Sky Hunter

United States, New York.

Unlike Japan, where night had only just fallen, New York had merely passed through another night due to the reversed time difference.

After General Chester took off his uniform and changed into pajamas, he and his wife had finally fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning. Yet by dawn, a communications officer was knocking on the door and waking them up.

"What is it? Why the rush?" General Chester asked in surprise. Knowing it had to be an urgent report, he could only throw an officer’s jacket over his pajamas.

The moment he opened the door, the communications officer hurriedly reported, "Sir! Late last night, Miss Lucy Jane, who was under the protection of the elite squad on Harlem Street, disappeared!"

"What did you say?!" Chester frowned deeply and suppressed his anger as he asked, "What were the armed troops stationed around Harlem Street twenty-four hours a day doing? And why am I only being informed this morning about something that happened last night?"

The communications officer answered somewhat awkwardly, "There were twenty-five armed soldiers stationed on Harlem Street. All of them were knocked unconscious last night. It was only discovered this morning."

"All of them were knocked unconscious? Could some foreign power or organization have infiltrated us?"

General Chester muttered to himself. The communications officer continued, "According to the soldiers who woke up, the person who knocked them out should have been alone. Um… he was extremely formidable…"

"Rubbish! Anyone who can silently take down an armed unit by himself is obviously formidable!" Chester snorted. The first person he thought of was Kyle. Or rather, only Kyle possessed that kind of strength.

Could that man have turned back midway instead of going to Japan?

General Chester asked calmly, "What about the transport fighter carrying Major General Kyle?"

"The flight is proceeding normally. Based on the schedule, it should be nearing Tokyo, Japan, by now," the communications officer replied quickly, sending General Chester into deep thought once more.

The communications officer asked, "Sir, should we increase our manpower and search all of New York for Miss Lucy Jane?"

"The guards were only knocked unconscious, not killed. Major General Kyle must have arranged for someone to do it." After thinking for a moment, General Chester sighed helplessly. "Notify the original armed unit stationed on Harlem Street and have them search discreetly. No matter what, she disappeared under our protection. If Major General Kyle returns…"

He stopped abruptly and said no more. That man had gone to Tokyo, Japan, alone. Could he even return?

At that moment, six thousand meters above the border region of Tokyo, Japan.

Within thick thunderclouds, two Japanese single-seat fighters fled for their lives! Behind them, illuminated by thunderbolts, another fighter spiraled down with its indicator lights dark.

Damn it! As ace pilots of the Japanese Air Force, it was the first time in their lives that they had encountered such a monstrous enemy—

Without relying on any weapon, he had destroyed five high-performance single-seat fighters in succession with his own strength, pursuing them from above ten thousand meters all the way down into thunderclouds at six thousand meters.

And at this very moment, the pursuit continued!

"That is an absolute monster! A humanoid demon!"

"Accelerate! Get out of this area!"

The two remaining pilots were panicked and at a loss. They could only pour on the fuel and push their fighters faster, fleeing through the black clouds like headless flies.

About a hundred meters behind them, Kyle swiftly glided out beneath the night sky. The last two fighters in his sight were speeding farther and farther away, about to escape the limit of his vision.

Trying to run? It won’t be that easy!

Expressionless, he drew a blue card from Card Space and flicked it forward between two fingers. The card immediately summoned a massive creature with blue feathers and an eagle’s head in the vast open sky.

Blue Eagle—the true ruler of the skies!

Kyle landed on Blue Eagle’s flapping back, gripping several feathers as hard as steel with his left hand. Before he could give an order, Blue Eagle seemed to sense his intent. It screeched and beat its enormous wings as it charged forward.

With a simple beat-and-dash, Blue Eagle reached supersonic speed from the start. The howling gale ahead cut like blades, forcing Kyle into the fully covered state of the Venom Suit.

But the results were equally obvious. Within ten seconds, the two fighters rapidly reappeared in Kyle’s sight, growing larger and larger.

Gripping the feathers with his left hand, Kyle stood steadily on Blue Eagle’s back. With his free hand, he drew the Sodium-Carbon Steel Sword that had remained unused on his back, his Vibranium Bracer-covered palm tightly gripping its hilt.

His upper body leaned back, and his right arm drew into a bow as he assumed the posture of throwing a javelin.

Whoosh!

The next instant, the single-handed sword flew out on a hurricane, instantly crossing twenty meters and striking the fuel tank at the rear of one fighter. The Sodium-Carbon Steel Sword pierced through the fuselage, causing fuel to spill from within along the blade.

Kyle stomped off Blue Eagle’s back and leaped into the air. While airborne, he followed with an Aerial Sprint, turning into a pitch-black bullet as he shot toward the leaking underside of the fighter.

Dark Claws slashed upward. Sparks immediately burst from the steel hull, igniting the leaking fuel and setting off a fiery explosion.

Boom!

The fighter broke apart and fell. Kyle was blasted away by the close-range explosion, but Venom reacted sharply, shooting out a black strand that wrapped around the Sodium-Carbon Steel Sword flying away with him and reeled it back in.

Blue Eagle screeched as it swept past the lower edge of the explosion, catching Kyle as he was thrown by the blast.

Kyle grabbed the feathers again and steadied himself. Even with his inhumanly powerful physique, the explosion had still burned away the Venom Suit’s protection on his left hand, along with the skin of his arm, leaving it a bloody mess.

Yet his skin healed completely at a rate visible to the naked eye, while Venom kept pace and repaired the damaged parts of the suit.

This was Kyle’s true terror. His already monstrous Super Soldier physique, coupled with his regenerative ability, gave him an overbearing freedom in battle. He could unleash Superman-like attacks at full strength without regard for his own injuries.

Calling him a "monster" was no exaggeration.

"There’s one left."

Kyle was cold and merciless. Fully covered by the Venom Suit, he looked like a God of Slaughter, with no intention of sparing the enemy troops who had attacked him tonight.

Next, Blue Eagle carried him after the last fighter once more. In less than ten seconds, the now-unmanned fighter plunged downward and crashed.

Five minutes later.

A thousand meters above Tokyo, Japan, Blue Eagle hovered with gentle beats of its wings. Kyle sat on its back, breathing faintly, while his left hand still held a Japanese Army pilot.

The pilot was not dead yet. His eyes rolled white as he drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness, white foam spilling from his mouth while he muttered indistinctly in Japanese, "Monster…"

Kyle had captured the pilot from the final fighter, intending to interrogate him about Japanese military intelligence. He had not expected the man to be so useless, scared half to death before Kyle had even done anything.

"Then there’s no point in keeping you."

Kyle shook his head and was about to throw the pilot away when Venom sent him a thought. Immediately afterward, black fluid extended from the suit and formed a tentacle, its tip darting swiftly toward the back of the man’s head.

Under Kyle’s grave gaze, the pilot’s life signs gradually faded, while Venom transmitted a string of fragmented information back into his mind—all detailed intelligence concerning Japan’s air force.