Launch the Genetically Modified Food Plan Nationwide
"Have no idea."
His voice was grave. "Because this isn't a regular fight, it can't be judged by common sense. Or you could ask Human Torch."
"Human Torch, forget it. I'm afraid that with his hot temper, he'll join the fight before he even understands the situation," Invisible Woman Susan, rubbing her forehead.
In fact, he had the exact same concerns as Susan.
"Ignition!"
In a small pub near the Baxter Building, a Human Torch shot into the sky, drawing a cool inverted 8 in the air, and rushed towards the entangled golden and blue lights.
"Roll!"
The Human Torch was still some distance from the golden-blue light when a loud shout rang out, and the Heroes, engulfed in flames, crashed headfirst to the ground, trailing a long plume of black smoke.
The battle in the sky remained unaffected by this minor incident, and it intensified.
Qin's speed increased, her body leaving golden afterimages in the air, each afterimage a piece of ignited plasma.
Her hands traced complex trajectories in the air, each one rewriting the space around Russell: air became poison gas, poison gas became flames, flames became a vacuum, the vacuum became Gravitational Field, and the Gravitational Field became a spacetime rift.
The small space where Russell was located experienced the entire cycle from creation to destruction in a few seconds.
His body was constantly destroyed and repaired in those extreme environments.
[Super Self-Healing Experience +1]
[Super Self-Healing Experience +1]
[Superhuman Healing Experience +1]
[Psychic Telekinesis Experience +1]
Russell's influence over time and space is less than that of the Phoenix Force, but he is also retaliating.
His fingers traced equally intricate paths in the air, each path rewriting the space around the piano.
Qin's hair was rewritten as metal wires, the metal wires as glass wires, and the glass wires as air. Her skin was rewritten as tree bark, the tree bark as scales, and the scales as feathers.
Her body underwent countless mutations within seconds, each of which she instantly repaired.
The two fought from the sky to even higher in the sky, and from even higher in the sky to the edge of the atmosphere, where oxygen was thin, but they didn't need oxygen.
Their bodies are created and destroyed while simultaneously maintaining themselves, cycling through themselves, and achieving immortality.
Those on the ground, thinking the battle would extend into outer space, fought their way back down from the edge of the atmosphere to the ground, landing over New York Harbor.
Two people were suspended above the Statue of Statue of Liberty, facing each other less than three meters apart. They both had injuries of varying degrees, but they were healing.
"Can you still fight?" A mocking look flashed across Qin Qiao's face.
"Can you still fight?" Russell asked, his fighting spirit high.
His gaze lingered on the panel where the stats had increased dramatically. Sure enough, only by fighting true powerhouses could he accelerate his growth.
Qin smiled, flicking her fiery hair. "I can fight, but I don't want to."
She tilted her head, looking at Russell. "You've proven your strength to me, stronger than anyone I've ever met. Including that bald guy, that old man, and all the Heroes on Earth."
Her gaze fell on the Statue of Statue of Liberty, which stood in the center of the harbor, its massive bronze surface gleaming green in the sunlight.
Its torch is held high in the sky, like an inextinguishable flame.
"Do you know why I hate them?" Jean pointed to the helicopters circling overhead, to the skyscrapers of Manhattan in the distance, and to the world.
Russell remained silent, waiting for Qin to speak.
"Because they fear power, they fear everything they cannot understand, and that's why they want to limit all uncontrollable power."
She looked at Russell. "You're different. You don't fear powerful forces. On the contrary, you embrace power, you pursue power, and you treat power as a friend."
As Qin spoke, she drew a line in the air with her finger, and the arm of the Statue of Liberty began to twist—not broken, but rewritten.
Copper atoms were rewritten as lead atoms, lead atoms as iron atoms, iron atoms as gold atoms, and the arms of the Statue of Liberty changed from green to gold, shimmering in the sunlight.
Then the golden arm began to break—not severed, but the chemical bonds between the atoms were forcibly broken.
The entire arm detached from the statue and fell into the sea, creating a splash hundreds of meters high.
