The Comprehensive Evolution of American Comics

"Boom!"

Like a muffled thunderclap, the Gaboon viper recoiled from Yang Le's powerful punch, which sent stars spinning before its eyes and a wave of nausea surging through it.

The enormous beast stumbled backward uncontrollably. If the Gaboon viper were to fall completely, the entire factory would be crushed into ruins, potentially killing the king cobra and others inside in a friendly fire incident.

Unfortunately, things are never that simple. A semi-transparent, dark green barrier suddenly appeared behind the Gaboon viper, propping it up and preventing the collapse of the building.

Although he didn't manage to take down all the top leaders of the Poisonous Snake Gang at once, the battle between the two behemoths clearly frightened the others within the gang's headquarters. While some of these individuals possessed superhuman abilities, they couldn't even think about interfering in the current fight; even running away seemed like a luxury.

People began to scatter in all directions. Whether they were guards, thugs, civilians, or slaves, everyone had only one thought: to escape before being caught up in the battle, or their lives might be put on hold today.

The Poisonous Snake Gang's leaders couldn't be bothered with these ordinary people at the moment. Anyway, these peasants couldn't escape the enclosed confines of New York. They could always be rounded up after dealing with the formidable enemy before them.

"Rumble!"

The green barrier expanded, pushing the Gaboon viper aside and completely destroying the already dilapidated factory.

With the view now clear, the king cobra looked around, unable to remain calm. It was impossible not to be angry; everything here had been painstakingly built by him. Although it couldn't compare to larger organizations, it was still the result of his hard work.

Grasping the snake staff tightly, as if to emphasize its master's anger, the seven snake eyes on the staff glowed with an eerie light once more.

"Forget everything else," the king cobra said coldly. "All of you, attack and take down that intruder!"

At their leader's command, except for the black mamba, who was still receiving power, the remaining snakes revealed their true forms and charged toward Yang Le. Even though their opponent was half a head taller than them, it wasn't enough to instill fear.

As before, high-speed streams of water, foul-smelling venom, and irritating noise—the three snakes with ranged attacks launched their assaults first, while the copperhead, with only close-combat skills, lagged behind but was even more courageous than before.

However, these attacks were mere child's play to the Martian Manhunter, who was now displaying his true power.

Compressed water cannons capable of shattering rocks were perfect for showering; Yang Le understood the composition of the metal-infused poison the moment he came into contact with it and manipulated his cells to produce antibodies; the noise was still ineffective since Yang Le hadn't restored his hearing.

He used his left fist to hammer the charging copperhead into the dirt like a nail. The Gaboon viper, who was late due to dizziness, was swiftly grabbed by the neck.

Yang Le transformed his right hand into a shackle, tightly locking the Gaboon viper's neck to prevent it from escaping. The latter, with its serpentine traits, retaliated by wrapping its tail around the former's arm that was holding its neck.

Feeling the constricting pressure on its neck, the Gaboon viper tightened its tail, constriction being one of the snakes' strongest weapons. It wanted to use this skill to restrain Yang Le, giving its companions a chance to attack.

The other snakes didn't disappoint the Gaboon viper. Except for the copperhead, who couldn't pull itself out, they all launched another attack.

The water moccasin continuously sprayed water, which, while not harming Yang Le, could at least hinder him.

The bushmaster, like a true python, slithered close to the ground toward Yang Le, revealing the fangs on its hands as it approached.

Since the sprayed venom had no effect, it would inject the venom directly into the enemy's body. That was the bushmaster's plan.

It didn't believe that anything could truly resist its venom. The bushmaster attributed its previous failure to Yang Le having skin similar to the copperhead's. Its venom hadn't worked because it was blocked by the tough skin.

Once injected into the body, the battle would be over.

With this thought, the bushmaster, wearing a manic grin, raised its hands high and swung them down fiercely as it finally reached Yang Le.

"Crack!"

Two crisp sounds rang out almost simultaneously. Two snow-white fangs, with traces of venom, fell from the air. The irregular cross-section indicated that they had been brutally broken off by some external force.

"My fangs!" the bushmaster cried out, partly from the pain—after all, the fangs were connected to its body, like its organs, so it was impossible not to hurt when they were broken—

and partly from heartache. It usually took great care of these fangs. In the resource-scarce wasteland, the toothpaste it had stolen was never used to brush the teeth in its mouth but was all used on these fangs.

But no matter how much it grieved, the fangs were broken. And now, in the midst of battle, Yang Le had no time to listen to its nonsense, even if it couldn't hear sounds.

"Boom!"

Using his free right fist, the bushmaster, still standing there in a daze, followed in the copperhead's footsteps. However, it didn't have its good buddy's tough scales. This punch was enough to render it unable to fight.

Solving two and controlling one in the blink of an eye, Yang Le scanned the other Poisonous Snake Gang members present. The water moccasin's attacks couldn't harm the Martian Manhunter's powerful body, and the rattlesnake's attacks were useless.

Now, the only one to worry about was the king cobra with the snake staff. Who knew what tricks that staff could pull.

"Ugh…"

The Gaboon viper's face had turned purplish-brown. Even the full-coverage scales couldn't hide it. It no longer had the strength to continue wrapping Yang Le's arm. Its tail gradually loosened and eventually lost consciousness.

Releasing the fainted Gaboon viper, now there were only three left to deal with. Yang Le thought he should probably go a little easier. These people were indeed the best nourishment for the growth of young heroes.

It was just a pity that he had been discovered. Otherwise, he really hadn't wanted to fight. It was all the fault of that snake staff for discovering him.

"Alright," Yang Le's eight crimson eyes locked onto the remaining snakes. His voice, amplified by his increased size, was even louder, like thunder in clear sky, rumbling.

"Who wants to be next, or you can hand over that snake staff and I can let you go."