Steel Body

Wanda

(The little author reliably updates four times a day, with occasional mass updates! Please read with confidence. Asking for a good rating here!)

Northern New York State

Hydra Secret Research Base

Alpha Station

Xiao Han suddenly opened his eyes, and the blinding white light made him instinctively raise a hand to shield them.

But the next second, he realized he could not move.

His body was secured inside a cylindrical metal test chamber, his limbs tightly fastened by alloy restraints that gave off a cold gleam.

A heavy metal collar encircled his neck, its red indicator lights flashing.

"Where... is this?" Xiao Han's temples throbbed as memories surged back like a tide.

He remembered the runaway dump truck on his way home from work, the instant the windshield shattered, and the agonizing pain of the steering wheel crushing his chest...

"Shouldn't I be dead?"

Outside the test chamber, several figures in white protective suits were busy at the control console. The red skull insignias on their chests made Xiao Han's pupils constrict.

Hydra!?

This was... Marvel?

Had I... transmigrated?

But this was clearly still my own body. I hadn't transmigrated into someone else's body, so... what was going on?

[Experiment Subject X-137 has awakened. Vital signs stable.]

[Prepare for the seventy-third gene serum injection test.]

Xiao Han struggled with all his strength, but the restraints did not budge.

His gaze swept across the laboratory through the reinforced glass of the test chamber.

He saw the walls covered in diagrams of human anatomy and genetic sequences. Several empty metal chambers were piled in a corner, their inner walls stained with suspicious black residue.

"The serum is ready," another male voice said.

"Based on the results of the previous seventy-two experiments, we adjusted the gene recombination sequence and added a new catalyst."

"Let's hope this one survives the first stage," the female researcher replied coldly. "When that test subject exploded last month, cleanup took us two whole days."

Xiao Han's throat tightened.

Fortunately, he had specifically learned a foreign language for a foreign trade job interview before, and every American client he had dealt with said his English was excellent.

He realized that he had become one of Hydra's human test subjects, and from what he had heard, none of the previous seventy-two subjects had survived.

"Injection countdown: 10, 9, 8..."

Xiao Han twisted his body frantically. The metal restraints bit into his flesh, and blood ran down from his wrists.

He could not die here. He could not die again in such a ridiculous way!

"...3, 2, 1. Injection commencing."

A mechanical arm extended from the top of the chamber. Its needle gleamed coldly as it slowly pierced the vein in Xiao Han's neck.

Icy liquid flooded into his bloodstream, and Xiao Han instantly felt all the blood in his body boil.

"Ahhh!"

Excruciating pain swept through his entire body in an instant. Every nerve in him screamed.

Xiao Han watched his skin begin to crack, his muscles expand and contract unnaturally, and his bones make a teeth-grinding scraping sound.

"Vital signs are rising sharply! Heart rate 200, blood pressure 220/150!"

"His brain waves are abnormally active. They've already exceeded the instrument's range!"

"God, his muscle density has increased by 300%! He's going to explode! Terminate the experiment!"

Xiao Han's vision was drowned in blood-red. He felt his cells being torn apart and reassembled as some primal, violent power awakened within him.

His consciousness gradually blurred, leaving only the thunderous pounding of his own heart in his ears.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a cold mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind:

[Ding! Abnormal host vital signs detected. Superhuman Growth System activated!]

[Host: Xiao Han]

[Current World: Marvel Universe Earth-169278]

[Deadly genetic mutation threat detected. Emergency defense protocol initiated.]

[Granted: Complete Steel Body (same as DC Superman's fusion life codex)]

An unprecedented power suddenly erupted from within Xiao Han! Every cell in his body rejoiced, like a giant awakening from slumber.

The serum mutation factors that had been tearing his body apart melted away before that power like ice and snow beneath the sun.

Outside the test chamber, every monitoring instrument suddenly erupted in sparks!

"What's happening? All the instruments have malfunctioned!"

"The test subject's vital signs... impossible! Every reading has exceeded the limit!"

"Look at the test chamber!"

Behind the reinforced glass, Xiao Han slowly raised his head, crimson light flickering in his eyes.

