Ch: 151-160
Chapter 151 Captain America: Madame Viper, He Is Very Juicy!
By the time Karl stepped through the portal, he had already arrived in the supreme executive conference room in Edinburgh, England.
At this moment, in the conference room, the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of England were already waiting, drenched in sweat.
Seeing Karl step out of the portal, the two hurriedly walked toward him, competing to explain:
"God, our English government really didn't cooperate with that Madame Viper. We also don't know why she would live in Holyrood Palace and even treat it as her base of operations..."
"Right, right! We don't even know any Madame Viper. That has always been the Queen's summer residence in Scotland. The Queen comes here every summer, and our Royal Guard never noticed anything unusual. We truly knew nothing at all!"
It was no wonder the two were terrified.
Other civilians might not know, but these high-level humans knew that there couldn't have been hundreds of millions of Skrulls on Earth before, let alone all of them happening to be in the Island Nation.
It was only possible that the Island Nation's threat conveyed through the Security Council had offended the God, so when he arrived there, he made an example of them, sending the entire country to heaven!
After the Island Nation was used as a warning, even India and Korea, which had allied with them to threaten the Justice League, although not sent to heaven, were severely hit economically and sanctioned by the World. They had already fallen from first-rate countries to nearly third-rate!
Regardless of which outcome, it was unacceptable for England.
That was why they had to quickly clarify in front of Karl that they had absolutely no connection with Madame Viper!
Karl gave them a cold look: "Of course I know you were unaware; otherwise, do you think you'd still be standing here talking to me?"
"I told you to evacuate everyone from this city. How is that going?"
The Minister of Defense first let out a long sigh of relief, then wiped his sweat and quickly replied: "Because your notice was so urgent, even though we sent the army to evacuate most people, there is still a small portion who refuse to leave no matter what."
The Prime Minister immediately followed up: "But please rest assured, feel free to act. We have blocked all signals within the Edinburgh area. Even if these remaining reckless commoners die, we will announce to the public that they unfortunately died due to a major earthquake in Edinburgh. No one will ever use this to damage your reputation!"
Karl reached out to interrupt their continued flattery, saying impatiently: "Fine, I'll let it slide this time. Pay more attention next time. Don't fucking let thieves into your own house without even knowing!"
"The death penalty is waived, but there must still be a lesson. This year, increase your aid funding to the Justice League fivefold as my appearance fee for this action. Any objections?"
The Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister hurriedly shook their heads: "No objections, no objections. We will transfer the funds to you through the Security Council this month to thank you for taking action to rid our country of this evil!"
Hearing this, Karl nodded with satisfaction and turned to leave the conference room.
See? He was about to cause destruction on their territory, and not only did they not dare to complain, but they also had to say nice things, apologize with money, and thank him!
As for why Madame Viper's base was in Holyrood Palace, one of the English Queen's residences.
This actually really had nothing to do with England; they truly were completely unaware.
Because, in the intelligence Pierce provided, he remembered that among Madame Viper's four horsemen of the apocalypse, there was a big bald guy who liked to peek into people's thoughts.
With Professor X around, it was a piece of cake for Madame Viper to occupy an infrequently used residence of the English Queen without anyone knowing!
Karl knew England was innocent, but he still made the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense meet him. On one hand, it was to have them evacuate people and clear the battlefield; on the other hand, of course, it was to take the opportunity to extort a large sum!
Of course, the main reason was to extort a large sum!
As for how Pierce got the news when even the English authorities hadn't noticed.
Naturally, it was because HYDRA has the best Agents in the World!
Outside Holyrood Palace, Captain America, wearing a dark blue stealth combat suit, and the Winter Soldier, in a black combat uniform, were stationed there, each wearing a special helmet.
They were the two-man team sent by Pierce to monitor Madame Viper.
The helmets they wore were Mental Shielding Helmets rushed out by Tony to prevent the two from being discovered and mind-controlled by Professor X, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
After all, Madame Viper had already had the four horsemen of the apocalypse help her occupy multiple HYDRA branches in the EU, so even if Karl hadn't said anything, Pierce himself had a basic understanding of the abilities of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Among them, what Pierce feared most was Professor X's mind control ability.
After all, HYDRA started through a different kind of mind control, so they naturally knew how terrifying a mind controller could be!
To prevent his Agents from being counter-controlled, Pierce specifically sent Captain America and the Winter Soldier, who were wearing shielding helmets and possessed significant strength, to perform this monitoring task together.
"Is everyone inside?"
The sudden voice startled Captain America and the Winter Soldier, who were chatting.
The two reacted differently. The Winter Soldier subconsciously raised his gun to aim behind him, but immediately lowered it upon seeing it was Karl.
Captain America, however, started barking: "Holy shit! My boss, do you move without making a sound? I almost slammed my shield onto that damn perfectly modeled face of yours!"
Karl shrugged and pointed to the portal next to him: "Then I'm really sorry. I don't rely on walking to get around now; I just need to open an Anywhere Door."
"Alright, let's save the small talk for after this is over. Now, report the situation inside to me. After reporting, you can leave through this door to enjoy your two-man World. The upcoming battle is not for you 'children' to see."
Hearing this, a smirk identical to the Human Torch's appeared on Captain America's face: "Oi, boss, not for children? Is the battle you're talking about... wholesome?"
"But seriously, I've seen that Madame Viper a few times while monitoring this place. That figure, tsk tsk, is just too damn hot, and her appearance and temperament are filled with a non-human, exotic allure! It's really something!"
"If you're interested in interspecies stuff, boss, I really strongly suggest you try it!"
"If you don't want to try, take me with you. I want to try anyway!"
"Try my ass. You dare touch Madame Viper? Aren't you afraid of getting drenched in acid!" Karl's eyes twitched, and he couldn't help but kick Captain America's classic American ass, sending him flying into the portal.
Chapter 152 – The four horsemen of the apocalypse (Hell Edition)
Fortunately, there was still someone reliable present.
The Winter Soldier reported the situation inside Holyrood Palace to Karl in detail:
Sir, Madame HYDRA's core force inside Holyrood Palace isn't large; most of her troops are garrisoned at the other HYDRA branches she's seized recently. Inside the palace itself there are only one hundred and thirty-two personnel, twelve of whom are superhumans. Among those twelve, four serve as her strongest—her personal four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Madame HYDRA herself is in the deepest part of Holyrood Palace, in what used to be the Queen's bedchamber.
During the past few days of surveillance, Steve and I slipped out each time they left to attack other HYDRA cells in the EU and planted plastic explosives outside Holyrood Palace. We can detonate them at any moment—do we blow them now?
You have to hand it to our Winter Soldier: when it comes to reliability, he's the man.
Captain America? Pfft—just a stray dog on the roadside.
Karl patted the Winter Soldier's shoulder. Got it. Hold off for now. Give me the detonator and pull out.
Understood. The Winter Soldier nodded without hesitation, handed Karl the detonator, turned, and stepped through the portal.
Watching Captain America and the Winter Soldier already standing together on the other side of the portal, Karl suddenly spoke up:
By the way, starting today you're done working undercover in HYDRA. Report to the Justice Leaguewith the Captain and resume your real name—James Buchanan Barnes.
Bucky's head snapped up at Karl, glacier-cold eyes suddenly blazing with emotion.
Karl offered no further explanation, merely smiled at him and closed the portal.
Captain America clapped the still-stunned Bucky on the shoulder. See? Told you Karl's a reasonable boss~
Bucky spun toward him. It was you?
Of course. I'm not letting my brother stay in the dark forever. You watched my back before; now it's my turn. Without denying it, Steve threw an arm around Bucky's shoulders and strolled easily out of the conference room.
To understand this you have to go back to the last joint op when Captain America and the Winter Soldier took down Nick Fury.
Karl had altered the Captain's personality and the underlying logic of both men's loyalty to him, but he hadn't erased their original memories.
So the instant they saw each other, they recognized one another.
From that moment on, Captain America had been scheming how to pull his old buddy back to his side.
Therefore, after the Skrull incident, when Karl summoned the Captain to offer him the directorship of S.H.I.E.L.D., the now blunt-spoken Steve simply laid the request on the table.
Karl's desire to control his subordinates' loyalty was strong, but his urge to micromanage their lives was weak; he had no wish to turn people into emotionless machines.
