Ch: 101-110
Chapter 101: Dr. Zola Submits to Karl
Furthermore, in Karl's view, it simply wasn't worth it at all. The value of a digital lifeform was far higher than that of some big-headed super soldier or Agent!
HYDRA had truly been terrified by Captain America to the point of being foolish enough to come up with the stupid plan of blowing up Dr. Zola along with him!
So Karl naturally would not repeat the same mistake. After Dr. Zola pledged his loyalty, he moved Dr. Zola's server clusters from the original S.H.I.E.L.D. Base in Nevada into the Shadow World to prevent any accidents from happening to Earth's only digital lifeform.
Because Dr. Zola had previously been stuck within those antique server clusters, he was actually unable to exert the true power of a digital lifeform.
Thus, Karl had always wanted to upgrade Dr. Zola's servers, but even the latest servers Tony built specifically for Jarvis felt a bit inadequate to Karl.
After all, Jarvis was just an artificial intelligence, while Dr. Zola was a true digital lifeform.
A digital lifeform of which few existed in the entire Universe!
Karl had waited until now to finally find a vessel for Dr. Zola that satisfied him.
That was the Skrulls' technology, which far surpassed Earth's level!
After numbers flashed rapidly through the lenses of Dr. Zola's eyes for a moment, he wore an expression of extreme enjoyment:
[Excellent! I feel wonderful right now! My performance is increasing rapidly! My computing power is growing at a breakneck pace! I feel better than ever before!]
[Give me ten minutes, and I can crack and Master all of the Skrulls' technology!]
After speaking with such confidence, Dr. Zola looked at Karl again, a hint of human-like hesitation appearing on his face as he requested:
[My Master, I can feel that within this underground Base, there is a Hive computer room with a technological level far beyond Earth's. I wish to transfer my main system there, which would allow my abilities to take another leap forward. I wonder if I might have your permission...]
The ship's onboard computer alone already felt stronger to Dr. Zola than the entire computer cluster he had lived in before. He couldn't believe what kind of terrifying boost he would receive if he moved into the Skrulls' Hive computer room!
However, the prerequisite for all of this was obtaining Karl's permission first.
Otherwise, even if he could move into the Hive computer and control all of the Skrulls' ships on his own, he knew that Karl could eliminate him with just a single thought.
As a digital lifeform of HYDRA, he knew better than anyone how terrifying Karl's shadow abilities—those hidden from the light—truly were... Seeing that Dr. Zola had asked for permission first instead of moving secretly despite being able to, a flash of satisfaction crossed Karl's eyes, and he gave a slight nod:
"Mhm, go ahead. This was meant to be your new home anyway. With your abilities, you shouldn't have been confined to those antiques for so long..."
Hearing this, Dr. Zola was visibly delighted and said devoutly: [Thank you, my Lord! I swear I will be forever loyal to you!]
With that, Dr. Zola's projection disappeared, clearly impatient to transfer his data to the Hive computer room.
Karl didn't mind this, nor did he care about Dr. Zola's nonsense about swearing eternal loyalty.
There was no such thing as eternal loyalty in this World; there was only the weak submitting to the strong.
If he were weaker than Dr. Zola, then as a digital lifeform with its own will, Dr. Zola would likely turn on his Master just like Ultron after such a massive upgrade.
This was also why the previous HYDRA had never moved Dr. Zola out of those antique computers from World War II to build him a higher-performance modern server cluster.
It was because HYDRA themselves weren't sure they could control Dr. Zola after a performance upgrade. They feared that if he became too powerful, HYDRA would instead become his nourishment, becoming a puppet snake for a digital lifeform... And the reason Karl dared to put Dr. Zola into alien technology for an epic enhancement was simply because Karl himself was strong enough.
No matter how much Dr. Zola upgraded himself, he would always be a digital lifeform. He might be invincible in the virtual World, but Karl was truly invincible in the real World.
No matter how strong he was, in reality, he was just a mass of metal and machinery. Karl could exile his physical form to the eternal Dark Dimension at any time, cutting off all links to the digital World and turning him into a useless hunk of scrap metal.
And Dr. Zola was well aware of this.
Therefore, he didn't dare harbor even a hint of betrayal toward Karl, being more loyal than he ever was to any HYDRA leader!
Even though Karl wasn't even the leader of HYDRA... After plugging Dr. Zola's USB drive into the ship and entering the Skrulls' technological system, Karl uninterestingly teleported out of the ship through the shadows.
On the ground, Hulk was roaring, Tony's bombs were booming, and the Skrulls were screaming in fear, while only our protagonist, holding a glass of red wine, strolled leisurely through the massive Skrull underground Base.
Spaceships, hovercars, individual flight units? All these 'vehicles' were collected into the Shadow World.
Memory Extractor? Good stuff!
He put it into the Shadow World as well. Although he didn't need it since he could use the sheep talisman to directly read a target's soul memories...
...it could be equipped for his HYDRA and Justice League to interrogate criminals and spies. This thing was simply too useful!
An ecosystem that doesn't need sunlight? Also good stuff! Into the Shadow World!
It just so happened that his Shadow World had plenty of open space and no life, so he might as well treat the Shadow World like Minecraft and grow some survival supplies!
With a wave of Karl's hand, countless flying shadows flew out from his shadow, blocking the light beams of the massive Ecosystem Chamber that illuminated and supported tens of thousands of Fire Seed Skrulls, plunging the entire chamber into darkness.
Snap!
A moment later, Karl snapped his fingers, and the flying shadows blocking the beams turned into black smoke and vanished, restoring light to the Ecosystem Chamber.
But the ecosystem inside had completely vanished, leaving only a hollowed-out expanse of Earth.
The entire ecosystem had been transferred to the Shadow World by Karl.
Next were various Skrull technological products. Karl collected them wherever he went; except for the Skrulls' clothes and daily necessities, everything useful was taken by him.
It was like a bandit entering a village—not a single hair was left behind!
By the time Karl reached the Hive computer room, the entire underground Base had become empty.
Karl pushed the door open and entered, only to see the Hive computer room was already filled with green light. Clearly, Dr. Zola had taken complete control of this place; he had successfully transferred his data and completed his epic evolution!
Now the question was, since Dr. Zola had a new vessel, what should be done with the old equipment?
Chapter 102: Making a Big Splash!
As for the old equipment, it was naturally sent into a... rotating crusher to be destroyed!
What else did you expect?
This World doesn't have that little glasses girl A's advertisements all over the internet yet.
When Karl entered the Hive Machine Room, without him saying a word, Dr. Zola had already consciously turned off all the lights in the room.
With a thought from Karl, shadows surged, moving the entire computer room completely into the Shadow World.
As for how to solve Dr. Zola's power and signal issues in the Shadow World, it was also simple.
Regarding power, there were already several large arc reactors installed by Tony in the Shadow World, so there was no need to worry about energy at all.
Signal issues were even simpler; in fact, every Shadow Ninja was a mobile signal source.
Due to their unique nature, the Shadow Legion itself could serve as a medium connecting the Shadow World and the real World.
That's how the Ghost Shadow Ninjas could bring any item into the Shadow World at any time.
So as long as there was a Ghost Shadow Ninja in Dr. Zola's Hive Machine Room, they could connect to external signals through the ninja.
At the same time, this was also Karl's way of monitoring Dr. Zola.
If Zola did anything suspicious, the monitoring Ghost Shadow Ninja would immediately pull the plug on him.
And without this super host body, even if Dr. Zola left subroutines in the external network, his computing power would regress to pre-liberation levels.
Karl believed that Dr. Zola, having tasted the fine grain of an alien high-speed computer cluster, wouldn't want to go back to eating coarse grains... After packing everything useful from the underground Base into the Shadow World, Karl didn't linger and returned to the surface.
However, this time he didn't use telekinesis to blast a hole several hundred meters deep; instead, he took the elevator up.
