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Ch. 23 Villainous Style
🕑 Added 2023-08-27 06:47:39 +0000 UTCThe Punisher knew Russell would come looking for him, but he never expected Russell to appear before him in this monstrous form.
When the intelligence personnel of the mainland hotel were tracking him, he knew that Russell would surely seek him out.
Not to mention, Russell had always been known in the underground world for his reputation of "settling debts."
In order to deal with Russell, the Punisher had done quite a bit of research.
However, he never anticipated that Russell would conceal two unknown abilities: the Bullet Curving technique and the monstrous form.
It's not fair to say he didn't prepare well in advance; even Russell himself hadn't anticipated acquiring the Bullet Curving technique so smoothly.
Having extracted all the firearms from his body using the black tendrils, Russell didn't immediately attack the Punisher. Instead, he stood his ground and beckoned with his finger.
The Punisher was undoubtedly going to die, but before ending his life, Russell intended to test his Bullet Curving technique against him.
Toying with an enemy in the midst of battle wasn't a good habit.
Whether in movies, TV shows, or anime, there were scenes where villains toyed with the protagonist.
These villains, who could have potentially won, ultimately became mere foils to the protagonists due to their arrogance and verbosity, ultimately leading to their demise.
Under normal circumstances, Russell wouldn't engage in such behavior during combat.
However, he didn't mind giving the Punisher a small opportunity to resist.
Seeing Russell's actions, a hardly noticeable trace of delight flickered across the Punisher's face.
Good!
The opponent was becoming arrogant!
Although the situation on the scene was still far from favorable, Russell's "arrogance" gave the Punisher a glimpse of opportunity.
He slowly got to his feet, retrieved the pistol he had discarded earlier, and produced his final flashbang.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The instant he drew the flashbang with his left hand, the Punisher fired three shots at Russell.
At the same moment he fired, Russell also opened fire.
Controlled by the black tendrils, the Glock 26, Glock 34, and AR-15 fired simultaneously.
Bullet Curving technique.
Simultaneously controlling three guns to execute the Bullet Curving technique, especially when one of them was an automatic rifle, was a new experience for Russell.
Although he wasn't using his own hands to perform the Bullet Curving technique, the black tendrils didn't disappoint.
The Brotherhood's signature skill, the Bullet Curving technique, was successfully executed by him.
The arcing bullets collided forcefully with the Punisher's bullets in mid-air, emitting a clanging sound before deflecting from each other.
The Punisher hadn't hoped to land a shot on Russell.
Upon discovering that Russell had mastered the Bullet Curving technique, he knew it was difficult to gain the upper hand in a gunfight.
Despite this, he persisted in shooting.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...
He frantically pulled the trigger, emptying the magazine in a matter of seconds.
At this point, Russell was still standing in place, continuously firing his pistols and rifles through the control of the black tendrils.
Executing the Bullet Curving technique with three guns simultaneously was indeed somewhat challenging.
But for him now, it was no problem.
The symbiote's enhancement wasn't just confined to his physical qualities; his neural reaction speed and precision of movement had also undergone a qualitative transformation.
Without these abilities advancing in tandem, he wouldn't be able to control the symbiote's capabilities solely through his own skills.
It should be noted that normal symbiotes possessed their own consciousness and soul.
The Venom symbiote's reward, ostensibly granting him all of Venom's possessed abilities, had also, to some extent, transformed him into a symbiote.
Simply put, he was Venom, and Venom was him.
Biologically speaking, he was still a human.
Yet he was a human integrated with the symbiote.
Aside from not possessing the ability to bond with others like a true symbiote and the ability to survive without a host, there wasn't much difference between him and other symbiotes.
Click!
The sound of an empty magazine came from the Punisher's side.
However, at this moment, the Punisher hurled a flashbang out.
Boom!
Just like the bullets that had been fired at him, the flashbang the Punisher threw was accurately hit by Russell.
A blinding light and a deafening noise erupted simultaneously.
The tremendous noise of the flashbang once again induced a minor stress response within the symbiote on Russell's body.
Dozens of uncontrollable black tendrils emerged, as if they were attempting to detach from his body.
Just like before, this stress response lasted less than a second before completely disappearing.
If the Punisher had been wearing protective eyewear, he might have been able to observe the stress response on Russell's body.
Unfortunately, he wasn't wearing any at the moment.
At the moment he threw the flashbang, he didn't hesitate; he turned and ran.
This action was partly to prevent the intense light of the flashbang from affecting him and partly to quickly return to the safehouse.
He now only had a dagger on him.
If he couldn't get back to the safehouse to retrieve other weapons, even if Russell displayed arrogance, the Punisher wouldn't stand a chance against him.
He had just experienced firsthand the terrifying power of Russell in his Venom form.
With a casual gesture, Russell had sent him flying helplessly more than ten meters away.
This level of physical strength was something he couldn't contend with.
The Punisher was swift; within just three to four seconds, he arrived at the door of the safehouse.
Bang!
Just as he was about to enter the safehouse, he suddenly lost control of his body, and a bullet pierced through his right leg.
Ignoring the intense pain in his right leg, the Punisher utilized the momentum to roll forward, directly rolling into the safehouse.
What the Punisher intended to do once in the safehouse was a question that could be answered without much thought.
However, Russell still didn't intend to kill him immediately.
Otherwise, his aim just now wouldn't have been at the Punisher's right leg but rather at his brain and heart.
When the Punisher's figure vanished from sight, Russell retracted the pistols and rifles controlled by the black tendrils into his body.
Then, he entered the room next to the Punisher's safehouse.
After entering the safehouse, the Punisher dragged his injured right leg, retrieved the most powerful weapon in the safehouse, and set up the Gatling machine gun.
This weapon had originally been prepared to wipe out the gangs.
Unexpectedly, he now had to use it against Russell.
As he endured the pain, he swiftly set up the Gatling machine gun and aimed it at the door of the safehouse.
An unexpected event occurred!
Bang!
A tremendous noise was heard as the wall next to him shattered.
A black figure, as if a tank, forcefully broke through the wall, crashing into him with overwhelming force.
The unexpected turn of events left him no time to redirect the muzzle of the Gatling machine gun.
Before he could do anything, the Punisher was pinned under Russell's foot on his chest, making intimate contact with the ground, and involuntarily spewing out a mouthful of blood.