Even his subordinates ought to have their own thoughts, their own lives.
With HYDRA no longer short one Winter Soldier, when Captain America casually mentioned he'd like to transfer the Winter Soldier to the Justice League, Karl agreed off-hand.
Either way the Winter Soldier still worked for him—just a different desk; why would he object?
Only, Karl had been in Asgard lately and hadn't gotten around to issuing the transfer order. Seeing the two of them now, he remembered and tossed Bucky this surprise—oh, correction: Bucky, not the Winter Soldier any more.
But that was only a minor interlude from our considerate yet black-hearted boss Karl.
Now let's return to the main story.
After seeing Captain America and the Winter Soldier off, Karl stepped openly out of the bushes where the pair had hidden and walked toward the gate.
Not because he disdained stealth.
It simply wasn't necessary.
The Master of the house was already waiting for him.
Outside Holyrood Palace—one standing, one sitting, one hovering, one crouching—four figures had appeared the instant Captain America and Bucky left.
They were precisely one of the main targets Karl had come to eliminate: the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Black King, Sebastian Shaw—power to absorb any kind of energy—kinetic, electric, nuclear—and convert it into personal strength.
Professor X, Charles Francis Xavier—no need to elaborate: pure telepathy and control.
Magneto, Max Eisenhardt (a.k.a. Erik Magnus Lehnsherr)—our show-stopper who controls magnetic fields, lower limit all metals, upper limit the entire planet's magnetic field.
Wolverine, James Logan—everyone's favorite uncle Logan, with super-healing, feral senses and smell, plus an indestructible Adamantium skeleton.
Among the four, only Wolverine is third-tier Beta; the other three are fourth-tier Alpha, just one notch below the game-breaking fifth-tier Omega Mutants.
If Wanda were the Scarlet Witch of the Mutant Universe, she'd be Omega-level.
Sadly, she isn't—merely a local whose Chaos Magic was prematurely awakened by Dormammu in this Universe.
Don't imagine that being one tier below Wanda makes them weaker.
In fact, apart from Wolverine Logan, the other three veteran Mutants outclass the newly awakened Wanda in real combat.
Even the weakest, Wolverine, backed by Adamantium, can't be judged purely by his Beta rank.
After all, Logan once killed a host of the Phoenix Force while the Phoenix was giving him the ultimate handicap!
Now the four have come straight out of Hell, sure to carry hell-power bestowed by Mephisto, making them even more formidable.
And all four looked supremely confident.
Black King walked toward Karl, his rotting face mocking as he spoke:
God-Carl? More like God-naive—foolish Carl. You really thought two super-soldiers who rely on needles could spy on us evolved new-humans without being noticed?
Our little doggy caught their stench ages ago. We didn't tear them apart only to lure you out!
Facing the taunt, Karl stopped in front of the shorter Black King and looked down at him. Little doggy? What little doggy?
Black King blinked, instinctively pointing behind him: Of course our undying old wolf—wai—where's Logan!
Seeing only two men behind him, Black King realized something was wrong and immediately roared at the others: Where the hell is Logan?!
Chapter 153: One by one, like gourd babies saving Grandpa?
Professor X and Magneto were just as bewildered.
They'd been too busy helping Black King show off and build up presence; who knew when Wolverinehad vanished... Oh, wait—technically they themselves were the ghosts who'd just crawled out of hell!
So even ghosts had no idea where Wolverine had gone.
But while ghosts were clueless, gods were in the know.
Black King spun round and glared at the half-smiling Karl, growling, "It was you—where did you send Logan?"
Karl folded his arms and smiled. "Didn't you just call him the unkillable old wolf? I didn't buy it, so I tested his immortality myself. As for the result—see for yourself..."
He snapped his fingers; a portal opened beside him, and on the other side stood Logan.
Screaming, howling, and steadily melting Logan.
Because he was now standing on the surface of the Sun.
That's right—Karl had opened a portal under Logan's feet and tossed him straight onto the Sun.
You have to admit, Wolverine's regeneration is ridiculous; even dumped on the solar surface he hadn't died outright, his flesh endlessly knitting and re-knitting as he writhed.
Hard to imagine how he'd managed to kill himself back in his own Universe and end up in Mephisto's hands... but that was it—his healing factor was off the charts, everything else about him was trash.
Without any energy-based powers, the ways to counter him were endless.
Right now, for instance, he couldn't fly away, couldn't teleport out—he could only stay alive and suffer.
And thanks to his super-healing, every solar burn that healed only made the agony worse.
Magneto tried to send a scrap of metal in to fish Wolverine out, but the metal melted before it even touched the solar surface.
After all, Magneto's metals aren't as tough as Wolverine's adamantium, nor do they regenerate. Seeing this, Black King roared, "Boy, release him, or I'll—"
Karl cut in with disdain: "Or what, exactly?"
Black King froze. His power let him absorb every kind of energy an enemy threw at him—if the other guy didn't attack first, there was nothing he could do!
Flushing crimson, he finally choked out: "Then... then have the guts to hit me!"
Karl:...Even Black King's words left Karl speechless.
Though Black King was a fourth-level Mutant, and absorbing any attack energy was broken as hell, the activation requirement was downright masochistic.
Before you could hit anyone, they had to hit you first—what if they just slapped your face? You'd lose face and still gain hardly any kinetic energy.
But when faced with such a shameless request, Karl never knew how to refuse.
"OK, as you wish."
So, looking at Black King's come-hit-me stance, Karl 'grabbed' the portal ring beside him, slipped it over Black King like a hula-hoop, then clenched his fist. The ring shrank instantly.
Whoosh——————
A few sparks drifted down; only Black King's shins and feet remained before Karl—the rest had vanished.
Gone to keep Logan company on the Sun~
Karl merely shrugged.
Seems the legendary Sebastian Shaw, who could absorb any attack energy, couldn't absorb everything.
Spatial severing that tapped higher-dimensional power? No dice.
A simple Kamar-Taj entry-level portal spell had let Karl wipe out two of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, leaving Professor X and Magneto stunned.
And watching these two still standing like idiots after losing two teammates, Karl figured he'd guessed which Universe Mephisto had fished these Mutants from.
Earth-838.
The Universe where Wanda slaughtered the Illuminati in Doctor Strange 2.
In that Universe the Illuminati were all morons.
First, the 'smartest man in the Universe,' Mister Fantastic, sold out his teammate the moment he opened his mouth, getting Black Bolt killed when Wanda sealed his mouth and blew his head off.
Then, while Mister Fantastic was being stretched into noodle-paste, Captain Britain and Captain Marveljust stood there gawking—exactly like Professor X and Magneto now—offering zero help.
Were they even human?
Finally, that Universe's Professor X, the strongest support, arrived only after every main fighter was dead, tried to solo Wanda with his support build, and got his neck snapped in the astral plane—surprise, surprise.
Magneto hadn't shown up in 838, but judging by his current idiocy he was clearly from the same brain-dead Illuminati Universe.
As expected, the moment Karl thought that—
The crippled Professor X in the wheelchair struck his classic 838 pose: one hand on his bald head, the other pointing at Karl, shouting, "Stop!"
Karl's mouth twitched. "Stop? No offense, but are you senile? Why not wait till everyone's dead before telling me to stop..."
Professor X blinked. "You... why aren't you under my control?"
Karl raised an eyebrow. "Oh, were you already using your power? I thought you were just posing. Want to try again? I'll play along."
With the sheep talisman's passive protection, not even Wanda's Chaos Magic could mentally control Karl, let alone Professor X.
Karl had spoken casually—he hadn't expected this idiot to take it seriously.
Yet Professor X actually reached out and tried his telepathy again.
Karl had lost count of how many times he'd been rendered speechless today; sighing that the author was scraping the barrel, he dropped the sheep talisman's shield and let Professor X into his mind.
Then...Professor X was dumbstruck.
Karl's mental World was vast—practically a World in itself!
And it was starkly divided: the ground pure black, the sky pure White.
A colossal Sun and a giant Moon hung overhead, while the land teemed with katana-wielding ninjas, pincer-armed warriors, and sky-borne bats!
Chapter 154: Madame Viper, So Supple~
And finally, atop the bloody throne piled high with mountains of corpses, stood God Karl, clad in the Godly Raiment of Light and Darkness, positioned between the Worlds of black and white, looking down with indifference.
