The blue beam advanced another inch.
Ron's consciousness slammed directly into the second level of Impel Down.
On the outer wall of Bullseye's cage, a blue-white energy beam flickered at a high frequency.
The swirling patterns of the conceptual seastone gradually dimmed under the beam's illumination.
A hair-thin crack spread along the patterns.
A red warning popped up on the system panel.
[Intrusion source confirmed as: Artificial dimensional piercing technology.]
[Energy source analysis: Chitauri alien energy fragments (2012 remnants).]
[Technical feature comparison: Hydra.] Ron stood before the cage.
King didn't understand dimensional technology.
Hydra did.
This was their bargaining chip for cooperation.
Ron dialed an encrypted channel.
"Frank, Jack."
"Target: Fisk Tower, basement level seven."
"Bring smoke generators. Destroy a blue-glowing machine."
The crisp sound of Frank pulling back the bolt came through the channel.
"Received." Ron disconnected the communication.
He placed his hands on the outer wall of Bullseye's cage.
Armament Haki overflowed from his palms.
A black sheen forcefully poured into the Seastone, following the patterns of the Conceptual Seastone.
Willpower Enhancement Seal.
The cracks stopped spreading.
A blue-white beam of light struck the Seastone covered in Armament Haki.
It exploded, sending sparks flying.
The sparks landed on the ground of the second level, burning small black spots.
Inside the cage, Bullseye, who had been leaning against the corner,
saw the cracks and the beam of light outside, and abruptly stood up.
He lunged at the bars in two strides.
He gripped the bars with both hands and looked out.
Ron turned his head to look at him.
A gaze devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
Bullseye froze.
He slowly backed away.
He retreated back into the corner.
Midtown Manhattan.
Outside the Fisk Tower.
Jack was wearing a gray deliveryman's uniform.
He was carrying a cardboard box half a meter tall.
The box was filled with bottles of chemical reagents.
Frank crouched at the entrance to an underground drainpipe two blocks away.
"I'm going in," Jack said into the microphone on his collar.
He carried the box into the lobby.
Four fully armed security guards stood in front of the turnstiles.
They held automatic rifles.
"Halt, put the box down for inspection," one of the guards shouted.
Jack took a step forward.
He tripped.
He fell forward.
The box flew out of his hands and smashed against the floor tiles.
The box shattered.
Two bottles of chemical reagents inside the box broke and mixed.
A thick white smoke instantly expanded.
Within three seconds, it engulfed all the security cameras in the lobby.
The security guards' vision was completely blocked.
The pungent smell of sulfur compounds forced the guards to cough violently.
Someone pulled the trigger.
Bullets struck the ceiling, sending debris raining down.
"Gas attack!"
"Seal off the first floor!"
"Call for backup!" Chaos erupted in the lobby.
The security supervisor led two teams out of the elevators.
Jack rolled behind the reception desk in the chaos and escaped the building via the emergency exit.
Third basement level parking garage.
Frank's spine was dislocated and reassembled.
Gray fur pierced his skin.
Completely transformed into a beast.
Gray wolf claws gripped the base of the parking garage's load-bearing wall.
He dug downwards.
Reinforced concrete crumbled into powder under his armor-colored claws.
He severed two main power cables.
Avoiding three thermal imaging detectors.
He followed the conduit tunnel downwards.
Fourth basement level.
Fifth basement level.
Sixth basement level.
Seventh basement level.
Frank jumped from above the ventilation ducts.
Landed in a metal corridor.
At the end of the corridor, a silver-gray metal door blocked his path.
Frank swung his right claw.
Armament Haki hardened to its limit.
He slammed it heavily against the door.
The recoil made his entire right arm numb.
Only three shallow white marks remained on the door's surface.
Vibranium alloy blast door.
Frank pressed the communicator.
"The door won't open. Vibranium. Needs more time." Impel Down, Level Two.
A blue-white beam of light suddenly surged.
The beam's diameter tripled.
Ron's hands, pressed against the cage, were jolted half an inch away.
Black Armament Haki began to flicker.
[Warning: Intrusion beam power increased by 300%.]
[Level Two structural integrity reduced to 65%.]
[Structural collapse expected in 12 minutes.]
[All prisoners on Level Two will be released from their seal.]
The cracks in the Bullseye cage spread again.
