Chapter 46: The Weak Deserve Only Death!

After addressing Samira, Shield finally turned his gaze to Luca in the front passenger seat, his tone carrying a trace of hesitation as he spoke.

"Master Luca... I still advise against you joining us in this operation. I believe you can provide us with immense assistance by staying here and assisting Wrench with technical support."

Under normal circumstances for the squad's operations, Shield would never waste so much breath on his teammates, let alone use such a consultative tone. However, Luca's status was different after all, and since Shield hadn't fully figured out this young master's temperament yet, he naturally had to speak a bit more cautiously.

Yet, regarding this suggestion, Luca himself held a completely different view.

Although Kingpin was nominally just a "fairly competent" crime lord, he was still a well-known villain in the Marvel universe. Luca had no desire to see any losses inflicted upon the only force currently entirely under his control. To put it somewhat arrogantly, Luca choosing to take the risk and join the operation was also meant to serve as a safety net for the entire squad.

Of course, out of respect for Shield as the team leader and consideration for building mutual trust, Luca didn't completely dismiss the commander's plan.

"Don't worry, I'll move alongside Baymax and Thresh later. I believe the two of them can keep me safe."

With that, Luca turned his head to look at the bald, muscular man who was still gnawing on his fingers. This caused Thresh to hastily and awkwardly hide his hand and sit up straight again.

"Very well, since you insist, Master."

Shield patted the back of Wrench's seat in the front and immediately reverted to the solemn and serious demeanor required for a mission.

"Wrench, begin preparing the surveillance override."

In the front seat, Wrench's fingers flew across the keyboard as he gave a prompt reply.

"Security system is being breached! Surveillance override complete in thirty seconds!"

Upon hearing this, Shield immediately turned around and swept his gaze across everyone present.

"Everyone, final equipment check! Ensure communications are clear!"

"Commence operation!"

At the order, Thresh quickly pushed open the car door. Shield, Samira, and Green Bull all fastened their tactical goggles and rushed out of the vehicle one after another. Immediately afterward, Thresh heaved his M249 SAW squad automatic weapon onto his shoulder and quickly followed.

Only Baymax, encased in carbon fiber armor, lagged behind, leisurely shuffling out of the vehicle before breaking into a light jog behind the other four.

"I'm heading out too. Be careful by yourself."

Luca first greeted Wrench, then slipped on a tactical vest, pushed open the side door of the vehicle, and caught up with Baymax at the rear of the squad.

Wrench, busy hacking into the system, didn't reply until he struck the final enter key, whereupon he reported over the comms.

"System successfully breached. Surveillance override complete."

Almost simultaneously as he spoke, the screens inside the surveillance room of the luxurious building ahead flickered softly before returning to "normal."

Having done this, Wrench pulled hard on a concealed lever located in the corner of his seat. Instantly, his driver's seat rotated 180 degrees to face the rear compartment. Cradling his laptop, Wrench reached up with one hand to tap a switch on the vehicle's roof. Four staggered screens quickly unfolded, and a square table immediately rose from the previously flat floor of the interior.

Wrench's eyes swept across the four screens now linked to his computer.

"Surveillance feed acquired. Mission target not detected. The third floor is a blind spot, suspected—"

Wrench faltered slightly mid-sentence, suddenly realizing something. He immediately refocused on the thermal imaging feed still displaying on the screen before continuing.

"Thermal imaging shows five people on the third floor, three of them armed. Based on their physiques, the mission target is confirmed to be in the east room."

To be honest, although Wrench was the youngest member of the squad, he had already executed quite a few missions. Yet, this kind of experience was truly one of a kind.

'Isn't this fucking like having wall-hacks enabled?!'

At that moment, even as a logistics specialist, he couldn't help but feel an unprecedented rush of excitement.

Leaving Wrench to quietly relish the thrill, Shield—who had already stealthily approached the target location—promptly raised a hand to signal a tactical halt to the others behind him, speaking in a low voice.

"Tarantula, Green Bull, advance with me. The rest hold position here."

He then tapped his earpiece lightly.

"Longbow, confirm target. Sentry post at two o'clock."

"Longbow, copy." Longbow's voice in the earpiece remained utterly ice-cold.

Shield lowered his head, his gaze fixed on his tactical watch as he silently calculated the time.

"Four patrol groups. Twenty seconds until the guards reach the blind spot. Await my command."

With that, Shield threw a tactical hand signal instructing Samira and Green Bull to follow, all the while silently counting down the seconds.

5...4...3...2...1!

"Longbow!"

"Swish—"

A sniper bullet cleaved through the air at high speed, spanning a distance of three hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

The armed mob guard, who had just been leaning against the watchtower smoking out of sheer boredom, suddenly erupted into a blossom of blood right between his eyebrows and slumped heavily to the ground.

At the exact same time, Shield and the two others quickened their pace, rushing right up to the outer chain-link fence. The moment a two-man mob patrol appeared, they simultaneously raised their weapons and fired.

"Rat-tat-tat—"

After several rapid, extremely muffled gunshots reminiscent of a typewriter, the two patrolling mobsters didn't even understand what had happened before taking multiple hits and falling completely silent.

Seeing this, Shield ignored the faint noise caused by the two falling enemies and immediately pulled out a long probe, pressing it against the chain-link fence in front of him.

"Not electrified. Green Bull, help me cut an opening. Tarantula, provide overwatch!"

"Copy!" x2

Hearing this, Samira immediately focused, raising her rifle to scan the surroundings for threats. Meanwhile, Green Bull retrieved a pair of heavy-duty wire cutters from his tactical pouch and tossed one set to Shield.

Before getting to work, Shield thought of Baymax waiting in the rear and added somewhat helplessly,

"Make the entrance a bit larger this time."

At the same time, he didn't forget to issue an order to Longbow stationed at the distant abandoned building.

"Longbow, mind the patrol gaps and eliminate all enemies on the other three watchtowers."

"Longbow, copy!"

Up on the roof of the distant abandoned building, beneath the billboard, Longbow sat on a folding stool. Upon receiving the command, he quickly shifted his scope away from the three figures cutting the fence.

'Hmph, the weak deserve only death!'

Longbow chanted his internal mantra as the rifle barrel, resting on its Nikon bipod, aligned with a guard on another distant watchtower. Looking through the scope at the enemy already locked in his crosshairs—who was still yawning and scratching an itch—Longbow's expression remained unchanged, but his inner contempt deepened.

'Hmph, how fortunate to die in such ignorance and confusion, human!'

His finger lightly squeezed the trigger, and a blossom of blood burst from the temple of the man in the scope before he collapsed headfirst.

"Southwest watchtower, target neutralized!"

His voice remained calm and cold.