It's hard to imagine that an escapee like Frank Castle wouldn't flee to a remote location, but instead stayed in the metropolis of New York.
What's even more surprising is that a retired soldier with extremely high military literacy and strong combat capabilities would choose to live incognito and swing a sledgehammer at a construction site.
Hong Fei had thought about this; to be precise, he had "seen" it.
After witnessing the reports on television about Frank Castle's prison break, Hong Fei began to check various construction sites in New York one by one, finally determining his hiding place.
After walking for a few minutes, the two arrived at a quiet corner of the construction site.
Frank suddenly turned around five meters in front of Hong Fei, his eyes instantly becoming sharp: "Young man, tell me everything you know."
Hong Fei twitched his eyebrows: "Are you planning to rob me?"
"Wrong!"
Frank spread his arms as if embracing the entire city, and he said: "This city once had my beloved family and a warm home, but all of that was destroyed by those underground rats. When I tried to fight for justice for them through legal channels, I discovered that the surface was actually filled with even more rats."
"I've heard of it." Hong Fei nodded.
"You don't even qualify as a bystander." Frank pointed at the sky with disdain: "You see the blinding sunlight, but I only feel darkness. I need that intelligence so that those people can receive the punishment they deserve, so I will not use it as a bargaining chip for any transaction!"
Frank's wife and daughter were killed. When he used his intelligence network to find the murderer and brought them to justice, the other party used various means to exploit legal loopholes and escaped punishment.
Since the law couldn't uphold justice, Frank could only take matters into his own hands to seek justice for his family, and at the same time, he showed no mercy to any criminals.
Thus, a man who was a good husband, a good father, and perhaps even a good soldier and a good citizen, suddenly became a criminal despised by everyone.
He had been to prison once, and now his only identity in the public eye was: an escaped prisoner.
Hong Fei said, "I understand your approach, and at the same time, I fully approve of it. Your ideas and actions to punish those criminals are also very admirable. To tell you the truth, my intelligence is very rich, but there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
Frank shook his head again: "The same words apply; I don't intend to make any deals with you, and I do indeed want to eat your free lunch."
Hong Fei spread his hands: "Can we really not talk?"
"You should have known."
The atmosphere suddenly froze.
In the sudden silence, Hong Fei's eyes narrowed, as though sharp light was shooting from his pupils. His feet moved from stillness, whipping up a fierce wind like a galloping horse, crossing the five-meter distance in a blink.
Frank's pupils constricted. He never expected Hong Fei's ordinary-looking body to possess such speed and explosive force.
But his reaction was also incredibly sharp. He gathered all his strength instantly. Facing the sudden attack, he didn't dodge or avoid it. Instead, he threw a punch, aiming straight for Hong Fei's ear.
In an instant, Frank seized the initiative. His long punch struck from a distance, clearly intending to keep Hong Fei at bay. He didn't want to give him a chance to get close.
Hong Fei raised his fist to parry, rotating his arm with his joint as the axis. His fist turned into a claw, lightning-fast, and grabbed Frank's forearm.
Frank stepped back quickly, his arm twisting, trying to break free. But Hong Fei's grip was exceptionally solid, and he moved his feet quickly, following Frank without the slightest hesitation.
Their eyes met. Staring at Hong Fei's aggressive, wolf-like eyes, Frank felt a bit absurd.
Two seconds ago, he'd thought the young man was just a puppet, pushed out by someone. He'd figured there was either an expert behind him or simply some organizational force.
But now, the shocking explosive speed of the initial attack, the strength during the arm parry, the fluidity of the moves, and the aggressive eyes that seemed to pierce through skin—all proved that this young man possessed impressive combat skills!
From Hong Fei's perspective, Frank's reaction was not slow, and his experience was good. Coupled with his strength, he crushed the vast majority of ordinary people.
But if he had to comment, Hong Fei only had two words: not enough.
In terms of strength, they were about the same, maybe even Frank was stronger. Hong Fei wasn't in his original body anymore, after all.
In terms of experience, Frank was an elite soldier. He had countless lives on his hands. But excluding firearms, his unarmed combat experience was definitely not more than that of a martial artist immersed in challenging adventures everywhere.
As for technique, Hong Fei really didn't want to list the things he'd mastered one by one.
The main reason was that from the first day he entered the Marvel Universe, he had realized that although everything from the past could still serve as an aid and remained his unchanging spiritual sustenance, those things were no longer enough to become a true reliance for survival.
The truth was, some people could fly and turn invisible. Some could carry artillery shells with their bare hands. Some could summon lightning, and some could destroy stars with a single shot. Some could even destroy the universe. Magic wasn't a fantasy, and gods truly existed.
Master Hong, who had become famous at a young age, wasn't left behind by the times. He found it easier to recognize and accept reality. Besides, if he hadn't followed the trend and finished Red Dead Redemption 2, he wouldn't have been here, facing this particular reality.
Back in the present, with their strength being roughly equal, Hong Fei wouldn't say he was crushing Frank in terms of experience and technique, but he at least had a slight advantage.
