The restless Blacklight Virus

Every punch came with more than brute force. Razor-sharp blades of wind wrapped around his fists, and dozens of blows struck the same spot.

The skin that rifle fire had failed to penetrate actually began to split beneath Mercer's rapid, wind-laced punches.

Abomination could clearly see that the blood punched out of him did not splatter in all directions. Instead, it eerily merged into Mercer's fists.

One drop of blood drew out two, two drew out four...

Mercer's fists did not stop until they hit the ground.

By the time they landed, Abomination was half-dead.

His once-massive body had shriveled considerably. Anyone unaware of what had happened would have thought Abomination was reverting to his normal human form, not that Mercer had absorbed too much of his blood.

Mercer stood on top of him, looking down at him with the bearing of a victor.

It was like a lamb standing atop a giant elephant, a sight that made a powerful visual impact.

It seems... I can absorb him?

Mercer's body trembled almost imperceptibly, not out of fear of being watched by so many people, but from a stirring hunger.

For the Blacklight Virus, which evolved by absorbing living organisms, Abomination was a rare and incredibly nourishing prize!

But reason told Mercer he could not do it.

Looking at the crowd snapping pictures all around him, Mercer knew the superhuman strength he had displayed was already shocking. If he went on to absorb Abomination...

The ability would inspire not shock, but panic!

Absorbing someone and transforming into him was still far too much for the public to accept.

Forget it. I'll have plenty of opportunities to act. There's no need to do it in front of everyone.

Mercer shook his head in disappointment. He neither wanted nor could afford to become public enemy number one yet, so he turned to survey his surroundings.

Although the streets had supposedly been sealed off, plenty of curious onlookers had slipped inside, and some had their phones out to record.

Mercer did not know what would happen if he recklessly absorbed something like this, and he certainly could not casually experiment in front of such a crowd.

"Hey, are you still fighting or not? Weren't you pretty tough a minute ago? Get up and let's go another round."

Mercer stomped down, sending cracks spreading through the hard ground in every direction.

"No more! No more!"

Abomination, who was gradually returning to human form, hurriedly waved his hands. He wailed inwardly that he was losing blood even faster than when he had been taken away for experiments.

He therefore dared not move again, allowing the special forces soldiers nearby to rush up and fire tranquilizer rounds into his body.

Seeing Abomination behaving so obediently, Mercer curled his lip. Apparently, the guy understood his predicament too.

When the special forces soldiers nearby saw Abomination return to normal, they hurried forward to seize him and lock him inside a specially designed cage.

Everyone thought it was about to end, only for a sharp command to ring out.

"Surround him!"

The S.H.I.E.L.D. rapid-response special forces unit led by Rumlow advanced with their guns and surrounded Mercer.

For some reason, Rumlow felt more nervous than usual with his gun in hand.

It seemed that what stood before him was not a person, but a vicious beast poised to strike. One careless moment, and it would tear him down to bare white bones.

Mercer's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the men point their rifles at him. He really did feel the urge to attack.

The Rumlow standing before him would later go by the name Crossbones.

He was a veteran member of Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s enemy. In Mercer's memories, he was one of the culprits behind the Avengers' Civil War.

"I suggest you lower your guns."

His eyes narrowed beneath his hood as Mercer swept his gaze over the special forces soldiers around him and spoke coldly.

His less-than-fluent English carried a chilling murderous intent that made their hair stand on end.

Carter watched the scene with mixed feelings. She was the only person present who knew Mercer's identity.

From the way Mercer acted, it was hard to imagine those words had come from a seventeen-year-old boy.

"What are you all doing? Lower your guns!" Carter barked.

"But, Captain, he..." Rumlow hesitated, staring at Mercer with a deep frown.

"He even took down that Gray Hulk. Do you think your rifles can hurt him?"

Carter did not address Mercer by name. He was wearing a hood, clearly because he did not want anyone to recognize him.

Her repeated insistence left Rumlow with no choice but to lower his gun. She outranked him, and he still had to obey her in the field.

Little did they know, that decision had saved their lives.

Had they actually fired at Mercer, he would not have stood there like an idiot and let them shoot him. Naturally, he would have gone on a "feast," absorbing people, and the resulting scene would have been horrific.

"Hmph."

As everyone lowered their rifles, Mercer gave a cold snort. He raised his hooded head slightly and looked at the surrounding buildings.

The next second, red-and-black light writhed over his legs. He leaped with all his strength and shot straight into the sky.

High in the air, Mercer tucked his legs in and spread his arms, gliding away like a flying squirrel until he vanished from sight.

He could even fly!

This kid actually has an ability like that. I'll have to ask him exactly what's going on...

Carter muttered inwardly as she watched the direction Mercer had gone.

The chaotic episode ended with Mercer's departure. Many of the onlookers had taken photographs.

Strangely, despite the number of people present, no one had captured a clear view of Mercer's face. At most, they had caught his profile beneath the lights.

That single profile shot was enough to make Mercer go viral online.

"Oh my God, I've never seen such a perfect profile!"

"Look at that sharply defined jawline. Are we sure they didn't hire an actor to stage this?"

"Has celebrity worship rotted your brain? Do you see any film cameras there?"

For a while, rumors about Mercer ran rampant online.

Everyone was guessing who the mysterious man in black was. He had even stolen Abomination's spotlight.

Mercer paid no attention to any of that. He landed on the roof of a tall building and looked down over the city.

After taking some time to process what had just happened, Mercer felt a little excited. The cheat he had waited so long for had finally activated.

He raised his right hand. Blacklight matter writhed in his palm, forming a container the size of a soda can, which held Abomination's Blood.

The system has detected an item that can be converted into a card. Would you like to convert it?

The system's voice suddenly rang out in his mind, making Mercer pause. This stuff could be turned into a card?

"Convert it. I don't know what would happen if I absorbed it directly anyway, so let's see what converting it does."

He did not dare absorb it rashly. If he ended up looking like Abomination, it would hardly be worth it.

As soon as he finished speaking, Abomination's Blood vanished from Mercer's hand, replaced by a palm-sized rectangular card.

At the center of the card was an image of Abomination's Blood in the shape of a falling droplet. Its name, Abomination's Blood, appeared at the top.

At the same time, a panel popped up before him.

[Card name: Abomination's Blood]

[Rank: B]

[Effect: Grants a small portion of Abomination's enhancements. Appears to work better when combined with the Blacklight Virus.]

Mercer was a little surprised by the text on the panel.

"A monster as strong as Abomination only counts as B-rank?"