The cold wind blowing over the Metropolis carried a pungent, burnt smell.
Clark hovered a thousand meters in the air, looking down at the once bustling city below.
At this moment, the human world has become a purgatory.
The shattered asphalt road rolled to both sides, and thick smoke and flames swirled wildly among the steel forest, turning the night sky blood red.
In the streets and alleys, severed limbs and grayish-white slime were splattered everywhere.
Countless gray-white monsters rampaged through the ruins, wantonly trampling on all living things in their path.
The most piercing sound was the continuous, shrill screams.
The air raid sirens were completely drowned out by the piercing, desperate screams.
Clark closed his eyes, but his super hearing allowed him to hear the city's cries of agony a thousand times louder than ever before.
The dull thud of bones breaking.
A desperate, heart-wrenching cry for help.
The cries of a dying child.
Clark's eyes were filled with pain and struggle, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
These hideous monsters were, just minutes before, ordinary people with families, jobs, and lives.
They simply took medication or received a so-called "miracle vaccine."
Kill them?
But what if... there's still hope for these people!
What if there are technological means to reverse this vicious genetic mutation and turn them back into normal people?
Clark's brain felt like it had been stuffed into a blender; the painful pulling sensation was driving him almost insane.
Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance of a reversal, he's unwilling to casually take a life.
But reality didn't give him any time to think.
At the street corner below, a Lesser Doomsday, three meters tall, was approaching step by step.
Thick, grayish-white bone armor enveloped its bulging, rock-like, deformed muscles, and its murky, scarlet eyes gleamed with pure bloodlust.
At the end of the alley was a dead end.
A young mother, clutching her infant daughter tightly in her arms, collapsed to the ground.
The monster let out a piercing roar, its massive claws covered in bony barbs suddenly rising and slamming down towards the mother and daughter's faces!
The sharp whistling of bone spikes tore through the air.
We can't hesitate any longer!
A red glint flashed in Clark's eyes, and he instantly broke the sound barrier.
He fell from the sky with incredible speed, like a red and blue shooting star.
Just a fraction of a second before the jagged bone spike pierced the little girl's skull, an indestructible figure appeared out of nowhere and stood between them.
Clark took the blow head-on with his back.
Pfft!
Sharp bone spurs scraped against the surface of his tough body, sending up a string of dazzling sparks.
Clark glanced at the little girl beneath him, then his arms lashed out like iron clamps, clamping down on the monster's thick, spiked ribs.
Get out of here!
Clark's feet shattered the earth, and the power in his waist and abdomen surged like a volcanic eruption.
He twisted his body and exerted his strength, using himself as the axis, and swung the several-ton Lesser Doomsday into the air like a cannonball!
Whoosh—Boom!
The enormous monster smashed through several ruins and was flung across three city blocks before crashing into an abandoned building in the distance.
Dust flew everywhere, and the violent wind pressure ripped up all the rubble in the alley.
Clark took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and half-squatted down to look at the mother and daughter in the corner.
The little girl buried her face in her mother's arms, trembling with fear.
The young mother's lips were bloodless, her cheeks streaked with tears and grime, as she stared blankly at the man in the red cloak before her.
She thought she was going to die.
"Oh my God... God..."
The mother trembled as she hugged her child tightly, tears finally streaming down her face, her voice hoarse but sincere.
"Thank you... hero... thank you for saving us!"
hero.
The word reached Clark's ears, causing his previously heavy and suppressed heart to skip a beat.
The chill that had been hanging over my heart seemed to be dispelled somewhat by this pure expression of gratitude.
But he didn't even have time to offer a comforting smile.
Click! Click!
Hundreds of meters away, deep within the ruins, a sickeningly loud, bone-spurting explosion suddenly erupted.
The Lesser Doomsday, which had been smashed through several load-bearing walls, easily stood up again amidst the falling debris.
The arm bone that Clark had just broken had not only completely healed, but had even swelled up with a thicker, grayish-white carapace at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Its body size increased dramatically, and its bone spurs became thicker, longer, and sharper.
The monster flicked its crimson saliva, let out a roar that shattered glass, and charged forward again with heavy strides.
Those two punches weren't enough to kill it.
Moreover, any injury will immediately trigger the next round of physical evolution.
Clark's eyes were filled with pity.
He stood up, shielding the mother and daughter completely behind him, clenching his fists again, and a surge of intense power began to course through his body.
Just as he was about to force his way in...
A shrill, ear-piercing sonic boom suddenly tore through the sky.
The clouds in the entire sky were violently shredded into rings of white mist by the powerful air currents.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several heavy metal landing pods, their bodies enveloped in dark red, high-temperature trails, streaked across the sky like divine punishment descending from the heavens.
They carried terrifying, destructive force, smashing through the asphalt pavement at both ends of the street with unerring accuracy.
The earth trembled violently, and soil and asphalt rained down like a storm.
The Lesser Doomsday, which was charging at the forefront, was abruptly brought to a halt by the Shockwave generated by its fall.
A scalding, pungent steam instantly filled the surrounding ruins.
laugh--
With a muffled thud as the heavy mechanical latches were released, the massive hatch of the central landing module burst open amidst the steam.
Amidst the swirling smoke, a pair of black metallic combat boots with a cold, matte finish stepped out first.
The adjutant Faora, strode out of the cabin with a blank expression.
The Lesser Doomsday, which had just been repelled, became ferocious, brandishing its newly grown bone spikes and lunging at her with its gaping maw.
Facing the ferocious beast charging towards her, Faora didn't even blink.
She didn't even adopt any defensive stance; instead, within half a step of the monster's approach, she unleashed a brutal punch so fast it was almost invisible to the naked eye.
Bang!!
A dull, deafening roar, like a thunderclap.
That incredibly defensive Lesser Doomsday had its entire chin and half its neck blasted into a bloody pulp by that one punch.
The massive, headless carcass crashed to the ground, twitching nervously twice, leaving a trail of dark red, sticky fluid.
One fatal blow.
Faora didn't even glance at the mangled remains at her feet, casually flicking the dirt off her knuckles.
She slowly raised her head, her cold gaze piercing through the remaining white steam, crossing the chaotic street like two icy chains, instantly locking Clark, whose cloak was fluttering in the wind.
" Carl El."
Faora's voice was devoid of any warmth, condescendingly declaring her verdict.
"Now, come with us immediately."