"Congratulations, Professor. You've successfully entered my mental World. So, how do you plan to defeat me here?"
Facing the endless Shadow army and Karl, who stood high above like a God or demon, Professor Xswallowed hard and instinctively took two steps back.
"How is this possible? How can someone be this powerful... even more powerful than Jean was..."
"Jean Grey?" Karl's expression remained flat, even showing a hint of disdain.
The Phoenix Force was indeed powerful, but unfortunately, like Chaos Magic, its power was too dispersed, having hosts in almost every parallel Universe.
As a result, their abilities were divided into countless portions, and only a very few hosts could unleash their true power.
And the Jean Grey of this rather unintelligent Professor X's Universe was clearly not one of those hosts who could wield the true power of the Phoenix Force.
So when Professor X said Karl was stronger than his Universe's Jean Grey, Karl felt it was somewhat of an insult.
Because of this 'insult,' Karl intended to give this Professor X a rather ungraceful death.
Karl rested his chin on his hand on the throne and waved dismissively. "Go on. Shred him into small pieces. I don't like them too big."
Karl's words were like an imperial decree.
As soon as they were spoken, countless Shadow Soldier beneath the mountain of corpses began their charge toward Professor X!
"NO!!!"
Professor X only had time to let out a desperate cry before he was submerged in the sea of the Shadow Legion!
First were the most agile Ghost Shadow Ninja, who sliced X's mental form into pieces with their blades!
Then, the massive pincers of countless Pincer Shadow came crashing down, smashing Professor X's fragmented mental form into something resembling beef meatballs!
Finally, countless flying shadow in the sky unleashed sonic attacks, completely obliterating the already minced Professor X until not even a trace remained!
While this seemed to take a long time, in reality, not even a second had passed.
The remaining Magneto only saw his friend reach out toward Karl to activate his ability, and in the next second, his friend's neck slumped as he died right beside him!
"No!!!" (Snowflakes Drifting version)
Magneto, who had been as cold as iron when facing the deaths of his teammates Wolverine and Black King, was now enraged at the sight of his best friend's death!
And when Old Wan gets angry, the scene is naturally grand!
From the castle behind Magneto, countless metal objects of all kinds flew out—metal pillars, rebar, even refrigerators and appliances!
Like ten thousand swords returning to their origin, they shot toward Karl from the castle in a dense swarm.
Karl felt no ripple of emotion toward such an unoriginal attack; he didn't even bother to move.
All the metal objects flying toward him were frozen in mid-air by an invisible telekinesis, as if Karl were protected by an invincible transparent sphere.
Only after the metal shot by Magneto had almost encased Karl in a giant iron ball, and there was no more metal left for Magneto to control...
...did Karl boredly clench his fist, controlling all the metal around him to converge, continuously compressing and refining it until the dozens-of-meters-wide iron ball was compressed into a terrifying object over a meter long and three fingers wide!
Finally, with a thought from Karl, the red-hot strip of metal—heated by the extreme compression—began to reshape, eventually turning into an exquisite silver longsword!
Karl took it in his hand. Good heavens, this small sword actually gave him a sense of weight; it weighed at least a hundred tons!
Its hardness likely surpassed even Vibranium and Adamantium!
As for its power, well, there was a live target right in front of him. He'd test it on Old Wan!
Karl injected a bit of Light Divine Power into the sword and gave a light flick toward the stunned Magneto.
A brilliant white crescent-shaped sword beam was unleashed from the blade, sweeping past Magnetoat the speed of light!
Only after the sword light vanished did the damage catch up to the light's speed and manifest.
Magneto was the first to be hit; a bloody fissure split from his forehead down to his groin, and his entire body was sliced in half like a hog at New Year's!
Then it was the castle behind him. The damage to the castle wasn't as simple as a small bloody fissure like Old Wan's.
Instead, the entire castle split open from the main gate, like a natural chasm carving out a grand canyon, extending all the way to the final Isolated Keep in the deepest part of the castle before stopping.
And that Isolated Keep was naturally where Madame Viper was located.
Next was the final boss. Once he dealt with Madame Viper, HYDRA would be his obedient little snake!
As Karl walked toward the keep sword in hand, he was surprised to see the main gate open on its own, as if welcoming him inside... and when he stepped in, he was even more surprised to find over a hundred dead guards lying in the first-floor hall of the Queen's Bedchamber where Madame Viperresided, their faces green, lips purple, and expressions pained.
Looking at them, it was clear they had all died of poisoning.
And clearly, only one person here had that ability... Karl narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is this woman up to?"
It was one thing for her not to be there for the team fight, but she even killed off her remaining subordinates and opened the door for him. What did this mean?
A trap?
Just as Karl was considering whether to just use a Light Flare to blow the place up and turn any schemes into nothingness, a seductive voice drifted down from the second floor:
"Your Majesty has the unification of HYDRA within his grasp; it wouldn't hurt to take these last few steps. Why not come up for a chat?"
Hearing that sultry voice, Karl couldn't help but frown. This was a blatant provocation!
Even her tone sounded "nakedly" suggestive!
Could Karl tolerate this?
He headed upstairs, carrying his great sword.
When he got upstairs and looked, wow, Madame Viper lying on the bed really was naked!
And just as Captain America had said, Madame Viper really was seductive and bewitching.
Her figure went without saying; now that she was presented directly before Karl without any obstruction, she was much clearer than what Captain America had seen from a distance through clothes.
It was no exaggeration to say that Gwen and Wanda looked like undeveloped children compared to Madame Viper!
As for her appearance, Madame Viper truly had a kind of exotic beauty—a mix between human and serpent!
Seeing this, Karl stored the great sword into his Shadow World, indicating he didn't need it anymore, because now he had another sword that was even harder!
Karl undid two buttons at his collar and walked toward Madame Viper step by step, his voice deepening. "Viper, you're making me very 'fired up'..."
"Then how about I help Your Majesty cool down?" Madame Viper extended her long, slender tongue to lick her red lips, stood up from the bed, walked gracefully to Karl, and slowly knelt down...
Chapter 155: The Submission of Madame Viper
One day later... the big head triumphed over the small head, and reason returned to the high ground.
Karl lit a cigarette and glanced at Madame Viper, who was leaning against his arm, her delicate body faintly visible beneath the gauze quilt, and cursed inwardly.
Damn, as expected of Madame Viper, whose name makes everyone in HYDRA pale with fear. She's truly formidable; she actually managed to fight a bitter battle with him for an entire day before he defeated her!
This has already broken his record for the longest time spent facing an enemy since his debut; she is a formidable opponent!
Usually, he achieves an overwhelming victory, alright!
However, during this battle that lasted as long as a whole day, Karl also figured out why Madame Viperhad orchestrated such a scene.
It turned out that unlike Baron Strucker, who had long been dissatisfied with the dominance of Pierce's faction and already had treacherous intentions—where Dormammu's arrival only served to completely ignite Baron Strucker's ambition, giving him an excuse to act...
Madame Viper never had any dissatisfaction with the dominance of Pierce's faction or any thought of betraying HYDRA from the beginning.
The reason she was chosen by Mephisto was simply because she was the leader of the largest HYDRAbranch outside of Pierce's faction.
Furthermore, her abilities were not bestowed by Mephisto; they were her innate superpowers.
Being a fellow superhuman, Madame Viper understood the weight of Karl's title as God Karl better than the other serpent heads. She knew that even if she and Baron Strucker joined forces, or even if all the serpent heads were added together, they wouldn't be enough for Karl to cut down with one hand.
Therefore, she was even more unwilling to be Karl's enemy.
But Mephisto didn't care if she was willing or not; unwillingness meant death. She herself was forced by Mephisto to sign a Soul Contract.
The four horsemen of the apocalypse were not subordinates sent to her by Mephisto, but were sent to monitor her actions.
So Madame Viper couldn't wait for them to die.
However, the Four Horsemen were too strong and possessed the power of the undead from the Hell Dimension, which happened to counter Madame Viper's specialty—toxins. That's why she couldn't take action herself.
Thus, she could only try her best to scatter her subordinates among the occupied branches, gather the Undead Warriors sent by Mephisto together, and then wash herself clean, waiting for her HYDRA King, Karl Fisk, to save her.
