The catapult's attack was terrifying enough that even Bruticus did not dare take it head-on. He sidestepped, and the still-burning boulder swept past him before flying straight into the New York Stock Exchange. It smashed a crater more than ten meters (about thirty-three feet) across into the building, while dark-brown flames burned wildly with no sign of going out.
Bruticus, Tyrants, tanks, bioengineered humanoids, human assassins, vampires, and demons—a whole collection of "people" who normally had nothing to do with one another were now fighting a massive battle in the streets of Manhattan.
"Passage B9 has been breached."
"Exits A1, A6, and A7 have been sealed."
"Mentor, according to the vampires who identified them, we just killed two elders of Clan Brujah."
Reports kept flowing in to Bella. The vampires were hardly a united bloc. Faced with the Brotherhood's thunderous assault, their sharp internal conflicts were exposed in an instant. Betrayals and denunciations were happening every minute.
The Continental Hotel offered timely guarantees of money and safety, and dozens of vampires willing to sell out their own kind appeared almost immediately.
Some vampire elders tried to bluff their way through, only to be exposed by their own people and then die miserably under the guns of the bioengineered humanoid soldiers.
Bella was extremely satisfied with the results. The technology used to manufacture bioengineered humanoids was valuable, but the raw materials were not. Perfluorocarbon fluid could be recovered and reused, and the rest was basically calcium, sodium, magnesium, and potassium. How much could any of that cost?
She slowly sipped her tea, adjusting the battle deployments from time to time.
The fighting below remained fierce. As a member of the Brotherhood, 006 had joined the battle as well.
He already possessed excellent marksmanship and had also been strengthened by the virus. Using Gun Kata, he unleashed a metallic storm among the vampires.
"Hey, Peter, I'm here to help!" 006 had hired Wade Wilson as his bodyguard. The moment Wade heard there was money to be made, he did not even ask who the enemy was. He happily showed up for work.
Wade was not as fast as 006, but he was younger and had even greater combat talent. His marksmanship and fighting instincts were actually a little better than 006's.
The two of them led more than a hundred bioengineered humanoid soldiers to block a subway exit. It was one of the main routes the vampires could use to escape toward Queens.
"Die, you trash!" Hellstorm, his whole body charred black from Bruticus's attacks, roared as he charged out and immediately spotted 006 and Wade Wilson.
He wasted no words. Gripping his divine halberd in reverse, he made a throwing motion and hurled it at 006, who looked like the leader.
006 had seen Bruticus from a long way off. Anyone who could be chased by Bruticus and still stay alive was obviously a powerhouse. You did not need a brain to figure that out.
He had absolutely no intention of fighting the man to the death. He had plenty of soldiers on his side; there was no reason to risk his own life.
After suffering bad luck so many times, he had developed a conditioned reflex. Before Hellstorm even released the halberd, 006 was already rolling aside.
The halberd traced a streak of red light and plunged straight into... Wade Wilson's chest.
A divine weapon from Hell was no ordinary thing. Wade Wilson was still only a normal human, and the tremendous force carried him more than five meters (about sixteen feet) through the air. While flying, he still managed to raise a middle finger at 006. The meaning was obvious: Bro, if you're going to dodge, at least warn me first!
He felt deeply wronged. What a worthless way to die!
006 felt a little sad, but mostly frustrated. Why did you have to run behind me? Back then I hid behind that so-and-so and ended up taking three bullets! These are lessons written in blood!
Hellstorm did not even glance at a nobody like Wade Wilson. He recalled his halberd, then charged through the opening created when they dodged.
"Brother, I'll help take care of your family..." Before 006 could finish, Wade Wilson rolled his eyes, tilted his head, and died!
"Huh? What's going on?" One second Wade Wilson had just died. The next, he sat up beside his own corpse.
The entire world had fallen into absolute stillness. 006 was frozen on one knee, seemingly about to close Wade's eyelids. Hellstorm was caught mid-stride, running forward, while Bruticus's energy gun had just fired another dark-blue sphere packed with surging power.
Wade Wilson looked at Bruticus. The giant robot's appearance was battering his worldview. Then he looked at the energy sphere frozen in midair. He was extremely curious, but in the end he did not dare reach out and touch it.
Bioengineered humanoids, vampires, every object around him—even falling blood, severed limbs, and bullets flying through the air—were all frozen before Wade Wilson's eyes.
What the hell was happening? Nothing in his experience could explain the scene in front of him, and he had no idea how he was supposed to handle it.
Huh? A sudden premonition made him look up. A pitch-black hole had appeared in the sky. Completely unaffected by the frozen world, it instead released an unimaginably powerful suction force that pulled him toward the heavens.
"Aah—aaah! Help me, help me! Uh, Camilla? Sarah? Come save me!" As he flew past the high-rises, Wade Wilson happened to see Bella sitting on a rooftop drinking tea. Unlike the rest of the frozen world, Bella showed a tiny bit of movement. She seemed to have noticed something and was turning her head, but from Wade's perspective the movement was far too small and far too slow.
Whoosh! He was sucked into the black hole.
"Ah! Aah—what??" It seemed as if a very long time had passed, yet also as if only an instant had gone by. When he regained the ability to think, he discovered that he was sitting on a bench. Beside him sat a balding old man with a graying beard, wearing a suit and tie and a solemn expression.
The old man carried an imposing air. He glanced at Wade Wilson with narrow, triangular eyes, seemingly assessing what sort of green young punk had appeared beside him.
"I'm Wade Wilson. You... haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Wade extended his right hand in a friendly manner, but the bald old man showed no intention of shaking it.
"Seen me? Countless people all over the world have seen me!" He did not say the rest aloud, but his meaning was obvious: Trying to pretend we're acquainted? Who the hell do you think you are?
Wade Wilson did not care at all. He flashed a brilliant smile, then looked around.
There was not much to see. They were in a stark-white corridor surrounded by darkness on both sides. In front of their bench stood a wooden door.
Wade Wilson set his brain to work. How exactly had he ended up in a place like this?
Before long, a woman's voice came from behind the door. "Obadiah Stane."
Obadiah Stane, seated beside Wade, buttoned his suit jacket and adjusted his cuff links with movements practiced thousands of times. The old man walked with steady steps. If his right hand had not remained pressed against his lower back the entire time, he would have looked utterly imposing...