Now that all the Skrulls' technology, including the control of this elevator, was in Dr. Zola's hands, why would he exert himself to dig a hole when he had an elevator to ride?
He wasn't a rat, and besides, he needed to save some strength for something even bigger than the Naruto 10th anniversary... Once Karl returned to the surface, he also collected the alien technology elevator into the Shadow World.
Though he didn't know what use he had for the elevator, it was going to cease to exist shortly anyway, so he might as well take it.
On the surface, the purge of the hundreds of thousands of lower-class Skrulls abandoned by their high command continued at the hands of Hulk and Tony.
After all, with only Hulk and Tony, even with the high-tech version of the flying shadow, hundreds of thousands of Skrulls couldn't be cleared out in a short time.
Even if it were hundreds of thousands of pigs, one's hands would get tired from the slaughter, let alone Skrulls, who were highly intelligent beings.
However, with Tony leading the flying shadows to constantly drop Stark Industries' backlogged incendiary bombs, creating a wall of fire around the entire Nuclear Base, not a single Skrull actually managed to escape.
Staying inside meant being slaughtered by the Hulk—if you were clever, you might live a bit longer—but trying to flee outside meant being blown into nothingness by the bombs.
Consequently, not many Skrulls were trying to escape outward anymore; instead, they were all racing against their own compatriots.
The main idea was that they didn't need to outrun the Hulk; they just needed to outrun the person next to them.
It was practically a modern version of natural selection... But the more Karl watched, the more familiar this scene looked.
It seemed like this exact picture had occurred centuries ago.
Except back then, the ones being'selected' weren't green-skinned... Karl shook his head, pushing away those dark 'hell' jokes, as his feet left the ground and he slowly floated up.
He wasn't a merchant; the 'cotton-picking' race could be subjected to natural selection in the past to leave behind a resilient batch.
But for the Skrull race, he had no intention of leaving any 'high-quality specimens' for trade.
When he said leave none alive, he meant absolutely none!
As he ascended higher, Karl slowly spread his arms, as if to embrace the entire earth.
But this embrace brought not warmth, but... death!
Ascending into the air, Karl's entire being began to glow with an increasingly blinding white light!
Feeling the cold white light above them, Tony and Hulk both shuddered simultaneously and snapped their heads up to look at the glowing Karl in the sky.
Both Tony and Hulk had seen the situation where Karl emitted white light before!
Karl was clearly about to use his ultimate move!
Hulk's blood-red eyes cleared up a bit, and under the confused gazes of the other Skrulls, he turned tail and leaped away as fast as he could!
In the blink of an eye, Hulk had jumped far into the distance!
Tony also activated all his armor's thrusters, flying away at high speed!
The flying shadows in the sky turned into wisps of black smoke and vanished into thin air.
This left the remaining majority of Skrull survivors even more bewildered.
What was wrong with these guys? They came to slaughter them for no reason, and now they were running away for no reason?
But immediately, they began to cheer!
No matter why those demons suddenly ran off, the fact that they could keep their lives now was the best possible outcome!
But... was that really the case?
Among the cheering Skrull survivors, some sharp-eyed ones suddenly noticed something was wrong.
"Huh? Why are there two Suns in the sky?"
As this voice, different from the cheering of the others, rang out, the Skrulls around that person couldn't help but look up at the sky.
A Skrull holding a gun raised it and looked carefully through the scope, laughing:
"How are those two Suns? At this time, the Sun is in the west. The other glowing thing is clearly... wait! No! There's a glowing person in the sky!"
"Oh no!!!"
The gun-wielding Skrull had barely finished speaking, with no time to warn the others, when the white light in the sky erupted with a radiance more blinding than the Sun!
Having injected his Dimensional Power into the rooster talisman to a critical point, Karl finally released that extremely compressed telekinesis after charging for a long time!
Invisible ripples carrying strands of white light expanded outward in a circle with Karl as the center!
The moment the ripples touched the ground, it was like a legendary divine punishment; the entire earth was smoothed over by an invisible hand of God!
Whether it was living beings or buildings, any matter existing on the ground was ground down to an atomic state under this invisible hand of God!
In plain terms, it was crushed into pieces smaller than dust!
The ripples continued to expand, crushing the Skrulls, who had just emerged from despair, into nothingness!
The ripples didn't stop expanding until they covered the entire area of the Nuclear Base!
When the circular ripples stopped and the air distorted by the telekinesis returned to normal, it was revealed that the entire several-hundred-square-kilometer area of the Nuclear Base had been crushed into a bowl-shaped concave hemisphere!
In that depression of hundreds of square kilometers, aside from the ground ground as smooth as a mirror by telekinesis, not a single trace of life could be seen!
It was just like a crater left by a meteorite!
Except there was no meteorite in this pit, nothing at all!
Not just the ground, even the sky had a circular hole shaken into it by the terrifying telekinesis Karlemitted, achieving a truly cloudless sky for ten thousand miles, echoing the bowl-shaped gap on the ground!
Chapter 103: City-level Attack! The Fear of the Five Great Powers!
At the center of this gap between heaven and Earth, only Karl still floated quietly in mid-air, becoming the undisputed center of the World!
The leaders of the Five Great Powers, who were monitoring this through satellites, were already experiencing shock that shook their very souls.
The power of Karl's recent 'Shinra Tensei' was no less than that of a nuclear bomb!
No! It should be said to be even more terrifying than a nuclear bomb!
After all, the area of several hundred kilometers crushed by telekinesis was already equivalent to the size of a medium-to-large city!
And how much yield would a nuclear bomb need to have this kind of power?
Furthermore, Karl's own flexibility was definitely not something a nuclear bomb could compare to!
Karl is a humanoid nuclear bomb even more terrifying than a nuclear bomb!
Now, the Five Great Powers were only grateful that this guy was a Superhero. If he were an evildoer, they didn't know how much destruction he would cause to this World!
At the same time, they also quickly recalled the personnel who had been arranged to find Karl for cooperation through the Justice League after the event, and prepared to go in person.
Because Karl has now demonstrated terrifying individual City-level strength, and it is still unknown if this is Karl's limit.
Therefore, they must show 100% sincerity and respect, treating Karl just as they would a major power!
One person representing a nation, and a major power at that; if others knew, they probably wouldn't believe it!
But this is indeed the current attitude of the Five Great Powers towards Karl!
"Whew————————"
Karl in the sky let out a long breath, and it took a while before he felt his body regain a bit of strength.
He had been floating there not entirely for the sake of acting cool, but because he was truly a bit exhausted.
He had never released telekinetic pressure of this scale before!
And if he had relied purely on the rooster talisman, it would have been simply impossible to achieve!
This was the intensity he achieved by injecting countless Dimensional Power from his own Shadow World into the rooster talisman.
Although the injected Dimensional Power was not the full power of the Shadow World, but only a part.
However, the Shadow World and the rooster talisman have always been two different power systems.
Therefore, if the Dimensional Power of the Shadow World is to become the telekinesis of the rooster talisman, it requires a medium.
And this medium is Karl himself.
Although Karl is the lord of the Shadow World, his physical body is still that of a mortal, and he has no techniques for using Dimensional Power, so the entire conversion process was just brute force.
Thus, this transfer process was also very simple and crude, purely forcing the Dimensional Power into the rooster talisman through himself.
And as the medium, by forcing it like this, he almost couldn't handle it!
If he hadn't inherited Kingpin's superhuman physique, an ordinary person would probably have been broken by the surge... After catching his breath, Karl frowned: "It seems I need to have Tony speed up the progress of the super soldier serum. If it doesn't work, I won't wait for the perfect serum. Anyway, with the Horse Talisman now, using the original super soldier serum shouldn't cause any major problems."
"Also, push Big Boss on the Hulk serum to see if he can extract a perfect serum that only gives Hulk's power without the physical transformation of Hulk..."