Finally, Madame Viper also stated that she had actually admired Karl for a long time and was very willing to submit to him, offering all the EU HYDRA branches she had previously occupied to Karl.
Regarding this, although Karl's mind wasn't very clear when his "small head" had the upper hand during the battle, he still didn't fully believe the words of this viper, Madame Viper.
For instance, a few points were suspicious... First, her claim that she was never dissatisfied with the dominance of his HYDRA faction; Karl didn't believe that.
With Pierce's faction being so dominant, it was only a matter of time before they unified the entire HYDRA. This was something any serpent head with a brain could figure out.
And going from being a boss to a subordinate, anyone would feel dissatisfied.
Not to mention a "Viper Queen" like Madame Viper, who climbed to the top over the corpses of countless people.
Secondly, Madame Viper said she didn't resist because her toxin abilities were ineffective against the Four Horsemen who possessed the power of the undead, and instead gathered them to wait for him.
This was clearly also a lie.
One must know that the Undead Mutant team sent by Mephisto wasn't just the Four Horsemen; besides the four of them, there were other fodder Mutants.
Even if a few were killed by Ghost Shadow Ninjas during the previous assassination of Pierce.
But besides the Four Horsemen, there were at least eight other Mutants, and their corpses were currently lying downstairs.
Clearly, Madame Viper had the ability to kill Mutants enhanced by the power of the undead... Finally, Madame Viper said she washed herself clean to wait for him, had admired him for a long time, and was willing to offer herself and all the branches she occupied to him.
There was also a lot of fluff in these words.
Madame Viper isn't old, but she doesn't tell many truths either.
She was obviously gambling, using herself to see if Karl could withstand her venom!
Just as Karl had told Captain America before, wanting to hit on Madame Viper is like wanting to be drenched in sulfuric acid!
This statement wasn't an exaggeration at all; it was actually a rather mild way of putting it.
Because Madame Viper's poison is much more powerful than sulfuric acid.
It could be said that her entire body is filled with lethal toxins!
Ordinary people, and even average superhumans, would die upon contact!
Karl had a deep experience of this from the moment of entry... that venom, tsk tsk... But coincidentally, whether the Four Horsemen's Undead Power countered Madame Viper, Karl didn't know, but he definitely countered her!
Not to mention the Horse Talisman that dispels all negative external forces; even without it, the purification effect inherent in his Light Godhead counters all toxins in the world!
Unless it's a toxin of the same divine level, such as the death power of Hela, the Goddess of Death, it's impossible to have even a tiny effect on his Divine Body.
So it wasn't that Madame Viper voluntarily submitted to Karl, but that Karl had truly conquered her.
During this day of battle, she had tried various methods and confirmed that all her toxins were ineffective against Karl, so choosing submission was her only way to survive.
However, even though he knew Madame Viper's little schemes, Karl didn't point them out.
After all, some things you know and I know, and I know that you know, but if no one says it openly, we can still pretend we don't know.
Once spoken, the meaning changes.
If he said it, he wouldn't be able to keep Madame Viper.
But for now, he intended to keep her... after all, this woman is indeed very capable and could become a great help to him within HYDRA.
In short, Karl accepted Madame Viper.
Regardless of whether her betrayal was voluntary or not, a betrayal is a betrayal and requires punishment. Besides this day of physical punishment, after Karl used the sheep talisman to clear Mephisto's Soul Mark from her, he also gave her a task.
That was to go and kill all the other serpent heads for him and make their subordinates willingly submit to his faction.
The former must be done; as for the latter, it didn't matter if she couldn't make everyone submit.
However, there was no need to keep those HYDRA members who were unwilling to submit... Afterwards, Madame Viper, with eyes full of charm, expressed that there was no problem at all and that she would perfectly execute the orders of her HYDRA King.
Karl didn't plan to give Madame Viper any help in this matter either. After she gave an affirmative answer, he pulled up his pants and simply left.
Chapter 156: Dormammu and Mephisto Gossiping Behind Karl's Back
He would come looking for her again the next time he needed to use her.
In the lonely castle, only Madame Hydra was left, clutching her waist on the bed with a resentful expression:
"What a heartless man, leaving right after he's done..."
Karl was very rational.
For a woman like Madame Hydra, playing around was fine, but he wouldn't truly invest his emotions... So, after calling his godfather Pierce to tell him that the internal HYDRA rebellion was resolved, Baron Strucker was dead, and Madame Hydra had been'subdued' by him in bed... he returned to the Justice League, which he hadn't visited in a while, to accompany Gwen, who was truly devoted to him.
Although he was a scumbag, he did have genuine feelings for Gwen.
Gwen was also the only woman whom he treated like true family, placing three full teams of the Shadow Legion in her shadow for protection.
Even his stepmother, Vanessa, didn't receive such treatment.
While Karl leisurely went to accompany his little girlfriend after finishing his business, the undercurrents inside and outside Earth did not stop for a moment.
First, within Earth, Baron Strucker had indeed done as he said before he died; after his death, his hidden subordinates released the news to the World that Karl and Pierce were members of HYDRA.
But just as Karl had predicted, even if he didn't intervene, the various nations' cyber-intelligence departments—which already used big data to monitor Karl's name at all times—intercepted this information the moment it appeared.
Without even blockading or examining it closely, the supreme leaders of various countries ordered their cyber departments to completely delete this information from their databases!
Slander! This is blatant slander!
Who dared to put such audacious fake news into our network information banks?
We didn't dare to look at it at all, and we certainly didn't dare to believe it!
To prevent similar fake information from being sent out, the nations unanimously decided to strike at the source of the information!
The information had been sent out a minute ago by Baron Strucker's contingency plan in a small country; the missiles from various nations arrived at the source of the information a minute later.
Including the buildings within a ten-mile radius, the area was bombarded hundreds of times by missiles led by the Five Great Powers!
Forget the source of the information; it had turned into a massive crater!
Therefore, except for the supreme leaders of various countries, it could be said that no civilian knew about Karl's identity as a HYDRA member.
Earth continued to rotate normally, and society continued to function as usual.
It was as if the fact that Karl, Earth's most powerful Superhero, was a member of HYDRA had not caused a single ripple within the planet.
But outside of Earth, things were different, specifically in the Dark Dimension.
Dormammu and Mephisto saw this scene and were cursing up a storm!
Although they hadn't originally thought they could directly kill the Ancient One's successor this time, they had harbored the vengeful idea of causing trouble for Karl, throwing Earth into internal chaos, and ruining his reputation.
But they now realized they had still underestimated Karl's strength, and even more so, his influence on Earth!
If the Ancient One's strength was low-key and hidden...
Then her successor's strength was as high-profile as could be, to the point where the whole World had no choice but to take him seriously.
The plan to ruin his reputation simply wouldn't work!
After finishing his cursing, Dormammu also calmed down: "Mephisto, our revenge this time is a complete failure. Do we need to continue increasing the stakes and continue the retaliation?"
Mephisto lowered his head in thought for a moment and finally shook it:
"Although we only sent a few representatives and a few believers this time, we have also seen his powerful strength and unique influence through this. Unless our true bodies act, even if we increase the stakes, the final effect won't be very significant..."
Hearing this, Dormammu's giant shoe-horn-shaped face immediately wrinkled up:
"But you also know that those Sanctum Arrays specifically targeting us dimensional beings exist. Our true bodies can't act on Earth at all. If our true bodies can't act, are we just going to let it go?"
Mephisto looked at Dormammu and suddenly gave a cunning smile: "Let it go? Of course not. We are Lords of the Dimension; how can we allow someone to step on our heads and do as they please without doing anything?"
"I only said we won't act ourselves, but I didn't say we couldn't let others act for us..."
Hearing this, Dormammu's large purple eyes lit up: "You mean?"
A light of wisdom flashed in Mephisto's eyes: "I admit, the Ancient One's successor is indeed strong enough; it can be said he has no rivals on Earth. But what about outside of Earth?"
"Didn't he form an alliance with Asgard before?"
"Then presumably if Asgard is in trouble, he will go to help, right?"
"And Asgard has quite a few powerful enemies..."
Dormammu had a look of sudden realization: "You mean the Frost Giant Laufey, and the Fire GiantsSurtur?"