Cracks began to extend into the purple man's cage next door.
The purple man got up from the ground, staring at the crack.
Ron stared at the beam of light.
Defense was always passive.
The opponent had an unlimited energy supply in the real world.
This couldn't continue.
Ron withdrew his hands from the cage.
Armament Haki retreated beneath his skin.
He didn't reinforce the seal further.
He raised his right hand, fingers spread.
Directly facing the source of the blue-white beam of light—the crack.
[Host requests to actively open a dimensional portal.]
[Warning: This action will completely expose the interior of Impel Down to enemy piercing devices.] Confirmed.
The crack in the cage instantly expanded.
Becoming a hole the size of a basketball.
The blue-white beam of light shot in without obstruction.
Ron's right palm pushed out to meet the beam.
Flowing Sakura.
Maximum power.
The internal destructive vibrations of the Armament Haki did not spread through the air.
It enveloped the blue-white energy beam.
Upstream.
"Trying to connect?" Ron's voice echoed in the empty second floor.
"Then connect." Fisk Tower, seventh basement level.
Inside a massive laboratory.
Six Hydra scientists in white lab coats stood before the central control panel.
A circular device occupying half the room was operating at high speed.
At the center of the device, a fragment of Chitauri energy, emitting a ghostly blue light, floated in mid-air.
"Power reached peak."
"The dimensional barrier is about to be completely breached." The lead scientist stared at the data on the screen.
The waveform on the screen suddenly became a straight line.
"What's going on?"
"Reverse flow in the energy channel!"
"Cut off the power! Quickly!" The Chitauri energy fragment at the center of the device trembled violently.
A black beam of light shot out from the void along with the blue energy beam.
It struck directly into the energy fragment.
There was no explosion.
Only an extremely high-frequency vibration penetrated the entire room.
The metal casing of the ring-shaped device began to disintegrate from the inside.
Screws flew off.
The alloy support shattered.
The shockwave from Ryuo erupted completely inside the device.
The immense impact sent six scientists flying.
They slammed heavily against the laboratory walls.
The control panel screens shattered completely.
Chitauri energy fragments crumbled into dust.
An electromagnetic pulse swept out.
The lights on all seven underground floors of the Fisk Tower went out simultaneously.
The backup power failed to activate.
Placed in absolute darkness.
Impact City, Level Two.
The blue-white beam disappeared.
The basketball-sized hole rapidly closed under the system's control.
The cracks automatically repaired.
[Intrusion source destroyed.]
[Level Two structural integrity restored to 82%.] Ron lowered his right hand.
The last tenth of a second that Ryuo had conducted in the reverse direction of the beam.
His Observation Haki, carried by the shockwave, touched the control center of that device.
He retrieved a fragment of remaining data.
Ron accessed the system panel.
He materialized the fragment.
An encrypted file appeared on the screen.
Project Codename: Operation Winter.
Supreme Authorizer: Alexander Pierce.
Senior Member of the World Security Council.
Ron closed the panel.
King wasn't just cooperating with Hydra's scattered henchmen.
His protector was someone Hydra had planted at the highest levels of the World Security Council.
Seventh basement level of the Fisk Tower.
The corridor was pitch black.
Frank stood outside a vibranium blast door.
The shockwave from the explosion inside caused the door to bulge slightly outwards.
The door's electronic circuitry was completely destroyed by the electromagnetic pulse.
Mission accomplished.
Frank turned around.
Preparing to retreat along the ventilation ducts.
His beast form hadn't dissipated.
The Grey Wolf's sense of smell was extremely keen in the darkness.
He stopped.
A new smell filled the air.
Engine oil, gunpowder smoke.
And the lingering odor of preservatives from a long period of frozen dormancy.
Frank turned to look at the other end of the corridor.
In the darkness, a figure stood silently.
No footsteps.
No breathing.
The person wore a black tactical leather jacket.
The left sleeve was empty.
A mechanical arm, pieced together from metal, gleamed coldly in the dim emergency lights.
A red five-pointed star was emblazoned on the shoulder of the mechanical arm.
The person raised their head.
Long hair fell across their face.
"Target confirmed."
His lips parted, uttering four words.
"Execute elimination."
The gray hair at the back of Frank's neck stood on end.
A beastly instinct pressed down on him.
This person before him was a hundred times more dangerous than Bullseye.