My Children

After taking the first step, Doctor Doom stopped and said to Tony Stark, who was manually assembling the Iron Man suit parts, "This matter ends here. I hope the United States will behave itself... Otherwise, if you want war, I will bring you war!"

The other side of the portal wasn't the royal palace of Latovinia, but a laboratory within the United States— SHOCKER's laboratory.

Unlike Doctor Death's previous stingy approach, after selling large quantities of Gaia Memory and Coin of Desire, the Great Leader amassed a large sum of money, and his laboratories and experimental equipment were all top-of-the-line.

Although he could create instruments and equipment ahead of their time with a wave of his hand, why bother with all that effort when money can solve the problem?

"Your power is truly immense!"

The Leader put down his tablet, looked at Doctor Doom, and spoke with a burning flame in his eyes, clearly showing his envy of Doctor Doom's power.

The tablet showed New York reduced to ruins. The Great Leader had created many small, insect-shaped robots and scattered them throughout the New York City, acting as cameras to monitor everything. Although many were destroyed in the battle between the Blonde Sister and the Hulk, the remaining footage still allowed those in the rear to see everything that had happened.

Take the Leader, for example.

Handing the test tube containing Doc Green's blood sample and his still-beating heart to the Leader, Doctor Doom coldly said, "Just do your own thing. Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Didn't Doctor Death teach you that?"

The Leader used a special device to preserve Doc Green's blood and heart samples, then walked to a biological culture tank covered by a tarpaulin. The huge cylindrical container was filled with culture medium, and inside it was a twisted and grotesque body.

"This is the Doctor Death you mentioned, a pitiful fellow. Originally, all that was left of him was probably his own consciousness. His body was cloned and needs to be replaced periodically, like the batteries in a remote control."

The Leader revealed a sinister smile and said, "I have cracked his Gaia Memory technology. The shackles on my head are no longer a problem. I have broken free from my dependence on 'intelligence'... As long as I have enough raw materials, I can manufacture Gaia Memory at will."

"And the mysteries of his body, that unique genetic structure, and the Mind Transfer Device he's always used... I've figured out everything Doctor Death showed me—though I don't know what he promised you, what he can give you, I can give you too."

"Let's cooperate! With my wisdom, your strength, and the wealth of a nation, we can accomplish far more than this SHOCKER hiding in the sewers—the whole world can be ours if we so choose."

The Leader was never a peaceful person. When he was still Samuel Stern, he mass-produced Bruce Banner's Gamma Blood for research. As a life scientist, he couldn't possibly be unaware of the dangers of this stuff, but he still did it anyway.

After acquiring the "Intelligence" Memory Stick, not only did the Leader's brain swell, but his ambition and his madness for science also expanded, and he attempted to challenge Doctor Death's authority.

Little did they know, Doctor Death represented the entire SHOCKER.

Doctor Doom, Victor Doom, was recruited into the SHOCKER by Doctor Death himself.

Everything he has now is a gift from Doctor Death: technology, magic, and ambition all come from SHOCKER. Otherwise, he would still be Victor Doom, clinging to life on a hefty bounty placed on his head by the United States high command, instead of the current Monarch Latovinia.

Furthermore, the Leader couldn't, and couldn't afford, give Viktor Doom what he wanted.

He had many wishes, the most important of which was to change his impoverished country ruled by a feudal monarchy. With the power granted by Doctor Death, he achieved this goal.

Then came rescuing his mother's soul from the Hell Lord.

On the night of the United States air force attack, he was on the verge of death. It was Doctor Death who killed countless demons from hell and then faced the giant red demon who was revered as the Hell Lord. In the end, he brought him back from hell and gave him a new life through unparalleled means. Although it was only for a brief moment in reality, he spent a full seven days in hell.

Among the countless tormented souls howling in agony, Doom saw his mother. Because she had studied magic and sorcery in her lifetime and had borrowed the magic of the Hell Lord more than once, she received extra attention—meaning she had to endure more pain and torment than other souls.

So after becoming the Monarch of Latovinia, Doom began to collect a large number of things related to magic, precisely to arm himself, and then, like Doctor Death, enter Hell, defeat the demons, and then free his mother's soul.

In this regard, no matter how advanced the Leader's technology is, it won't help him unless he deciphers the mysteries of the distant SHOCKER. On the other hand, the mysterious Great Leader gave him a printed blueprint that required an aircraft carrier to transport, and asked him to completely replicate this magic circle on the land of New York.

The well-informed Doom naturally recognized what it was—a magic circle that interfered with the authority of Hell, forcibly intercepting souls that should have gone to Hell and gathering them in a certain place.

While completing the magic circle, Doom was also learning about its contents. Although he possessed great magical power, he was ultimately a self-taught amateur and could not compare to Wei Xiuming, a well-educated graduate from Kamar-Taj.

Therefore, the conditions proposed by the Leader held no appeal for him whatsoever.

"The Leader, I'm glad you could tell me all this." Doctor Death's voice rang out in the laboratory. Wearing a white coat, he stepped out of the portal, carrying a bruised and swollen silver-haired young man in his left hand and holding a teleportation gun in his right. Behind him followed a beautiful woman carrying a huge book.

Doom nodded to the Doctor Death, then his gaze fell on the red-haired woman—this woman seemed to have a special fascination with the color crimson; her hair was red from being imbued with magic, and her long leather coat was also red—and this color complemented the woman perfectly, making her breathtakingly beautiful.

But ever since Doom came back from the dead that night, he had freed himself from the base desires of love between men and women. He saw the immense magic in women and the miracles that magic could manifest.

And the book she clutched tightly to her chest, containing forbidden knowledge of the god of dark magic, Chthon, the Darkhold that had vanished from Kamar-Taj.