But then, Dormammu became puzzled again: "I admit, these two fellows were indeed strong enough before, stronger than some of Asgard's main gods. A Surtur in his prime could even destroy all of Asgard."
"But here's the problem: both of them were once defeated by Odin during his period of madness after the deaths of his two sons, who took away their treasures and origins, the Casket of Ancient Wintersand the Eternal Flame. Now they can only be considered two second-rate characters, not much stronger than the believers I corrupted or the high-level undead Mutants you sent out, right?"
"Do you want to go to the Asgardian vault to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters and the Eternal Flame for them?"
"Let's get this straight, I'm not going. Although that old fellow Odin's body isn't what it used to be, the divine power in his body far exceeds what it was before. If we provoke him too much and he comes to our dimension to blow himself up, it would be enough to severely damage our origins!"
Looking at Dormammu's 'I'm not doing it' expression, Mephisto shook his head helplessly:
"Sigh, why are you so stubborn? Why do we have to face Odin directly? I said we'd use others' hands for revenge, so the task of getting the Casket of Ancient Winters and the Eternal Flame can also be done by others!"
Dormammu couldn't help but feel a bit dissatisfied upon hearing Mephisto call him stubborn.
To show that he also possessed super intelligence, his brain—which usually preferred action over thinking since he became the Lord of the Dark Dimension—began to whir and grind into motion after a long time... Soon, a lightbulb went off over Dormammu's head, and he said confidently to Mephisto:
"I know! That son of Laufey who was taken from Jotunheim by Odin, Odin's adopted son Loki—we can use him as a breakthrough point to help us get those two things!"
Hearing this, Mephisto smiled and gave the confident Dormammu a thumbs up: "As expected of the Monarch of the Dark Dimension, the noble Dormammu. Loki is indeed a good breakthrough point..."
"But... the ally I've chosen for us this time isn't him. He's too weak, his strength is hardly up to the task, and he's currently inside Kamar-Taj on Earth where we can't contact him. So I have a better candidate..."
"That is Odin's second-generation successor, the woman who once fought me for the souls of the dead by herself—the Goddess of Death, Hela!"
Chapter 156: Dormammu's Niece, Klee?
Hearing this name, Dormammu looked thoughtful:
"The Goddess of Death Hela, who, like you, controls a portion of the authority over death and possesses the primordial power of Asgard, if it were her, she could indeed bring great trouble to Asgardand Earth..."
"But if I remember correctly, Hela was sealed in Helheim by Odin himself during that rebellion thousands of years ago, wasn't she?"
"If you want to bring her out, it will inevitably alarm Odin. How do you plan to hide it from that old geezer Odin?"
Hearing Dormammu's words, Mephisto's lips curved into a wicked smile:
"No, it's not about how I plan to hide it from Odin, the key is you, Dormammu..."
Mephisto's tendency to speak in riddles had already made Dormammu a bit impatient. He said in a deep voice:
"You're testing my patience to its limits, so just tell me, Mephisto, what exactly do you want?"
Seeing this, Mephisto stopped acting profound and pointed in a direction within the Dark Dimension: "I want her, your exceptionally gifted niece!"
Dormammu looked in the direction Mephisto pointed, his brows furrowing.
The place Mephisto pointed to seemed empty, but with their strength, they had naturally long since discovered that someone had been secretly peeking at them.
It was just that the other party was also a creature of the Dark Dimension, so the two of them hadn't paid any attention to it.
And just as the hidden person saw Mephisto and Dormammu looking at them and tried to escape... Dormammu moved!
A colossal hand appeared in the Dark Dimension, directly grabbing the invisible escapee and bringing them before the two Lords of the Dimension.
As Dormammu grabbed them, the invisible person in his hand slowly became visible.
It was a beautiful silver-haired girl who looked only about 15 or 16 years old.
Dormammu looked at the struggling silver-haired girl in his hand, a little helpless:
"Klee, it's been hundreds of years, and you still haven't changed your nosy nature..."
Indeed, the girl's name was Klee, Dormammu's niece, and also one of the rightful heirs of the Dark Dimension.
And as Dormammu's niece, Klee was naturally not simple.
Not only was she of noble birth, but as Mephisto said, she was exceptionally gifted, possessing a very special ability since birth.
That is, she could tear open any spatial seal!
Whether it was real space, dimensional space, or even the spatial barriers of the Multiverse, she could easily tear them open!
This ability made a hint of greed flash in Mephisto's eyes as he looked at Klee in Dormammu's hand.
Such an ability to tear any space was not even possessed by him, a Lord of the Dimension; he could only tear open parts of space. What an enviable and jealous talent... However, Dormammu immediately pulled Klee behind him, shielding her from Mephisto's gaze, and sternly warned him:
"Mephisto, watch your eyes. Klee is the heir of my Dark Dimension, don't even think about her!"
Mephisto heard this, averted his gaze, and gave Klee a slight bow, smiling:
"Of course, I merely wish for Miss Klee to do us a favor; I have no other ill intentions..."
Dormammu heard this and then put Klee back in front, placing her between the two of them.
Yet, facing the two Lords of the Dimension, Klee, dressed in a purple dress, showed no fear at all. She put her hands on her hips, pointed at Dormammu, and said imperiously:
"Dormammu, what bad thing do you want me to help you with again?"
"Last time you made me go to Earth to help you destroy that temple, and I got caught by that hateful bald old woman and got a good spanking, and then my mother grounded me for hundreds of years! I'm not doing it this time!!"
Dormammu's face turned a little awkward upon hearing this: "Cough, cough, that was just an accident. Didn't I rescue you in the end...?"
There are other Lords of the Dimension here; why is his little niece so thoughtless, bringing up this matter and making her uncle lose face... Klee, hearing this, looked at Dormammu with even more disdain: "Bullshit! Did you rescue me?"
"That old woman clearly used me as bait to lure you out, and you, like a fool, fell for it, leaving your true form outside your Dark Dimension. As a result, that old woman took the opportunity to enter the Dark Dimension and seize a portion of its authority, bringing utter disgrace to our Dark Dimension! My mom won't even let me play with you anymore!"
Having even more embarrassing old stories brought up made Dormammu even more awkward. He believed that if he still had toes, he would have surely dug out a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment in the Dark Dimension by now!
Fearing that his little niece might expose more of his dark secrets, Dormammu quickly shrunk his body and clapped his hand over his niece's mouth:
"Stop talking, my dear little ancestor! Didn't I only let you go with your permission? You can't blame it all on me, can you?"
"Besides me, who else would let you leave the Dark Dimension to play around? Your mother always keeps you confined to her domain, doesn't she?"
The Dark Dimension, like the Hell Dimension, is vast and boundless. Naturally, just like the Hell Dimension, it has more than one Lord of the Dimension.
And Klee's mother is the other ruler of the Dark Dimension, Umar!
Furthermore, as a descendant of the original ruler of the Dark Dimension, Umar, who inherited the Flame of Power, even had a stronger grasp over the Dark Dimension than Dormammu.
Of course, she was also more rigid.
To prevent Klee, the heir, from dying prematurely, she forbade her from using her ability to leave the Dark Dimension.
That's why Klee preferred to come and play in her uncle Dormammu's domain.
Because Dormammu would secretly open a back door for her, allowing her to sneak out of the Dark Dimension to play without telling her mother.
As for the price, Dormammu would often have her use her space-tearing ability to help him with some mischievous deeds.
However, ever since she was caught by the Ancient One last time and taken back by her furious mother, she hadn't visited Dormammu's domain or left the Dark Dimension to play for a long time.
Today, she finally endured until her mother's centuries-long grounding period ended, and she couldn't wait to sneak out to play through Dormammu's domain.
But as soon as she arrived at Dormammu's territory, Klee saw her uncle Dormammu and a suspicious-looking fellow, who clearly wasn't a good person, secretly watching something.
So, being at an age where curiosity was rampant, she hid behind them and secretly watched.
She then saw that the location in the scene they were watching was none other than Earth, the place that had caused her to be grounded for hundreds of years!
And the man who was the protagonist in the scene was using the exact same spatial teleportation magic that the bald old woman had used on her before!
Clearly, the man in the scene and the bald old woman were in cahoots!
Chapter 157: A Fallen Spaceship?
