The Encirclement Begins

New York’s underground pipelines were intricately interconnected. The waste produced by the bustling city above was all processed through the vast network below.

And within this area, it was as if a space spanning more than a dozen square meters had been forcibly carved out from between those pipes.

The blond youth wore a gloomy expression as he leaned against the wall farthest from the sewage.

The blue-haired woman stood beside the sewage instead. Wind continuously flowed out through the opening, keeping the stench from becoming completely unbearable.

She tilted her ear, seemingly listening to the sounds carried by the wind.

Between the two of them, white-haired Yun Wujiu kept gasping for breath. The blackness in his eyes was gradually fading, while quite a bit of blood still stained beneath his nose. He was clearly still under the effects of the Meme Curse.

"Yun Wujiu, if you don’t want to die, find a way to control yourself. Next time, I won’t give you any more time…"

Jin looked down on Yun Wujiu. In his eyes, the only reason this man had become Title-level was probably because the Snow Witch had given him enough abilities and items due to personal feelings.

Now, the Snow Witch was dead. Solomon would most likely leave the gathering after this mission world ended and pursue his so-called true path of magic.

And he would become the true master of the Far East Magic Society.

Yun Wujiu clenched his fists. Freezing Qi spread outward, and ice froze both sides of his face. He was using this method to keep his emotions from becoming too intense.

He had known this world was dangerous, but Qinghuan had actually been killed?!

Unlike this temporary team, which barely exchanged any information, the deaths of Snow Witch Fu Qinghuan and Xinfeng had been directly announced through the gathering panel.

The shock had caused Yun Wujiu to enter the cursed state once more. He had nearly lost his mind, transformed into a monster, and been executed by Jin.

In fact, if Jifeng had not stopped him, Jin would likely have killed the out-of-control Yun Wujiu outright.

"There’s something wrong with this."

Jifeng was a blue-haired woman. She and Xinfeng were twin siblings, yet even in the face of her brother’s death, she remained calm.

That was what Jin valued about her. He acknowledged Jifeng’s talent.

Jifeng explained as she looked toward Jin.

"Even if Solomon was the one who acted, it was too early."

"Theoretically, knowing that Mercenary Tao had entered the game and that this world still had those powerful heroes, Solomon’s best option should have been to guide the battle toward chaos…"

Jin suddenly raised his head. Jifeng reacted even sooner, clenching one hand in the air. A powerful cyclone tore through the underground pipes, dragging over a spinning homeless man whose limbs had already been broken by the wind.

Jifeng threw him down, and Yun Wujiu immediately froze the homeless man with Freezing Qi, leaving only his head able to move.

Yet the homeless man twisted his neck and carefully surveyed his surroundings, as though he had no life in him at all.

"Jin… I found you~"

Tree Herder’s voice came from the homeless man’s mouth.

The next moment, with a bang, a spark exploded from the homeless man’s chest. Amid flying blood and flesh, something resembling a tree stump shot out of his body.

That was the "wedge" Tree Herder used to control ordinary people. Tree Herder possessed extremely high Mental Power and could easily seize control of ordinary people’s minds, but to precisely control them and conduct searches, he still needed to turn them into puppets in this manner.

Hearing Tree Herder’s voice, Jin laughed in fury.

"You traitor, do you think you can beat me just because you’ve latched onto Mercenary Tao?"

Before Tree Herder could reply, the wedge had already been burned to ash.

Then, just as Jifeng was about to speak, Jin cut her off.

"I know, I know!"

"Tree Herder and Mercenary Tao have most likely joined the Avengers’ side. They’re planning to use us to earn a wave of reputation…"

Jin floated into the air and rapidly flew out through the underground passage. Though arrogant, he had no desire to encounter a Martial Artist like Mercenary Tao in such cramped terrain.

To fight someone like that, the conditions had to be extremely favorable to him.

Jifeng also rose into the air on a cyclone. Soon, through what she sensed in the atmosphere, she realized that groups resembling homeless people had begun appearing at every entrance to the underground sewers.

Homeless people were extremely common in America. Even in New York, these groups of people without homes could be found everywhere. They had practically become a cultural symbol.

So Jifeng had not paid them much attention at first. But now, she realized that Tree Herder had likely used this group to find their hiding place. At this moment, members of the Avengers, and perhaps even Mercenary Tao himself, were most likely already closing in.

Yun Wujiu walked at the back. He turned the sewage into a layer of ice and glided across it, his expression dark as he seemed lost in thought.

Jin did not care about such weaklings. Firelight faintly radiated from his body, and sparks scattered from his surface, spreading throughout New York’s underground passages.

The Avengers of this point in the timeline were not powerful at all. If not for Mercenary Tao, he might even have deliberately remained here, waiting for Iron Man and the others to appear so he could hunt down a few of them.