Following Frank's rapid forward dash of five steps, Hong Fei slammed his foot down without warning. A deep footprint immediately appeared in the gravel ground. He released his grip, pulled his hands in towards his ribs, and clenched his palms into fists. The muscles in his waist and abdomen expanded and contracted. His spine, from bottom to top, opened up suddenly like a fan made of fine steel, and the force was transmitted as fast as lightning.
The two fists moved in parallel, without sequence, like two heavy cannons twisting and blasting out!
Frank was shocked again and instantly crossed his arms to block.
Their fists collided, and Frank immediately retreated rapidly, stepping back. He felt his arms become extremely numb, and his entire body's strength seemed about to scatter. He took a deep breath, then let out a roar, forcing his spirit to perk up again.
Hong Fei stood still, his feet rooted into the fine gravel ground, his palms placed in front of his chest, one in front and one behind.
Frank narrowed his eyes, taking the opportunity to shake his arms to relax his muscles, while his gaze fixed on Hong Fei like lightning.
After a moment, Frank clenched his fists, his muscles tightening again, gathering his strength.
This time, he took the initiative to attack, striding forward and rushing fiercely towards Hong Fei. When he was close, he ignored Hong Fei's hands, quickly changing direction to come to Hong Fei's side. His fist struck out like lightning.
Hong Fei twisted his toes, turned his body sideways, and his hands reached out to grab Frank's arm, one up and one down.
However, Frank's strike was a feint. He quickly withdrew his hand, and his other arm passed accurately through Hong Fei's palms, quickly hitting Hong Fei's chest.
Hong Fei's body immediately contracted inward, and his curved spine suddenly looked like a fully drawn bow.
Frank's fist pressed against Hong Fei's chest, but he felt a strange sensation, as if he'd hit a leaf fluttering in the wind. It seemed that before he actually touched him, the other party had already been pushed away by the airflow generated by his fist.
Hong Fei's body dipped slightly. With that simple movement, all his strength gathered inward, focused at the point where his chest met his fist.
Even at that moment, Hong Fei's consciousness rapidly converged, with his essence, energy, and spirit all gathering at one point.
Bang!
Hong Fei's spine snapped back into position, like a bowstring released after being fully drawn. The sudden burst of force caused the air to explode with a sound that was a mix of dull and sharp.
Frank felt as if an iron hammer had slammed into his fist. The joints in his palm seemed to shatter inch by inch under the blow. The fierce force shot up his arm, as if tearing all the muscles from the bones in an instant.
At the same time, his body rocketed backward like a cannonball, landing five meters away. The force hadn't dissipated. If he'd dragged along the ground, the gravel would have ground his back to pieces. He gritted his teeth against the pain in his arm, tucked his head, and curled into a ball, rolling to dissipate the force.
Hong Fei was quite pleased with the result.
If this had been his body from a month ago, he never would have achieved this. That scholar's body hadn't even been healthy.
In the past month, the gangsters he'd thrown at the police station entrance had contributed many physical enhancements, pulling this body away from the category of "weak." Although there was still a gap from his previous body, it seemed to be barely enough for now.
He hadn't even activated the Eyes of Death cheat.
Frank rolled all the way to the edge of the wall before barely stopping. He quickly got up, feeling as if his arm had separated from his torso. But at that moment, he had no time to worry about his injuries. His eyes were locked on Hong Fei, who was more than ten meters away, like a hawk eyeing its prey.
Hong Fei stepped into a bow stance, his upper body straight as a silver spear. His shoulders were sunk, his right hand arcing to the right and turning into a hook. His left hand turned outward and pushed forward, his arms stretched out front and back, like a straightened long whip.
Frank's eyes narrowed suddenly, and a rather unfamiliar word escaped his mouth.
"Kung Fu?"
Hong Fei nodded slightly. "Again?"
Frank's face twitched. He turned his head to look at his dangling arm. "Tell me about your deal!"
Hong Fei immediately smiled and withdrew his stance, taking the initiative to step forward. "Don't worry, the force didn't reach the tendons. The bones aren't broken, the muscles aren't torn. It's all an illusion. Within three days, I guarantee you'll be full of vigor!"
Frank nodded with a gloomy face.
Frank wouldn't be afraid of a loss. In fact, he figured that since Hong Fei had such skill in Kung Fu, he probably had weaknesses in other areas, just like Frank's superior knowledge of firearms. If it were a real fight to the death, Frank wouldn't come unprepared.
He agreed to Hong Fei's offer because he wanted the information more than he cared about winning or losing.
He looked at Hong Fei again, and saw him raise an eyebrow, his gaze shifting behind Frank.
Alert, Frank spun around, but only saw a gray wall. "What are you looking at?" he asked suspiciously.
Hong Fei saw a card floating in the air in front of him. It was snow-white, with a faint white light swirling around it, and a very exquisite portrait on the front.
Hong Fei glanced at Frank and gently shook his head. "Nothing. Let's go. I'll take you back to treat your injuries."
As he turned, Hong Fei stretched lazily, seemingly unintentionally. His long arms spread out, but his palm made a picking motion in the air.