Chapter 55 Gang Team-Building

Because the enemies pursuing Luca and the others were too close behind and traveling at an excessive speed, and these frenzied rioters had never expected the news van ahead to execute such a sudden turn, the majority of those vehicles failed to decelerate in time.

The two leading cars in the convoy collided head-on with the jeeps that had moved in to block the path ahead. The massive impact instantly crumpled and distorted four or five vehicles.

"Boom—!"

A terrifying explosion erupted into the sky, a giant orange fireball blotting out everyone's vision. The cars still spinning and colliding at the epicenter of the blast were instantly thrown into the air by the powerful shockwave, triggering a chain of secondary explosions. Countless fragments of metal even flew directly into the walls of the buildings on both sides of the street.

The lucky ones who had narrowly escaped the calamity in the rear were far from intimidated by the sight. Instead, they immediately steered around the flaming vehicle wreckage ahead, swerved sharply, and continued their pursuit of Luca and the others.

However, just as the leading gray van, reacting the quickest, made a sharp turn and rushed into the intersection, the streetlamp previously struck by Wrench finally failed to withstand the deformation caused by that violent impact. The metal lamp post emitted a harsh, piercing screech before slowly toppling toward the very center of the road.

The driver of the gray van stared in terror at the falling light pole, gripping the steering wheel for dear life and flooring the accelerator, hoping to rely on sheer speed to dash past before being crushed.

Yet...

"Clang—Crack—!"

The long streetlamp pole descended like a guillotine blade, crashing heavily onto the rear compartment of the gray van. Dazzling electric sparks scattered in all directions as the lamp post—not particularly sturdy to begin with—snapped into multiple sections on impact.

Naturally, the van that bore the brunt of the strike met an even more miserable fate. Not only was its rear compartment smashed flat and deformed, but due to the vehicle's insufficient weight combined with the driver flooring the accelerator after the turn, its speed was rapidly escalating. Struck in the rear by the "guillotine," the nose of the van was violently hoisted high into the air, and the entire vehicle flipped backward out of control.

"Boom—!"

This rapidly flipping van slammed directly onto the roof of a black sedan following closely behind, staging a truly intimate physical encounter between the two automobiles. Even the passengers inside seamlessly fused with one another without the slightest hesitation in that moment.

Witnessing the explosion triggered by the multi-car pileup in the rear, which seemingly bought them a temporary reprieve from their pursuers, the members of the Shield Mountain team all let out a collective sigh of relief.

However, at that very moment, Luca, who was pressing his hand against his [Tracking Glasses] to activate the thermal imaging view, completely ruined the mood with a timely warning.

"At the intersection ahead, three cars are coming from the right."

"Judging by their direction and speed, they're definitely here to intercept us!"

At this point, since the [Dominator] was completely out of battery and it was impossible to kick the rear vehicles apart using the [Enhanced Power Shoes] inside the cramped cabin, and with [Baymax] having no room to operate as a melee fighter and requiring no tactical command from him, Luca had dedicated himself entirely to scanning the surroundings for potential enemies using his [Tracking Glasses] from the very start. He had immediately spotted the three cars approaching abreast in the distance.

His warning caused everyone's nerves to tense up once more.

Yet that was not all.

At the same time, Shamira and Shield Mountain, who had been observing the rear through the shooting ports, also noticed that several more vehicles had burst furiously through the explosive flames behind them, crushing the fallen streetlamp and resuming their pursuit.

The situation had turned grim once again.

"Captain! Where should I drive?!"

Wrench, who was driving, shouted the question back toward Shield Mountain in the rear compartment while executing a rapid series of swerves to dodge the intercepting vehicles. However, the bullets strafed by the enemy had already left a dense row of bullet holes along the right side of the news van.

Fortunately, the vehicle was merely a disguised news van equipped with multi-directional reinforcement; a few stray rounds were not enough to actually pierce the bodywork.

Even so, Wrench's question had clearly struck at the heart of the matter.

While they had already eliminated Wilson Fisk and initiated their retreat, it did not mean they could simply drive straight home without a care in the world. At this moment, the entirety of Hell's Kitchen seemed to have come alive, with criminal organizations large and small mobilizing to wipe out their entire party.

It was not just the pursuers directly behind them; in truth, more and more gang members were joining the chase with every passing second.

The continuous stream of intercepting enemies appearing ahead was the ultimate proof of this.

Of course, this did not imply that Luca and his companions had no way of breaking out of the territory enveloped by Hell's Kitchen.

However, such a chaotic scenario could only unfold in Hell's Kitchen—this "Manhattan's Little Gotham"—where large numbers of armed police forces refrained from stepping in to suppress it. In fact, long before the chaotic car chase began, NYPD police helicopters had already appeared in the skies above. It was simply that the local precinct in Hell's Kitchen was riddled with corrupt cops who couldn't be bothered to risk meddling in such messy affairs.

Well, it was also because this was Hell's Kitchen, where virtually no pedestrians or vehicles ventured out willingly in the dead of night, which provided a pristine venue for this chaotic "gang team-building exercise."

Yet, regardless of how many favorable preconditions existed or how uniquely situated Hell's Kitchen was, the moment Luca and his crew dared to charge out of Hell's Kitchen's boundaries while dragging a massive, frenzy-driven mob of gangsters behind them, the entirety of the New York Police Department would make them understand precisely why a local agency like the NYPD was hailed as one of America's premier law enforcement organizations.

Therefore, what Luca and the others needed to do most right now was to figure out a way to shake off the pursuers on their tails and the armed helicopters circling overhead before the New York Police Department lost its patience and chose to intervene, staging a quiet and clean exit.

In truth, they all knew that if the underworld emperor Wilson Fisk were still alive, witnessing the situation escalate to this degree would likely have prompted him to abandon the pursuit and bide his time for future revenge, all to prevent the conflict from spiraling further out of control.

Yet right now, with Fisk—the sole figure capable of keeping those gangs in check—absent, the thugs throughout Hell's Kitchen were acting as if they were caught up in a wild carnival. Every single gang leader had focused their undivided attention entirely on Luca and his team, behaving as though whoever managed to successfully slaughter them to "avenge Fisk" would instantly claim the throne as the next emperor of Hell's Kitchen.

Unfortunately, Luca and his group, serving as the grand prize of this "car chase race," had zero intention of sacrificing themselves for the fulfillment of others.

As their thoughts raced like lightning, Shield Mountain—who was making room for Thresh to take aim—and Luca—who was still scanning the road conditions ahead—spoke up simultaneously, uttering the exact same words without any prior coordination.

"Head for the Hudson River!"

"Drive toward the riverbank!"