Successful Facehug

From beginning to end, Duva had never placed himself in the position of a "good person."

Because it was simple—he could not be a superhero.

It was not that he lacked the basic concept of judging good and evil. Rather, once the special power he possessed—the Xenomorphs—and their ability to seize a lifeform's lifetime of power through parasitism and chestbursting, then surpass it, became known, there was no way certain groups in this world would accept him.

Once exposed, even the most righteous superheroes would be wary of him and remain on guard against him.

So from the very beginning, Duva had only half-reluctantly joined this operation because he was after Abomination.

Blade—or rather, the S.H.I.E.L.D. currently evaluating him—would surely assume that Duva had seized the olive branch they extended. In essence, they would see this operation as his indirect way of expressing goodwill and closeness toward them.

Under normal circumstances, Duva, who possessed a strong sense of justice, was willing to risk himself for a mission issued by S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. would assess and evaluate him, and perhaps one day in the future, Duva would join one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s special teams as a superhero—not necessarily the Avengers, since S.H.I.E.L.D. had many special units under its command, and the Avengers currently being assembled were merely one of them.

That was how the normal process should have gone. Duva truly fit certain people's particular "taste": he possessed exceptional "power," intelligence, and a clean background. He was practically perfect.

Unfortunately, all of it was false. It was built on the premise that they did not know how shocking the Xenomorph species' method of expansion was, nor that its growth potential was fundamentally impossible to estimate.

"Being unable to become a superhero doesn't matter. I never needed to go out of my way to kiss certain people's cold asses anyway. I'll just take another path... I may not be able to make everyone respect my character, but I can make everyone fear my strength."

Duva's mind was exceptionally clear. As long as he held enough force in his hands, no problem would be a problem.

Abomination was the key right now. As long as he could obtain Abomination and use Abomination's body to cultivate the first Warrior Xenomorph, the overall strength in Duva's hands would experience its first great leap.

Of course, if he truly succeeded, the result would be enough to shock the world and officially expose Duva and the Xenomorphs to many dangerous people. But Duva had no interest in worrying about such trivialities. He would deal with that after obtaining Abomination.

As long as the rate at which his strength grew exceeded the rate at which crises arrived, every kind of risky operation was worthwhile. The key was that Xenomorphs possessed a trait unlike any other: as long as they found the right host, their strength could transform at an absurdly rapid pace.

Whoosh! Duva took out an egg.

Its four petals opened, and a Facehugger quietly crawled out.

Abomination did not see this, but Mister Blue, hiding in a corner and praying that God would favor him enough to keep him from being killed by flying debris while staring obsessively at the Xenomorphs, did.

What was that? Judging by its size, it looked like an ostrich egg, but its shell was soft, and some strange creature had crawled out of it. It moved nimbly, and its target seemed to be...

Abomination.

Mister Blue was startled. He could not believe his eyes. Why would such a tiny thing, something that had only just been born, dare to set its sights on Abomination?

"No matter what method it uses, it definitely won't succeed. Abomination is my proudest creation. Even if he were besieged to death by those creatures capable of secreting strong acid, he still wouldn't lose to such a little runt." This thought flashed through Mister Blue's mind.

Judging from the battle, Abomination was in an incredibly miserable state. His powerful body had been battered beyond recognition, but he had not been defeated. As time passed, the tremendous power from the Hulk bloodline was rapidly healing his injuries, while his rage slowly increased his strength.

Although that growth soon stopped—perhaps because the serum's potential had been exhausted—even so, he could casually throw punches with the force of a hundred tons. Any Xenomorph grazed by one would either die or be severely injured.

As the battle continued, Xenomorph after Xenomorph was killed, not even leaving behind intact corpses. Yet even in death, they used their last ounce of strength to die on Abomination's body, splashing their blood all over him and inflicting even more terrifying wounds.

This level of attrition was gradually becoming too much even for Abomination.

"Not bad little bugs, but still not enough! You think this kind of power is worthy of opposing me?!"

Abomination grinned viciously. In this short time, he had already killed five Xenomorphs, and they had been the five strongest ones. Most of those remaining were smaller models.

Even though one of his arms and a shoulder had been corroded down to bare bones, he had held out in the end.

Victory belonged to the strong, to the great Abomination. That was what Abomination thought. He would kill these bugs, then find Duva and cruelly crush him to death. After that, he would find somewhere to rest before finally killing the Hulk, proving that he was the strongest—and that he had not been wrong to pursue power! Just as Abomination felt a trace of fatigue and rejoiced at the victory within reach—

The Facehugger seized its chance. It clung to the back of a Courier Xenomorph, and when Abomination reached out to grab it, it displayed extraordinary agility, swiftly scurrying along Abomination's finger bones before successfully leaping onto his face.

"What is this thing?"

Abomination exerted force with both hands and first tore the Courier Xenomorph in half. This was far too easy for him. Against Xenomorphs born from parasitizing ordinary mammals, he could kill one with every blow.

But his arrogance had still caused him to fall for it. Who could have imagined that the true killing move would be something so small?

Even with Abomination's strength, the Facehugger covering his face caused a momentary dizziness. But that dizziness was quickly scattered by his rage. He pinched the unresponsive Facehugger between two fingers and viciously slammed it against the wall, crushing it into pulp.

Sizzle!

The Facehugger's remains burst apart, corroding the wall as well.

"Such a little thing has this kind of blood inside it too? The scientist who created these things is truly insane, but power gained through this method can't compare to mine at all."

Only ultimate power was the future. That was the conclusion Abomination had reached after observing the Hulk and personally acquiring part of the Hulk's power.

It seemed he needed to work even harder to kill all these disgusting creatures, then finish off that young man whose origins he did not know but who insisted on opposing him.

But when Abomination, his face twisted with ferocity, moved to hunt down the other Xenomorphs, he was surprised to see them rapidly retreating and gathering together. That young man had also appeared somewhere farther away without him knowing when.

"Blonsky, we'll meet again soon—in another form."

A smile bloomed on Duva's face. Once he confirmed that the parasitism had succeeded, the weight in his heart finally lifted. No matter how wildly Abomination roared, Duva found the big fellow rather adorable.

The more mighty and imposing he looked, the more gratified Duva felt, like a kindly old father.

Abomination had killed until his eyes turned red. He had paid an enormous price and suffered severe damage before he could even savor the feeling. He immediately grabbed a chunk of reinforced concrete and hurled it viciously at Duva.

Duva stood perfectly still, his expression gentle. The five remaining Xenomorphs moved at once, blocking him. They extended their claws and swung upward together. With a boom, they sent the reinforced concrete flying away.

Amid the swirling dust, Duva's face was revealed.

Utterly elegant, completely composed.

Abomination roared and charged forward in great strides. Duva merely leaped, easily appearing more than ten meters away. This physical ability, clearly beyond that of an ordinary human, startled even Abomination.

After Duva successfully escaped, this series of actions left Abomination unable to understand.

"Next time we meet, I'll definitely kill that bastard!!" Abomination hurried to repair his wounds, then resentfully punched the wall, shaking loose a piece of the ceiling that smashed onto his head.

"But we don't know who he is," Mister Blue said.

Abomination kicked out, nearly blasting poor Mister Blue apart. Yet whether through luck or misfortune, Mister Blue crashed into a bottle of Hulk Serum that he had not used up and had carefully sealed away.