The Ultimate Evolution

Hearing the news, Sheyan raised his eyebrows and said, amazed, “China’s duplicate arks, more than a thousand of them! Wow! If their plan is successful, none of the other nations will be able to hold a candle to them after the apocalypse! No wonder the United States are so vigilant. But it’s strange, how did they keep a project of this scale secret for so long?”

Count Hunter replied, “The method they use to ensure secrecy is very unique. They first manufacture the individual parts in various places throughout the country, then assemble the arks in underground sites. Rumour has it that when the relationship between China and Russia deteriorated in the 1960’s, China have dug a lot of bunkers across the country in case of a nuclear war.”

“The amount of underground nuclear bunkers is said to be astonishing, but only the government leaders know the exact number. They’ve skillfully utilised the project sites left over from the past to carry out the ark pirating project.”

“Thousands of arks may sound like an astonishing figure, but when they’re scattered across 9.6 million square kilometers of land….they’re barely noticeable. Besides, there are various private organisations building their own survival vehicles too, that’s why satellite surveillance didn’t pick them up right away.”

Count Hunter had come over to relay the news at the request of Professor X. When this task was done, he immediately left from the window.

Zi frowned, saying doubtfully, “Isn’t this a little too convenient? Something popped up, and it just happens to be what we’re missing?”

Sheyan fell into deep contemplation. After a while, he nodded and replied, “It’s a bit too coincidental, but it’s possible that the Realm is giving us preferential treatment. If the news is true, the security must be very tight, and the other forces will certainly flock there too. The difficulty is in fact really high.”

“This is probably our last chance to complete the mission. Although this follow-up mission didn’t state any failure penalties, but it should have inherited the additional reward aspect from completing the mission perfectly in the first round. The reward should be quite generous if we complete it,” Mogensha said after a while.

Old Charlie surprisingly voiced his thought, “Why do you think Professor X ask Count Hunter to come here and tell us about this personally? It’s because even the professor can’t confirm if the news is true, so he’s keeping a neutral position on this and doesn’t want to give an opinion. Something that even Professor X is unsure of….I object to you guys going for this batch of tritium.”

Sheyan nodded. “I understand. Okay, I’d like to hear everyone’s opinion. Should we go?”

“Yea,” Brother Black said in a laid-back manner with a cigar on his mouth.

“Nay,” Zi made her position clear.

Sanzi looked rather cunningly at Sheyan, then at Zi. He seemed to be evaluating which one of them would have the final say in the family after they got married. In the end, he sold his big brother out.

“I don’t think we should go.”

There were six people in the party, with three votes yea and three votes nay. However, there’s also Old Charlie. He may be Sheyan’s servant, but his opinion, identity, and now even his strength were comparable to the official party members. Therefore, they would almost certainly end up not going.

Just then, a huge explosion erupted from the laboratory!

Everyone immediately turned their attention to that place. They instantly saw flames that were rising high into the sky. The flames formed a figure of a giant which trampled about while laughing wildly. He left behind a sea of fire wherever he went!

Only Pyro from the X-men and the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four had such strong control over fire!

The mutant Pyro had already died not long after the war begun, so the answer was obvious. Professor X’s fatigue and the merciful nature of his main personality had finally resulted in a loophole in the defence. The Human Torch had succeeded in sneaking into the base. When he found Grimm and saw the half-dead state Grimm was in, he became furious and went berserk.

It was common knowledge that anyone with powers related to “fire” were usually also described as violent, ferocious and so on. Once the Human Torch flew into a rage, he instantly targeted the most important place in the base. His ability to control fire had gotten stronger after killing Pyro, so in but a few seconds, the fire became a widespread conflagration. The violent explosion also directly raised the Human Torch’s power to the highest level!

But what place was this? This was a terrifying forbidden territory guarded by various legendary figures! Although the Human Torch managed to sneak in while Professor X had a lapse in concentration, it definitely did not mean that he could just do as he liked in here; he could not just run away after lighting a fire.

Seven or eight cars inside the base almost instantly transformed and assembled into a giant steel robot like an Autobots Combiner. It charged straight at the flame giant.

Magneto had made his move.

