed the profile of a black man.
"He somehow obtained Thor's equipment—the belt, the hammer, everything."
The expressions of the Ultimate Team darkened.
What did that mean?
This man essentially possessed Thor's power.
The enemy now had their own "God of Thunder."
Everyone in the Ultimate Team knew exactly how terrifying Thor was.
And this didn't even include Crimson Mech and Hurricane, whom Zhou Cheng had already eliminated.
Otherwise, they would be even more horrified.
"You help me deal with them. One hundred million dollars per target."
Nick Fury began negotiating.
"I already said it."
Zhou Cheng smiled.
"I name the price, not you."
"Ten billion per person. If you agree, I'll immediately clean them up. Otherwise, forget it."
Ten billion?!
This guy was really shamelessly demanding a fortune.
He increased the price tenfold in one breath.
Even Fury's mouth twitched slightly.
But after thinking quickly, Fury added another condition.
"I want them captured alive."
Fury stared at Zhou Cheng.
If SHIELD could recruit these super soldiers afterward, then the deal would absolutely be worth it.
After all, just recreating one Captain America had cost the government an astronomical amount of money.
And not only America—every nation in the world treated super-soldier research as a bottomless pit.
Tens of billions?
That was pocket change by comparison.
Of course Zhou Cheng understood Fury's intentions.
But he didn't care.
To him, the Liberators' superhuman soldiers were trash anyway.
Killing or capturing them alive made little difference.
"Deal."
Zhou Cheng agreed immediately.
Normally, he required advance payment before taking action.
But the situation was special now.
The entire city had collapsed into chaos. SHIELD itself had already fallen.
Naturally, Zhou Cheng wouldn't nitpick over procedure.
Besides, nobody dared cheat him out of payment.
And he believed Nick Fury was smart enough not to try something so stupid.
"Wait for my good news."
After saying that, Zhou Cheng released his Observation Haki.
In an instant, he located the Liberators' superhuman squad.
Whoosh!
With a thought, he soared into the sky and vanished.
"Nick, are you really going to trust this guy?"
Hawkeye stared toward the direction Zhou Cheng had flown.
"It doesn't matter. Ours is purely a business relationship."
Fury replied calmly.
The others all agreed.
With strength like his, having him charge in first brought no downside.
Even if he failed, they lost nothing.
And judging from his displayed power, they actually had considerable hope.
"Things are starting to get interesting, Pietro."
Wanda spoke softly, eyes gleaming.
"Tony, can you project the battlefield footage?"
Fury asked Ultimate Tony.
"Who do you think I am?"
"Stark Industries has satellites all over the sky."
"And now they're finally useful."
Tony quickly operated the controls.
Swipe!
A live feed appeared before everyone.
In the footage, Zhou Cheng streaked across the sky at incredible speed.
He passed over countless skyscrapers before landing heavily in an open area.
"Everyone, Hurricane's been taken down too."
A burly man in a red combat suit holding a crimson staff spoke grimly.
It was none other than Colonel Al-Rahman.
Beside him stood Swarm, Multiple Man, Abomination, and Black Thor.
"We seem to have encountered a troublesome opponent."
Multiple Man's expression darkened.
The others looked equally serious.
Their superhuman strike team had been created specifically to counter the Ultimate Team.
Yet before even meeting them, two of their own had already been killed.
"Colonel, you shouldn't have sent those two idiots."
Abomination stepped forward arrogantly.
"Leave him to me. I'll crush him with one punch."
After gaining immense power, Abomination had become extremely swollen with confidence.
He no longer even regarded Hulk as an equal.
Whoosh!
Before he even finished speaking, a figure descended from the sky and landed before them.
Everyone was startled.
"It's you!"
Colonel Al-Rahman's pupils contracted.
The others reacted the same way.
They had already seen the battlefield footage and recognized Zhou Cheng instantly.
They had just been discussing how to deal with him.
Yet he came to them first!
How did he even find them?
"Good. You delivered yourself right to us."
Abomination sneered.
Boom!
He leaped over ten meters into the air and charged at Zhou Cheng like a meteor.
"Let me see how strong you really are!"
Zhou Cheng didn't even glance at him.
He simply waved one hand casually.
Boom!!!
Abomination's body suddenly shook violently midair.
As though struck by an invisible force, he crashed straight down into the ground.
A massive crater formed beneath him.
He lay there motionless.
Of course, he wasn't dead.
Zhou Cheng had promised Fury to keep them alive.
Abomination had merely been knocked unconscious.
"What?!"
"How is that possible?!"
Everyone cried out in shock.
Colonel Al-Rahman and the others nearly had their eyes pop out.
What kind of joke was this?!
One casual palm strike had defeated Abomination?
Impossible!
Earlier reports claimed Zhou Cheng had destroyed Crimson Mech the same way.