"Look," Jean looked down at the flames on her arm, "We can all rewrite everything."
Russell stretched out his hand, and the other arm of the Statue of Liberty began to change as well, not by being rewritten into gold, but by being rewritten into diamond.
Carbon atoms are extracted from seawater and rearranged on a copper surface to form a diamond lattice structure.
The arm gleamed blindingly white in the sunlight, like a solidified laser beam, and then it broke off. Russell flicked his finger, and the diamond arm detached from the statue, falling into the sea and creating another splash.
"Indeed, we do have something in common." Russell nodded. "But I'm more interested in knowing who is stronger."
The two men looked at each other, smiled simultaneously, and then attacked at the same time.
It's not about attacking the other side, it's about attacking the Statue of Liberty.
With a wave of her hand, the statue's body transformed from bronze to gold, from gold to silver, from silver to iron, and from iron to ice.
With a wave of his hand, Russell transformed the statue's body from ice into Crystal, from Crystal into diamond, from diamond into graphite, and from graphite into air.
The statue constantly changes its material, deforms, is created and destroyed, and becomes a tool in their power struggle as it is rewritten by the two men.
Its body was expanding, contracting, twisting, and rotating, like a dough being pulled by two hands simultaneously.
Then it collapsed not long after.
It wasn't defeated by anyone; it couldn't withstand so many rewriting forces. The chemical bonds between atoms were broken and rebuilt too many times. Every atom was exhausted and no longer wanted to cooperate.
The entire statue began to disintegrate from its base. Bronze, gold, silver, iron, ice, Crystal, diamonds, graphite, and air—all the materials were simultaneously stripped from the statue's body, like a giant, blooming flower, before plunging into the sea.
The shockwave from the explosion sent up waves hundreds of meters high, splashing water onto the streets along the Manhattan coast and onto the beaches of Staten Island.
Seawater flooded the harbor, ships rocked, bridges trembled, and the whole of New York City shook.
Nick Fury's hand trembled as he held the phone, not from fear, but from helplessness.
He had faced alien invasions, robot armies, and gods who wanted to destroy the Earth, but he had never faced these two people who could make a bronze statue tens of meters tall disappear from this world in seconds.
"Sir," the agent beside him said, his voice trembling, "The Statue of Statue of Liberty ... is gone."
Fury didn't say anything and hung up the phone.
At the top of the Fisk Tower, Kingpin watching the live broadcast on the giant screen in front of him.
"That's too strong, it's a terrifying power."
"Kingpin, do you still think you can handle them?" Bullseye added insult to injury.
"No, even if Six Great Fiends joined forces, they wouldn't be a match for them," Kingpin admitted, but then changed the subject.
"Sometimes, to defeat an opponent, you don't necessarily need to rely on brute force; a clever mind is more important than strong muscles."
Mister Fantastic snapped out of his stretched state, his body springing back to its normal size like a loosened rubber band.
He stood on the rooftop, holding onto the railing, looking towards the Manhattan harbor, at the still-rising spray of water, his expression complex.
"Reed, the Statue of Liberty is gone." Susan's voice trembled.
"I saw it," Reed said softly.
"Those two people, are they gods?"
"Perhaps even more terrifying than gods." Reed looked at the Human Torch, who had been rescued by Johnny the Thing. "Gods are at least known, but the power they possess is unknown."
Washington, D. C., Underground Research Institute.
General Darian stood in front of a screen that covered an entire wall, the image frozen on the moment when the two red and blue trails intersected in the sky above New York Harbor.
The Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the face of America, was destroyed.
He tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table, very slowly, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.
The two trails on the screen played repeatedly, and every frame of the collision between gold and blue reminded him that the country was facing no ordinary threat, but the kind that could make an entire statue disappear on a microscopic level.
He needs to reassess the danger level of these two Mutants.
"Call Dr. Green over here."
A few minutes later, a bald man in a white coat walked into the office.
His glasses were as thick as the bottom of a beer bottle, and he was holding a stack of data sheets in his hands. His expression was as excited as a student being called to the principal's office to receive an award.
