Old Hawkeye Barton

Zhang Ye did not have to wait long, or perhaps his luck was simply quite good.

That afternoon, Old Hawkeye drove to Tonyia’s Auto Repair Shop.

At first glance, Zhang Ye was struck by Old Hawkeye’s appearance. He was an elderly man with long hair and a long beard. Though advanced in years, his muscles remained well-defined, and his entire frame was exceptionally burly.

"Don’t tell me my useless ex-husband actually brought over the child support." Tonia’s tone was calm, neither happy nor sad. It was clear that she no longer had any feelings for the man before her.

"Has the Spider-Sense you inherited from your father finally awakened?" Old Barton teased.

"No. I could smell the booze on you from a mile away." Tonia put down her work, while Ultron Eight beside her could not help adding, "My scans show that his wallet is even flatter than expected."

But Old Barton did not respond to Ultron Eight. Or rather, he directly ignored the robot.

He then walked up to his ex-wife and placed a bundle of cash in Tonia’s hands. "I brought the money I owed before, but you know, work hasn’t been going too well."

From his expression, Tonia could sense his deep guilt, as well as the sorrow he had kept buried in his heart.

Perhaps because of that, Tonia did not continue mocking him. Without a word, she turned around, placed the money in a drawer, and locked it away. There were plenty of gangsters and dealers around here, so it was necessary not to flaunt one’s wealth.

After a pause, Tonia finally spoke. "You didn’t come all this way just to deliver money. Seriously, what exactly are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see my daughter, while I…"

Old Barton opened his mouth, but in the end, he could not say anything.

After all, as the Hawkeye of old, as the sharpshooter who never missed a shot, it was difficult for Old Barton to admit that glaucoma would soon turn him blind.

Besides, he did not want his ex-wife and daughter to worry.

"I’m guessing you’ve gotten yourself into trouble again?" Tonia sighed, then looked up. "Before you see Ashley, you should meet someone else. He claims to be your friend and specifically came here to wait for you. I had him wait upstairs."

"My friend?" Old Barton froze for a moment, but he quickly became alert. The guilt in his eyes was instantly replaced by deep hostility.

In this miserable world, he did not have many friends. But no matter who they were, none of them should have known about this place or his connection to it.

So compared to an "old friend," Barton seemed more willing to believe the other person was an "old enemy."

"Did he say what his name was?" Old Barton took out a bow and arrows from his shoulder bag.

"I didn’t get the chance to ask." Tonia’s expression darkened at the sight. "But I suggest that if you’re going to fight, take it outside. The little money you gave me won’t be enough to cover the repairs here."

"Don’t worry, ma’am. We won’t fight." At that moment, Zhang Ye slowly walked down the stairs.

Zhang Ye had noticed Hawkeye the moment he entered. But since the man was discussing family matters with his ex-wife, Zhang Ye could not exactly interrupt, so he had waited for an opening.

Furthermore, Hawkeye was getting old and was not in the best mental state. If he got startled and caused some misunderstanding, that would be troublesome.

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhang Ye’s voice, Old Barton immediately drew his bow and aimed at Zhang Ye’s head.

"Who are you? Kid, I don’t remember having an ‘old friend’ like you."

"Calm down, Barton. I just came to talk." Zhang Ye raised both hands expressionlessly.

"Talk about what?"

Hawkeye did not relax in the slightest. His eyes narrowed slightly, glinting with danger. At that moment, he was like a wounded beast—any slight provocation would draw a vicious counterattack.

"How about we talk about that battle back then, where the criminals won a total victory?"

Before Zhang Ye could finish, a flying arrow cut off his next words.

"I knew you were no good!"

Though old, Hawkeye was still vigorous. Drawing his bow and firing an arrow, his movements were incomparably smooth. That fluid sequence nearly made people forget that he was already an old man past fifty.

I knew this old guy had mental issues.

Zhang Ye raised his umbrella and blocked the incoming arrows one after another, silently complaining to himself.

Old Barton had probably taken him for the descendant of some villain, someone seeking out the surviving heroes from back then to slaughter them and restore his ancestors’ glory, all to show off his extraordinary strength.

After all, such things were not rare in the wasteland. Kraven the Hunter’s descendants often did that; sometimes, they even chose supervillains as prey.

Was this some kind of "family ritual" of theirs?

While Zhang Ye was thinking, Hawkeye had already closed in. After realizing that his arrows were useless against the strange umbrella, Barton gave up shooting and switched to close combat.

Sure enough, I can’t get distracted in a fight.

Zhang Ye abruptly drew the Ink Sword from the umbrella’s handle and blocked the alloy composite bow Hawkeye swung at him. The bow appeared to be specially made. If an ordinary person got hit by that thing, several ribs would probably break instantly.

"I told you, don’t fight in here!" Tonia shouted angrily from not far away.

But even that could not stop Hawkeye’s nearly crazed assault. The old man had already found his rhythm.

After barely blocking several waves of Old Barton’s attacks, Zhang Ye gave up on continuing the close-quarters fight. After all, he had never learned any fighting techniques. Without a wizard’s powerful mental strength and reflexes, he would not have been able to withstand Hawkeye’s bow-fighting techniques at all.

It was true that Hawkeye was an archer among the Avengers, but anyone who truly treated him as a long-range fighter would be gravely mistaken. Besides Hawkeye, Barton had another codename: Ronin.

Aside from his peerless archery, Hawkeye’s close-combat skills were not to be underestimated. He was an expert trained by the antiheroic swordsmanship master known as the Swordsman.

"That’s enough, Barton. Stop. I didn’t come here to fight you."

Zhang Ye narrowly dodged Hawkeye’s attack again, retreating several steps to create some distance before speaking calmly.

"Then you’d better lie down first!"

But Hawkeye had no intention of stopping. He held his bow in one hand and gripped a sharp arrow in the other as he lunged viciously at Zhang Ye once more.

Seeing this, Zhang Ye simply extended a hand.

"I wasn’t asking."

Without the aid of any incantation, the bow and arrow in Old Barton’s hands abruptly transformed into iron ropes. They writhed rapidly, as if they had come alive. By the time Barton realized what was happening, it was already too late.

Suspended in midair, he could not make any effective move at all. He was directly bound by the ropes transformed from his own weapon, with the other end wrapped around a ceiling beam, leaving his entire body hanging in the air.