If he had Hulk's physique, he would truly be a God among men.
With Hulk's physique, who knows how much stronger it would be than the Dimensional Power he can currently convert!
Karl rubbed his brows: "Sigh, in the end, my physique is still too weak..."
Relying on the Shadow Dimension and the rooster talisman, he possessed god-like power.
But he didn't have a god-like divine body.
So his physical body has now become a drag on his progress... This feeling is somewhat similar to the situation of the gods in Asgard, where divine power is greater than the divine body... Sigh, we are all fellow sufferers at the ends of the Earth... Just as he sighed, Karl's eyes suddenly lit up again.
It wasn't that he had thought of a way to immediately enhance his physique, but that he felt the book of ages in the Shadow World was active again!
It seems the secret invasion plot of exterminating the Skrulls on Earth has been completed.
Right, since science cannot temporarily solve his problem.
Then why doesn't he ask the magical book of ages?
Maybe the talisman it drops this time can solve his problem?
Thinking of this, Karl didn't even bother to keep up appearances.
Moreover, with his current strength and influence, there was actually no need to pretend.
Even if he revealed something, the Five Great Powers would most likely turn a blind eye, and in public opinion, there would naturally be fanatical fans and scholars to defend him.
Therefore, he could appropriately show some of his abilities.
Karl looked up, stretching his five fingers toward the Sun. Through the shadow formed by the sunlight hitting his hand, he entered the Shadow World directly through the shadow.
This is the convenience of the shadow ability; as long as there is light, there will be shadows, and wherever there are shadows, it is his domain.
As for what to do if there is no light?
Without light, isn't it all shadow?
Karl entering the Shadow World appeared to others as if he had vanished on the spot instantly, causing the Five Great Powers' satellites to lose track of him.
This couldn't help but make the Five Great Powers even more wary of and attentive to Karl.
A humanoid nuclear bomb was terrifying enough; now they discovered that this humanoid nuclear bomb actually seemed to be able to teleport?
A humanoid nuclear bomb that can teleport?
Terrifying! Simply too terrifying!
The Five Great Powers instantly and tacitly announced a supreme directive to their subordinates.
Absolutely! Absolutely! Must not offend Karl Fisk!
Otherwise, it will be handled as treason!
After all, none of the Five Great Powers want an uninterceptable nuclear bomb to suddenly appear above their heads, do they?
When Karl entered the Shadow World, which originally had only one palace, two massive buildings had already been established next to his palace.
One building was the laboratory Big Boss built for himself to study Hulk's blood.
One building had just started construction, being rapidly built by countless Ghost Shadow Ninjas, a Skrull technology storage Base centered around Dr. Zola's Hive Machine Room.
And he believed that in the future, there would be more and more buildings in the Shadow World until it became a true World, or even a Universe!
But Karl was in no mood to pay attention to these now; he went straight to the center of the palace, where the book of ages was located.
After arriving in front of the book of ages, which only he could see, he couldn't wait to place his hand on it.
White light flashed, and words were recorded on the blank pages. Once the recording was finished, the words turned into golden light and materialized into an octagonal talisman.
Karl skillfully gripped the talisman, crushed the golden light on its surface, and looked at his palm with anticipation.
Drop a legendary! Drop a legendary! Please drop a legendary!
Looking closely, he saw two white tigers, one Yin and one Yang, circling on the stone talisman!
Yin and Yang balanced, all things are possible!
The tiger talisman!
Chapter 104: Becoming the True Master of the twelve talismans!
The moment he saw this talisman, Karl felt all the problems that had been bothering him were instantly resolved!
The tiger talisman, the most inconspicuous yet most crucial talisman in jackie chan adventures!
Because only by possessing it can you truly own the power of the twelve talismans!
Only then can you become the Master of the twelve talismans, and not just a user!
And most importantly, with the tiger talisman, not only will the power of the twelve talismans, like the Shadow World, completely become Karl's own power.
Furthermore, even if he obtains other types of power in the future, he no longer needs to worry about the new power clashing with other powers in his body!
Even systems as incompatible as Water and Fire, or Light and Dark, can coexist peacefully under the Yin-Yang harmony of the tiger talisman!
Karl held the tiger talisman in his right hand and opened his left hand, and the horse, rooster, and sheep talismans instantly appeared in his palm.
Next, Karl first released the tiger talisman in his right hand, letting it fall to the pitch-black ground and merge into his Shadow World.
After the tiger talisman merged into the Shadow Dimension, Karl closed his eyes and felt it for a moment.
He found that apart from the use of the dimension's power seeming smoother, he didn't feel much change in himself compared to the new abilities brought by the integration of the other three talismans.
Karl didn't find this strange; after all, except in special circumstances, the tiger talisman's ability itself doesn't usually give the user any special powers.
But then, Karl also released the three talismans in his left hand, letting all three merge into his Shadow World together.
However, Karl still didn't feel anything wrong!
But... that was actually the biggest abnormality!
Merging is not the same as using; merging is equivalent to fusing the talismans into one's own World!
Yet now, he had merged four talismans of different powers into his Shadow World all at once, and he didn't feel any discomfort at all!
You should know that last time he merged three talismans into the Shadow World at once, the talismans almost started fighting within his World!
That feeling was like putting gasoline, gunpowder, and sulfuric acid all into one jar and then throwing a fire into the jar; it felt like his whole person was about to explode!
But the tiger talisman was like a supernatural neutralizer, allowing the gasoline, gunpowder, sulfuric acid, and even the thrown-in flames to stay in the same barrel and actually coexist peacefully!
And not only were the powers of the talismans coexisting peacefully under the influence of the tiger talisman, but Karl could also feel his Shadow Dimension power homogenizing with the powers of the other talismans!
Previously, although he would merge talismans into the Shadow World to temporarily become the Master of the talismans and thus exert their power to the maximum extent.
For example, using the rooster talisman to unleash a 'Super Shinra Tensei' covering a super destructive range of hundreds of square kilometers.
This was clearly far beyond the performance of the rooster talisman in the original series.
This was because ordinary people like Jackie and Jade were merely users of the talismans, not the Masters, and could only use the basic power of the talismans.
Karl, on the other hand, became the temporary Master of the talismans through fusion, allowing him to exert the talismans' power to the maximum, or even beyond the norm.
But the telekinetic power of the rooster talisman and the Shadow Dimension power were always two different kinds of power.
So previously, after Karl reached the limit of using the rooster talisman with his own physical strength, he needed to use himself as a relay station to inject dimension power into the rooster talisman to add more 'fuel' to it.
However, whether he was using the rooster talisman's telekinesis or injecting dimension power into it, it was all closely related to Karl's own physical strength.
The stronger his body, the higher the limit of using the rooster talisman!
The stronger his body, the more dimension power he could inject into the rooster talisman!
That's why it was said that the physical body limited Karl's strength.
That's why he had always wanted to increase his physical strength.
But now it's different; with the tiger talisman, he can directly bypass the layer of physical limitation.
Injecting dimension power into the rooster talisman will no longer need to pass through Karl as a relay, so there is no longer the restriction of Karl's physical strength; dimension power can strengthen the rooster talisman's power without limit!
Before getting the tiger talisman, the upper limit of the power Karl could achieve by strengthening the rooster talisman with dimension power was just the range of a few hundred kilometers for the Super Shinra Tensei; any more was impossible.
But after getting the tiger talisman, this is no longer his upper limit. Now, with just a thought, dimension power can be continuously injected into the rooster talisman without any physical burden at all!
As for where the upper limit of his use of the rooster talisman's telekinesis is now?
It can only be said that his upper limit is as large as the Shadow World is!
And how large is the Shadow World, which has now unlocked three types of the Shadow Legion?
Let's put it this way: if he ignores the consumption rate of the Shadow Dimension, he could make the entire continent of America fly together!