To better utilize his magic, Doom collected many books and items about magic, but none could compare to this magic book.

Doctor Death tossed Quicksilver aside and looked at the Leader, saying, "Ambition is a good thing, being able to analyze my inventions is a good thing, and I'm even quite pleased that you've done so, because that's why I recruited you into SHOCKER. But as I told you, your strength is insufficient to support your ambition."

"However, this time my child is here, so I will spare you for now," Doctor Death said slowly.

Although Doctor Death has the ability to suppress the Leader, he doesn't want to use such a dangerous individual, but unfortunately, the Leader's intelligence is indispensable.

Wei Xiuming's scientific thinking makes him highly value logic—while the world of American comics is the one that least values the logic of science itself. Even renowned scientists generally rely on "my own thinking power" to complete everything when conducting research—which is probably related to the fact that the editors are liberal arts students, and they only need to know the name of a scientific theory to fit it into the comics.

It is said that after reading the Superman comics, Einstein wrote a very serious letter to the DC Comics editorial department, presenting scientific theories to prove that Superman's speed could not reach the speed of light... and then the Flash, who possesses the speed force of a higher dimension, was created.

As a native "Marvel person," the Leader's research seemed very reasonable, but after careful consideration, Wei Xiuming realized it was still within the scope of "my thinking power." Therefore, all the research that went against Wei Xiuming's scientific understanding was handed over to him.

For example, researching the Hulk... or rather, the source of Doc Green's power, and unlocking the mysteries of gamma cells.

Although the Hulk is a monster created through scientific experiments, all the changes Bruce Banner underwent during his transformation into the Hulk defied scientific understanding—take a look at the law of conservation of energy.

After warning the Leader, Doctor Death walked up to Doctor Doom, kicked the half-dead Quicksilver lying on the ground, and said, "This is my son, Pietro Maximoff, nicknamed Kick-Ass. His abilities are high-speed thinking and high-speed movement, and the body that can support both abilities."

"This is my daughter, Wanda Maximoff, codename Scarlet Witch, her power is Chaos Magic," Doctor Death said. "I hope you can teach them for the next period of time."

"As for Pietro, as long as medical technology can save him without leaving any aftereffects, you can beat, scold, and punish him as you please... If he shows any signs of aversion to learning or any behavior before he learns and can flexibly apply the relationship between quality and speed, you can punish him accordingly."

"As for Wanda, as long as she's happy, that's fine. If you have time, you can teach her some basic magic, including simple ways to apply magic—her abilities have reached a very high level since the moment she awakened, but like a martial arts master receiving a power boost, her Internal Force is high but she doesn't know how to apply it, which is actually harmful to her." Doctor Death pointed to Scarlet Witch's hair and said, "Look, her hair turned red because she can't control her magic well."

Doctor Doom looked at the three men and had no doubt about their relationship—their faces were very similar; from a magical perspective, they were indeed related by blood, and there was no way to fake that.

This differential treatment is just a bit too much!

However, Doom kept these thoughts to himself and did not say them aloud. Instead, he provided feedback on the mission.

"The task you requested—to squeeze the Hulk's potential out of him through a life-or-death struggle—has been accomplished admirably. My men killed him a total of thirty-seven times, and his cellular strength has been raised to a level that terrifies even me. I have brought back his blood samples and vital internal organs after he reached his power limit."

"Very good, well done."

Doctor Death clapped his hands, praising Doctor Doom's work.

The energy released by the Infinity Stones manifests as gamma rays, and Doc Green's gamma cells are exactly what he needs in his plan; he needs something that can hold as much of the Infinity Stones' energy as possible.

However, due to the weakening of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hulk's power is far less than that in his solo films, not to mention the overpowered abilities he possesses in the comics, such as infinitely increasing his power through anger, easily lifting a mountain, and directly jumping between planets.

Therefore, Wei Xiuming tried every means to enhance Hulk's power.

First, there's the Bosian potion. Like Yu the Great's flood control, channeling is worse than blocking. While the Bosian potion can suppress emotions, it's only temporary. After a certain period of abstinence, the suppressed emotions will rebound—like a flood held back by a dam; once it breaks, its power is unimaginable.

However, Bruce Banner did not choose it initially. Although he left behind the Possian Potion, he only inhaled a small amount when he was on the verge of losing control, suppressing the Hulk's destructive urges.

Then there's the Dual Driver, which unites Bruce Banner and the Hulk, continuously enhancing the Hulk's power, breaking the shackles imposed on him by the Hulk, and unleashing his true power.

However, after finishing his pursuit of the Bat Hybrid, Bruce Banner spent most of his time in the lab conducting research, and didn't have many opportunities to fight, so it's unknown to what extent his powers had been enhanced.

This is why, in his battles with the Blonde Sister, Doc Green's power rapidly increases after each time he is killed and resurrected.

What Doctor Death needs are the body cells of Doc Green when his potential has been completely exhausted and he is almost burning his life force, as samples to complete his experiment.

Amidst the ruins of New York, after Doctor Doom left and without magical support, Doc Green collapsed to the ground.

Having exhausted his last bit of strength, he struggled twice but ultimately failed to get up. The driver sensed his injuries and forcibly deactivated the transformation.

Doc Green's massive body rapidly shrank, reverting to Bruce Banner. However, Dr. Banner's condition was extremely poor. His once robust physique was now as if all his muscles had been removed, his skin loose and covering his bones, with even the outline of his blood vessels clearly visible. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, no one would doubt that he was a mummified corpse.

"Agent Natasha, Banner needs help, he needs urgent medical treatment!"

"Tony Stark shouted frantically into the communicator."