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[email protected]/Heroicverse
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Due to the overwhelming number of inquiries, the lines were abnormally busy.
Zemo had no choice but to temporarily reassign a large number of customer service personnel to provide 24-hour online assistance.
As for the 86 countries that had previously voted in favor of sanctioning Sokovia at the UN General Assembly… no, now there were only 85 left!
No matter what promises they made… even if they were willing to pay double or even several times the compensation, Zemo's answer was always a resounding refusal!!
Did they think that just because they had a bit of money, they wouldn't have to pay for their mistakes?
Dream on!
Just wait to die, all of you!
Zemo had never imagined that a small country like Sokovia could one day display such a strong stance in the international community.
And fear no targeting or sanctions from any individual or organization.
And the man who brought about this massive change was precisely Karl!
Even Zemo couldn't help but say in his heart: Boss, you are the best!!
… …
On the other side, most of the countries that had been turned away had no choice but to place all their last hopes on the PPDC Organization.
They all promised to increase investment in the future and continuously urged Stacker Pentecost to complete the first batch of Hunter Jaegers as soon as possible!!
For the PPDC Organization, this was definitely a small, unexpected pleasant surprise.
But Stacker Pentecost couldn't smile at all.
Because, just as he had predicted earlier.
Many countries, after reaching cooperation agreements with Sokovia in secret, chose to withdraw from the joint defense system established by the PPDC Organization.
And demanded that Stacker Pentecost refund the huge membership fees paid earlier.
This made the Pirate Commander feel a headache.
Because the money had already been spent during the research and development process; what did he have to refund now?!
However, another small portion of countries did not give up after being rejected.
They used their status as allies of America to try to lobby Sokovia through General Ross, who was in charge of this cooperation project.
But General Ross had no time to deal with them right now.
Because an unprecedented major crisis had already quietly occurred.
And even if he had the time, he would never help these idiotic guys and cause Karl to feel disgusted.
They were not worthy!
… …
At this moment, in a certain command room.
General Ross stared solemnly at the large screen, which displayed a massive black curtain captured by military satellites in space, covering seven target cities and continuously spreading outwards, asking without turning his head:
"Has the troop deployment around the city been completed?"
Just five minutes ago.
In seven cities, including Green Bay, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Kingston, the seven Night Demons, who had been out of sight for some time, suddenly appeared on the streets in broad daylight.
Then, as if summoned by some force, their bodies suddenly surged with immense Dark Energy.
This Dark Energy converged frantically, then shot straight into the sky, immediately forming seven massive "black smoke pillars."
In just a few breaths, the sunlight was completely blocked by the dark barrier released from the "black smoke pillars."
A monstrous darkness, like an eternal night, enveloped the seven cities, suffocating like an abyss that sought to devour everything.
Inside the cities, everyone was startled and panicked by this sudden scene.
Scattered points of light gradually lit up from the buildings on both sides of the street, barely providing a sense of security in this darkness.
Many people cautiously peered out their windows.
But outside the window, apart from the boundless darkness and the lights from surrounding buildings, there was only their own blurry reflection on the glass, caused by the indoor lighting!
No one knew what was going to happen next.
But it certainly wouldn't be anything good!
And that was indeed the case…
The sky-darkening darkness did not stop there but continued to rapidly spread and expand towards the inner area enclosed by the seven cities.
And countless Dark creatures were lurking in the shadows, awaiting orders.
"Reporting, Officer, all troops have arrived at their designated areas and are currently on standby!"
A staff member immediately reported, standing at attention:
"According to the latest news from the front line, it has been initially confirmed that the seven dangerous individuals who released 'Dark Energy' are all related to recent vicious attacks caused by Vampires, including the former street hero Blade!"
"In addition, because these individuals are completely enveloped in some unknown energy, ordinary attacks cannot cause them any harm or interrupt their actions."
"Notify all teams not to act rashly for now."
General Ross stared at the large screen, where the black curtain had gradually merged into one large area, and his brows furrowed as he murmured:
"The darkness isn't spreading outwards; it's only extending towards the area enclosed by these seven cities… What in the world are these damned guys up to?!"
