American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

Clint glanced at the two people in the back seat through the rearview mirror as he drove.

"So, our plan is to storm one of the sportswear gang's hideouts?"

"This is the information Jack sent."

Kate held her phone, the screen displaying a detailed map and several profiles of people.

"He said this location is one of the most frequent trading spots for the sportswear gang recently, located in an old toy warehouse in the Bronx."

She turned her phone screen toward Clint.

"He also found out about Maya Lopez, who was at this location last night and knows the location of her office. It's very likely she's still here today."

Clint chuckled.

"A bunch of grown-up babies, they really know how to find places to go. Choosing to have a fight in a toy warehouse, how childlike!"

"Does your stepfather have any more useful information? Like the layout of this toy warehouse, or the distribution of the security system?"

"there is none left."

Kate shook her head, looking somewhat dejected.

"Jack said this was the limit. These Russians are very xenophobic, and it's very difficult for outsiders to infiltrate them. The fact that he was able to find this out is the result of him pulling strings through several layers of connections."

"As expected."

Clint was not surprised.

He parked the car in a back alley two blocks away from the target warehouse and turned off the engine.

He took two black earphones from under his seat and tossed one to Kate.

"Well then, rookie, welcome to your first practical assessment. Now, you tell me, how do we get in?"

Kate was taken aback, not expecting Clint to actually hand over command to her.

She took a deep breath, trying to look as professional as possible, took the headphones, put them on, and lowered her voice: "We can sneak in through the fire escape at the back. I saw it on the map just now, we can go there!"

"mistake."

"A fire escape is a key defensive point that any entry-level criminal would consider; there would be at least two shotguns waiting for you there. Do you think these guys are so stupid they wouldn't think of that?"

Kate blushed.

"Shall we pretend to be pizza deliverymen?"

"Even more ridiculous. Have you ever seen a pizza delivery driver driving a bulletproof van?"

Clint's witty remarks are getting sharper and sharper.

"The moment we get out of the car, we'll be targeted by a sniper hiding on the rooftop within five seconds."

Kate felt utterly defeated after her two proposals were rejected. She felt like a clueless idiot in front of her idol.

Just then, Xiu En spoke up.

"Why make it so complicated?"

Xiu En studied a hot dog stand outside the car window with curiosity; the vendor had just squeezed too much mustard onto the sausages.

He turned his head, his golden eyes filled with genuine confusion.

"Where I live, if you want to eat a creature that lives in a cave, you only need to do one thing."

"What is it?"

Kate asked instinctively.

"Just eat the cave along with him, someone will cover for us!"

"..."

"..."

"but……"

Xiu En seemed to be seriously considering a feasible solution.

"Considering your fragility and the high precision required for cooking your food, perhaps we could try a different approach. For example, how about we smoke this cave first?"

Before Clint and Kate could react, he had barely finished speaking when they saw a golden light appear on Hugh's fingertips.

Immediately afterwards, two blocks away, in the underground ventilation system ducts of the toy warehouse, an inconspicuous rag was ignited by the high temperature.

The temperature was just right—enough to ignite the fabric without triggering the smoke alarm.

The small flame quickly ignited the grease and grime that had accumulated inside the pipes for decades.

Black smoke began to pour into the basement of the toy warehouse through the only ventilation opening...

That place was where the gang's casino and lounge were located.

"Damn it! What's that smell?!"

In the basement, a burly, bearded man who was dominating the gambling table suddenly wrinkled his nose.

"It looks like... something's burnt?"

Another guy who was wiping his gun also looked up.

Soon, everyone in the basement started to stir.

The choking black smoke was everywhere, making their eyes water and causing them to cough incessantly.

"Is there an electrical fire? Go check it out, Bro!"

A man who seemed to be the leader shouted loudly.

Throughout the gang's hideout, some people went to turn off the power, some carried fire extinguishers and sprayed them everywhere, and others cursed and opened the emergency exits that should have been locked, trying to let the air circulate.