Therefore, Klee, who still felt a stinging resentment toward the Ancient One for spanking her back then, kept watching until the footage ended, only then being discovered by Mephisto and dragged out by Dormammu.
However, as the Princess of the Dark Dimension, Klee felt no fear at being caught; instead, she lifted her foot, ready to leave.
"Dormammu, what exactly do you want from me? If there's nothing, I'm leaving. I've been cooped up for hundreds of years; I'm going out to have some fun!"
Hearing Klee's words, Mephisto, who had been watching the drama unfold, had a glint in his eyes and flickered, appearing right in front of her.
Others might fear Mephisto, the Lord of the Hell Dimension, but Klee did not. With a flick of her wrists, two purple blades appeared in her hands, distorting the space of the Dark Dimension itself, and she said coldly:
"You'd better get out of my way, you guy who paints himself like a black-and-white Joker!"
Mephisto wasn't angered by her words; instead, he raised his hands to show he meant no harm and smiled.
"Respected Miss Klee, it's not that I want to stop you, but you currently have your mother's Dimensional Soul Mark on you. As soon as you leave the Dark Dimension, she'll sense it immediately."
"Unless you want to be locked away by your mother for another few hundred years, I suggest you listen to our proposal first..."
Klee's expression changed as she finally remembered that detail.
To prevent her from running off and encountering dangerous people like the Ancient One again, her mother had left a Dimensional Soul Mark on her when lifting her grounding; the moment she left the Dark Dimension, her mother would know!
Seeing Klee quiet down with a sour expression, Mephisto quickly shot a look at Dormammu.
Dormammu understood immediately and spoke to Klee in a tone used to coax a child:
"Klee, you should know that a Dark Lord's Dimensional Soul Mark can only be erased by your mother or by me, as another Lord of the Dark Dimension..."
"And if you agree to do one thing for me, I promise to erase that Dimensional Soul Mark. How about it?"
On one hand was staying in the eternally boring Dark Dimension; on the other was taking a risk for freedom.
It was obvious what Klee, in her rebellious teenage phase, would choose.
Klee stomped her foot and said petulantly:
"Damn it! Dormammu, you're just a bad uncle. I'll agree to do one thing for you!"
"But let me make this clear: even if I die in the Dark Dimension today and go back to my mother, I will not go to that wretched Earth to help you destroy the Sanctums again. So, if what you want me to do is on Earth, forget it!"
Dormammu and Mephisto looked at each other and smiled.
"Of course, why would we send you to such a dangerous place? Where we want you to go is another land of death..."
Ahhhhhhh—
"Why is there such a land of death! It's too terrifying! I'm so scared, Karl..."
America, San Francisco.
Emerging from the haunted house, Gwen clung tightly to Karl's arm, her small face wearing a look of terror.
Karl smiled helplessly and rubbed Gwen's head.
This girl's acting was too poor, even worse than actors in web dramas.
A Spider-Woman who frequently fought super-villains being afraid of fake ghosts in a haunted house was simply faker than the ghosts themselves... Karl put his arm around Gwen's waist and suddenly swept her up into a bridal carry, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.
"Dear Miss Stacy, I've accompanied you on the shopping trip you wanted and the amusement park you wanted to visit. Now that it's getting dark, isn't it time you played something more exciting with me?"
Gwen's face flushed. She lowered her head in Karl's arms, not daring to look at him, and asked knowingly, "Play... play what more exciting thing..."
But clearly, Gwen still underestimated Karl's dirty mind... "Do you know about the Flying Spider?"
"Flying Spider?"
Under Gwen's puzzled gaze, Karl held her and, ignoring the startled looks of those around them, his feet slowly left the ground before he soared into the sky!
Gwen: Σ(°ロ°) Eh?
Not until they reached the vast sea of clouds did Karl stop ascending. He held both of Gwen's hands above her head and leaned close to her ear.
"This is the Flying Spider—a spider suspended in the sky..."
Gwen immediately realized what Karl wanted to do and said hurriedly, "Wait, I'm still wearing my spider suit underneath. At... at least let me change out of it..."
So dedicated, not even forgetting to wear her uniform when going out for fun.
But... Karl's smile widened: "The spider suit is exactly what I want~"
spider suit plus aerial combat; Karl felt himself getting excited.
And up here, even if Gwen screamed at the top of her lungs, no one would disturb them.
After all, how could there be anyone else at this altitude?
Right... BOOM—
However, it was as if even the heavens couldn't stand Karl's scummy behavior.
Just as Karl was about to take things further with Gwen's half-hearted resistance, a flaming spaceship actually pierced through the clouds from outside Earth and streaked past them!
Karl:?
The heatwave from the ship's flames snapped Gwen back to her senses: "Oh my God, Karl, a ship is crashing! We have to go save them!"
Karl nodded slightly. Forgetting about the aerial combat, he put his arm around Gwen's waist and gave chase.
He wasn't in a hurry to save people; he wanted to see which bastard dared to interrupt his mood at a time like this!
With Karl's speed, catching up to the falling ship was a matter of a blink of an eye.
After pulling level with the falling ship, Karl reached out and easily froze it in mid-air using telekinesis.
Once Karl used telekinesis to extinguish the flames on the ship's exterior, the two of them realized it wasn't a spaceship at all, but an Earth rocket's separation pod!
And on the hull of the pod, a row of large letters was printed: 'Life Foundation'!
Seeing this, Karl narrowed his eyes.
Life Foundation? Such a familiar name... Right, isn't that... Just as Gwen was about to shoot a web into the ship to save the people inside, Karl grabbed her and said indifferently:
"Don't bother. Everyone inside is dead. What's controlling this ship now isn't human..."
Gwen's pupils contracted: "Not human? Is it aliens again?"
Having experienced the Skrulls incident, humans on Earth could be said to have been completely disillusioned with aliens, even developing an instinctive resistance.
This included Gwen.
Karl shook his head slightly: "Not exactly aliens, just a type of extraterrestrial organism. Let's take it back to the Base first; you'll see in a bit."
This sudden extraterrestrial arrival had killed Karl's mood, so he opened a massive portal in front of him large enough for the ship and tossed it through.
This sudden, massive disturbance naturally triggered the alarms at the Justice League Base.
One by one, members flew out of the Base!
Only when they saw Karl flying out from the other side of the portal with his arm around Gwen did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
When the God comes, Earth is at peace; when Karl arrives, the Justice League's crisis is over!
Chapter 158: Perfect super soldier serum!
Tony, with dark circles under his eyes, was the first to fly in front of Karl.
Karl looked at his dark circles in surprise: "What happened to you? Did you order too many young models?"
Tony rolled his eyes at Karl: "Young models? I quit that stuff a long time ago. Besides, you dumped a pile of messes on me; do you think I have time to play with young models?"
"Ahem, those who are capable do more work..."
Hearing this, Karl coughed awkwardly twice, reached out to pat Tony, and used the Horse Talisman to restore his number one workhorse to peak condition.
Sure enough, under the effect of the Horse Talisman, Tony was instantly resurrected with full health. Not only did the dark circles on his face disappear, but even his spirit and energy returned to their peak state.
Tony's eyes lit up as he stared at Karl:
"Wow! Although it's not the first time I've felt the magic of your healing power, it's still amazing every time. How about you give me a few more hits? I feel like I could break through my limits!"
Karl's mouth twitched: "Brother, this thing treats the symptoms but not the root cause. Although it can restore your body to its peak state, that's it. If you're overworked, you're still going to be drained..."
Speaking of being drained, Karl suddenly remembered something: "By the way, how is your research on the super soldier serum and the Spider Serum going?"
Hearing Karl ask about this, Tony immediately puffed out his chest and said proudly:
"I was just waiting for you to come back to tell you about this. Through the joint efforts of myself, Dr. Banner, and Jarvis, we have successfully created a side-effect-free version of the super soldier serum. It's ready for mass production at any time!"
But then Tony's face darkened again:
"As for the Spider Serum, there hasn't been much progress on that yet. Whether it's the super spider genes extracted from Peter or those from Gwen, the Spider Serum produced causes various degrees of mutations when injected into others..."
"The most terrifying time, a death row inmate used as an experimental subject completely lost his human form and turned into a spider monster with six legs and eight eyes!"