Nobody had believed it.
But now it was undeniable.
What kind of monster was this guy?
"Move aside!"
A loud roar erupted.
Crackling lightning exploded through the air.
Black Thor had recovered first and launched his attack.
He flew into the sky, gripping his hammer as thunder surged around him.
Then he smashed downward toward Zhou Cheng.
Zhou Cheng simply waved his hand again.
Bang!
Black Thor was instantly blasted from the sky just like Abomination.
He slammed into the ground and lost consciousness.
Impossible!
Even Thor's power was useless?!
Everyone's jaws dropped.
Abomination and Black Thor were their two strongest fighters.
Yet before Zhou Cheng, they were weaker than children.
"This guy is ridiculous…"
Not only Al-Rahman's side, but even the Ultimate Team watching remotely were dumbfounded.
Seeing a live battle was far more shocking than watching recorded footage.
Zhou Cheng had completely overwhelmed them.
This man was terrifying.
"He's too powerful!"
"Attack together!"
Al-Rahman recovered quickly and immediately gave the order.
He charged first while commanding the others to attack simultaneously.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Multiple Man activated his ability, instantly splitting into dozens of copies that crowded the battlefield.
Swarm summoned a massive cloud of insects from nowhere.
Zhou Cheng responded the same way as before.
He lightly waved his hand downward.
Boom!!!
The earth trembled violently.
In an instant, Al-Rahman, Swarm, Multiple Man—all of them were smashed to the ground by invisible force.
They completely lost the ability to fight.
Like dead dogs sprawled across the earth.
As for Multiple Man's clones?
All dozens of them exploded into bloody pulp instantly.
Only the original body remained alive.
Swarm's insects were blasted away by the shockwave long ago.
In the end, Zhou Cheng resolved everything with one casual gesture.
Absolute dominance.
"T-That's it?"
Quicksilver stared wide-eyed, barely able to speak.
Even Wanda couldn't stay calm.
The other Ultimate Team members were equally stunned.
The mercenary Tony had found was absurdly powerful.
Still—
No matter what, this was good news.
He had eliminated one of their greatest threats.
Everyone in the Ultimate Team felt greatly relieved.
Without those super soldiers, the remaining battle would be much easier.
"Loki still hasn't appeared."
"There are still flying carriers in the sky, plus Hank's Ultron army."
"And all those combat-suit soldiers too."
"This chaos probably won't end anytime soon."
Meanwhile, Zhou Cheng began thinking.
Although the comic's scenes were brief, judging from the current situation, the battle clearly wouldn't end quickly.
"Forget it."
"I'll go visit the Naruto world."
He made the decision naturally.
That had been his original plan anyway, but business had interrupted him.
Now that the job was done, there was no reason to hesitate.
As for payment, he could collect it from Fury later.
He didn't believe Fury would dare refuse.
After deciding, Zhou Cheng contacted Fury and handed over custody of Al-Rahman's group.
Then he immediately activated dimensional travel.
Whoosh!
The next moment, Zhou Cheng appeared outside a lush forest.
After releasing Observation Haki, he instantly confirmed his location.
The Land of Fire.
And Konoha was only about ten kilometers away.
Since he was already at Konoha's doorstep, why not visit again?
Whoosh!
He flew into the sky and arrived outside Konoha moments later.
The barrier surrounding the village might as well not have existed.
Using spatial movement, Zhou Cheng bypassed it effortlessly and appeared silently inside an empty corner of the village.
"I should lower my presence a bit."
Remembering how quickly he had attracted attention during his previous visit, Zhou Cheng decided to be more cautious.
He activated a new ability he had recently obtained:
Hormone manipulation.
Specifically, he lowered his own "presence."
People would subconsciously ignore him, similar to the Aburame clan.
The power came from Minority Reporters and was described as controlling hormones.
But in practice, it was far more broken than that.
Simply put, he could manipulate how much attention people paid to him.
He could become either completely unnoticed or overwhelmingly eye-catching.
Lowering his presence caused people to instinctively overlook him.
At its peak, it was practically invisibility—even face-to-face, people wouldn't notice him.
Honestly, the ability was somewhat useless for Zhou Cheng.
But in this situation, it was perfect.
After reducing his presence, Zhou Cheng casually wandered through Konoha.
Soon, however, he heard something shocking.
"How is that possible? Wasn't the Fourth Hokage's child dead?"
"That fox demon is actually the Hokage's son?!"
"You're telling me Naruto is Minato's bloodline?"
Everywhere he went, people discussed the same topic.
Zhou Cheng was genuinely surprised.
The last time he came, Naruto hadn't even graduated yet.
So how had his identity been exposed already?
Without hesitation, Zhou Cheng recorded his thoughts in his diary.
-----------------------
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