The handling of the Flamestrider was excellent. Tony's attention to detail was nearly obsessive; the damping of the steering was just right, the acceleration pushed back with the smoothness of ocean waves, and the hover posture in the air was so stable that he didn't need to exert any extra effort.
Mavuika began to understand why Tony was so fanatical about his armor.
It wasn't just a tool for pursuing power; it was a response of humanity to the sky.
—You possess wings? Fine, then I will build a pair of wings faster than yours.
—You can fly across the stars? Alright, then I will build a ship that can reach the stars.
Never looking up, never admitting defeat.
As the Flamestrider entered the airspace of New York City, the skyline of Manhattan loomed in the night.
Mavuika lowered his altitude and speed, preparing to enter the city from the west side to return to his apartment on the Upper West Side.
Then he saw a cloud of thick smoke, located in the east of Midtown Manhattan, near Lexington Avenue.
It wasn't an ordinary fire.
The edges of the smoke were tinged with an unnatural gray-black, carrying fine, flickering sparks.
And there were sounds coming from further away.
Not traffic noise, not construction sounds.
But screaming.
The panicked cries of a crowd.
Sirens, gunfire, and a certain heavy, continuous pounding—like the footsteps of a giant, like the dull thuds of a battering ram hitting concrete.
Mavuika gripped the handlebars, and the Flamestrider turned rapidly, speeding toward that direction.
Thirty seconds later, he saw it.
At the intersection of Lexington Avenue and East 42nd Street, the entire block was engulfed in flames and smoke.
Countless cars were overturned in the middle of the road, their windows shattered, bodies dented and deformed, some still Burning.
Fire hydrants had been knocked over, sending high-pressure jets of water shooting into the sky, only to fall powerlessly onto the devastated street.
Storefront windows were all smashed, a thick layer of glass shards covering the ground, reflecting blinding light in the flames.
The crowd was fleeing in all directions.
Some stumbled forward holding children, some fell to the ground only to be helped up by strangers, some hid behind overturned cars, others curled up in corners, heads in their hands, afraid to look at the sky.
A little girl stood in the middle of the road, about five or six years old, wearing a pink hoodie, her face full of tears, looking around blankly amidst the screaming and flames, as if searching for someone.
Then he saw a monster.
It stood in the center of the block, about four or five meters tall, its earthy-yellow muscles piled up like layers of rock.
That was not a physique a human should possess; its shoulders were over two meters wide, its arms thick to the point of deformity, every inch of skin bulging with explosive power.
It grabbed a car parked on the side of the road as easily as an adult grabbing a toy car.
Then it threw that car away.
The car tumbled through the air, flew across an entire block, and smashed into the exterior wall of an apartment building.
The wall collapsed.
Bricks and stones fell like rain, hitting the street, hitting the roofs of cars where survivors were hiding, landing less than three meters away from the little girl.
The little girl screamed and crouched down, covering her ears with her hands.
Mavuika's eyes narrowed.
The roar of a helicopter came from the distance.
A black-painted military helicopter appeared from between the buildings, its side door open, a heavy machine gun aimed directly at the monster on the ground.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!!!
The ammunition belt danced in the air, shell casings fell like rain, and the roar of the machine gun drowned out the cries of the entire street.
Bullets hit the monster, but it didn't even dodge.
Those 7.62mm bullets struck its skin like hitting the hardest rock... no, harder than rock.
The bullet heads deformed and shattered the moment they touched the skin, like fragile glass beads hitting an anvil.
There wasn't even a scratch on the monster's skin.
It raised its head and looked at the helicopter.
There was no fear in those eyes, no pain, only pure, provoked excitement.
It bent down and broke off a huge chunk of concrete from the ground—it was something it had ripped off a building just moments ago, the size of a car.
Then, like a catapult, it threw the giant chunk of concrete at the helicopter.
"Pull up! Pull up—!" the helicopter pilot's voice came through the loudspeaker, mixed with explosions and screams, desperate and sharp.
The concrete block grazed the fuselage, narrowly avoiding it.
Boom—!!!
At this moment, a deep green shadow launched itself down from the top of a distant skyscraper like a falling meteorite, landing precisely between the monster and the falling helicopter.
The green giant landed, then turned around to face the earthy-yellow monster.
That was another giant.
Similar in height to the yellow monster, with equally explosive muscle lines, but without the hideous bone spurs of the yellow giant.
Its skin was a deep emerald green, like the color of an ancient forest.
He was shirtless, wearing severely damaged khaki pants, barefoot, standing on the street covered in glass shards.
When the yellow monster saw him, a light of near-ecstasy erupted in those violent eyes.
"Hulk—!"
It roared, the sound like sandpaper rubbing against steel.
"You finally showed up!!!"
The green giant did not respond.
He just stood there silently, his chest heaving violently, fists clenched, as if suppressing something, or perhaps gathering strength.
The two giants stood in a standoff on the streets of Manhattan, surrounded by Burning vehicles, collapsed buildings, and crowds fleeing in all directions.
Then Abomination made the first move.
It didn't probe, didn't warm up, didn't have that caution warriors usually have before a duel.
It lunged directly at Hulk, like a Beast that hadn't eaten in three days pouncing on its prey.
Its fist smashed toward Hulk's face with a scream that tore through the air.
Hulk raised his arm to block.
Bang—!
The sound wasn't the dull thud of a fist hitting flesh; it was the roar of two pieces of steel colliding at high speed.
The air was compressed into a visible Impact, spreading outward from the two of them!
The storefront windows on both sides of the street, those that hadn't shattered yet, exploded in unison from this Impact!
Cars parked on the side of the road were overturned, as if casually swiped by a giant's palm.
Hulk blocked the punch, but his footsteps retreated.
The concrete road shattered under his feet, leaving two deep furrows; the angle of his knees showed he was enduring power far beyond the norm.
Abomination grinned.
Its second punch followed immediately, then the third, the fourth—
Each punch was heavier than the last, each faster than the last.
It used no technique, only pure, primitive, crushing power!
Hulk attempted to counterattack.
His right fist smashed toward Abomination's side ribs, a blow with enough power to punch through tank armor!
Abomination didn't dodge or evade.
It took the punch head-on, its body only swaying slightly, and then—
It grabbed Hulk's arm and swung him around like a rag doll, smashing him into a fire hydrant on the side of the street.
Boom—!!!
The fire hydrant was smashed into pieces, and a high-pressure jet of water shot into the sky.