Chapter 151: Sea of Fire

Rattle, rattle, rattle—

Hulk tensed the muscles all over his body ever so slightly, and the armor-piercing rounds embedded in his flesh once again spilled to the ground like a fine rain. As they struck the bullets already scattered across the road, they produced an unbroken chorus of crisp metallic clinks.

The ground around Hulk was almost completely covered in gleaming golden brass.

And this had been only two rounds of fire—a clear indication of just how terrifyingly dense the Metal Storm’s barrage was.

“Roar!”

Hulk let out another furious bellow. By now, he hated that Metal Storm with every fiber of his being, and the entire convoy of trucks had earned the same wrath.

His massive quadriceps suddenly tightened. Hulk lowered his center of gravity, coiled like a lion ready to spring.

Boom!

The terrifying force of his step blasted a huge crater into the road, and his enormous body shot forward at a speed that defied all reason.

His target was naturally the Metal Storm mounted on the truck.

The other terrorists, of course, had no intention of allowing such a terrifying creature to approach so easily.

Once the distance closed, firearms would lose more than half their advantage.

There was a saying: beyond seven steps, the gun was faster; within seven steps, the gun was both faster and more accurate. But that applied only to ordinary people. Against a monster like Hulk, allowing him to get close was practically equivalent to accepting death.

The commander made his decision at once and issued an order.

“Concentrate all fire! Don’t let him get close!”

Hearing the command over the radios, every squad leader relayed their own combat instructions almost simultaneously.

The entire reinforcement force of four hundred men began to move like a finely engineered machine.

The cooled Metal Storm unleashed another torrent of bullets.

Streams of tracer fire tore toward Hulk’s body.

They knew their rounds could no longer inflict meaningful damage on him, but the recoil from such an enormous volume of fire could still slow his advance.

And that was enough.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the rear covers of the trucks dropped simultaneously. Nearly four hundred combat soldiers emerged in perfect formation, instantly constructing an impenetrable defensive line beside the convoy.

The other two Metal Storms began operating as well. Eight stabilizing pillars drilled firmly into the ground.

In the next instant, their dense clusters of barrels began spinning impatiently. Torrents of fire poured from them at full speed, racing toward Hulk.

The coordination between the three Metal Storms was extremely precise.

While ensuring that each machine had time to cool whenever it overheated, as well as sufficient time to reload, they still managed to guarantee that two Metal Storms would be firing continuously into Hulk at any given moment.

The dense streams of bullets nearly brought Hulk’s advance to a complete halt.

Hulk raised both arms to shield his head.

Even simply standing in place had become difficult.

Although the armor-piercing rounds could no longer penetrate his muscles, they still hurt!

Exploding bullets and splattering green blood formed almost the entirety of the scene. Hulk’s astonishing healing ability restored him to his original state again and again amid the storm of gunfire, yet the seemingly endless bullets continued piercing his skin over and over.

But the ones truly growing desperate were the terrorists.

Hulk’s regeneration seemed limitless and inexhaustible, but their ammunition was not.

If this stalemate continued, the first thing to run out would undoubtedly be their bullets. The Metal Storms might possess tremendous firepower, but they were also bottomless pits when it came to armor-piercing rounds.

The base was not especially far away, but neither was it close.

Even if the commander called for additional supplies, they could not possibly arrive in time.

Once the Metal Storms lost their usefulness, capturing Hulk alive would become nothing more than a fantasy.

Therefore, it was time to bring the battle to its conclusion.

“Prepare the rockets!”

At the command, a line of soldiers carrying rocket launchers rose behind the final defensive line formed by the infantry. The men in front loaded the weapons, and all of them aimed in unison at Hulk, who was pinned down by the Metal Storms and unable to dodge.

“Fire!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One rocket after another, each trailing a fiery tail wrapped in ribbons of gray smoke, flew toward Hulk at a speed no slower than the bullets.

And that was not the end.

At the rear of the convoy sat an unremarkable truck. Suddenly, a gigantic launch shaft emerged from it, its caliber large enough to rival that of a small missile.

It did not hesitate for even a moment. Almost at the instant the soldiers fired their rockets, it began to operate as well.

Boom!

A colossal rocket completed its acceleration within what seemed like arm’s reach and hurtled toward Hulk with irresistible momentum.

The tremendous recoil caused the truck itself to shake violently. The motion was so severe that it seemed on the verge of overturning.

This time, they had revealed every last trump card at once.

“What a bunch of... lunatics...”

Watching the scene through his binoculars, the deputy director murmured with trembling lips.

With firepower like this, they could practically wage a small war. The thought that such a massive threat had been hidden within New York sent a chill down his spine.

Meanwhile, on the other side—

All the rockets reached Hulk and began exploding around him with thunderous booms, transforming the entire area into an endless sea of flame.

The surging fire spread in an instant. Hulk’s figure vanished completely amid the crimson blaze.

And then the ultimate weapon arrived “fashionably late.”

The enormous rocket struck Hulk’s body with pinpoint accuracy.

Then—

The explosion!

Boom—

A deafening roar, powerful enough to shake heaven and earth, erupted.

At that moment, every flame seemed to undergo sublimation. The immense blaze twisted into a raging vortex, growing ever more violent before surging skyward and forming a small mushroom cloud.

The wave of heat rushing toward them was so intense it nearly scorched the faces of everyone nearby. The cold firearms in their hands instantly became almost too hot to hold.

At that moment, all anyone could see was the blazing red of the fire. Nothing else existed.

“Is it over?”

The commander, seated inside the truck, stared at the sea of flames.

Then he pursed his lips bitterly.

Their employer had ordered them to capture the target alive.

Now, it seemed they had not even left a damn corpse behind.

After all, in a sea of fire like that, the temperature at its center had surely reached several thousand degrees.

But if anyone asked whether the commander regretted making that decision, the answer would certainly be no.

If they had not destroyed the monster there, they would likely have been the ones destroyed next.

He had no other choice.

Even if he had to face his employer’s fury upon returning.

But...

Fate seemed determined to toy with him.

From within the sea of flames, a charred figure slowly emerged.