The local tycoons weren't thinking of rebelling. They gave the mercenaries who remained in Hampton a huge sum of money, hoping they would help resist arrest.
However, because of the previously exposed crime evidence, any superhero with a conscience left. Those with a strong sense of justice even switched sides on the spot. Like Spider Man, he directly followed the evidence and pinned down several ringleaders. When S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived, they caught the whole lot in one fell swoop.
As for those with no moral baseline, if it were the Federal Bureau of Investigation coming, they might still try to bluff their way. But S.H.I.E.L.D. is professional; they have information on superpower users worldwide and have more than one squad of superpower users under their command. These heartless superpower users dare not go against them. Upon hearing S.H.I.E.L.D. was coming, they carried their belongings and fled overnight.
Three days before Christmas morning, the entire Hampton was surrounded by S.H.I.E.L.D. police cars. Even two sky carriers showed up. The nobles of the Shi'ar Empire trembled in their homes.
To no avail, The Avengers, New York Temple, Stark, and even Asgard had all arrived. With such a big scene, it seemed as though Earth wanted to venture out again.
However, they were not acting without aim because these people must have been prepared. Colluding with superheroes doesn't work, but colluding with something else might.
Steve stood on the sky carrier, looking down; Hampton was unusually quiet, as if the other side had already given up, ready to surrender. If it wasn't for certain messages from JARVIS, they would have thought these guys weren't planning any resistance.
"How is it?" JARVIS stood in the laboratory of the sky carrier, looking at Dr. Banner.
"The readings are rising," Dr. Banner said. "They have already started charging the weapons. It will be completed in about three minutes."
"Nick!" Stark shouted from the back, "Move that ship on the left back a bit. It's too dangerous in this position!"
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Nick said. "Anyway, that ship is already old enough to retire. If it gets scrapped here, so be it, I'll build a new one."
"How's Otto doing?" Dr. Banner asked, "Has the collector been placed?"
"It's already done." JARVIS glanced at the surveillance and then said, "Let The Avengers attack. Make sure to focus attacks on certain positions. Give them enough pressure so they will activate their weapons."
"The Avengers assemble!" Steve shouted. The superheroes leapt down, beginning their assault on the farthest villa in Hampton where everyone was hiding.
The villa had almost no security forces, and ordinary guards couldn't stand against The Avengers, who easily infiltrated. In the middle of the hall, a Kree Empire surface-to-air close-in weapon system was placed there, its barrel flickering with dangerous light.
"Stop!" a sharp female voice shouted, "Or I'll activate this thing and shoot your mother ship down. All of New York will be affected!"
Steve sized up the cannon. Having been a navigator for so long, he was quite knowledgeable about interstellar society. This wasn't a decommissioned civilian product, but a standard weapon currently equipped by the Kree Empire, absolutely not something ordinary people could acquire.
Supreme Wisdom. He thought to himself. The last time Supreme Wisdom got played hard by the human race, it hasn't recovered yet, seizing this chance for chaos.
He knew the woman was right. Any weapon from the Three Great Empires has immense power; if fully charged, a single strike could take down a sky carrier. Even in the best-case scenario, falling into the sea could trigger a small tsunami, a disaster for New York.
But unfortunately, Supreme Wisdom, while evolving, had long been left behind by JARVIS. Before he could do anything, JARVIS had already detected him. Now, Dr. Otto had already set up an energy collector device above the estate.
Otto's main research projects were miniature nuclear fusion generators and nuclear energy weapons. From the current technological level of the human race, nuclear fusion isn't the hard part, but miniaturization is. And miniaturizing the storage devices is of utmost importance.
The charging and storage devices Otto developed could be made extremely small. A collector about the size of an adult's palm could be thrown into the estate unnoticed. However, when activated, it could instantly drain most high-energy devices of their power, a potent weapon in itself.
With an overwhelming advantage, Steve couldn't be bothered to argue with them. "Your crimes have been disclosed, and any inappropriate actions henceforth will be deemed as resisting arrest, possibly affecting your sentencing. Those who don't wish to resist, clasp your hands over your head and squat down. I will ensure the jury is informed of your attitude."
Some people were obviously swayed, but they had been coerced by the radicals. Mrs. Avers shouted from the back, "No way, we must not be captured!"
The Avengers paid no attention to their words and charged directly forward, instantly causing a chorus of wails. One person gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and directly activated the near-defense cannon. Almost instantly, the muzzle emitted a dazzling light.
