Chapter 377: Morgan, the Muscular Barbie
"Holy—what the heck?!"
Allen stared in disbelief at Morgan standing before him.
Around them, everyone else was equally stunned.
"Grandpa Allen, I feel like I'm bursting with strength!"
Morgan was clearly pleased with her transformation.
The once sweet, petite little girl had turned into a towering, two-meter-tall Muscular Barbie, bulging with thick veins and defined muscles.
Her head, however, remained the same—still her cute little self—creating a jarring contrast that made her look hilariously like Nezha from Ten Thousand Cold Jokes.
Wearing a tight athletic outfit, her chiseled physique was on full display. Even professional bodybuilders would feel deeply inadequate next to her.
In truth, Allen had modeled Morgan's transformation after Shazam's. Her powers stemmed from the Hall of the Gods—akin to receiving divine blessings.
The transformation medium was the Silence Staff.
From now on, all Morgan had to do was raise a toilet plunger and shout "Saipan!" to transform into a muscle-bound powerhouse.
Ahem.
Allen cleared his throat, slightly awkward. "Morgan, discovering how to use your powers is up to you. Grandpa's done all he can."
"Okay, Grandpa."
Morgan turned to face a squad of Extremis soldiers, clenched her fists, and the veins on her hands bulged like worms writhing under her skin. She shouted, "Superhero Shark Knight will now punish the bad guys!"
Boom!
With one step, she shot off like a cannonball.
Allen winced.
Stark Industries' precious little princess had somehow turned into a walking slab of muscle. He couldn't even begin to imagine what expressions Tony and Pepper would have upon seeing this.
"Maybe I should just... quietly disappear."
Allen mumbled, dreading the possibility of Tony and Pepper chasing him down in armor across the globe.
At that moment, Morgan was proving overwhelmingly powerful. Despite her lack of combat training—understandable for a six-year-old—the divine blessings of 366 Celestial Gods gave her a near-invincible body. She didn't even flinch from a beating.
"Morgan, throw them into the pit!"
"Okay!"
Following Allen's command, Morgan casually picked up two Extremis soldiers and tossed them into the pit.
The four who tried to flee didn't stand a chance—she caught up in seconds, lifted them with ease, and tossed them in one after another.
Moments later, the fight was over.
The pit was packed with writhing bodies, like a basin of loaches, all trying to escape. But thanks to the lubricant coating them, they just kept slipping and sliding, unable to climb out.
"If you've got guts, let us out and fight fair!"
Jack roared in fury. "Cheap tricks don't make you a hero!"
"You've got a point."
Allen nodded earnestly and said calmly, "But I never claimed to be a hero."
"..."
The armed robbers and Extremis soldiers were momentarily speechless.
Indeed—Allen had only ever pretended to be a superhero. He never truly saw himself as one, so he was never bound by any heroic moral codes.
Then, Allen dragged out a metal case hidden in the jungle and rummaged through it, pulling out two Super Soakers.
"Morgan, time to punish them."
With one soaker each, they pumped up the pressure and filled them with lubricant.
Perched at the edge of the pit, the pair gleefully sprayed the crowd below with sticky, slimy jets.
"Shoot their faces!"
Allen grinned wickedly, gums showing. "Let them taste some good old face shots!"
"Bad guys, take this face shot!"
Pft-pft!
The Super Soakers blasted thick streams of lube. The prisoners in the pit, helpless to fight back, could only raise their arms to shield their faces.
The humiliation was unbearable.
They'd rather have been beaten properly.
Eventually, the assault ended.
"Little Morgan, wait for me by the beach. We'll go dolphin hunting afterward."
"Yay! Dolphins!"
Overjoyed, Morgan skipped off, disappearing with a few bounding strides.
Allen tossed the Super Soakers back into the metal case, opened a portal, and casually kicked it back to Arkham Fortress.
"What are you doing?!"
The pit's occupants watched in horror as Allen unzipped his pants.
"Stop! That's enough!"
"You bastard, I won't forgive you!"
"Damn it, I swear I'll get revenge—urp…"
"..."
37.5°C warm liquid drizzled down onto their heads—something they would never forget.
He didn't just soak their faces with lube—he peed on them too.
Absolutely degrading.
These people had money, power, and were part of a major villainous organization—and yet this was their fate.
"Ahh... that felt good."
Allen gave a shiver of satisfaction as he zipped up, then arrogantly declared, "A fool and a mute? Get outta here."
He exuded the over-the-top swagger of a Stephen Chow villain tormenting a kid learning the Buddha's Palm technique.
And with that, he turned to chase after Morgan.
Soon, they reunited at the beach.
The endless ocean stretched out before them—only the sun served as a point of reference. It was nearly impossible to tell directions.
But that didn't faze Allen.
Using the Lantern Ring, he conjured a yacht.
The two set off across the ocean, aimlessly drifting across the waves.
———
Meanwhile, the Avengers had already launched a targeted search.
Future Pharmaceuticals was their first destination.
Its headquarters were in the United States.
In one of the labs, Tony was fully focused on cracking the Extremis virus.
"This is a freshly developed stabilized serum."
Dr. Banner returned with a syringe filled with pale red fluid and injected it into Pepper's arm.
It would take time before Tony could solve the virus's core instability.
Even Killian, the virus's creator, had made only limited progress over several years. Tony would need at least a year or two to reestablish the framework.
That said, Pepper's life was no longer in danger.
"Thankfully, both the super-soldier serum and Extremis are Earth-origin technologies."
Tony spoke gravely. "If they had extraterrestrial components, I wouldn't even know where to begin."
All of human science is built upon known materials and principles. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.
Suddenly, the screen lit up with a transmission.
"Tony, we didn't find the target."
Onscreen, Natasha's expression was tense. "Future Pharmaceuticals cashed out via IPO over a year ago. The remaining office staff are just handling product sales. Killian hasn't shown up in person in ages—he only logs in once a month for remote video meetings to manage the company."
"I see."
Clearly, Tony had already anticipated this.
Anyone daring to confront the Avengers head-on would've taken plenty of precautions. There was no way Killian would sit around in his company waiting to be caught.
Now that his wife was safe and Allen had rescued Morgan, Tony felt far less anxious.
The government quickly designated Killian and his organization as a terrorist group. Upon reviewing a series of past explosions, authorities began suspecting Extremis involvement.
Before this, many seemingly random bombings were just lumped in as terrorism.
But now, it appeared likely they were actually the result of Extremis virus malfunctions.
These incidents had no clear motive or pattern—just pure, chaotic outbreaks.
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