My Life, My Call!

When you were unlucky, even drinking cold water could chip your teeth.

That was exactly how Chu Hang felt right now.

No, worse. It was costing him his life.

A cold voice in his head was counting down.

"Warning: vital signs collapsing."

"Estimated death in twenty-five seconds."

"Twenty-four..."

"Twenty-three..."

That damned system, which usually played dead, had now turned into the Grim Reaper calling for his life.

"Happy my ass!" Chu Hang roared in his mind.

He could feel that his body had descended into complete chaos.

Three forces were battling inside him, turning everything into a complete mess.

The first was the Healing Factor. Green life energy was frantically repairing his torn cells. One side had barely been patched up before an even bigger hole exploded open somewhere else.

The second was the Super-Soldier Serum. Golden power of laws tried to suppress the rampaging energy, but the moment it wrapped around it, it was shattered apart.

The third was the culprit. The spatial energy copied from the Cosmic Cube was rampaging through his body, tearing everything apart.

And Chu Hang himself was the wreckage being torn to pieces.

"Kid! Hold on!"

A hairy face pushed close to him. It was Logan. For the first time, terror appeared in the old wolf's eyes. He wanted to help, but his claws and Healing Factor were completely useless. All he could smell was Chu Hang's life force rapidly fading away.

"Don't give up, Chu!"

Steve rushed over as well, grabbing Chu Hang's wrist with a face full of worry.

But Chu Hang had little strength left. His consciousness was like a battered boat in a storm, ready to fall apart at any moment.

"Fifteen seconds..."

"Fourteen seconds..."

The countdown in his mind became clearer with every number.

Was he going to die?

Die in this stinking sewer?

What kind of joke was that?!

He had crawled out of the mountain of corpses from World War II and barely made it this far... Was this really how it ended?

No!

He refused to accept it!

A vicious fire erupted from the depths of his consciousness.

Why?

Why did he have to die just because it said so?!

He had fought to reclaim his life! It was his call!

If it couldn't save him, then he would save himself!

"Get—The—Hell—Back!!!"

Chu Hang let out a soundless roar in his mind.

He gave up resisting the agony and ignored Logan and Steve shouting outside. Like a gambler who had lost everything, he hurled all his mental power toward the deepest part of his body!

Buzz—!

The world changed.

He saw the full picture of the war.

The Healing Factor was a vast green ocean of life, countless vines growing wildly as they repaired the wounds.

The Super-Soldier Serum was a golden web of laws spanning the entire space. Every node gleamed like a star, representing absolute order.

And that blue spatial energy...

It was a slowly rotating miniature universe. A newborn cosmic shell made of budding stars and violent nebulae.

The blue cosmic storm was tearing apart the green ocean of life and battering the golden web of order.

Before those three forces, Chu Hang's consciousness was as tiny as a speck of dust.

He finally understood why the system had simply given up on treating him.

These things weren't even on the same level.

Despair swallowed him whole.

Just as his consciousness was about to fade away, he saw it.

At the core of the golden web was the source of Steve's power—protection and unyielding resolve.

Deep within the green ocean was the source of Logan's power—survival and tenacity.

Then what about me?

What did I represent?

Chu Hang remembered that before crossing over, he had only been a miserable office drone working endless overtime.

He remembered trembling in the Normandy trenches, scared half to death by artillery shells.

He remembered all the petty tricks he had used to stay alive, leaving his dignity shattered all over the ground.

I don't represent anything.

I'm just an ordinary person who's afraid of dying and wants to live!

My only virtue... is greed!

Only children make choices. I want them all!

Since they're all my powers, why should I let them tear down my home?!

A mad thought tore through the darkness.

He stopped resisting, and he could not command them either.

All he could do was guide them.

He carefully extended his insignificant consciousness into that violent blue cosmic storm.

He did not touch the energy. Instead, he tried to feel its nature.

The essence of this power was expansion. It wanted to break through every restraint.

Then let it expand!

Chu Hang's consciousness moved sharply.

He deliberately cut off the golden web of order's containment of the blue universe!

