"If you've been following my livestreams, you'll recognize a lot of familiar faces. Politicians, war profiteers, the folks who hurt my country and my people, and those so-called global anti-terror big shots at the UN—today, it's a full house, and they're all here as sacrifices for the new era. Oh, and speaking of which, I think there's someone you know among them."
The giant flashed a wicked, satisfied grin as he looked at Fran Adler, who was also tied up, battered, and strung up on a cross. "According to my research, she's your BFF, right? I swear, total coincidence—not like I planned it. But hey, fate’s got a sense of humor. So, tell me: are you two really ride-or-die, or is it just frenemy season?"
The giant turned—just in time to see a jet-black iron fist zooming straight into his field of vision.
No sound—she was moving faster than sound itself.
"Haaaaaaah!" The explosion blasted up from the ground to the sky, then crashed right back down. Jill Young’s hair and eyebrows were wild, her eyes blazing red. She grabbed the giant’s face, slammed his head into the pavement, and dragged him along for a high-speed face grind, then spun him around and hurled him like a shot put. Boom! A trail of smoke stretched far and wide, taking out whole blocks of Brooklyn as buildings collapsed like dominoes.
Wham! Jill Young broke the sound barrier, racing toward Manhattan. Her century-old martial arts skills couldn’t wrangle her nearly-five-dragon-level power, so she couldn’t keep her feet on the ground—going full speed meant launching herself into the sky.
Whoosh! Shockwaves leapt over Brooklyn, sprinting toward Manhattan.
But in the next instant, a massive bolt of lightning tore through space and struck Jill Young, blasting her straight down.
Boom! The mighty Brooklyn Bridge trembled, its sturdy roadway cracking all over.
"So it looks like you two do have some real friendship going on. Good! Guess inviting you to watch was the right call—" The Divine started to say, but got cut off by a brutal right hook to the side of the skull.
"Die for me—!" Golden flames erupted, blazing sun tattoos swirling all over Jill Young as she unleashed a wild barrage of punches and kicks on the giant. Boom! Boom! Explosions rocked the air, punching holes in the rain. The Brooklyn Bridge shuddered nonstop as chunks of pavement crumbled and collapsed.
"Now that's more like it! That's the Jill I know!" The Divine got all hyped up, trading punches and kicks like a maniac. "Trying to stall for time? Who isn’t? These days, everybody’s got a trick up their sleeve! Want to negotiate? Screw negotiations—I hate it when people try to bargain with me!"
Fists and feet flew, each blow landing with a thud. Every hit was raw, ruthless, and relentless. Jill Young’s attacks erupted like a volcano, but The Divine didn’t bother using his natural body—he just took every hit, his yellow aura rippling and warping under the impact.
"Today, I’m taking you down right where you’re strongest!"
Boom! The abandoned cars on the Brooklyn Bridge exploded in a chain reaction, like a string of firecrackers going off. Suddenly, a figure slammed into one of the bridge’s pillars. Thud! The pillar shook loose a shower of debris, and a ring of smoke shot upward.
It was The Divine.
Jill Young burst through the flames, arms crossed then opening wide, and smashed The Divine in the chest with a ruthless king’s elbow.
"Shock Force—Big Sky..."
Buzz—her head throbbed, vision went black, move unfinished.
Crack! The yellow aura started to shatter, shockwaves slicing through The Divine and the bridge pillar, severing its inner structure. The pillar twisted, then toppled, and the thick steel cables snapped one after another—whipping through the air like death’s lasso.
Boom! The massive bridge pillar smashed into the roadway, and the suspension bridge started to collapse. The shockwave rippled through the rigid structure, making the concrete surface undulate like ocean waves—in a blink, the bridge looked like a stormy sea.
But in that blink, for the strong, time seemed to freeze.
Fighting off the headache, Jill Young slammed both fists into The Divine’s head with a ringing blow. Then she swung her arm around his neck, yanked down, and drove her knee into his gut!
Thud! The Divine flew off in a streak of white, skimming over the bridge’s rolling surface and soaring toward Manhattan. Jill looked up at the plane heading for the skyscraper, stomped the ground, and blasted off in a shockwave toward the building.
Behind her, the Brooklyn Bridge became a wreck, tons of concrete and steel crashing into the river. At the same time, Jill Young soared through the sky, diving toward a Manhattan skyscraper. With her power, all she needed was one solid boost to rocket straight to the World Trade Center.
But—snap! Something yanked her ankle tight. Someone had her by the foot.
"Something still feels off."
She looked down—The Divine’s big hand had a death grip on Jill Young’s ankle.
"Where’d all that insane piercing power go? The freaky precision, the ability to turn one punch into ten times the damage—what happened to your signature moves?" His demonic eye scanned Jill at point-blank range, and the giant flashed a cruel grin. "Don’t tell me you’re still daydreaming..."
Jill bent, twisted, and kicked the giant square in the face.
But the giant just burst out laughing, spinning at high speed. Whoosh—he whipped up a tornado mid-air. Under the pounding rain, his muscles bulged as he hurled Jill Young like a meteor, smashing her down and leaving a giant crater in the ground. Water blasted out of busted fire pipes, mixing with the storm and spraying everywhere.
Not far away, on the World Trade Center, rain battered Fran Adler’s battered body. Captured, tortured, abused—even ironclad Fran was barely hanging on. But as she drifted in and out of feverish delirium, her eyelids fluttered and she cracked them open.
Her eyes struggled to focus, looking down at the street below—familiar platinum light was blazing.
"Ugh..." Fran rallied, but she was still weak.
Down in the crater, Jill Young fished out a broken meat pill and shoved it in her mouth. At the same time, she started channeling her qi, getting ready to blast through all her meridians.
Imperfect? So what. That plane overhead was getting closer—I need power. I need way more power!
Come on, breakthrough—
Crack! A thick bolt of lightning blasted her back as the giant crashed down, stomping hard on Jill Young.
"You really think you can pull that off?" The giant’s demonic eye glowed even fiercer. "I can see your energy field crystal clear. Trying for a breakthrough in the middle of battle? With your current state, you’ll never—"
Whoosh—a finger, less than an inch away, jabbed right into the giant’s forehead.
That familiar, terrifying piercing power hit home—the giant realized he’d let his guard down. This woman had seized the tiniest opening.
Explosive force—triggered in an instant!
Not just that—Jill Young roared, force-shaking her mind. She was burning through her spirit, unleashing her strongest attack yet.
Eight External Forces, Collapsing Force—Shattered Glass!!