… …
On the other side.
A street in Chicago.
Not far from the "black smoke pillar" that was surrounded by police.
Black Widow, who had just arrived at the scene, successfully infiltrated the monitoring system of this block through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s high-tech equipment and retrieved the footage from before the "darkness" descended.
"Director, it can be confirmed that the enemy is Blade… at least he was Blade before his 'transformation'!"
Then she picked up an energy detection device that looked like a walkie-talkie and aimed it at Blade, who was entirely enveloped in Dark Energy.
After glancing at the needle on the dashboard, which instantly went to the end, she reported again:
"This energy field is directly released from Blade's body. Besides obscuring the sky, its other functions are temporarily unknown…"
Soon, Nick Fury's response came through the communicator, "Can you find a way to interrupt his energy transmission?"
"I don't think so." Black Widow shook her head helplessly, "Physical attacks cannot penetrate the powerful energy field surrounding his body… Wait a minute, something seems off?"
Black Widow turned on her tactical flashlight and, with a puzzled expression, shone it towards the rooftops of the buildings on both sides of the street.
Whether it was an illusion or not, she seemed to hear continuous low growls there.
As if a group of unknown Beasts were roaring from the darkness.
The next second—
One pair, two pairs… countless blood-red eyes suddenly lit up from the darkness on the rooftops of the buildings on both sides of the street.
Immediately after, countless Vampires, like dumplings falling into water, leaped straight down from the rooftops on both sides, and upon landing, they made a series of dull thuds, then shrieked and lunged at the crowd on the street.
Not just the rooftops…
There were also foul-smelling sewers and abandoned warehouses.
Vampires, who had previously feared the sunlight and dared not appear during the day, now flooded the streets, launching indiscriminate massacres against humans!
For them, this was undoubtedly an unprecedented daytime carnival.
And humans… were the food they were about to hunt!
Σ(⊙▽⊙"a???
WTF???
Everyone was stunned by this sudden and terrifying scene.
"Help!"
"No, don't come closer, please don't come closer… Ah!!!"
Civilians on the street were mowed down like wheat, knocked down by Vampires in droves, then had their blood drained or were torn to shreds amidst their terrified wails!
And those Vampires who failed to capture prey quickly set their sights on the brightly lit buildings on both sides of the street.
No one could escape this disaster!
What awaited them next was a horrific blood hunt.
And under the shroud of endless darkness, fear was constantly breeding, spreading, and converging…
"Damn it, this place is like hell."
Black Widow kicked away a Vampire lunging at her, then, while fleeing into a building beside her, reported through the communicator:
"Director, what should we do next? The streets are full of Vampires; we can't kill them all… Do you think the Vampire higher-ups are trying to unilaterally tear up the Truce Treaty?"
"How the hell would I know!"
Nick Fury said with a gloomy face, "But if those scumbags really decided to go to war with humans, why would they only choose these seven cities?"
"And, humans and Vampires have been living in peace before this; why have conflicts only been constant recently?"
Nick Fury did not continue speaking.
But all current signs indicated that something they didn't know about was quietly happening among the Vampire higher-ups!
Thinking of this.
Nick Fury couldn't help but feel annoyed and depressed again.
If his "undercover training program" hadn't been ruined by Karl, he would probably have already figured out the Vampire higher-ups' plan by now.
And he wouldn't be so passive now!
Karl Merks, you damned bastard, one day I will repay all the insults I suffered in double!
"Romanoff, stay in that building for now and don't move; I'll send someone to pick you up."
… …
At the same time.
On the outskirts of Chicago.
The highway out of the city was already jammed with a long line of cars.
Under the influence of extreme fear, the panicked crowd had already lost their minds; they all stepped on the gas, trying to cut in and cut off other cars to escape as soon as possible.
But the more they did so, the more chaotic the scene became.
Ultimately, after a series of rear-end collisions and crashes, the highway out of the city was completely blocked.
And the commotion caused here also successfully attracted more Vampires roaring in from all directions.
So the fleeing crowd chose to get out of their cars and walk.
They began to run along the highway, using the car lights to illuminate their way, desperately fleeing towards the outside of the city, trying to shake off the Vampires chasing them.
