Phoenix's Child

Kino lightly tapped the table. Before Nick Fury's face could turn completely black as Black Charcoal, he stopped tapping. "You have to pay this money!"

"Can I take that to mean you're extorting us?"

"Perhaps."

"Give me a reason," Nick Fury said.

"The reason is simple. Because I want to be a good person," Kino replied.

"So this 'good person' had taken up the job of extorting S.H.I.E.L.D.? Hmph, what a fine 'good person' indeed!" Nick Fury had never been one to compromise, and he deliberately stressed the words "good person."

"Look, if you don't pay me, then I'll have to rob someone else. Wouldn't that make me a bad person?" Kino said as though it were only natural.

What?

Nick Fury's face darkened even further. This was the first time in his life he had heard such a fresh and refined "reason."

"Mr. Nick Fury, you should know that I have standards. I can't possibly rob a beggar, can I?"

"Y-you... what do you mean?" Nick Fury's eyes twitched. He had a bad feeling about this.

"I could rob the richest man in the United States, or even the President, without anyone noticing. They wouldn't even know I had robbed them. In their minds, it would be something they did willingly. For example—"

Kino snapped his fingers.

Uh, not Thanos's unbelievably cool indiscriminate half-erasure, but...

Phil Coulson, who stood nearby, froze, his eyes vacant.

"Honorable Mr. Coulson, may I ask at what age you lost your virginity?"

"Thirteen."

Nick Fury and Maria Hill stared at Coulson in shock! The latter was full of gossip as well. Thirteen? He really didn't look it. Coulson had skills!

Don't doubt it. Even the coldest woman was still a woman, and women had a heart for gossip.

"Uh, doing it yourself doesn't count." Kino scratched his head.

"Sixteen, in the school storage room!" Coulson continued to speak blankly.

Maria Hill was impressed again. Nicely done, Coulson. Even the storage room was in play.

"What did you do to him? Release him immediately!" Nick Fury slammed the table and roared.

"Slap him!" Kino raised a hand and pointed.

Without hesitation, Coulson raised his hand and swung.

But it was dodged.

"OK!"

Kino snapped his fingers again, and everything returned to normal.

Coulson noticed nothing. Looking at the two of them in confusion, he asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"How about it? Do you believe me now? As long as I want to, I can control anyone, including the President! Billionaires are nothing more than a thought to me. But I'm a good guy. How could I become a villain? So this money... really does have to come from you." Kino lazily leaned back in his chair.

Nick Fury's dark face twitched. "..."

Only then did Coulson finally react. His face instantly turned ugly. "You just now... controlled me? I... I didn't say anything, did I?"

The second half was directed at Nick Fury and Hill.

"No." Maria Hill turned her head and looked elsewhere.

"..." A trace of embarrassment flashed across Nick Fury's dark face.

Coulson understood instantly. Damn it!

"Fine, as compensation, I'll give you a gift, Mr. Phil Coulson." As he spoke, Kino flipped over his right hand, and a small white flame began bobbing in his palm.

"Eh—?"

The moment he saw the flame, Kino froze.

What the fuck?

What the hell is going on?

Why had the Phoenix-Phoenix Fruit's azure flames turned pure white? Thinking of how the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's lightning had also turned pure white, he finally realized something!

Rip—

Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Phil Coulson watched blankly as Kino, like a madman, frantically tore open wound after wound on his arm. But when they saw white flames burn from the wounds and the wounds heal completely in 0.1 seconds... it was their turn to be stunned!

What? What had happened?

Kino closed his eyes and began to sense it carefully.

"Screech—"

In his mind, a white phoenix spread its wings and cried out!

And then—

"Hahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha—"

Kino burst into laughter.

Along with his laughter, white flames surged from his body. The vast, boundless pressure instantly slammed Nick Fury and the other two against the wall.

Nick Fury and Phil Coulson in particular were overwhelmed with shock. This pressure was far more powerful than that earlier "whatever-colored" stuff!

The nearly tangible pressure crushed them directly against the wall, even distorting their faces.

Nick Fury especially could feel his ribs creaking... sounding an alarm. They were warning him that they were about to be crushed apart!

Fortunately, Kino was only excited for a second before withdrawing the white flames.

The three let out a long breath and slumped down against the floor.

Whew... that was too close. They had almost died!

Looking at the small white flame in his palm, Kino's mood grew even better.

This was the Phoenix Force!

Among the countless parallel worlds of the Marvel Universe, the Phoenix Force was absolutely ranked within the top ten strongest beings, perhaps even the top five.

AAO and the Fulcrum did not exist here. Those seemingly invincible, absurdly powerful beings were actually just the authors. The Beyonder did not exist either. That guy was a bug... he possessed author-level authority. He could also be understood as an author, or perhaps an editor-in-chief.

Then came the Molecule Man. The original Molecule Man had once been practically omnipotent, capable of creating energy beams sufficient to destroy billions of dimensions.

But that guy did not exist either.

Below him was the Living Tribunal, but that guy was also the author's embodied will. In the world of heroes, he was the highest-ranking true god. The creator, AAO, had granted him the right to judge, along with tremendous power.

There was no AAO here, no author, so perhaps... there would be no Living Tribunal either?

At the very least, Kino's journey had not yet reached a level where he could discover the Living Tribunal.

Below that came Phoenix.

As the Guardian of the universe-level weapon, the M'Kraan Crystal, she was a powerful cosmic entity who represented unborn life. She possessed immense destructive power and could also bring people back from the dead.

After Marvel Girl, the child of Phoenix and Cyclops, obtained the Phoenix Force, she instantly killed Galactus, which showed just how powerful it was.

Therefore, the complete Phoenix Force was at least above the five cosmic entities: Infinity, Eternity, Death, Oblivion, and Galactus.

The Phoenix Force was immortal and indestructible.

Wolverine had killed Jean Grey, but he had only killed her physical body. The Phoenix Force left her and did not die. The Phoenix Force could choose a host, and it could also choose to leave one.

Leaving could be passive or voluntary.

Passive departure meant the host's death. There were many possible circumstances for voluntary departure.

Kino's situation was very special.

He had not been chosen as a host by the Phoenix Force. Instead, he had awakened the "Phoenix bloodline" within his body, perhaps because of the Phoenix Devil Fruit?

In short, his Phoenix-Phoenix Fruit abilities had instantly ascended several levels, which in turn affected and enhanced his other abilities. He himself had also become Phoenix's Child.

Well, he might have a phoenix father who ranked second in the entire universe only to the Living Tribunal!

Or a phoenix mother?