Looking at 2B's actions, the sniper curled his lip in a disdainful smile. To him, what she was doing was like trying to stop a chariot with a mantis's arm—utterly futile and destined to change nothing.
After all, no mere flesh-and-blood body could block a bullet at such close range. In his mind, even if 2B managed to press her palm against the muzzle of his gun, she would still die.
But what he never expected was that the instant he pulled the trigger, a sharp metallic clang rang out—and to his horror, he realized she had actually blocked the bullet with her bare hand.
"You seem surprised?" 2B said calmly. With a flick of her wrist, she exerted force again. In an instant, overwhelming power crushed the sniper's pistol into a crumpled ball of iron.
The sniper's face twisted in terror. He stumbled backward, staring at 2B as though she were a ghost.
Only moments earlier, he'd noticed something unsettling: the woman before him wasn't unharmed. A deep gash split the center of her palm—but through the wound, he glimpsed a gleaming metal skeleton beneath, cold and mechanical.
That meant the woman standing before him wasn't human at all. She was a robot—more precisely, an android.
The revelation shattered his worldview. Sure, Iron Man had appeared recently—but that was just Tony Stark in a high-tech suit. Powered armor wasn't unheard of; even Kingpin's enforcers, Scorpion and Prowler, used their own advanced exosuits. That kind of tech had existed for years.
But robots—especially ones this lifelike—were beyond anything this era should have been capable of. He'd never heard of any organization, government or otherwise, possessing the means to create such a realistic android. And yet here she was, with combat capabilities that defied belief.
Worse still, as far as he knew, this android was Loren Morgan's personal secretary. If that was true, then Loren Morgan—the man they'd dismissed as inconsequential—might command technology centuries ahead of its time.
He didn't know how it was possible, but if his suspicion was correct, this discovery would be earth-shattering. It could unravel every plan his entire organization had laid.
Realizing the stakes, he abandoned all thought of fighting 2B. Without hesitation, he spun around and leapt out the window.
He was on the thirtieth floor. A fall from that height would be fatal.
But he wouldn't have jumped if he didn't have a way out. True to form, the moment he cleared the windowsill, he whipped out a compact device that resembled a pistol. Instead of firing a bullet, it launched a grappling hook wrapped in ultra-strong synthetic thread. The hook embedded itself firmly into the wall of the adjacent building.
Using the tether, he swung through the air like Spider-Man, arcing gracefully toward the next rooftop.
Watching him flee, 2B allowed a faint, playful smile to cross her lips. She made no move to pursue him immediately. Instead, she activated the anti-gravity drone hovering beside her—and fired a crimson laser straight at the fleeing man.
The laser struck instantly, burning through the silk thread that supported the flying man in the blink of an eye.
"What the fuck—no!!" the man screamed as the thread snapped.
He plummeted from midair, slammed hard into the wall of the opposite building, then crashed to the ground. He looked utterly miserable.
Fortunately, he hadn't been very high up—only about ten meters—so he didn't die on impact. Even so, he couldn't get up for a while.
At that moment, 2B leapt from the rooftop without the slightest haste. As she descended, she drove the fingers of her right hand into the building's wall to control her fall.
Moments later, she landed steadily in front of him.
The man was in terrible shape. His expression twisted with pain—his leg appeared to be broken from the impact, which was why he couldn't rise.
But 2B didn't care. She showed no mercy. Instead, she stepped forward and kicked him hard.
The force sent him flying. He tumbled across the ground for over ten meters before coming to a stop.
"Weren't you jumping around so confidently just now?" 2B said coldly, staring down at the man as he gasped for breath. "Why aren't you moving anymore?"
She drew her katana and thrust it straight into his shoulder. The sudden agony contorted his face even further.
Yet what surprised 2B was that, despite his ferocious expression, the man never screamed. He gritted his teeth and bore the pain in silence. His willpower was truly impressive.
"You're quite tough," she said. "But unfortunately, you picked the wrong opponent. For someone like you, I'll grant a quick death. Tell me—who sent you?"
The man's lips curled into a faint sneer. Through the searing pain, he rasped, "Don't waste your time. I can't tell you… and I don't need you to kill me."
The moment he finished speaking, he bit down hard inside his mouth. Blood immediately began seeping from all seven orifices—he'd concealed a poison capsule, reserved for exactly this scenario: capture.
2B hadn't anticipated this. She recalled something her creator once told her: humans were the most complex creatures in existence.
Some were selfish; others, generous and righteous. Some were vicious and cruel; others, kind-hearted. Some feared death; others faced it without flinching.
If one were to rank the world's most complex beings, humans would sit firmly at the top.
This complexity, her creator explained, stemmed from their rich emotional systems—and something called a soul, which no other creature possessed.
Until now, 2B had never truly understood what that meant. But watching this man choose death over betrayal stirred something unfamiliar in her mechanical mind.
It was a subtle shift—like a seed taking root in sterile soil. What might grow from it, no one could say.
Seeing the man now dead before her, 2B's face darkened with regret. The mission had failed. She still hadn't uncovered the identity of the mastermind behind the attack.
But just as she turned to leave, she noticed a strange symbol tattooed on the back of his hand: a skull surrounded by six octopus-like tentacles.
She recognized it wasn't random. It had to belong to some organization.
She immediately connected to the network and ran a search. The result came back almost instantly.
"Hydra?"