New Ability to Manipulate Energy

Detached Villa, its cold, minimalist Nordic style faintly exuded the aloofness of the elite.

After easily dealing with several stubborn farmers, Rickman returned home, tossed his car keys onto the coffee table, and lifted a foot to head to the Wine Cellar for a bottle of red wine to leisurely enjoy.

Suddenly, a figure was reflected in the glass tabletop behind him, silently standing there without him knowing when it had appeared.

He jumped in fright and staggered backward, the hairs on his body standing on end.

"Who are you?"

Tall and powerfully built, dressed in blue work clothes like a Lumberjack, with sturdy brown Logging Boots on his feet and a Blue Hood with only two holes over his head, the strange man spoke in a lowered voice.

"Mr. Rickman, don't be afraid."

"What do you want?"

Seeing that the other man had no gun in his hand, Rickman relaxed after his scare, his face turning angry.

"You used improper means to control the farmers and make them sell their farms and homes without their knowledge. That isn't fair!"

"Control? I don't know what you're talking about."

A trace of unease flashed through Rickman's eyes.

"If you want money, there's no need to put on this mysterious act."

"I don't want your money. I only want you to terminate those contracts that were built on lies and have caused trouble for the farmers."

Clark stepped forward. His tall, muscular body radiated a heavy, oppressive presence.

Rickman pretended to be frightened and took a step back. The next second, he lunged forward at high speed, trying to touch Clark's neck.

Whoosh!

His vision blurred. Rickman grabbed nothing but air, and Clark was suddenly behind him.

"I know your ability.

I think that without any physical contact, you can't activate it."

Father Jonathan had still been clear-headed at first and firmly refused him. He only lost his memory and signed after shaking hands with the man before him. If Rickman could control others with a thought, he would not have needed to go through so much trouble.

He most likely needed physical contact to activate his ability, just like Sean, who had to touch someone to absorb the heat from their body.

"If you don't want your ability exposed, you'd better do as I say, Mr. Rickman."

"You... you!"

Turning to look at the blue-clad freak who had teleported behind him, Rickman's eyes widened. His voice was full of astonishment. "You have an ability too."

"Terminate the contracts, or should I send news of your ability to all the major newspapers?"

Ignoring his shock, Clark put Fran's old method of threatening him to immediate use.

"You choose, Mr. Rickman."

"I... I agree."

A look of humiliation and calculation flashed through his eyes. Rickman's face struggled for a moment before he spoke.

In truth, there was not much to consider. On one side was his greatest secret being exposed, the reputation of his billion-dollar companies ruined, and being drowned in the strange, wary gazes of others. On the other was merely a Factory Land worth a few hundred thousand dollars that had not even been developed yet.

"A wise choice.

I'll be watching you, Mr. Rickman. If you haven't terminated the contracts before sunrise, tomorrow the newspapers in this city will clear their front pages for you."

As he spoke, Clark vanished in a flash, stirring up a gust of wind that fluttered the curtains. His tall figure disappeared from the room like a ghost.

Rickman was left standing alone in the room, stunned. His expression shifted uncertainly as he clenched his fists.

Suddenly, he caught sight of several small clumps of Soil mixed with crushed grass where the blue-clad man had been standing, on the glossy black-gray marble floor.

Rickman's eyes lit up. He walked over, crouched down, and carefully pinched them up.

"Fair?

You know who I am, but I don't know who you are. Isn't that unfair too?"

"Hello, is this the Metropolis Geological Survey Bureau?" He took out his phone, made a call, and sneered. "I'd like to have several samples of Soil tested..."

In the Forest, David looked at his hands and felt the surging power within him. He slammed his fist into a large tree that would have taken an adult to wrap their arms around.

Crack!

The tree, weighing several tons, was broken by the terrifying force. Amid the sound of snapping branches, it scraped between two other trees and crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

David turned and struck another tree. Wood chips flew everywhere, and the severed trunk was sent flying several meters before it hit the ground.

"In those two punches, I actually used the same amount of force."

The difference was that the second punch carried the Kinetic Energy he had absorbed from the first.

That was the Black King's abilities—absorbing various forms of energy and turning them into his own energy to release at will, or using it to temporarily enhance his strength, speed, and endurance.

The energy he could absorb included, but was not limited to, Kinetic Energy, Thermal Energy, Electrical Energy, and even Magical Energy, granting him an incredibly powerful defense.

"The upper limit of the Black King's abilities can effortlessly drain a small nuclear reactor. That counts as a very powerful template."

The immense energy within David surged like an ocean.

And after fusing with the Thanos template, his upper limit for absorbing energy had been greatly increased!

As an Eternals mutant, every drop of Thanos's blood and every cell in his body contained Universal energy. He was a massive energy vessel himself.

"However, it seems I can currently only absorb Kinetic Energy effectively."

David tested the ability he had just gained.

Absorbing Kinetic Energy was easy, as simple as breathing or drinking water.

He fired an energy beam from his hand, igniting the scattered wood on the ground. When he reached his hand into the fire, he found that absorption became much more difficult.

"It's like trying to force down uncooked grains when your throat is so dry it feels like it's smoking after days without water. It isn't smooth at all."

He shook his head.

Whoosh!

"It should be because the template fusion level isn't high enough."

David withdrew his hand from the fire, thought for a moment, then took a deep breath and blew out.

A fierce gust extinguished the flames, preventing the fire from spreading and burning down the Forest.

Once his fusion level rose later on, he would probably be able to absorb energies on the physical side, such as Electrical Energy and Thermal Energy.

Once the fusion was complete, he should be able to absorb Magical Energy from the magical side as well.

"At that point, my magic resistance will reach a terrifying level."

"The abilities of the vast majority of superheroes and supervillains have no particular resistance against magic."

Take Clark, for example. Compared with his physical resistance, his magic resistance was quite ordinary, which was why people jokingly said his magic resistance was negative.

"The Black King's abilities were powerful, but they were not without weaknesses and flaws. After fusing with the Thanos template, those flaws disappeared."

David felt the Universal energy in his body recovering on its own, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

For example, if the Black King's internal energy could not be replenished, every bit he released was gone for good. Without energy, he was just an ordinary person. To maintain enough Kinetic Energy and power, he had to be beaten up, keep punching walls himself, or recharge through other methods.

That was undoubtedly troublesome, but David did not have that problem.

David had an Eternals physique and could restore Universal energy on his own, filling his entire body with it.

"Also, approaching the absorption limit is extremely dangerous for the Black King."

If he accidentally exceeded that limit, the energy in his body would explode and spiral out of control. At best, his body would be torn apart; at worst, he would be completely annihilated.

He could easily be targeted and forced into an overload.

With his Eternals physique, even if his energy went out of control, he would suffer only minor injuries at most.

"Moreover, after the two templates fused, I no longer need to use my hands to assist in absorbing energy."

When the Black King absorbed energy, he was like other mutants using their abilities. For instance, Magneto and Professor X needed gestures to some extent to focus and activate their powers.

But because every one of David's cells could already store energy, he generally did not need to go through that trouble.

"The benefits brought by the fusion of two templates with my body are far greater than one plus one equals two!"