Boom!

The uncontrolled blue storm swept outward with ten times its previous violence!

In reality, Chu Hang's body suddenly convulsed, blood spraying from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth!

"No!" Steve cried out in grief.

But Chu Hang had gambled correctly.

Once the blue universe was no longer suppressed, the violent energy inside it actually began to take on a pattern because it now had room to release itself.

It was like lifting the lid off a pot of boiling water. The water still boiled, but it would not explode.

An opportunity!

Chu Hang's consciousness was like a surfer, riding a relatively steady wave of energy.

Then he guided that wave and sent it straight into the green ocean of life!

Not a collision, but a union!

Using his understanding of life and restoration, he forcibly branded this destructive energy with an attribute of life!

You want to expand? Fine! But what you expand will be a space for life!

You want to tear things apart? Fine! But tear apart the death that obstructs healing!

Buzz—!

A miracle happened.

Blue energy poured into the green ocean, and the green ocean opened its arms and swallowed it.

Blue and green merged together.

The blue was no longer so violent. It gained a trace of vitality.

The green was no longer so passive. It gained a trace of liveliness.

A brand-new blue-green energy formed.

It worked!

Chu Hang was overjoyed, but he knew it was not enough.

This new energy still needed a framework, a set of rules.

He turned his attention to the golden web of order.

You're the one!

He guided the blue-green energy and gently wrapped it around the golden network.

Using his understanding of order and protection, he began setting rules for this new power.

You may flow, but only along the paths I set!

You may be powerful, but you must remain stable in the core! No running wild!

You must obey my will completely!

The golden network actively extended countless tendrils of law, weaving the wild energy into a stable and orderly internal cycle.

Green was the foundation, gold was the framework, and blue was the core driving force.

The three conflicting forces miraculously formed a perfect balance.

A brand-new energy circulation system slowly began operating inside his body.

He could feel the damage in his body disappearing and transforming into new power. He could feel the surrounding space as if it were his own limbs.

He had gained two new abilities.

[Life Reversion]: Automatically repairs all damage and converts it into energy.

[Spatial Control (Novice)]: Basic interference with a small area of space.

Back in reality.

Logan and Steve were stunned senseless.

They watched the scorching heat radiating from Chu Hang's body fade away.

They watched the blood flowing from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth vanish outright.

They watched the terrifying blue demonic markings on his skin slowly disappear, his skin becoming smooth once more.

Finally, Chu Hang slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes were still clear, but something ancient and tranquil now lay deep within them, making Logan and Steve's souls tremble.

"...Fuck?"

Chu Hang blinked. Feeling the new power inside him, docile as a cat, he could not help blurting out a curse.

Surviving a disaster felt damned good.

He lowered his head to look at his hand. Then, under the two men's puzzled gazes, he stretched out his right hand toward the air and lightly snapped his fingers.

Snap.

A crisp sound rang out.

Nothing happened.

Logan was just about to mock him for frying his brain when Steve suddenly grabbed his arm.

Steve stared fixedly at his own wrist.

The crack on his military watch, which had been shaken loose by the explosion... had disappeared.

It had vanished out of thin air.

Steve abruptly looked up at Chu Hang as if he were a monster.

He was certain that, at the instant Chu Hang snapped his fingers, a faint but precise spatial fluctuation had enveloped his watch.

It was not repair. It was replacement.

What kind of monster had this kid become?!

"You..." Steve swallowed, his throat dry as sand.

Before he could ask, a burst of dense footsteps and German commands echoed from deep within the tunnel.

"Shit!" The surviving soldier Falsworth turned pale. "It's Hydra's pursuers!"

The hearts of every surviving team member rose to their throats again. They were all wounded, out of ammunition, and trapped here like fish in a barrel.

Chu Hang merely gave the direction of the sounds a faint glance.

Then he turned to the others and gave them a brilliant smile.

"Don't panic."

He said.

"They're just a few lost rats."

He slowly raised his right hand, spreading his fingers toward the depths of the pitch-black tunnel.

A deep, dark-blue glow quietly lit up in his palm.