To be honest, the embroidered spring blade and flying fish robe were a bit too revealing; it was easy to guess that this toad was associated with the Dragon Kingdom.
But it didn't really matter. Westerners couldn't even tell the difference between East Asian faces, so how could they distinguish Eastern cultures?
"Hello, Toad Boss?"
Su Ye jumped up and greeted the Toad Boss, knowing that toads and frogs were said to have poor static vision. He was worried the toad might not see him otherwise.
The Toad Boss lowered his head, giving Su Ye a disdainful, kingly glance, and said with mild irritation, "Who are you?"
"I'm Su Ye, and my dad is Su Mutian," Su Ye quickly introduced himself, hoping his father's name would carry some weight.
Sure enough, upon hearing Su Mutian's name, the Toad Boss's expression softened considerably.
"Oh, so you're Xiao Tian's son! I even held you when you were little. Look at you now, all grown up and quite the handsome lad—much better looking than your dad was at your age, haha…"
Su Ye: "..."
So it wasn't just the appearance that got localized, even the personality? This neighborly old-grandpa vibe really hit close to home.
As the Toad Boss was chatting with Su Ye, he suddenly noticed a squad of Chitauri soldiers in the distance, flying towards them in formation on small aircraft.
Clearly, this sudden appearance of a giant toad was seen by them as Earth's reinforcements—an enemy to be eliminated.
From a distance, the Chitauri soldiers aimed their weapons, preparing to fire in unison.
But at that moment, a thick black shadow suddenly shot out from the Toad Boss's mouth. With a swift flick in the air, the dozen Chitauri soldiers vanished in an instant.
The Toad Boss closed his mouth, his cheeks bulging slightly, then spat, "Pah! Pah! What kind of bugs are these? So nasty!"
Hinata and Neji were already too stunned to speak, staring blankly at the Toad Boss, their little heads filled with question marks.
"What's with these guys? Is Earth in danger again?" the Toad Boss asked leisurely after spitting.
Su Ye keenly caught the keyword "again" and asked, "Toad Boss, when was the last time Earth was in danger? What kind of danger was it?"
The worldview of this universe was gradually being revealed as Su Ye unlocked more content. However, the problem was that no update notes were provided, leaving him to uncover and explore everything on his own.
The Toad Boss snorted, "Go ask your dad. I don't have time to explain."
After speaking, the Toad Boss squinted his eyes, staring at a Leviathan beast slowly flying toward them. A glimmer of light seemed to flash in his gaze as one hand rested on the hilt of his massive embroidered spring blade.
"These alien bastards, it's only been a decade, and they've already forgotten the beating they took on Earth. Looks like the last lesson wasn't harsh enough!"
The Toad Boss muttered as he locked his eyes on the approaching Leviathan beast. Tightening his grip on the blade's hilt, his eyes flashed, and he shouted,
"HahPtooey!"
Instantly, a hefty glob of aged phlegm was spat out, landing squarely on the head of the incoming Leviathan beast.
Su Ye immediately felt his inner urge to roast rise straight to his head.
You spent all that time building up momentum, and I thought you were going to draw your blade, but you spat instead?
Alright, just kidding—of course, it wasn't phlegm, but a ninjutsu technique.
Water Style: Iron Cannonball!
A massive water sphere, like a cannonball, smashed into the Leviathan beast's head, halting it in its tracks. However, its enormous body, driven by inertia, continued to move forward.
A cacophony of crunching sounds followed as the giant Leviathan beast compressed like an accordion, with its head crammed entirely into its own body.
After a thunderous wail, the Leviathan beast's entire body collapsed like a toppling mountain, crashing heavily onto the ground.
On the other side, the Toad Boss let out a dismissive snort, "Trash!"
"Xiao Yezi, you were too young back then to experience that great battle," the Toad Boss said, looking down at Su Ye. "But no worries. There are plenty of ugly beasts here now. Though they're weaker than the ones before, at least there's a good number of them."
"Come on, hop on Grandpa Wen's back. I'll show you what true battlefield domination looks like!"