Killing Avengers members would produce Singularities rated above their own levels. Moreover, unlike those fragile Derivative Worlds, the Marvel World did not possess a powerful Planet’s Will, so killing protagonists would not directly draw the Planet’s Will’s attention.

As Jin’s thoughts shifted, he suddenly stopped in midair and no longer advanced.

A dark, evil magical power appeared before him.

"Jin, someone is rapidly approaching from behind. It should be Iron Man or War Machine."

"A strong energy signature has also appeared at the southeast tunnel entrance… It’s Wanda!"

"There’s one on the west side too…"

Boom!

Flames erupted from a great distance away. Bright yellow fire surged with intense heat, seemingly igniting the methane produced in the sewage and triggering a violent secondary explosion.

In an instant, the shockwave swept through the entire underground passage. All of Manhattan jolted violently as flames burst from every corner of its busiest district.

Everyone nearby was set ablaze. The homeless people inside the underground passages were burned to nothing in an instant.

Captain America stood near a sewer entrance. The massive explosion and flames startled him, and he instinctively raised his shield before him. The blast sent his entire body flying.

Branches rose from the concrete beneath Tree Herder’s feet and caught Captain America. Only then did he say unhurriedly,

"Captain, you can go in now…"

His voice was transmitted through the microphone to everyone participating in the operation. Black Widow, hiding somewhere in the neighborhood, also shook her head.

This group had mysterious origins, but they truly had some skill.

If the other side had not specifically warned her, that blast would have either killed her or seriously injured her.

Tree Herder followed Captain America down into the passage. The underground was filled with the stench of charred flesh, while the flash fire had raised the temperature to terrifying levels and greatly reduced the oxygen content.

Captain America looked at the scorched corpses beneath his feet and instinctively frowned.

"Do the people in your organization never consider the lives of civilians?"

Tree Herder did not slow his pace. There was a massive gap in compatibility between his abilities and Jin’s. In a one-on-one fight, he would never choose Jin as an enemy. But with so many people surrounding and killing him today, Jin had to be the priority target.

"Civilians… sometimes we do."

Tree Herder had no desire to waste too much thought arguing about such matters with Plot Characters. The only time they cared about civilian lives was probably when those lives became conditions for completing milestones.

If a milestone required them to kill a certain number of people, they would be cruel to civilians;

If a milestone required them to save a certain number of people, they would be merciful to civilians;

The logic of reincarnators was that simple.

Suddenly, Tree Herder’s expression changed. A scarlet sword light swept fiercely toward them from ahead. Captain America grabbed his shield, stepped forward several paces, and blocked it in front of Tree Herder.

With a boom, the residual force from the sword light sent him flying, and the ground began to collapse.

Tree Herder plunged both hands into the ground. Massive roots began emerging from below as he did everything he could to support the underground passage.

"Captain, tell Wanda to hurry up. Miss Artoria’s attack is too terrifying. If she keeps fighting Jin, I won’t be able to hold this up either!"

Boom!

Another terrifying eruption of flames burst from the ground, followed immediately by sweeping sword radiance.

Two classes whose destructive power was maxed out among all enhancement types—a swordsman and a mage specializing in fire spells—unleashed their destruction without restraint in the cramped underground world.

The Avengers stationed throughout the area were forced out of the passage. Iron Man, blackened all over, returned to the surface and looked impatiently at the black-haired man who was completely spotless.

"Can’t you just go down there and deal with that guy yourself?"

Bai Cangshu merely watched the white feathers drifting down through the air and shook his head.

"As part of our agreement, that guy’s life must be left to that person."

"Mr. Tony, perhaps you don’t know this, but I respect agreements very much."

While everyone’s attention was drawn to the battle underground, Solomon walked through various parts of New York’s streets. He continuously inscribed patterns in every corner, laying the groundwork for his final plan.

A hunter always needed suitable decisions made in the moment.

If one of the prey was an overly powerful ferocious beast, then the first thing to try was turning that ferocious beast into a hunter as well;

Rather than fighting the other side until both were badly wounded and letting the weak escape alive, it was better to join the ferocious beast and have each of them devour their own targets.

As Solomon drew runes, he kept track of his position, doing his best to prevent his abilities from affecting Jin too early and making that fool notice reality.

And besides…

The scenes reflected in Solomon’s Heterochromatic Eyes kept changing. Several powerful aliens clad in black robes would soon appear in Manhattan as well.

Three of Thanos’s Black Order had arrived. This was another variable. If used well, he might even have a chance to deal with Mercenary Tao too…

Solomon considered Mercenary Tao’s condition when he had observed him through his familiar. Perhaps Mercenary Tao’s current strength was not actually that great?

A strangely shaped dagger appeared in his hand. Contracts were not absolutely impossible to break…