Hearing this, Karl shook his head: "Then put the research on the Spider Serum aside for now. There's no need to waste more time on it. Give yourself some rest too."
Then Karl looked at Tony with some curiosity:
"But since you've completed the super soldier serum, why haven't you used it on yourself first to get rid of this weak mortal body? Or do you really disdain using biological serums on yourself that much?"
Karl remembered that Tony seemed to have always looked down on biotechnology, being more keen on the path of mechanical ascension.
To his surprise, Tony didn't think that way at all. Instead, he looked at Karl in astonishment:
"This research was ordered by you. Without your permission, who would dare to use it privately? Do you still not understand your current status on Earth?"
Hearing this, although Karl felt secretly pleased, he still patted Tony on the shoulder and smiled:
"Others can't, but between the two of us, you can use any research project I hand over to you as you wish, without needing my permission."
But Tony immediately shook his head, glanced subtly back at the other Justice League members on the plaza, and said in a low voice:
"No, we are no longer the small-scale group we used to be. We are now a formal World-class organization, and our membership is growing. Therefore, there must be absolute rules, and more importantly, there must be an existence that everyone fears and respects!"
"And you are the only one who can set the rules. Even I cannot break your special status, otherwise, this will become a major internal problem for us in the future!"
"You understand, right?"
Karl naturally understood Tony's concern.
If the supreme power of a faction is decentralized, it will inevitably lead to internal conflicts, and it might even end in an internal split.
However, Karl wasn't worried about this issue.
It wasn't because he thought problems would never arise, but because he simply wasn't afraid of them.
Because if a problem arose, even if he couldn't fix the problem itself, couldn't he just fix the person causing the problem?
He wasn't some saint-like leader who would allow his team to split internally.
But since Tony didn't want to share power with him and only wanted to keep the supreme power in his hands alone, he didn't bother saying more.
He could just compensate Tony with other benefits in the future, couldn't he?
For example, next time he went to the Hell Dimension to take revenge on Mephisto and fulfill his promise to Wanda to bring back her parents' souls, he could bring back Tony's parents for resurrection as well, giving Tony a shocking surprise!
Hmm, it would be best to do it on Easter~
Besides, Tony's father, Howard, was a genius scientist no less capable than Tony. Resurrecting Howardwould add a great general to his research department!
Thinking this way, Karl couldn't help but look forward even more to going to the Hell Dimension after his strength improved next time!
However, his book of ages hadn't shown any movement for a long time since the Skrulls incident... The previous Thor plot was likely not recorded in the book of ages because Thor hadn't fully awakened his thunder god power yet or gotten back the hammer. It probably wouldn't be recorded until Thor either awakened his divine power or retrieved the hammer.
As for the unification of HYDRA, it would likely have to wait until Madame Hydra helped him completely eliminate the other serpent heads and HYDRA was fully unified before it would be recorded in the book of ages.
It seemed he needed to hurry up and complete a few more simple, full plots to collect all the twelve talismans as soon as possible and complete his Shadow World.
"Karl..."
While Karl was deep in thought, Gwen, who had been quietly staying in Karl's arms without disturbing his talk with Tony about power, suddenly spoke up.
Gwen suddenly stared alertly at the Rocket escape pod Karl had tossed onto the plaza, her tone solemn:
"Something seems wrong inside the escape pod. I feel a dangerous aura awakening within!"
Hearing this, Tony also looked at the escape pod. Through the thermal imaging of his armor, he saw the situation inside and said:
"Gwen is right. There are three astronauts inside. They are still alive, and they've just woken up and stood up in the cabin. It looks like they're planning to come out!"
Thump——
Sure enough, the next second, the door of the escape pod suddenly distorted and bulged out in a large section with a loud bang!
It was clearly hit hard from the inside!
Looking at the bulging steel hatch, the Justice League members present all sensed something was wrong and began to take up combat stances, staring warily at the door.
Thump——
With another loud bang, the steel hatch of the escape pod finally gave way and suddenly went flying out!
Chapter 159: Riot Insta-Killed, Symbiotes Obtained!
The direction it flew in happened to be exactly where Peter was standing.
"Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck!"
Though Peter shouted about bad luck, he obviously wouldn't be hit by such a simple attack; he dodged with a graceful backflip and landed firmly on the hatch door, sliding a distance like it was a skateboard.
What Peter didn't notice, however, was that something was stuck to the hatch door beneath his feet; a mass of black liquid substance slid along the door and instantly entered his body through his calf.
"Hmm?"
Feeling something, Peter looked down at his calf, but saw nothing.
Moreover, at that moment, three figures were walking out of the escape pod that had been violently smashed open, so Peter didn't have the chance to worry about that strange sensation.
Although even Peter himself didn't notice he had been possessed by some substance, Karl in mid-air saw everything clearly.
In fact, when the hatch door flew toward Peter, Karl had already noticed the little guy attached to it.
He just didn't stop it, because he also wanted to see what kind of effect the Symbiotes of this Universewould have if they parasitized Little Spider... That's right, this alien creature brought back by the Life Foundation Rocket was exactly the 'beloved' Symbiote from the Marvel Universe!
And the Symbiote that had just parasitized Peter happened to be black.
There aren't many black Symbiotes, and at this stage, the possibility of it being Venom is the highest!
Venom and Spider-Man, truly a fated pair... And this time, there wasn't just one Symbiote brought back by the Life Foundation; there were three others that had already parasitized three astronauts!
As for why Venom didn't parasitize an astronaut, it's likely because Venom, as a loser of the Symbioterace, couldn't beat the other three... However, Venom might be laughing in its heart now; it didn't manage to beat its fellow Symbiotes on the Rocket, but it didn't expect to find the most suitable host as soon as it arrived on Earth!
Because as everyone knows, Symbiotes and hosts require compatibility; not everyone can perfectly bond with a Symbiote.
Low-compatibility hosts, after being possessed by a Symbiote, will soon have the Phenethylamine and vitality in their bodies sucked dry, leading to death.
Only hosts with high compatibility can allow them to stay in the host's body for a long time and use their full abilities!
And only a perfect host can allow a Symbiote to stay in the host's body forever and exert powerful abilities that transcend themselves!
And Peter was clearly one of the perfect hosts for a Symbiote!
So the first thing the other three Symbiotes parasitizing the three ordinary astronauts did after coming out was to scan the surrounding members of the Justice League with greedy eyes, looking at them like prey.
And the more they looked, the more pleasantly surprised they became!
The astronaut with yellow substance in his eyes stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, making a raspy sound to the leading astronaut:
"Boss, we've come to the right place. I didn't expect the biological quality of this Planet to be so high; we encountered so many high-quality hosts as soon as we arrived!"
The astronaut with purple substance in his eyes also nodded vigorously: "Exactly, exactly, there are even several perfect hosts among them!"
Standing in the middle, the leading astronaut with silver in his eyes nodded slightly, a cruel smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "Indeed, the air here is filled with an intoxicating scent!"
"You guys choose your preferred hosts freely, but remember... he must be mine!"
Saying this, Riot pointed his finger at Karl, who was hovering in the sky, looking down coldly at all living beings like a king.
A king naturally chooses a king!
And as the strongest king of the Symbiote race, Riot could feel that the person in the sky must also be the strongest king of this Planet!
If they merged their strengths, they would reach a whole new height!
So Riot acted immediately; disregarding the damage to this body, he frantically drew out the body's vitality and converted it into his own power.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, he actually temporarily transformed into a nearly three-meter-tall Complete Form!
Then, the hideous-looking Riot bent his legs and leaped up with a gust of wind; although he couldn't fly, he lunged at Karl in mid-air with a speed no less than flight!
This stunned everyone even more.
Other Symbiotes: As expected of the boss, the strongest king of our Symbiote Planet, he's so brave!
Other Justice League members: As expected of an alien, not only did he not run, he actually dared to actively rush at the God, he's so brave!
And the result, of course, was no surprise at all.
Slap— Boom!!!
Riot, who had opened his arms with excitement and was even faintly about to leave the astronaut's body to embrace his new host, was slapped back by Karl at an even faster speed than when he lunged!
Riot was deeply embedded in the ground; feeling that the astronaut host inside his body had already been crushed into a pile of mangled meat by that slap, his eyes were full of disbelief!