The Toad Boss wore a look of righteous fury, as if he had a blood feud with the aliens. Seeing this, Su Ye couldn't bring himself to stop him, let alone admit that he had intentionally let the aliens in and even kept the doors open.
Judging by this, Su Ye felt that even though they were in America, the aliens wouldn't dare to harm the Dragon Kingdom. The Toad Boss wouldn't let them run rampant regardless.
Compared to that, being called "Xiao Yezi" or hearing the Toad Boss call himself "Grandpa" didn't seem like a big deal.
"Can I bring Hinata along? Her dad is Xiang Rizuo," Su Ye asked, looking up.
"Oh, that white-eyed kid's daughter? Sure, bring her along," the Toad Boss replied, sounding quite friendly towards Su Ye's father and his comrades.
Without further ado, Su Ye grabbed Hinata by the waist and leapt onto the Toad Boss's head.
Bang! Bang!
Two puffs of smoke erupted, and the two of them turned into little lumps squatting on the Toad Boss's head, surprisingly without any sense of incongruity.
The Toad Boss didn't mind and shouted, "Hold on tight!"
Then, with a mighty leap, he shot forward over a thousand meters.
Left behind, Neji suddenly felt he should've been under the bus, not here. After all, his dad also had white eyes and did the same things as his uncle. So why couldn't he ride on the Toad's head too?
Was it just because he was a guy?
Neji's sorrow was understandable, but no one cared.
Meanwhile, the two "lumps" were experiencing the thrill of a roller coaster ride.
After one big leap, the Toad Boss landed directly below a Leviathan beast. Gripping his blade's hilt, he swung fiercely, and a cold flash of light swept through the air.
Swish!
The blade's light swept by, and the massive Leviathan beast in the sky seemed unaware as it continued flying forward. But then, mid-flight, its body inexplicably split in two and crashed to the ground, crushing a tall building into rubble.
"Toad Boss is mighty and domineering!"
"Toad Boss, 666!"
Hearing the cheers from atop his head, the Toad Boss smiled faintly.
"This is just the beginning. When Grandpa says he'll go all out, did you think I was joking?"
Ignoring their cheers, the Toad Boss crouched slightly and leapt again, rocketing like a cannonball toward another distant Leviathan beast.
This time, the Leviathan beast was flying high, dozens of meters above the ground, out of reach of the blade. But the Toad Boss didn't care—he slashed down mid-air.
Boom!
The Leviathan beast was instantly cleaved in half, its massive halves crashing heavily onto the ground.
After landing from his kill, the Toad Boss didn't pause for a moment. He leapt again, charging toward another Leviathan beast.
Swing, land, jump, slash… and so it went, repeatedly.
With each leap, the Toad Boss struck, and every time, a Leviathan beast would be sliced and fall to the ground—without exception.
As his rampage continued, the military naturally took notice of his presence.
Having such a powerful ally who could swiftly clear out the alien invaders seemed like a good thing—yet some people didn't see it that way.
"What's with that giant toad? Why is it here?"
The speaker was a high-ranking military official. It was clear he wasn't pleased with the giant toad, and his words hinted at something else—he recognized it.
"Contact Lao Long immediately and find out what's going on. Who gave them permission to act here? We're in a state of war now, and they're interfering—what's their agenda?"
For the military, New York was already wrecked beyond repair. They could only grit their teeth and swallow the losses.
Still, setting aside the tangible losses, as long as they could independently and swiftly win this battle, they'd at least save face.
Externally, they could argue, "You're in no position to criticize. No one could have handled this better than we did."
The key was doing it independently and quickly.
But now, seeing the continuous flow of aliens, quick victory was off the table. All they had left was the hope of doing it independently.
Yet here was the same giant toad from a decade ago, long believed to be affiliated with the Dragon Kingdom.
Many recognized the giant toad, and with its active role, even if the battle ended immediately, much of the credit would likely go to the toad and the Dragon Kingdom forces behind it.
What's this? We lose a city, and Lao Long reaps all the glory?
Goddammit!
Over at the council, Alexander Pierce had already gotten involved.
Zheng Xian simply stated, "That toad isn't under our jurisdiction."