Dr. Green is the chief scientist of the military's X-Factor research project, the creator of the Hound Series, and a seasoned scholar who has been deeply involved in the field of Mutants Genes for twenty years.
But his hands were trembling slightly, not from fear, but from excitement.
"General, you wanted to see me?"
"Sit." Darian didn't look up, but pointed to the chair opposite him. Green sat down, knees together, hands on his thighs.
Darian turned the screen towards him. "You saw it."
Green's gaze fell on the screen, and the two trails left red and blue afterimages in his pupils.
He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I saw it."
"Could the Hound Nos. 1–5 you studied be able to beat them?"
Green's lips moved slightly, but no sound came out. He lowered his head and flipped through the stack of data sheets and the data tablet, his fingers sliding rapidly across the tablet like someone groping for a switch in the dark.
The numbers on the tablet's data sheet were fluctuating: peak energy, precision of matter manipulation, strength of the defensive force field, self-healing speed—each indicator was being compared to the two tracks on the screen.
Darian didn't urge him; he leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, fingers still tapping on the table.
Tap, tap, tap.
A minute later, Green finally raised his head again.
"General, Hound No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 are definitely as strong as them."
Darian opened his eyes. "Are you sure?"
"OK." Green's voice was a little more steady than before as he swiped the tablet onto the data model of Hound No. 1.
"Number 1's energy output peak is fifty times the highest value we have ever monitored. It contains a miniature fusion reactor, which can theoretically continue to output energy for hundreds of years."
Then it's number 2 and number 3.
"Number 2's precision in manipulating matter has reached the atomic level, enabling it to rewrite molecular structures and even influence the strong interaction forces between atomic nuclei."
Number 3's defensive field can withstand nuclear-level attacks, and his body is surrounded by a shield made of Gravitons capable of deflecting any known form of energy attack.
"But..." Green paused.
"But what?"
"But there are still flaws." Green's voice lowered. "Number 1's energy output is too strong, and his body can't handle it. After each full-power output, he needs at least seventy-two hours of recovery time, during which he is paralyzed, his muscle fibers are torn in large areas, and his nervous system experiences temporary loss of function."
Number 2's material manipulation precision is sufficient, but his Psychic Power consumption is too great. After a full-force manipulation, he needs at least 24 hours of rest, during which time he cannot engage in any high-intensity mental activity.
Number 3's defensive force field can withstand a nuclear bomb, but his body is too fragile. Without the force field's protection, an ordinary person with a knife could kill him.
Darian's finger paused on the table. "Can these defects be fixed in a short time?"
"Yes." Green nodded. "Give me some time, and I can combine the strengths of Number 1, Number 2, and Number 3 to create a Hound Zero."
He paused, then added, "However, we need more Mutants samples, ideally the Genes of the two people on the screen."
Darian stared at the two trails on the screen, watching the replay of the Statue of Liberty being created, destroyed, created, and destroyed again in the hands of two people.
Watching the golden and blue lights explode on the sea, watching the giant waves sweep across the streets of Manhattan.
"The president has instructed us to hold off on taking action against Russell for the time being." He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the gray sky over Washington.
He said that the Mutants was revered as the "God's Whip" online, and that messing with him would trigger an even bigger public opinion crisis.
"Then what do we do?"
"Launch a comprehensive Genetically Modified Food Plan." Darian turned around, his gaze landing on Green.
"At the same time, we will reveal Cure that can heal the deformed appearance of Mutants, so that those monsters can choose to become normal people themselves."
When they are no longer Mutants, they will no longer blindly worship Russell; when their powers disappear, they will no longer be a threat.
Green nodded, stood up, saluted, and turned to leave the office.
"The God's Whip," Darian repeated the word under his breath, a cold smile curving his lips. "Then you'll be out of his reach."
He picked up the phone on the table and dialed a number.
"Connect me to the Department of Agriculture's R&D department and tell them that the Genetically Modified Food Plan will be rolled out nationwide starting tomorrow."