But the overly dense arrangement of cars on the highway greatly slowed their progress.
The crowd had to slow down, squeezing sideways through the narrow gaps between cars, just wide enough for one person to pass, laboriously moving forward.
Who could have imagined that the cars they had originally considered a means of escape had now become the biggest obstacle to their survival!
However.
As the Vampire army rapidly approached from behind.
The screams and wails, which had been sporadic, gradually became more frequent.
Among the anxious crowd, some burly individuals began to swing their fists or other tools, continuously knocking down people in front of them, then trampling over their bodies to move forward quickly.
Those who were knocked down didn't even have a chance to get back up and were soon directly trampled into bloody corpses by the continuous flow of people behind them.
However, there were also many quick-witted young people who climbed onto car roofs, imitating the Vampires coming from behind, and began to run and jump across the car roofs!
But often, they hadn't run far before being knocked down by people below who also wanted to climb onto the roof, or simply had their ankles grabbed and were forcibly pulled down.
In some cases… humans were more terrifying than ghosts!
Soon, all these individuals were submerged in the wave of Vampires.
And at the very front of the highway.
Those who had fortunately passed the car barrier ran with all their might, legs pumping.
Further ahead, at the boundary between light and darkness, General Ross's troops had already established a heavily guarded temporary checkpoint.
Under normal circumstances, actions like theirs—forcing their way through a checkpoint without identity verification—would be treated as potential enemies and shot on sight.
But at this moment, this group of people was already at a dead end.
Because if they stopped, they would immediately be devoured alive by the Vampires trailing them like Shadows.
Since stopping meant death, and charging the checkpoint also meant death, they might as well risk it all and see if a miracle would happen!!
As it turned out, they gambled correctly.
"Dad, help…"
Just as a young girl in the back accidentally fell to the ground and was about to die at the mouth of a Vampire.
The two Vampires lunging at her from behind suddenly burst into flames, burning into ashes amidst their tragic wails.
That was because General Ross had already set up infrared searchlights outside the checkpoint to block Vampires.
As the lights swept back and forth, the Vampires pursuing from behind burned into ashes in droves.
Eventually, the Vampire army also learned their lesson and stopped outside the range of the infrared searchlights, letting out chilling growls towards the checkpoint.
Those civilians who successfully escaped the ordeal took the opportunity to drag their weak bodies to the checkpoint, undergoing a comprehensive and detailed inspection by the soldiers.
And scenes like these were constantly unfolding in the border areas of the seven cities!!
… …
"Phew, thankfully the infrared light works on these bastards!"
It wasn't until the Vampire army swarmed out that General Ross, in the command room, finally realized what those seven high-ranking Vampires wanted to do…Large-scale hunting of humans (large-scale human hunting)!
And when he saw that the carefully prepared infrared weapons were effective, the anxiety he had been holding finally eased.
Honestly, he was truly afraid that the incident with the Blood God Cult would repeat itself here.
It was due to this consideration that he did not immediately order his troops to enter the dark zone after the Vampire surge erupted.
However, fortunately, the situation had not yet deteriorated to that extent.
But that was all…
Based on real-time images transmitted from various cities by drones.
In these seven cities previously shrouded in darkness, at least 20,000 or more Vampires had emerged almost simultaneously.
Some cities even had as many as 50,000!
This did not include the number of Vampires that had flowed to other areas along with the darkness during this process.
Such an astonishing number was unprecedented.
This greatly exceeded General Ross's previous estimates.
So much so that the total number of troops he dispatched was not even one-tenth of the total number of Vampires.
With so few people, let alone going in to rescue people, he would be thanking his lucky stars if they could firmly hold the outer defense line when night fell!
It should be known that Vampires' combat power in the dark is 2 to 3 times that of ordinary humans.
Even special forces skilled in special operations had no chance of winning when engaging with Vampires in a dark environment.
So General Ross immediately changed his strategy.
From the previous plan of entering the dark area for cleanup and rescue operations, it shifted to the current strategy of holding the outer defense line, absolutely not allowing this crisis to spread to the outer cities!