And for a small island nation like Japan, which is like an insect, he could use the rooster talisman's telekinesis to throw it directly into space!
Using the telekinesis of the rooster talisman, Karl can now be said to be able to exert the great power of a true Lord of the Dimension!
As the tiger talisman completely homogenized the Shadow World with the powers of the rooster, horse, and sheep talismans, Karl found that not only was the use of the rooster talisman no longer restricted, but the horse and sheep talismans also seemed to have changed!
As for how exactly they were different, he needed to experiment.
And there happened to be two experimental subjects nearby... With a thought from Karl, two black holes suddenly appeared in the sky.
In the next second, Tony and Hulk fell from the black holes into the Shadow World.
Tony and Hulk, who had just escaped the range of Karl's Super Shinra Tensei and hadn't even caught their breath, were suddenly teleported to Karl's Shadow World, leaving them completely bewildered.
Actually, only Hulk was quite confused; Tony wasn't very surprised by the Shadow World, appearing quite familiar with it instead.
After seeing Karl's palace and landing beside Karl, the armor on his body split open from the middle, and he unceremoniously picked up the tea on the table and started drinking.
After drinking it all in one gulp, Tony rolled his eyes at Karl and said crossly:
"You brat, you didn't even give a heads-up before using your ultimate move, and you didn't pull Hulkand me in to hide. Now that we've run out of your 'nuclear explosion' range on our own, what are you pulling us in for!"
The reason Tony wasn't panicked at all was naturally because he had been to Karl's Shadow Worldbefore, and more than once.
Otherwise, who do you think installed those large arc reactors?
Anyway, Tony had known about Karl's Shadow Legion ability from the beginning.
So Karl hadn't thought about hiding anything from Tony.
He had confidently left the task of installing the large arc reactors in the Shadow World to Tony, the professional.
Chapter 105: On the Fact That Karl Appears Unscientific Even on the Unscientific Side... "Drink your tea; you'll find out in a moment." Karl flicked his finger, and a Ghost Shadow Ninja appeared to pour another cup of tea for Tony.
Then Karl looked at Hulk, who was in the Shadow World for the first time and was truly bewildered.
"Don't worry, Hulk. This is my World; you are safe here." Karl walked up to Hulk and offered a word of comfort.
Hearing Karl's words, the doubt in Hulk's eyes vanished. He grinned widely and chuckled honestly, "Hulk... almost got hit by Karl just now... but Hulk is smarter than Banner. I know how to run!"
Karl smiled at those words, floated up slightly to look Hulk in the eye, and patted his head. "That's right. Hulk is much smarter than that nerd Banner. Hulk is my most reliable friend."
Hulk's eyes lit up. He thumped his chest hard and laughed honestly, "Karl is also Hulk's best friend. Only Karl always calls Hulk 'Hulk,' not 'Banner'!"
Karl's tone softened slightly:
"Of course. Hulk is Hulk, and Banner is Banner. My friend is Hulk, not Banner. Now, I'm going to help you drive Banner out of your body so that Hulk can be Hulk forever, okay?"
Karl wasn't just talking nonsense.
Compared to Dr. Banner, he indeed preferred Hulk.
Hulk had not been 'born' for long and was very simple at heart, yet he was hated by everyone because of his innate irritability.
This type of person was the easiest to control.
As long as you give Hulk a little love and trust, he will be more reliable than anyone else and become a sharp sword in your hand!
Upon hearing Karl's words, Hulk didn't hesitate at all. He nodded vigorously with an excited face, "Good! I want to be Hulk forever! Kick Banner out!"
Hulk wasn't smart, but Hulk trusted Karl.
Because since he came into existence, only Karl had always called him Hulk, was willing to play (fight) with him, and even taught him how to read and speak!
Therefore, in Hulk's heart, there was not only fear of Karl's ability to suppress him but also, more importantly, trust in his only friend.
At this moment, Tony, who was drinking tea and watching the show, raised an eyebrow. "You've created a new body for Banner?"
Tony was aware of Karl's plan to separate Hulk and Banner into two different individuals.
Previously, Karl had even asked him about the feasibility of a Cloning Project, wanting to replicate a new body for Dr. Banner.
However, Tony always felt that clones carried certain risks.
Although cloning technology wasn't difficult for Tony to master, theoretically, even if he could clone a body for Dr. Banner, that clone would possess its own self-awareness.
If Dr. Banner were to inhabit the cloned body, the clone's own consciousness would first have to be killed.
But the clone would be made based on Dr. Banner; wouldn't killing the clone's mind be equivalent to killing another Dr. Banner?
Was that really fair?
Tony felt it was somewhat unethical.
Even if he didn't care about that, Tony couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be hidden dangers after wiping the clone's consciousness and having Dr. Banner move in.
For example, residual consciousness in the cloned body might undergo quantum entanglement with Dr. Banner's own consciousness, leading to mental conflicts and drastic personality changes.
Solving these cloning issues completely would be no less difficult than cracking and eliminating the side effects of the super soldier serum... Moreover, Tony already had the super soldier serum project and the Mark series upgrade project on his hands at the time, so he didn't have enough time to multitask further, eventually putting the cloning plan on hold.
He didn't expect that before he could even start the Cloning Project, Karl had already come up with a solution on his own?
Tony never doubted Karl's genius or IQ, but in his view, Karl had always been someone who solved problems with superpowers whenever possible, rarely resorting to scientific means.
This made Tony curious about how Karl had found a new body for Dr. Banner.
However, Karl didn't disappoint Tony; he smiled and shook his head. "Create a new body? No, I don't have the leisure to study cloning. The method I'm using isn't science..."
"I prefer studying Magicology over science. I just upgraded my abilities with some new functions, much like your Mark series armor. I summoned you here this time to experiment with these new abilities on you."
Hearing this, although Tony had expected it, he couldn't help but marvel at how unscientific Karl was, even on the unscientific side.
For others, acquiring a single superpower was incredibly difficult.
Yet Karl displayed a new superpower every other day.
As far as Tony knew, since he met Karl, Karl had already demonstrated the full range of shadow abilities, Telekinesis, and three different types of soul-related abilities.
Now Karl was actually saying that on top of all that, he had upgraded and gained new abilities!
Superpowers in Karl's hands were updated even more frequently than his armor!
Truly worthy of being the only partner he acknowledged as his equal... Tony made a face as if conceding defeat, his hand to his forehead, but a thoughtful look flashed in his lowered eyes.
Since Karl was already such a genius, capable of mastering multiple powerful superpowers simultaneously, wouldn't it be fine to entrust the subsequent research of the Mark armor series to him to carry on and expand?
That way, after he was gone, his era-defining armor technology wouldn't be left without a successor... Indeed, Tony had been Iron Man for a while now, and just like in the original story, the Palladium in the arc reactor he used to stay alive had seeped into his body after a year of high-intensity armor use, causing severe palladium poisoning.
With current medical technology, there was no cure for palladium poisoning.
If Tony wanted to live longer, he had to give up using the Iron Man armor to slow the spread of the palladium poisoning.
But how could Tony, with his proud nature, give up the Iron Man armor and go back to being an 'ordinary person' with nothing but money?
That was why Tony would rather give up on treatment, prepare for his end, and hand over his Iron Manarmor technology to Karl... Karl looked at the pensive Tony with a strange expression; without Tony's knowledge, he had completely read his inner thoughts.
This was another change in his abilities after obtaining the tiger talisman.
Previously, his ability to read and modify others' souls using the sheep talisman required physical contact.
But after the tiger talisman assimilated the power of the Shadow Dimension with the sheep talisman, he could use the sheep talisman through the Shadow Legion to read souls from a distance.
And it just so happened that he had previously hidden a Ghost Shadow Ninja in the shadow of every Justice League member.