In the car in the back alley, Xiu En clapped his hands as if he had accomplished a trivial task, his face even showing an expression seeking praise.

"Alright, now your biggest problem is that all those gamblers and thugs in the basement who were on steroids have turned into a bunch of blind people who can't even tell which way is which from the smell. And, to make matters worse, they've even opened the front door for you."

Clint and Kate stared at him in disbelief.

This works?!

This works?!

This is magic!

"Right now, the sniper is probably distracted by what's going on down below. You have a few minutes to stroll right in through the front door and find the room you're looking for called Maya."

Xiu En shrugged, his face beaming with a look that said, "Praise me!"

The two clearly didn't understand Xiu En's expression.

But Ivy understood.

"Great job, Shum!"

"Using minimal energy consumption to create maximum chaos. This perfectly aligns with the environmental protection principles of energy conservation and emission reduction!"

Xiu En seemed very pleased to be praised by Sunflower.

Clint felt he was at a loss for words.

"Walk!"

Finally, he opened the car door first and rushed into the night. Kate followed closely behind, both nervous and excited.

The entire operation went incredibly smoothly.

The three encountered almost no resistance as they passed through the chaotic first-floor lobby, easily avoiding several coughing gangsters, and arrived directly at an office on the second floor.

A childish teddy bear sign hung on the office door, but the door itself was a blast-proof steel door.

According to Jack's records, this was the Maya's private office.

Clint gestured to Kate, signaling her to be on alert.

Then he pulled out a set of miniature electronic lock-picking tools from his pocket, ready to crack the lock.

Xiu En glanced at the complicated lock cylinder.

"Do you need me to melt it for you? I guarantee the molten iron will have a very nice shape."

"No, thank you."

Clint refused without hesitation.

His hands moved swiftly, several slender probes flying up and down inside the keyhole.

In less than ten seconds, the blast door was opened.

Clint kicked the door open and rushed inside, already holding a tranquilizer gun in his hand.

Kate also drew her bow and aimed inside.

However, the office was empty.

The room was very clean, and there was a cup of coffee that was still warm on the table.

Several unique oil paintings hang on the wall.

Everything seemed perfectly normal, so normal it was almost unsettling.

Clint's pupils contracted: "Something's wrong! Retreat!"

Before he could finish speaking, several floorboards along the office wall suddenly flipped open, revealing dark gun barrels underneath. They were pre-set automatic shotgun traps!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Countless steel balls mixed with flames formed an impenetrable barrage of death in the cramped office, completely sealing off all escape routes for the two!

Just as the barrage of death was about to tear the entire office to shreds.

Clint made the only right choice.

"Kate! Hold me tight!"

He grabbed the terrified girl beside him and shattered the floor-to-ceiling window on the other side of the office with his back!

"Splash—!"

Glass shards flew outwards like a torrential rain.

The two, accompanied by countless shards of glass, plummeted from a height of over sixty meters down to the street below.

Behind them, the relentless roar and flash of automatic shotguns filled the air.

The fear of weightlessness made Kate scream, but she still believed in the man who had saved her from danger more than once.

Clint twisted his body forcefully in mid-air, protecting Kate's head with his left hand while drawing an arrow with a special metal arrowhead from the quiver on his back with his right hand.

Aim, fire!

All the movements were completed in one go in less than 0.5 seconds!

"call out--!"

A grappling hook arrow was fired and embedded itself in the concrete wall of the building across the street!

The next second, the cable suddenly tightened!

The pulling force slowed their descent.

The toy warehouse they had just left was now filled with chaotic gunfire and Russian curses. Gangsters, emerging from the thick smoke, were peering out of the windows and firing at their figures in mid-air.

"pay close attention!"

Clint growled, using his waist and core strength to smash Kate through another window and roll into an empty office in the building across the street.

The two had barely landed and hadn't even had a chance to catch their breath when a hail of bullets came hurtling towards them, sending stone chips flying from the wall behind them.

"A beautiful hook! Professional! Just a bit messy though."