The flame was incorporeal, but the core of the flame giant was the Human Torch. The Human Torch raised his hand, and the steel robot was instantly burned. The fire ignited the fuel in the cars, resulting in a violent eruption. Steel pieces and debris were flung everywhere.

But the debris, under the control of Magneto, became the most lethal projectile weapon! It flew about like a metallic storm, making a strong buzzing noise in the air which caused goose bumps to rise all over the body of any who heard it. The sharp edges of those flying steel pieces would no doubt mince a human into shreds!

However, the Human Torch was also a legendary figure. He immediately reacted, dodging the attack. But suddenly, his vision went dark! Professor X had launched a mental pounding attack in his anger! Although Professor X was kind, the Human Torch’s actions were unforgivable. The mental pounding, performed through the Cerebro, was as good as an attack from a Class 5 mutant!

Blood splashed out from the Human Torch’s nose and ears. By the time he regained control of his body, Magneto’s metallic storm was already furiously tearing at his body. The Human Torch was launched more than ten meters into the air, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

The Human Torch was seemingly about to be completely torn to pieces, but suddenly, as if his body had hit something invisible in the air, his trajectory changed towards the top of a building nearby.

Such a strange situation made Sheyan frown, but all of a sudden, a light harrumph from Jean could be heard in everyone’s ears. Following that, black spots that looked like fireflies appeared from all directions and gathered at a seemingly empty spot on the top of a building nearby. The black spots suddenly ignited and lit up the silhouette of a human body.

Susan Storm, the only female among the Fantastic Four, entered their sight. Beside her lay the corpse of a Vampire Marquis.

Her powers were invisibility and telekinesis.

Susan’s invisibility was not something cheap like a simple distortion of the light. It was something of much higher class – she could travel in the gaps between planes. Invisibility via a distortion of light could be discovered through smell, hearing, footprints left on the ground, or even an accidental collision with the enemy, but Susan’s invisibility could only be detected through sixth sense.

Meanwhile, telekinesis, simply speaking, was like using the mind to bend a spoon or a coin, but a higher-end version of it.

The Vampire Marquis was instantly killed by having his heart stabbed with a silver knife soaked in holy water! The odd change in direction of the Human Torch was caused by Susan using her telekinesis power to pull him away from the metallic storm area.

It was her continuous use of telekinesis power that led to her position being discovered by the newly awakened Jean.

The black spots were a new ability that Jean obtained after she absorbed fragments of the Dark Phoenix’s soul. They ignited once they attached to Susan’s body. Her face instantly turned pale and sweat started dripping down her forehead.

Susan had only ran less than ten meters carrying the Human Torch before pursuers closed down on them from all sides. She leaped with all her might, propelling herself and the Human Torch five or six meters forward, and then dragged their bodies another five or six meters further with her telekinesis power.

The two of them were already very close to the border of the base. Most of the people in the base had been attracted over by the explosion caused by the Human Torch, so the periphery area of the base was actually quite empty at the moment. Just as they were about to stumble, a pair of long arms came flying towards them from the sky. It was Reed, the leader of the Fantastic Four. He had come to their aid!

Right when everyone thought they were about to successfully escape, a raging, blood-coloured tornado suddenly rose on the flat land!

The tornado was more than ten meters in diameter. It was filled with despair, fear, madness, bloodthirst and various other negative emotions, and even produced a harsh, bone-grating noise. Several illusionary images of giant golden-red bats hovered around it. One of the three most powerful figures in the base, Count Dracula, who had been lying patiently in wait all this while, had finally made his move!

He showed absolutely no mercy. By the time the bloody tornado dispersed, the Human Torch and Susan were already minced into bloody dusts in the air, while Mister Fantastic had barely escaped alive by turning himself into a mercury-like substance and flowed into the sewer.

Although the enemy who came to attack had sustained two deaths and one injury, and the professor finally avenged the death of Pyro, their base had also sustained heavy losses. Everything else did not matter much, but at least half the precious metals in the warehouse had either been destroyed or contaminated…. Professor X blamed himself for this, but the others could not find it in themselves to criticise him; he had really done his best.

Faced with this situation, Party Ace could not help but look at each other. Obviously, considering the circumstances, their previous decision had to be overturned.

If there really was tritium being transported here like the intel claimed….even if it was a trap, for the sake of the base, they must jump into it!