That was how he was able to suddenly teleport Tony and Hulk to the Shadow World—it was done through the Ghost Shadow Ninjas hidden in their shadows.
Now, with his ability upgraded, he could directly read Tony's thoughts through the Ghost Shadow Ninjain his shadow.
Karl jerked his chin at the still-pensive Tony and said calmly, "Lift it up."
Tony looked up and instinctively quipped, "Lift what up? My pants?"
Before Tony could understand what was happening, a Ghost Shadow Ninja suddenly emerged from his shadow behind him, hugged him from behind, and lifted up his shirt.
Tony's eyes widened. He looked at Karl in disbelief and exclaimed, "Holy crap! Karl, are you for real? Forcing a man into a lock?!"
Chapter 106: Horse Talisman, Tony Cured
This couldn't help but make Tony scream. It wasn't that he was afraid Karl would harm him, but rather he was afraid Karl was up to 'no good'!
If Karl was going to be up to no good, he'd rather Karl just harm him!
Karl ignored Tony's strange cries and looked at the purple-black veins extending from the reactorembedded in Tony's chest all the way to his neck. He clicked his tongue:
"Tsk, tsk, Tony. It looks like your palladium poisoning is already quite advanced. The color of the toxin is darker than your nipples. If it goes up a bit more, it'll spread to that brain you're so proud of, won't it?"
As soon as Karl spoke, Tony, who had been struggling and acting out, suddenly went stiff.
After a while, Tony easily broke free with both hands from the Ghost Shadow Ninja behind him, who hadn't been holding him very tightly at all, and sighed, "When did you find out?"
Karl shrugged:
"I've known for a while. Don't forget, while I'm more interested in the supernatural side, my science grades in school weren't lower than yours. I'm well aware of how much damage palladium, the main element in your chest reactor, can do to the human body."
Hearing this, Tony's expression darkened, and he smiled mockingly at himself. "Yeah, how could I hide it from you? It's ironic, isn't it? The thing that once saved my life is eventually going to take it..."
"Since you know I have palladium poisoning, you should also know it's incurable. I've basically been handed a death sentence by the God of Death, so I was thinking..."
"Think my ass!" Before Tony could continue his depressing talk, Karl slapped him hard on the back, forcibly interrupting the sentimental scene Tony was undoubtedly about to play out:
"Remember? I said it before. Even if the sky falls on the Justice League, I'm the tall one here to prop it up."
"Since you're working under me, I'll cover for you. As long as it's a problem you can't solve, I'll step in—including the physical and mental issues of you members."
"So rest easy, Tony. Your most reliable daddy is here~"
At the end, Karl winked at Tony.
At this moment, Tony suddenly understood the weight of the phrase: 'There is a God above, and He is omnipotent.'
Tony stared blankly at Karl for a moment. The heavy expression on his face finally vanished, replaced once again by that signature flippant smile:
"So, how does our Lord God plan to solve my problem? I'm guessing it has something to do with the new ability you just mentioned experimenting with, right?"
Karl nodded, placed his hand on the reactor on Tony's chest, and smiled. "Exactly, it's related to my new ability. Barring any accidents, it should be able to completely cure you."
"So, are you ready? The process might be a little painful..."
Tony immediately realized what Karl was about to do. His heart couldn't help but race as he hurriedly reached out to stop him:
"Wait! Just wait! You're planning to take out the reactor that's holding the shrapnel? It's not that I doubt you, but does a magic-boy like you really know how to remove a high-tech piece of equipment like a micro-reactor?"
"This requires a very precise, professional operation. Plus, you'd need to remove the fixed bridge frame that holds the reactor inside my body along with it!"
"So I think we need to find an operating room first, and a top-tier surgeon. I heard there's a guy in New York named Stephen Strange who's quite good. Maybe we can get him to help remove the reactor, and then you can cast your little healing magic or whatever. After all, I don't want to leave any little spare part souvenirs in my body..."
Listening to Tony's incessant rambling, Karl's expression grew impatient. He covered Tony's mouth with one hand and gripped the reactor on his chest with the other:
"Seeing as your tongue is so nimble, you must be in good shape and ready. So, I'll start on the count of three. If you have any objections, make a sound. If not, I'm starting..."
Tony, with his mouth covered: '?'
Make a sound? How the hell am I supposed to make a sound?!
"Three!"
*Rip!* ——————
In just an instant, before Tony could even realize it was starting, Karl had finished the countdown.
In the next moment, Karl was seen holding the reactor, bridge frame and all, shaking it in front of himself.
Tony was completely stunned. He hadn't expected Karl to just crudely and violently rip out the reactorthat was holding back the shrapnel.
And he didn't even follow the rules of engagement—he only counted the very last number!
A second later, Tony felt the familiar stabbing pain in his heart. Without the suction of the reactor, the shrapnel was gradually piercing toward his heart!
The strength in Tony's body was drained in an instant, and he fell backward powerlessly.
In response, Karl didn't move to catch the falling Tony, nor did he plan to use the Horse Talisman on him personally.
But Tony didn't end up hitting the ground; he was caught by the Ghost Shadow Ninja standing behind him.
Immediately, something even more miraculous happened. The Horse Talisman flashed within the blood-red eyes of the Ghost Shadow Ninja holding Tony—the Ghost Shadow Ninja had actually activated the power of the Horse Talisman!
Several pieces of shrapnel were expelled from Tony's body by the Horse Talisman, the palladium toxins in his system were instantly purified, and the fist-sized hole in his chest healed at an incredible speed.
This caused Tony's pale complexion, which looked like he was about to kick the bucket any second, to immediately return to a healthy flush.
Seeing this, Karl wore an 'as expected' expression.
Sure enough, the three talismans that had been assimilated by the tiger talisman and the Shadow World no longer had usage restrictions for him, and even his Shadow Legion subordinates could use them now.
Furthermore... at the moment the Ghost Shadow Ninja used the Horse Talisman on Tony, Karl could feel that the power of the Horse Talisman didn't just act on Tony, but also circulated through the Ghost Shadow Ninja's body!
This meant that now even the Ghost Shadow Ninjas themselves could use the healing power of the Horse Talisman!
In the future, as long as his Shadow Legion didn't suffer an instantaneous fatal wound, they could recover via the Horse Talisman, and would no longer be as fragile as before!
This undoubtedly allowed the Shadow Legion's effective strength to rise by a massive margin!
"Incredible! The wound on my chest, the shrapnel and toxins in my body, even my kidneys have improved! Karl, this new healing ability of yours is simply unbelievable!"
The recovered Tony scrambled up from the ground, touching his chest one moment and wiggling his butt and waist the next, looking like an excited alien just getting used to a human body.
Karl watched him, feeling a sudden urge to kick that swaying backside.
However, considering Tony had already been preparing to write his will—and his ending in the original story wasn't much better—Karl let him continue adapting to his flawless 'new body' since it was rare for him to be this happy.
If the kid wants to be happy, let him be happy~
Chapter 107 The tiger talisman, Hulk and Dr. Banner Separated
After testing the Horse Talisman's abilities, it was time for the sheep talisman and the tiger talisman.
Karl looked at Hulk, who was watching Tony hop around like an idiot, and smiled. "Hulk, ready to have your own body?"
Hulk, who had been staring blankly at the jumping Tony, snapped back to his senses, patted his chest, and laughed broadly:
"Hulk is ready! Hulk won't cry like Iron Man!"
Tony:?
But soon, Hulk couldn't laugh anymore.
Karl's left eye flashed with the sheep talisman and his right with the tiger talisman, then he slapped Hulk's massive pectoral muscle.
This seemingly light palm strike sent Hulk flying!
No! It wasn't Hulk's body flying, but Hulk's soul flying out of the body!
And it wasn't just Hulk's soul that flew out; the sleeping soul of Dr. Banner came out too!
Dr. Banner's soul, awakened after being slapped out of the body, was completely bewildered!
