Mindset Shattered

Mindset Shattered

"This strange appearance really does resemble the Deviants."

Sersi, the Eternal with the ability to manipulate energy—the one who had notified Ikaris—was repeatedly watching the footage uploaded online. After estimating the time, she figured Ikaris, who was already in North America, should have reached the scene by now.

Honestly, appearing openly in modern society could easily cause trouble. After all, the last time they had wiped out the Deviants was back in the sixteenth century.

In the past, they could act without restraint without drawing worldwide attention. Within a few decades, people would forget that they had ever existed.

But that would not work now. There were all kinds of recording devices.

Yet the Deviants, who were supposed to have long since been exterminated by them and fed specifically on humans, had somehow appeared again? "The Celestials gave us life, so we must use our lives to carry out their will—protect humanity from the Deviants. I hope Ikaris can quickly determine whether these unfamiliar things are Deviants."

Sersi did not yet know that the lover she trusted, driven by some indescribable state of mind, had rashly judged Duva and attacked him.

But she found out soon enough, her eyes widening as she watched the fierce clash between two figures causing massive destruction online.

"The situation is very clear now. A man who appeared out of nowhere flew to New York at ten times the speed of sound and confronted Duva for unknown reasons."

Fury pointed at the image projected by the satellite, expressionless, though his face had turned frighteningly dark. "Energy-monitoring satellites show that this man possesses an astonishing energy reading. Where the hell did this superhuman come from?"

As the head of an intelligence agency, he was prepared to deal with all kinds of emergencies at any moment, but he absolutely despised unforeseen variables of any kind.

Soon, something even more unexpected—and even frightening—appeared.

Another burly figure walked out of the shattered laboratory where Abomination had emerged.

"Abomination? He joined forces with Duva?" Hill was surprised, but quickly realized her mistake.

That guy was not Abomination.

The satellite AI was constantly running calculations. Though its view was limited, its conclusion was clear: judging from its build, this powerful individual was noticeably smaller than Abomination—a "small fry."

"This is a Xenomorph." Dum Dum Dugan fell silent for a moment, his voice somewhat hoarse. "Maybe I remembered wrong? The Abomination injured by Hulk returned to this laboratory, perhaps seeking the source that had altered his body. But what came out was not Abomination, but a Xenomorph extremely similar to Abomination...?"

Everyone present was an experienced top agent, but at this moment, they all fell silent.

The deeper implications conveyed by that brief footage were horrifying and inconceivable, shattering certain understandings of the world and living beings.

Could things really be as they imagined? "If that is truly the case, then Duva fighting Abomination before we could get there makes sense." Coulson had arrived as well, his brow more solemn than ever as he spoke in a low voice.

Soon, they saw that, for some unknown reason, the mysterious man wanted to attack Duva, only to be stopped by the powerful Xenomorph that resembled Abomination. The battle began on the spot.

Wherever the man and Xenomorph passed, buildings were battered beyond recognition. Solid reinforced-concrete structures were as fragile as paper before them.

It was an absolute contest of violence, a brutal exchange of blow after blow. Neither side defended at all, using every possible opening to land one more punch on the other! Hand-to-hand combat was all they needed.

The bloody, savage clash made Fury and the others frown deeply, leaving them speechless for a long time.

That level of destruction was terrifying.

Especially if Duva had truly used some mysterious method to turn Abomination's power into a new Xenomorph...

"We thought he was a minor player who only needed close surveillance. Who knew he was actually a shark far more troublesome than expected."

Fury broke the silence. "He used us too, taking this opportunity to obtain a Xenomorph so powerful it is absurd."

"Chief, why do I feel like this new Xenomorph is much stronger than Abomination, and still getting stronger? How long has it even been? It has become more muscular, and its strength seems to be gradually catching up to that mysterious man. It is almost like..."

"Hulk," Fury said. "One of our speculations is very likely reality. Combined with Duva's capture of several vampires, we can already draw a preliminary conclusion. We just do not know exactly what method he used to let the Xenomorph obtain the powers of different lifeforms."

"There are only a few possibilities: surgical organ transplants, devouring, genetic extraction. But all of those take time. How much time has passed from Duva attacking Abomination to now?" Coulson racked his brains but could not figure it out.

"Raise Duva's clearance level. Raise it... four levels. He needs to be treated as a priority threat and monitored accordingly," Fury said.

Could a creature that stole power and then grew at such an exaggerated speed really exist?

Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. had underestimated Duva. In this incident, Duva had played them, turning them into the backdrop for the rise of a terrifying new power.

It was a bitter feeling.

But Duva was in an exceptionally good mood. Watching the two figures bombard each other from afar, he felt immensely gratified.

At first, the newly born Abomination Xenomorph had indeed been at a disadvantage. It often had to take many punches before it could land a single claw strike on Ikaris.

But as time passed, the Abomination Xenomorph's terrifying potential began to show. This Xenomorph had been born from Abomination's highest-quality genes—put bluntly, Hulk genes!

The more it fought, the angrier it became; the angrier it became, the stronger it grew! This absurd amplification left even Ikaris baffled. They had only exchanged a few rounds, yet this Deviant, as he understood it, was already fighting him evenly! His fists could no longer budge it; his Heat Vision could at most scorch the Abomination Xenomorph's metal armor, unable to harm what lay beneath.

Ikaris's only advantage was... he could fly!

He refused to believe this thing could evolve a pair of wings on the spot!

"No matter what you are, if you are willing to fight for that human, then I will kill him!"

A flash of savagery crossed Ikaris's eyes. He punched the Abomination Xenomorph in the chest, knocking it back, then fired a blast of Heat Vision. He was about to fly into the sky, abandon Abomination, and kill Duva.

The Xenomorph beside him was powerful, but Duva, as its controller, was not necessarily as strong. He might be stronger, or he might be weaker.

But the Abomination Xenomorph possessed powerful combat instincts. It could not fly, but with its thick legs and muscular tail, it launched itself into the air, shooting toward Ikaris. Its broad hand seized Ikaris by the thigh and yanked him down from the sky, then raked him with a claw, tearing open his suit and leaving streaks of blood.

When powerful lifeforms clashed, once they understood each other's strength, it was basically an open fight. Ikaris tried to break away, only to suffer setback after setback.

The more Ikaris fought, the more shattered his mindset became. He had even been injured!

He had been willing to expose himself before billions of humans just to silence them, wanting to use the Deviants as a trump card solely for himself, yet things had turned out like this? I cannot keep fighting. Even if I can defeat this damned thing, it no longer means anything.

Gritting his teeth, Ikaris realized after this battle that this creature truly did not seem to be a Deviant. Its bodily changes were normal muscle expansion and skeletal growth, fundamentally different from the Deviants' energy-based transformations.

Worse still, without even needing to think about it, he knew that the few extraordinarily powerful people on Earth had now officially taken notice of him and the Eternals behind him.

"Enough. This ends here. They really are not Deviants!" Ikaris shouted.

"Well said. I have confirmed something as well: you are the evil Deviants, the mortal enemies of all humanity!" Duva's righteous voice rang out.