New York, Manhattan.
Steve and Sam took an overnight flight to New York, barely even having time to catch their breath, with no time to rest in between.
According to the clues they had tracked down, after Fury disappeared, he had not appeared in any other location, so he most likely had not left and was still in Hell's Kitchen, New York.
Coincidentally.
Hell's Kitchen was also in Manhattan.
When mentioning Manhattan, one had to mention Hell's Kitchen. It was practically a famous sacred check-in spot for transmigrators in the Marvel Universe.
Basically, every once in a while, someone would take turns farming it once, making it equivalent to a famous experience dungeon.
Steve had long heard of Hell's Kitchen's notorious reputation, but he absolutely had not expected that he would actually run into his lifelong best friend in this awful place.
The matter had to start from a few minutes ago.
Steve and Sam arrived at Hell's Kitchen, and the two split up to investigate Fury's whereabouts.
Coincidentally, at this time, he received a message from S.H.I.E.L.D., sent by Sharon Carter.
Sharon was Peggy Carter's niece, so Steve still trusted her quite a bit, and immediately answered the communication without thinking.
The other side told him one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
The good news was: S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters had been destroyed, and most of Hydra's undercover agents had been successfully arrested and detained.
The bad news was: Alexander Pierce had escaped, and two Helicarriers had already taken off, their current whereabouts unknown.
Hearing these two pieces of news, Steve was somewhat stunned for a moment, not knowing which one counted as good news and which one counted as bad news.
However, next, Sharon said she was restarting the Eye System, hoping that he could find a computer on his side and then transmit the search results over.
So Steve found a café, borrowed a laptop from a passerby, communicated with Sharon about the situation while waiting for the search results to finish transmitting.
As a result, before he had even waited a few minutes, he looked up and saw a familiar back.
That person was dressed almost the same as him, also wearing a black baseball cap, wearing a black leather jacket, both hands stuffed into the jacket pockets, deliberately keeping his head lowered to avoid being seen. He looked sneaky, clearly very different from ordinary passersby.
If he were only acting sneaky, Steve actually would not have bothered with him at all. After all, in Hell's Kitchen, there were simply too many people like that.
But the problem was...
That person unintentionally glanced back, revealing the face beneath the baseball cap, and it just happened to be seen by Steve, who was watching him.
As the saying went:
Having searched for him a thousand times in the crowd, suddenly turning back, that person was there, where the lantern lights were dim.
That was roughly the thoughts in the hearts of these two old friends reuniting after a long separation at this very moment.
Although he had changed a lot, Steve still recognized that face immediately. It was precisely his lifelong best friend... Bucky Barnes!
"Bucky?!"
This was the second time he had seen Bucky, but unlike the nighttime environment last time, Steve saw him quite clearly this time. His entire person instantly froze for a moment, and his pale blue pupils contracted slightly.
Across the street, Bucky also saw Steve. While stormy waves surged in his heart, he could not help cursing his bad luck inwardly.
In theory, he should have died long ago and absolutely should not have appeared here. If Steve discovered him, and it happened to alert Hive, then their entire plan would be finished!
Besides, more importantly.
He did not know what kind of mindset he should use to face Steve Rogers.
Run!
This thought flashed through Bucky's mind, and almost without the slightest hesitation, he turned and darted into a narrow alley.
"Wait... wait!"
Steve came back to his senses. Seeing Bucky trying to escape, he could not care about the data being transmitted, grabbed the laptop, and chased after him.
Although the traffic on the street was not dense, the number of cars was definitely not small. But Steve acted as if he saw nothing, directly crossing the entire road. With both legs running at full power, he chased Bucky into that alley.
"Wait, my laptop!" Seeing this scene, the laptop's owner thought he had run into a robber and cursed loudly, wanting to cry but having no tears.
"Bucky, stop!"
Steve pursued him relentlessly. Relying on his powerful physical ability, he gradually shortened the distance.
"Damn it... he runs so fast!"
Bucky looked back at Steve, who was getting closer and closer, and could not help complaining inwardly, "He used to be like a sickly invalid, gasping to death after running a hundred meters. Now he's like a damn beast!"
But talk was talk. He had no intention of being caught by Steve here.
Sorry... Steve!
Bucky silently apologized in his heart. At the same time that he stopped, twisted his waist, and turned around, he put a metal knuckle duster on his right hand, prayed to Lady Luck, then opened his stance and suddenly punched out.
The motion of the punch was very wide, and he deliberately left time to react, giving Steve enough time to place the shield in front of him.
Clang!
Only a loud metallic sound was heard, shaking the surrounding air into ripples. A violent force like a mountain flood bursting forth poured onto the vibranium shield.
This was... a shockwave?!
Noticing that intense vibration, Steve lost focus for a moment and was actually sent flying seven or eight meters away together with his shield, landing in a pile of garbage.
Without even looking back, Bucky strode forward and kicked off several times, using the narrow walls on both sides to agilely climb onto the rooftop, then disappeared from sight after several jumps and turns.
Steve performed a kip-up and flipped directly out of the garbage pile. Not caring about the stench coming from his body, he quickly contacted his teammate. "Sam, I found Bucky. Hurry and help me stop him!"
"No problem, leave it to me!" Sam did not ask further and directly replied, "Send me his coordinates. I'll lock onto him from the sky!"
Steve copied him as best he could, kicked off the wall, and followed up. After discovering Bucky, who was fleeing, he quickly reported the corresponding coordinates.
"Received. Leave it to me!"
Sam replied with full confidence.
Steve continued sprinting across the rooftops, closely biting onto Bucky and refusing to let go. The distance between the two was once again shortened.
"Tsk, I went too easy!"
Bucky soon discovered that Steve was still following behind him, and sighed helplessly. "If I'd known this would happen, I should have hit harder."
He had been worried about injuring Steve, so that punch had used clever force. In the end, he had not expected that he had lifted a stone only to drop it on his own foot.
Just as he was thinking wildly, a shadow swooped down rapidly from the sky, as sharp as an eagle pouncing on prey. The fierce wind scraped painfully against his cheeks.
Bucky hurriedly looked up, only to see a black man with both arms spread and metal wings behind him, sticking out two big feet, kicking toward his handsome face.
Who the hell could tolerate this?!
I still plan to rely on this face to pick up girls in the future. How could I let your stinking feet kick it?
Bucky dodged Sam's front kick with a flash, then grabbed his ankle with a backhand, swung his arm in a full circle, and threw him to the side.
Bang!
Before Sam could even struggle free, he was flung out like a broken sack. His forehead hit the hard wall, and he almost suffered a concussion, his ears buzzing loudly.
However, he was not completely without achievement. At least after this delay, Bucky was targeted by Steve.
Steve leapt down from the rooftop, twisted his waist and turned in midair, pinched the edge of the shield with one hand, borrowed the centrifugal force brought by the rotation, and forcefully threw the shield toward Bucky.
Whoosh—
The round shield was like an iron discus, making a sharp, mournful whistling sound as it cut through the air.
Bucky had no time to dodge at this moment and could only brace himself to take it head-on. He raised his hand, spiritual power gathering in his palm, and forcibly grabbed the flying shield.
Clang!
The shield stopped steadily.
Steve's eyes were complicated. He walked over with heavy steps and said in a tone that was both disappointed and joyful, "Long time no see, Bucky."
"Indeed... it has been a long time."
Bucky sighed softly. "If I haven't miscalculated, counting from the Siberian plains, it should be seventy-one years."