The specialized alloy restraints, strong enough to bind a main battle tank, snapped like paper with a casual struggle from him.

"No! That's impossible!" The female researcher stumbled back two steps. "That alloy can withstand 500 tons of pulling force!"

Xiao Han stood in the center of the shattered test chamber and looked down at his hands.

He could feel the surging power within him, power enough to move mountains and split seas.

His Super Hearing could catch every heartbeat throughout the entire base, his X-Ray Vision could see through dozens of layers of steel plates, and every cell in his body was filled with nearly limitless energy.

"This is... Superman's power?"

[Ding! The host has obtained a complete, growable Steel Body. Current abilities include, but are not limited to: Superhuman Strength, Biofield (including flight and Super Speed), Heat Vision, Freeze Breath, Super Hearing, X-Ray Vision, and more.]

The moment the system prompt ended, the laboratory's blast doors suddenly opened. More than a dozen fully armed Hydra agents rushed in, their energy weapons all aimed at Xiao Han.

"Don't move! X-137, get on your knees and put your hands on your head!"

"Fire!"

Xiao Han slowly raised his head, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

To his eyes, the agents moved as slowly as snails. He could clearly see the trajectory of every energy round flying toward him.

More than a dozen blue energy rounds shot toward Xiao Han at once, only to ricochet away the instant they touched his Biofield, as though they had struck an invisible wall.

Xiao Han stood where he was without so much as moving a corner of his clothes. (Don't flame me—the clothes were something I added because I didn't want the protagonist hanging out naked.)

He gently exhaled.

Freeze Breath!

A bone-chilling current swept through the entire laboratory. Every agent was instantly frozen inside thick ice, their final expressions of terror preserved on their faces.

Xiao Han walked to the main console and lightly pressed down with his palm. The entire alloy control station was crushed flat like putty.

Alarms echoed throughout the base as red warning lights flashed frantically.

"Warning! The base has entered Level One combat readiness! All combat units, proceed immediately to Laboratory Zone B! Repeating, all combat units..."

Xiao Han's X-Ray Vision pierced through layer after layer of walls. He saw hundreds of Hydra soldiers gathering, while three heavy mechs started up farther away.

He smiled faintly and slowly rose into the air.

"Perfect. Time to test my power."

He blasted through the laboratory ceiling like a cannonball, smashed through twelve consecutive reinforced concrete floors, and charged straight into the base's central hall.

The Hydra soldiers had not even seen what happened before the shockwave sent them flying.

"There he is! Fire!"

Hundreds of energy beams intertwined into a net of death, yet they could not even touch the edge of Xiao Han's clothes.

He hovered in the center of the hall, and red light flashed in his eyes.

Heat Vision swept across the room!

Hydra's heavy armor was sliced apart like butter. Load-bearing pillars melted into molten iron, and the entire base began to shake violently.

Xiao Han flew toward one of the mechs, grabbed its thirty-ton body with one hand, and hurled it at the other two like a toy.

Boom!

The three mechs collided and turned into a ball of fire.

The shockwave tore away half the base's roof. Sunlight streamed through the opening onto Xiao Han, and he felt his power increase by another degree.

"Monster! He's a monster!" The surviving Hydra commander collapsed onto the ground, the pistol in his hand shaking nonstop.

Xiao Han landed before the commander, and his Super Hearing caught a conversation on an encrypted channel deep within the base:

"Activate the self-destruct sequence! We can't let the test subject escape!"

"But sir, our people are still in the base!"

"Execute the order! Sixty-second countdown!"

Xiao Han shook his head, then instantly flew in front of the commander. "You're even killing your own people?"

"For Hydra's great cause, sacrifice is necessary!" The commander laughed madly. "You can't escape! Everything within five kilometers will be reduced to rubble! Hail Hydra!"

Xiao Han sighed, then shot into the sky, smashing through hundreds of meters of rock to reach the surface.

His gaze locked onto the core reactor of the underground base. He took a deep breath.

Freeze Breath!

A current of absolute-zero cold surged down through the passageways and instantly froze the entire reactor.

The self-destruct sequence was forcibly halted just after it began, and the base became a massive ice sculpture.