On the plaza, over a thousand American soldiers sat in the central area, eagerly watching.
Just a moment ago, Kyle and Steve were silently confronting each other, but in the next moment, they both explosively charged towards each other.
From the perspective of a third party, it seemed like only a blink of an eye, and they were already engaged in fierce close-quarters combat.
"Be careful." Realizing that he couldn't let Kyle seize the initiative to take action, Steve took the initiative to apply pressure.
As he approached the attack range, he gathered power in his left hand and lashed out toward Kyle's face like a whip.
'Hey, bro, don't hit people in the face!' Suppressing his desire to retort in his heart, Kyle reacted quickly, lifting his right arm without the Vibranium Bracer to block the strike.
"Bang!" The attack failed, and Steve bent his left leg backward, raising his knee in an angular shape.
He wanted to deny any opportunity for respite and relentlessly apply high-intensity offensive pressure to crush his opponent.
As if expecting it, Kyle raised his left leg and, with a delayed strike, kicked Steve's leg, which was about to collide with his abdomen, halting it precariously.
"Hmm?" Steve frowned, not expecting to be at a disadvantage so quickly due to the experience gap.
He gritted his teeth, not retreating but advancing, and continued to launch punches and kicks, engaging in close-quarters combat with Kyle.
"Bang, Bang, Bang!" Although it was just a game of fists and kicks, the powerful collision between them produced a resounding burst of force in the air!
"They truly are worthy of being Super Soldiers."
"So strong! Their punch could kill an ordinary person, right?"
"Cough, cough. Can everyone behind us take a step back? I'm getting a bit nervous now."
The soldiers in the crowd were dumbfounded, and the soldier sitting closest to the inner circle instinctively shifted his buttocks backward, fearing that the fight would affect them.
Kyle once again blocked a punch with his fist, although he was skilled, he was gradually starting to feel a bit breathless under the relentless onslaught.
This made Steve secretly delighted, feeling that his persistent offensive was paying off. However, in a moment of exchange, he suddenly saw a faint smile on Kyle's cold face.
He's actually smiling.
Cold sweat dripped down Steve's forehead. But at this point, they were already entangled in close-quarters combat and couldn't stop their ongoing attacks; they could only grit their teeth and continue until the end.
"You finally realized it, huh?"
Kyle maintained a smile at the corner of his mouth. Steve really understood him well, knowing that he excelled in offense compared to defense. So he had desperately strengthened his own offensive to prevent Kyle from launching an attack.
"Unfortunately, you don't understand that by doing so, you're giving up your natural defensive advantage." Kyle shook his head lightly, and the defensive posture of his hands and feet suddenly changed, transforming him from a defensive stance to an aggressive one—
Counterattack combat!
Endurance boxing!
Military boxing techniques! Grappling!
…
Kyle began to smoothly switch between over a dozen offensive combat moves and Steve's face turned pale, Kyle's fighting skills were changing too quickly.
In a last-ditch effort to switch from offense to defense, Steve was relentlessly struck by a series of punches and kicks, which made him unable to muster the strength to counterattack or defend.
"Let me show you what real offense looks like!" Kyle smiled with a cold expression on his face as he firmly suppressed Steve, and with a slight gust of wind, his punches struck mercilessly, leaving him no room for resistance.
Steve forced a bitter smile and found himself in a passive position, with his hands protecting his face, being treated unilaterally as a punching bag.
"What… what exactly happened?"
"Just a moment ago, Second Lieutenant Kyle was being suppressed, and now he's hanging Captain Steve up for a beating?"
"I don't understand either…"
The watching American soldiers erupted into a commotion and complex gazes fixed on the dramatic scene unfolding in the central area.
"Soldiers, this is what happens when you don't work hard to learn fighting skills." A voice came from outside the crowd of soldiers, and some turned to see Second Lieutenant Joseph, dressed in military uniform, who had somehow become part of the audience.
Joseph watched the two fighters while speaking, "Steve's fighting skills are far inferior to Kyle's— if Steve has about five fighting skills, then Kyle already has fifteen."
At this point, Joseph couldn't help but laugh and admit, "This kid truly is a monster among monsters!"
"Get up!"
In the central area, Kyle threw a straight punch with all his strength that cleanly and decisively hit Steve's abdomen, sending him flying.
Steve let out a pained grunt as his shield, scraping the ground, slid beneath him until it barely came to a stop among the surrounding soldiers.
"Admit defeat, Steve. There's still a significant gap between us, and if you were an enemy, you would be dead in less than fifty rounds." Kyle spoke coldly while panting heavily, his gaze fixed on the fallen Steve.
Physically, the two of them were evenly matched.
But even though Kyle couldn't use excessively lethal techniques, his strength still overwhelmed Steve. As Joseph had said, their combat skills were worlds apart!
Steve knew the fighting skills that Kyle knew, but the reverse wasn't necessarily true.
Of course, it wasn't Steve's fault. Even with his ability to learn quickly, he still needed to rely on a great deal of energy to study and master them, along with practical combat experience.
Kyle, on the other hand, was different. There was no need for him to study them; he simply utilized Card Extracting Ability. It was a bit like the feeling of helplessness when an ordinary member encountered a player who was using cheats in an online game.
"I haven't…," Steve struggled to get up from the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. With determination, he said, "I haven't given up yet. I can keep fighting like this for another day!"
"Suit yourself." Kyle shrugged and was about to continue his attack when Steve's next move caused him to reveal a slightly surprised expression.
It turned out that Steve had strapped his Adamantium Shield onto his left hand.
"That's more like it; otherwise, it would be too boring." Kyle smiled and suddenly burst forward with increased speed.
This time, Steve didn't charge head-on but calmly lifted his shield, watching as Kyle charged toward him. Suddenly, he swung his left hand forward with force, launching the shield as a ranged projectile—
He had actually used the shield as a throwing weapon!
Kyle's pupils contracted as he watched the shield approaching him. He quickly raised his right fist to collide with it.
While he managed to block the shield, with a sharp sound, the shield, resembling a boomerang, folded back in its original direction.
"Oh no, this shield—"
Kyle realized what was happening and tried to retreat. But it was too late; Steve had already leaped towards him from above, catching the returning shield with his left hand and bringing it crashing down from above.
In a hurry, Kyle could only use his elbow to strike the shield, but the force of the blow was completely absorbed.
At the same time, Steve's shield strike continued forcefully, instantly pushing Kyle's body down, and forcing him to kneel on one knee to support himself. Even the compacted earth beneath him formed a noticeable depression.
This was the first time Kyle faced the properties of the Adamantium Shield, and he suffered a major setback.
The vibranium component of the shield seemed to completely absorb any kinetic energy! As long as an attack landed on the shield's surface, it would be forced to MISS!
(End of this chapter)