He thought the opponent was strong, but this is too f*cking much!
He was the strongest king of the Symbiote Planet, and he was insta-killed just like that???
On either side of Riot, the two Symbiotes, one yellow and one purple, also froze in place, looking at their boss on the ground, then at Karl in the sky, and finally at each other.
Little Yellow: Should we keep going?
Little Purple: Maybe try?
Bang bang—
However, before they could try and then die, Karl had already delivered a slap from a distance.
He made them follow in their boss's footsteps, embedded in the ground so deep they couldn't be pried out, and even their hosts were flattened into two piles of mangled meat by Karl's telekinetic slap.
Then, Karl in mid-air curled his five fingers and forcibly extracted the three Symbiotes from the three astronauts who had become mangled meat and could no longer be parasitized, lining them up in front of him.
"Symbiotes, they really are good things..."
Karl looked at the original form Symbiotes that were constantly writhing in the air and still trying to get closer to him, and snapped his fingers.
Instantly, black smoke rose around the three Symbiotes, entwining them and finally wrapping them into three translucent black test tubes, trapping them inside.
Having mastered the application and transformation of Dimensional Power, Karl could now freely call upon the power of the Shadow Dimension to create any shaped object he wanted.
Like the current test tube form.
Moreover, items created from the Shadow Dimension power would be much sturdier than items made of real-world substances and would also have a certain degree of magic resistance.
The disadvantage was that once the shadow power within was exhausted, they would turn into nothingness, unable to last forever like real objects.
Tossing the three test tubes to Tony nearby, he said calmly:
"Isn't the super soldier serum finished? I'm giving you a new task: study the characteristics of the Symbiote race and see if you can artificially cultivate more Symbiotes without self-will."
Tony caught the translucent black test tubes and looked at the liquid struggling to get out inside, his brow furrowed: "You want me to cultivate alien parasites? These things don't look like anything good..."
"Parasites?" Karl glanced at Tony and shook his head:
"No, they are much more powerful than parasites. They can amplify the host's original power and even copy the superpowers of other superhumans. If we completely master them, it can make the individual strength of all our Justice League members take a huge leap forward!"
Chapter 160: Two Chatterboxes Together
Tony was truly a bit surprised now, looking at the three test tubes in his hand:
"Just these little gadgets, and their abilities are that heaven-defying? They can even copy the abilities of other superhumans?"
"You don't believe it?" Karl glanced at Tony, suddenly landing on the ground from mid-air, and beckoned toward Peter:
"Peter, come here for a second."
Peter didn't know why, but he still obediently walked over.
Karl looked at Peter in front of him and said indifferently: "Now, transform."
"Trans... what?" Peter's face was a total question mark upon hearing this, completely unaware of what Karl was talking about.
Karl didn't explain either; he simply raised his right palm, wisps of Light Divine Power rising from his fingertips, and then, before Peter could react, he slapped Peter's chest!
Because Karl harbored no ill will toward Peter with this strike, even Peter's Spider-Sense didn't foresee the blow in advance.
Under this strike, Peter didn't feel any force either; he just looked at Karl in confusion, not knowing what was going on.
It wasn't until the Light Divine Power on Karl's palm seeped into Peter's body that he suddenly felt a tearing pain coming from within!
It was as if something was being forcibly ripped out of his body!
The pain was so great that even with Peter's endurance, he couldn't bear it and let out a scream:
"Argh——"
"Roar————————"
Along with Peter's scream, a roar that didn't belong to Peter also came from within his body at the same time!
In the next moment, everyone was shocked to see a hideous black liquid monster being separated bit by bit from Peter's back!
But it wasn't completely separated; strands of black silk remained connected to Peter's back, clinging on tenaciously.
The monster's expression was extremely painful, and the roar came from its large mouth full of sharp teeth. It was trying its best to burrow back into Peter's body, looking very much like a parasite from Earth!
Except it was countless times more terrifying than a parasite!
It wasn't until Karl withdrew his palm with the Light Divine Power that Peter's and the monster's screams stopped simultaneously.
The monster also quickly retracted into Peter's body, and Peter knelt weakly on the ground.
Karl clapped his hands and looked down at Peter at his feet: "I'll say it one more time, transform, or next time it won't be as simple as a little pain."
This time, the Venom inside Peter's body didn't dare to pretend anymore.
Black liquid surged on the surface of Peter's body, and he immediately transformed into a black giant slightly shorter than the previous Riot.
This was naturally Venom himself!
After experiencing the burning pain of the Light Divine Power—which was even more painful than the fire their Symbiote race feared—Venom was already beyond awe of Karl.
Who exactly was this guy?
Not only could he easily defeat Riot, the strongest of their race, but he even knew their race's characteristics and weaknesses clearly!
Karl called Venom out just to let the others see the characteristics of a Symbiote, to avoid any mishaps if they encountered them in the future. He didn't have anything to ask Venom, so he said directly:
"Alright, now, give control of the body back to Peter."
Hearing this, Venom quickly nodded and obediently returned control to Peter.
In reality, for someone with a strong will like Peter, Venom couldn't control him for very long anyway.
Once Peter's consciousness took the leading role in the body, the Symbiote form on him also changed.
From the original tall, muscular monster state, it quickly shrunk, turning into a suit form at Peter's normal height.
One could say that except for the suit's color being black, the Symbiote suit at this moment was no different from Peter's previous red and blue suit.
There was still a spider totem on the chest, and there were still web patterns on the suit.
The only difference was... "Oi, this feeling, I feel like I'm full of power right now!"
Peter, wearing the Venom suit, clenched his fists with a face full of excitement, clearly feeling his strength had increased several times over!
However, before Peter could be excited for two seconds, his Spider-Sense rang. Before Peter could react, a hideous wound had already appeared on his arm.
The one who caused that wound was none other than Karl, who at some point was holding a silver longsword.
Peter:???
Ouch, what are you doing?
But immediately, Peter felt something was wrong.
He raised his hand and saw that the hideous wound from just now was already healing at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Karl ignored the dazed Peter and looked at Tony: "Now you know how powerful the Symbiotes really are, right?"
Tony stared at the three test tubes in his hand with a burning gaze:
"I see it. This is a treasure even more precious than the super soldier serum and the Spider Serum!"
Physical enhancement, ability copying, suit transformation, and super self-healing—a single Symbiotecould actually give a person at least four kinds of abilities.
If developed well, allowing every person in the Justice League to have a Symbiote suit, then both combat power and survival capability would indeed be significantly improved!
Karl nodded:
"As long as you understand. I'll leave the Symbiote development project to you. But remember, Symbiotes are different from the super soldier serum; they have their own will and are highly aggressive. Be careful. I'll place three Shadow Legion teams in your shadow; summon them if there's an accident."
Tony nodded heavily: "Understood!"
After Karl gave Tony a few more instructions on the Symbiotes' characteristics and their weaknesses to high-frequency sound waves and fire, he dismissed the Justice League members gathered in the square.
As for Venom, Karl did not remove it from Peter's body.
Because compared to the aggressiveness of other Symbiotes, Venom was actually relatively kind and peace-loving.
It was precisely because of this personality that didn't fit in with the other Symbiotes that it became a loser on the Symbiote Planet, not because it was the weakest. So it was a loser on the Symbiote Planet.
So after Karl warned Venom that if it didn't want to be put in a lab, it should listen to Peter from now on and not eat people randomly except for bad guys, he allowed Venom to stay in Peter's body.
To this, Peter didn't refuse either.
Even though he was already Spider-Man and possessed superpowers that ordinary people dreamed of.
After experiencing the powerful boost brought by Venom, he was also a bit addicted to this sense of super strength.
Most importantly, he felt that his and Venom's personalities were quite a good match.
Venom's talkative personality and his own chatterbox nature meant they could really hit it off.
So by the time Peter left, he was even calling Venom his brother.
Of course, to outsiders, this looked like Peter talking to himself... but that was fine too, so Peterwouldn't go and annoy others.
One should know that Peter with the spider mask on and Peter with the spider mask off were like two different people. As soon as he put on the mask, it was as if someone else had taken off their mask, and that broken mouth wouldn't stop chattering!
The members of the Justice League, except for Karl who was always elusive, had basically all been more or less annoyed by Peter's chatterbox mouth...