Then the light flickered and went out.
The moment the energy surged out, it was completely absorbed by the collectors. Otto wiped his sweat in the laboratory. This thing was indeed standard equipment; over sixty collectors deployed were all filled to capacity. The technological level of the Three Great Empires is indeed impressive.
Realizing the cannon they brought was a dud, they were completely desperate, collapsing to the ground, all captured by The Avengers.
New York State has already abolished the death penalty. But coincidentally, about three months ago, the Federal Government passed the "Earth Security Act," which includes a charge of "Endangering Earth Safety Espionage." Those who violate this law will be prosecuted by the Federal Government, which has not abolished the death penalty. Serious offenders prosecuted by the Federal Government may face the federal death penalty.
In other words, if this group hadn't activated the near-defense cannon, regardless of how large their previous crimes were, they would at most be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. But once the button is pressed, it's certain death.
Moreover, America now hardly uses injection for executions. Most executions by the Federation are done by neck-snapping, placing the individual in an execution cabin where a mechanical arm breaks the neck. It's quick and painless, but far more frightening than lethal injection.
The police cars deliberately stopped outside Hampton. As The Avengers escorted the suspects and put them onto the police cars, the crowd cheered. Many people cried.
Steve wasn't sure if he recognized some familiar faces among them. He thought he did. His peers might still be alive, and back then, Hampton had many young people like him who disappeared. Their siblings might still be searching for them.
Steve pondered and then said, "Call for more people. Let's turn this place upside down."
He initially held little hope because Hampton is by the sea, and the ocean can swallow everything. But it turns out, there are still a lot of foolish thieves in this world. Or rather, some people are just too arrogant. After committing murder, they simply threw the body in the cellar, unwilling to dig a pit elsewhere.
Initially, it was just The Avengers leading some SHIELD Agents working on it, but after the first body was discovered, the surrounding crowd joined in, especially residents from the southern Long Island, who also had many relatives missing in the north.
Next came superheroes from all over New York, who basically dropped their Christmas preparations and helped with the investigation in Hampton. Every brick, every blade of grass here was turned over.
To leave a good impression on the human race, Xiya Empire nobles also joined in. But their methods were more advanced, directly using scanners with X-ray vision, even digging out some deeply hidden bodies.
Even some bloodstains left decades ago were accurately scanned. For example, the corner where Sarah was violated, all traces were precisely scanned, even including some bodily fluids left by the perpetrator years ago. The police, based on this information, captured more people outside of Hampton.
Indeed, some people moved out after committing misdeeds here, and unlike the local people who stayed, they weren't captured. But the intervention by the Xiya Empire left them no place to hide, and they were eventually all captured.
In just two days, as many as 127 sets of remains were found, almost none of which died naturally. And this didn't include those thrown into the sea or beyond the range of biodegradation. The Crown of Christ, like the Thorn Crown worn by Jesus, was full of sin and drenched in blood.
This incident shocked the world. All global media rushed here to report, and many people came to identify relatives. In the end, more than 90 sets of remains were reunited with families. Pressured by public opinion, the Federal Government was finally prompted to act decently, planning to establish a victims' memorial hall in the Hampton Region.
With this incident, humans, especially those wealthy enough to afford properties here, might now find the place ominous, thinking it unlucky, or perhaps not wanting to be perceived as heartless rich people like those before. In short, property reached a stage where it had price but no market.
Property prices continued to fall, with Xiya Empire nobles delightfully picking up bargains. Moreover, other interstellar civilizations saw the opportunity to enter, swooping in to buy all the properties.
Their target consumers weren't humans, so they inevitably need to make modifications to the properties. However, as they couldn't bring their renovation equipment and materials, they used local people and materials, thereby providing many job opportunities. Before Christmas, Hampton was bustling with construction activities, with repairs everywhere.
On Christmas Eve, the children received their presents—then, unsurprisingly, played interstellar battles all night. Not only the children, but even the adults were clearly obsessed with these peculiar toys. As an old saying goes, they didn't have such conditions when they were young.
Playing straight till dawn, everyone was still not satisfied, thus agreeing to continue playing the next day. As the houses were too small to accommodate, they moved to the front yard's square to play, coincidentally meeting the visiting Xiya Empire nobles.
They naturally knew there lived a "Lord Hampton" here. After Greed opened Arkham Sanatorium and was thought to have the surname Arkham, he lost his real name again, referred only as "Mr. Hampton" or "Lord".