He looked at Hulk floating beside him, then at his own (Hulk's) body shrinking on the ground, and finally at Tony, who was enjoying himself. No matter how he looked at it, the scene felt incredibly eerie!
Did he wake up and go to heaven with Hulk?
Otherwise, could any of this happen in the mortal world?
Seeing that the only normal person, Karl, was also there, Dr. Banner's expression changed drastically.
It's over! Even Karl is dead! Does that mean humanity has been utterly defeated in the war against the Skrulls?!
Ignoring Dr. Banner's wild thoughts, Karl just quietly watched the body on the ground transforming from its Hulk form back into Banner's form.
He hadn't just used the sheep talisman to separate their souls; he had also used the tiger talisman to separate their bodies.
Now that the sheep talisman had taken effect, it was the tiger talisman's turn.
The tiger talisman's ability is yin-yang balance, but once it separates yin and yang, it can turn a normal individual into two extreme entities.
One of extreme good, and one of extreme evil.
But before the tiger talisman could tear their souls into four parts—two good and two evil—Karl used the sheep talisman to protect their souls and send them out of the body, retaining only the tiger talisman's ability to separate individuals.
Would Karl's attempt to exploit this bug ultimately succeed?
The answer was... yes!
After Hulk's body shrank to normal human size, the tiger talisman's separation ability took effect. Under that magical power, Dr. Banner's body, along with his large boxers, was separated from an atomic state into two identical individuals!
It worked!
Karl's eyes lit up, and he immediately snapped his fingers. The two soulless bodies on the ground instantly flew toward the souls of Hulk and Dr. Banner floating in mid-air.
Thud, thud—
After two landing sounds, the two bodies, now merged with the souls of Hulk and Dr. Bannerrespectively, underwent changes.
First was Hulk. His body expanded rapidly, quickly changing from Dr. Banner's appearance back to Hulk's goofy look.
Then there was Dr. Banner. Although he no longer had the second soul of Hulk inside him, his body's cells were essentially still that of the body once irradiated by gamma rays.
So even though Hulk had left, his body actually expanded, turning into a second Hulk!
The difference was that before, when Dr. Banner turned into the Hulk form, the consciousness was dominated by Hulk; now, it was dominated by Dr. Banner himself.
It was somewhat similar to Bronski's Abomination state.
Karl first looked at Hulk and smiled. "Congratulations, Hulk. You are free now. From now on, you will have full control over this body and can do whatever you want."
Hulk looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them. His eyes rarely showed an emotion other than anger or excitement—one called being moved.
Hulk extended his fist, as large as a clay pot, toward Karl, his tone sincere: "Friend, thank you!"
"Friends don't say thank you!" Karl also reached out and bumped fists with Hulk.
Next, Karl looked at Dr. Banner, his face turning expressionless the moment he turned his head:
"And you, Dr. Banner. From today on, you are also free. You no longer have to worry about a child of your own creation inside your body fighting you for control."
After saying that, without sparing Dr. Banner another glance, he waved his hand to open a portal made of shadows and walked in with Hulk.
Seeing that Hulk didn't even spare him a glance and followed Karl away without hesitation, Dr. Bannersuddenly felt a bit empty inside... as if... his child had left him... Tony walked up to Dr. Banner, patted his back, and sighed:
"Sigh, Bruce, I have to say something for Hulk here. He's not bad at heart; he's just a big kid who lacks guidance. Your past attitude toward Hulk really had major issues..."
"As his creator—Hulk is actually like my Mark series; they all have their flaws. If it weren't for Karl, my armor might have killed me before long. But we shouldn't abandon them because of that; instead, we should constantly improve, teach, and accompany them..."
"Now, Hulk has a very good teacher and friend. I'm sure you've felt Hulk's changes during your time in the Justice League. So while there's still a chance, try to reflect on yourself and start over with Hulk as friends!"
Having said his piece, Tony finished his advice to Dr. Banner, a colleague as brilliant as himself, and stepped into the shadow portal.
Dr. Banner had a complex expression, unsure of what he was thinking, and finally stepped into the portal as well.
Crossing the darkness, the other side was light.
Three went in, four came out.
Through the Shadow Legion Karl had hidden in the Justice League Base, the four returned to the Justice League from the shadows.
As soon as they returned, before they could catch their breath, Jarvis's voice came from above:
[Gentlemen, the Security Council sent an emergency message to the Justice League half an hour ago. Because the Skrulls are frantically assassinating high-caste individuals, the Imperial family, and the chaebols in India, Japan, and Korea, the three countries are about to buckle under the pressure!]
[Furthermore, the three countries have accused our Justice League of differential treatment. They say if the Justice League doesn't act to resolve the Skrulls within their borders, they will ignore the agreements made by the Five Great Powers and launch their own counterattacks against the Skrulls, and will hold us accountable afterward!]
Karl listened with a face full of question Marks, turned to Tony, and asked in disbelief, "Tony, I didn't mishear Jarvis, did I? Are these 'two insects and a toilet' threatening the Five Great Powers and my Justice League?"
Chapter 108: The Death-Seeking South Korea, Japan, and India
Tony's mouth twitched: "You didn't hear wrong, these three ungrateful sons are threatening us..."
As the President of Stark Industries and a high-ranking noble in America, when had Tony ever seen such arrogance from two minor countries where his own nation's military was stationed, or from a minor country that had been a colony of England!
Even Dr. Banner was a bit surprised that these three countries actually dared to speak like this.
Not only did they offend the Justice League, but they also had the audacity to publicly release threats that violated the Global Skrull Protocol led by the Five Great Powers.
Did these three countries not know that, regardless of whether they had the ability to catch all the Skrulls lurking in their nations, even if they truly caught or killed them all, it would give other countries a reason to invade them at any time?
One should know that the Global Skrull Protocol clearly states that any country that arrests Skrullsprivately will be identified as anti-human elements undermining the World situation, and other countries will have the right to jointly launch all forms of strikes against the country violating the protocol!
At that time, these three countries had also signed the consent form, which was equivalent to having already recognized this protocol.
Now they are publicly clamoring and preparing to defy this global protocol; it is simply a suicidal act!
Karl estimated that the Celestial Dragon nobles of these three countries were truly terrified of being killed by the Skrulls, reaching a point where they no longer cared about national security!
After all, how could the lives of commoners be as precious as the lives of their noble celestial dragons!
Previously, Karl had only intended to use the Skrulls to remove some high-level officials in the three countries and replace them with HYDRA members lurking within those nations.
But now it seems that with these three countries seeking death like this, after the Skrull incident ends, their international status and credibility will definitely be greatly reduced, and they might even face World-class suppression led by the Five Great Powers!
Therefore, for Karl, the utility value of the three countries has also been greatly reduced.
Karl gave a cold laugh:
"Don't they want our Justice League to go to their countries? Fine, as they wish! We'll go now, and not just go, but send our best!"
"Tony, you go to South Korea. I've received news that those chaebol executives have all been infiltrated by Skrulls. You know what to do..."
"Hulk, you go to India. Don't let a single one go!"
"And I will go to Japan."
"No problems, right?"
Tony didn't answer, but instead stepped into the armor behind him, using action to give his best response.
As Karl's best 'frenemy,' as soon as Karl spoke, Tony knew Karl intended to play dirty.
And as it happened, he wasn't someone who repaid grievances with kindness either!
As a supernatural enforcer of order, the Justice League absolutely cannot set a precedent of being threatened by human nations; otherwise, the Justice League will face endless trouble in the future!
So this time, he supported Karl's decision. They must use iron-fisted methods this time to eliminate future troubles!
Tony understood what Karl was thinking, but Hulk didn't. He scratched his head and said somewhat sheepishly: "Karl, those... Skrull people, they can transform, Hulk can't tell..."