Shuen hovered beside him, giving a serious post-match critique of Clint's series of incredible maneuvers.

"Can you shut up?!"

Clint grabbed Kate, kicked open the office door, and sprinted toward the fire escape.

They needed to leave the building as soon as possible, get back to the ground, and blend into the crowd.

The sound of their footsteps echoed in the stairwell.

Clint could feel that as his adrenaline surged and he teetered between life and death, the icy killing intent that belonged to a ronin within him was slowly reviving.

His senses became incredibly sharp, his every movement became highly efficient, and his brain was calculating the optimal route.

Beside him, Xiu En's eyes gleamed with pleasure.

"Oh, this is it, this is the taste!"

He excitedly muttered to himself.

"The flame of my obsession has reignited! It's growing stronger and brighter! Like a piece of fine Wagyu beef sizzling on a hot iron plate! It's fantastic!"

He could see an aura, invisible to mortals, rising from Clint's body, an aura filled with unwavering protection and indomitable will.

This is the real treasure!

"Hold on! Yes! Just like that!"

Shuen excitedly floated over to Clint, even reaching out to pat him on the shoulder, and exclaimed, "Keep this up, your future is limitless! You'll become the greatest bow ever!"

This was accompanied by a warm and enthusiastic praise.

Clint's fighting spirit and killing intent, which had just reached their peak, came to an abrupt halt.

The grayish-white aura of obsession withered away, like a frightened little animal, and shrunk back into Clint's body in a flash, never to be felt again.

Clint stopped in his tracks. He stood at the corner of the stairwell, panting heavily, his eyes filled with helplessness.

That invincible aura he had just displayed vanished inexplicably.

"..."

Xiu En was also stunned and stood there.

He remained in that admiring pose, his expression filled with a bewilderment even more powerless than Clint's.

"what?"

He looked at his hands, which seemed to have done nothing, with a puzzled expression.

"How did it go out?"

"Fool!"

Xiu En turned his head blankly and looked at the sunflower on his shoulder.

The sunflower had already covered its flower head with two emerald green leaves, trying not to laugh, as if to say: Don't look at me, I don't know anything, and I don't know this idiot next to me.

"Bang!"

Just then, the door to the fire escape was kicked open, and two burly men in sportswear rushed in, grinning as they pointed their guns at the three still stunned people.

This moment of crisis actually helped Clint regain his rhythm.

His body had already begun to move.

With a swift shove of his left hand, he pushed Kate to a safe corner, while his right hand deftly pulled a spare training arrow from his leg sheath.

With a flick of his wrist, the arrow flew out of his hand and struck the glass of a fire hydrant on the wall at the corner of the stairs!

The glass shattered with a crash, and the red alarm emitted a piercing shriek!

Without even looking at the result, Clint ducked and rolled to dodge the first wave of bullets. At the same time, he hooked a discarded fire extinguisher canister on the ground with his toe and threw it at the two burly gangsters!

One of the burly men instinctively raised his hand to block, revealing a huge opening.

Kate reacted the instant she was pushed away. She drew her bow and, without any hesitation, shot an arrow!

The arrow struck the burly man's wrist, the impact causing him to lose his grip on his weapon, and the AK47 flew out of his hand.

Clint had already rushed in front of the two men, and before the second burly man could turn his gun around, he delivered an elbow strike to the man's jaw!

The burly man, weighing over two hundred pounds, rolled his eyes and collapsed limply to the ground.

Almost simultaneously, the powerful water pressure from the fire hydrant gushed out, and the icy water jet swept through the entire stairwell, completely extinguishing the gang's attempt to rush up.

Clint snatched the AK-47 that had fallen into mid-air, changed the magazine with one hand, and unleashed a barrage of merciless fire at the stairwell below, completely suppressing the firepower there.

Xiu En stood in mid-air with his mouth agape.

I really want to say "Well done!"

But he was also afraid that if he spoke up, Clint might not even be able to find a fire extinguisher.

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