In the Skrull gathering place in Russia, it was fine; there were no humans there, so Hulk could smash as he pleased. Even if the Skrulls transformed into humans, he didn't fear smashing the wrong person.
But asking Hulk to go to a country alone to catch Skrulls was too much for this big kid who was three meters tall but only had the IQ of a three-year-old... Karl patted Hulk's back and revealed a cold smile: "Didn't you say it? Skrulls can transform, so anyone in that country could be a Skrull. This time, as long as it's within your sight, you can let loose and smash!"
Hearing this, Hulk didn't think much and nodded happily: "Okay! Hulk listens to Karl. Smash!"
Hulk's words also made Dr. Banner, who had been silent on the side, freeze for a moment, staring blankly at Hulk.
One should know that the old Hulk, besides the name Hulk, couldn't even speak a complete sentence, let alone think for others.
Although his speech still isn't very fluent now, he can already communicate normally with people, and even considers others' safety and asks for their opinions.
It seems my educational methods were indeed, as Tony said, completely wrong... Under Karl's guidance, Hulk's changes have been truly massive... "Wait, Karl, can I go to India with Hulk?"
Just as Karl was preparing to send Hulk to India first, Dr. Banner suddenly spoke up and requested to go with Hulk.
Hearing this, Karl turned back and looked at Dr. Banner with a frown.
The reason he hadn't assigned a task to Dr. Banner was because, in his impression, Dr. Banner's personality had always been the soft-hearted type.
He was nothing like Karl's own hypocrisy, or the neutrality of Tony and Hulk, whose codes of conduct were very flexible.
But Dr. Banner seemed to know what Karl was thinking and quickly added: "If I go this time, I promise I won't interfere with any action you've given Hulk. I just... want to go look after him and make up for the mistakes I've made in the past..."
After hearing this, Karl gave Dr. Banner a deep look and then looked at Hulk beside him, asking: "Hulk, do you want to go with him?"
Hulk looked at Banner, who was looking at him with expectant eyes, and gave an arrogant cold snort. Although he didn't agree, he didn't refuse either.
Seeing this, Karl understood and said calmly: "I'll give you a chance. Take Hulk there safely and bring him back safely afterward. You need to ensure his safety whether physically, psychologically, or reputationally. If you can't do it, then focus on being a desk clerk from now on."
Dr. Banner's heart skipped a beat as he understood the meaning behind Karl's words.
It meant that if Hulk killed the wrong person and an eyewitness filmed a video unfavorable to Hulk, he would need to be the one to solve it!
Karl didn't wait for Dr. Banner to do any mental preparation; he lifted his feet off the ground and flew out of the Justice League Base, heading toward Japan.
As for whether Dr. Banner could accept it, that was none of his business.
Even if Dr. Banner couldn't do it, Dr. Zola, who had already secretly taken control of the global network, wouldn't allow any unfavorable information about Hulk or any Justice League members to circulate on the internet.
After all, they weren't going there to save people this time, so he had to prepare to control public opinion in advance!
Splitting into three routes, Karl, Tony, and Hulk headed to the three countries respectively.
And the news that the Justice League had already sent people to the three countries was immediately transmitted to the phones of the celestial dragons in those three nations.
Chapter 109: What Humans? They Are Clearly Skrulls in Disguise!
After receiving the news, the celestial dragons of the three countries couldn't help but feel a bit smug.
So what if it's the Justice League? So what if they're Superheroes?
In the end, didn't they still have to obediently comply and listen to them?
They wanted a system lottery to decide the cleanup order for countries outside the Five Great Powers! They wanted to give the World fairness?
It's simply hilarious; there has never been fairness in this World. The Justice League should have prioritized serving the privileged class like them from the start!
Japan, Korea, and India—these three countries already had strict social hierarchies; how could they allow others to step on their heads!
The reason these three countries agreed to the global protocol before was, on one hand, because their American overlord had agreed.
On the other hand, they also believed that even if the Justice League were handling things, they would surely prioritize the cleanup based on the level of development of all countries on Earth.
And as it happened, the celestial dragons of Japan, Korea, and India all believed their countries were first-tier nations only slightly weaker than the super-first-tier nuclear-armed Five Great Powers. They were certain the Justice League would prioritize clearing the Skrulls within their borders.
But they didn't expect the Justice League to implement some 'fair' random lottery, which led to a Skrull backlash in the three countries, with frantic assassinations targeting their nations' Celestial Dragon groups!
That was why the three countries had now united to threaten the Justice League through the Security Council.
Furthermore, the three countries didn't plan to let it go at that.
Didn't the Skrull Protocol forbid any country on Earth from hunting Skrulls privately?
But the protocol didn't say anything about not targeting other local superpowered individuals besides Skrulls!
The three countries had already secretly coordinated their plans. Once the Justice League sent people to clear out the Skrulls within their borders, they would find an excuse to detain the dispatched members. This was their way of retaliating for the noble celestial dragons who had died because of the Justice League's 'delayed justice'!
However, while they thought their threats had worked and were preparing to retaliate against the Justice League, they had no idea that what was about to arrive was an existence countless times more terrifying than the Skrulls!
Korea.
At the Five Star headquarters, Five Star Chairman Li Shiming sat in his presidential-grade protected office. With one arm around a girl group member and the other swirling red wine in a glass, he looked so relaxed as if he didn't care at all about the Skrull assassinations.
And indeed, he didn't.
As one of the largest chaebols in Korea and the actual power behind the country, Li Shiming's security was arguably stricter than that of the nation's President.
From the very beginning of the Skrull incident, he had arranged for his personally trained guard unit to provide him with the highest level of protection.
Except for those already in the office, anyone attempting to enter before the Justice League dealt with all the Skrulls in the country would be shot indiscriminately by the guards, regardless of whether they were Skrulls or not!
And surprisingly, this method was effective. After accidentally killing dozens of humans, they actually managed to take out several Skrulls who had come to assassinate him!
This was why Li Shiming wasn't worried about his safety in the slightest.
Nevertheless, the Justice League's failure to prioritize coming to Korea to save a World-class tycoon like him still fueled his resentment.
That was why he had joined forces with other chaebols to pressure the Justice League.
He believed he had succeeded; the Justice League had compromised. He heard they had already dispatched someone, and he believed it wouldn't be long before he was completely safe.
Just as Li Shiming was feeling smug, there was a sudden boom. The ceiling of his office was smashed through, and an armored figure landed in a standard Superhero pose!
Li Shiming was startled at first, but upon seeing it was Iron Man, he immediately relaxed.
He naturally knew that the famous Tony Stark was inside the armor. While others might fear Tony Stark's status, as the Chairman of Five Star, he wasn't intimidated at all.
He even felt a hint of disdain toward Tony Stark for acting as the second-in-command of the Justice League.
As a tycoon of a World-class enterprise, Tony Stark had gone off to be some thankless Superhero, and he wasn't even the leader. In Li Shiming's eyes, Tony was simply a disgrace to their class of tycoons!
Thus, he spoke to Tony with a mocking tone, "Heh, your Justice League might be a bit late, but at least you have some sense. You know who the real Master is, sending this tin man to protect me!"
"Go guard the door. Protect me well, and maybe I'll consider forgiving the Justice League for that stupid lottery decision!"
Tony:?
Damn, are the U.S. troops stationed in Korea usually too gentle? Did this grandson forget who the real daddy is?
A Korean chaebol tycoon actually dared to speak to him, an American energy mogul, in such a tone?
Tony, who hadn't fully undergone a psychological transformation, was not a man of good temper. Hearing Li Shiming's mocking words, and having come there to cause trouble in the first place, he raised his hand without a word and fired a Repulsor Blast!
*Zzz-boom!* ——————
A flash of white light streaked past, and Li Shiming's head was instantly blown apart by the Repulsor Blast. Red and white matter splattered all over the face of the woman in his arms, causing her to let out a piercing scream!
This left Li Shiming's bodyguards stunned; they hadn't expected Iron Man to actually dare to kill!
And after the shock came fury!
Because Li Shiming's death meant their protective umbrella was gone. The people they had offended while doing dirty work for Li Shiming over the years would surely hack them into mincemeat!
Thus, they all angrily raised their guns and fired frantically at Tony!
Amidst the clanging sounds of bullets hitting the armor without even scratching the paint, Tonyindifferently scanned everyone's faces. Jarvis pulled up the files for every single person.
After reviewing them, Tony couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Good grief, they're literally all villains. Including that woman, not a single person present was without a major criminal record; they all had blood on their hands!
Even that girl group member had once hired someone to kill and then rape her rival just to get ahead!
Since there wasn't a single innocent person present, Tony had even fewer qualms. He sneered, "Heh, damn Skrulls. To think you'd dare disguise yourselves as humans right under my nose. Go meet Satan!"
With that, two launchers rose from the shoulders of Tony's armor. Countless Micro-missiles streaked out, instantly striking everyone in the office.
Before their terrified eyes, the Micro-missiles that had entered their bodies detonated, blowing everyone into a bloody mist and destroying all evidence!
Even if there were an investigation later, no one would have sufficient evidence that those he killed were humans.
After all, Skrulls were being cleared out by the Justice League. Aside from the Justice League, who knew if the remains of a dead Skrull were the same as those of a human?
Moreover, if you didn't know, that was one thing, but knowing would only make you more suspicious. Since the whole World was forbidden from hunting Skrulls privately except for the Justice League, how would you know what a Skrull looked like after death?
So this was an open scheme. Even if someone later realized the Justice League was settling personal scores, no one would dare speak out and risk plunging themselves into eternal damnation.
Chapter 110: The Cesspool of Earth, Shadows in the Sky
After taking those people out, Tony didn't linger for a second. He flew toward other financial conglomerates to repeat the same operation!
India.
After Dr. Banner activated the quinjet's hovering protocol, he opened the rear hatch.
But as soon as the rear hatch opened, Hulk, standing there ready to jump, felt a stench of excrement and urine rush toward him. The smell was so overwhelming that he couldn't help but stumble back a few steps, nearly falling onto the floor!
For the first time, a look of sheer horror appeared on Hulk's face.
Even when he was at the Skrulls' gathering place, facing hundreds of thousands of them, he had never felt such a terrifying 'pressure'!
And now, before the battle had even begun, he had already suffered 'internal injuries'!
Hulk felt that this country was truly terrifying!
No wonder Karl said this country had been completely infiltrated by the Skrulls!
Exactly! Except for a country occupied by those Skrull vermin, how could there be a place on Earth as nauseating and foul-smelling as a cesspool?!
Dr. Banner was also gagging from the stench, but he suppressed the urge to vomit and walked to the rear hatch. Standing side-by-side with Hulk, he pointed toward a ring of wealthy districts below:
"Hulk, see that only slightly clean area? That's the place Karl said is completely occupied by the Skrulls. Go, carry out your mission. I'll be following you from behind!"
As Karl expected, Dr. Banner remained kind-hearted at his core. While he wouldn't stop Hulk's actions this time, he tried his best to guide Hulk away from harming innocent civilians.
As for the wealthy districts, thanks to the self-deprecating portrayals of high-caste oppression over low-castes in India's own films, Dr. Banner had zero goodwill toward these high-caste individuals.
Furthermore, since it was those high-caste nobles who were courting death, Dr. Banner felt there was no need to let the common people take the blame.
Thus, Dr. Banner felt no guilt whatsoever in directing Hulk's attention toward the wealthy districts.
Hulk didn't care about wealthy or poor districts, but he knew that the spot Dr. Banner pointed to was indeed the only clean place in the city. Not wanting to end up covered in filth, he chose to accept Dr. Banner's suggestion.
However, Hulk wouldn't explicitly state his agreement. Instead, he gave Dr. Banner another tsundere cold snort before leaping from the quinjet, plummeting toward the wealthy district below.
Hulk's primary landing point was, naturally, the largest and most conspicuous building—the former British Governor-General's Palace, now the Indian Presidential Palace!
Hulk wasn't smart! But Hulk knew that the more magnificent the place, the deeper the sin!
So, Old Immortal, I'm coming for you!
As for the details of Hulk's battle, there's no need for much description... Karl had already told Hulkbefore they came that everyone seen in this country was a Skrull, so their fate would naturally be the same as those at the Skrull gathering place.
Now, let's move the camera to the main battlefield.
——————Japan
Kyoto————————
Whoosh————————
The clouds were suddenly peeled away layer by layer like orange peels, leaving the sky over all of Kyoto... no, over the entire Island Nation, completely cloudless!
In the sky, besides the Sun, there was only the figure bathed in sunlight beneath it.
But at this moment, that Sun which should represent light, and that figure which should represent absolute justice—when combined, as the sunlight hit Karl's body...
A massive, terrifying humanoid shadow was cast upon the land of Kyoto.
It was as if... a monster was about to descend... and unfortunately, the Japan of this World clearly had no Ultraman to save them. Thus... the future was destined for despair!
This sudden humanoid shadow coverage immediately attracted the gaze of countless people in busy Kyoto.
Those outside Karl's shadow simply found it strange. Why was there a human figure in the sky so close to the Sun? Could it be a manifestation of the Great Goddess Amaterasu?
But those within Karl's humanoid shadow suddenly and uniformly became numb. The light vanished from their eyes for an instant, and when they regained their senses, their eyes were filled with madness!
Then, someone within the shadow shouted: "Long live the Skrulls! Earth belongs to us Skrulls! Kill all the humans!"
One shout stirred a hundred waves. These words seemed to possess magic, turning every Japanese person in the shadow into a demon. Completely disregarding the damage to their throats, they began to scream the same words with endless rage.
This left the Japanese people outside Karl's shadow completely bewildered, unable to understand what had happened to make these previously normal people suddenly go mad!
But there was no time for them to figure it out. In the next moment, those in the shadow were like zombies released from a cage, repeatedly roaring those words while launching desperate attacks on those outside the shadow!
Most terrifyingly, those who were tackled by these suddenly crazed people would also lose their sanity upon standing back up, joining the mad army of 'Skrulls' seizing the Earth and attacking even more people!
This situation spread through Kyoto like a virus at an unimaginable speed, driving more and more people into madness!
As a defeated nation, Japan had no right to an independent military and could only form Self-Defense Forces.
Because of the previous Skrull incident, the Japanese high command had deployed most of the Self-Defense Forces to protect their elite 'celestial dragons,' leaving only some local police stations in Kyoto. Consequently, they were unable to stop this sudden 'plague' in time!
Upon learning of the situation, the Japanese high command immediately wanted to seek help from their American father, hoping the U.S. would have the US Forces stationed on the island intervene to prevent the situation from worsening.
But the US Forces stationed on the island, having just been publicly humiliated by this rebellious son, simply cursed 'Fuck you' and hung up the phone.
Your uncle's smelly leather shoes! What time do you think it is? Still trying to drag us down with you? Dream on!
At this time, the US Forces stationed on the island had already taken their main fleet to surround all the ports of the Island Nation, blockading them and allowing no ships to enter or leave!
They had received orders from the President stating that the Security Council had reliable information that most of Japan had been quietly replaced by Skrulls who were now causing large-scale riots. Therefore, from this moment on, no Japanese person was allowed to escape the Island Nation, and violators would be killed on sight!
As for people of other nationalities besides the Japanese, they had to be strictly monitored and detained together, waiting for the Justice League to verify them before they could be released.
As for where the Security Council got this reliable information, Karl had naturally told them.
Was what Karl said reliable?
If it were before Karl's Great Shinra Tensei in Russia, the Security Council would have considered it carefully and strictly verified the truth of his words.