Boom, boom, boom.
As soon as the incoming missiles were detected, the battle between Reed and Stark came to an abrupt end. Immediately afterward, Stark deployed decoy flares from his Iron Man suit, detonating three of the incoming missiles.
Moments later, the mastermind behind the attack was revealed—a furious Dr. Vicktor, known as the "Doctor of Destruction." Seething with anger, he glared at Reed and Susan, who stood at his side.
"Vicktor, what do you want?" Reed and Susan both asked, clearly taken aback by his sudden appearance.
Vicktor's face twisted with rage as he spat, "What do I want? It's all your fault! If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be stuck like this—and my company was ruined because of you. Meanwhile, you all have become glorified while I'm left with nothing!"
Vicktor had once helmed a publicly traded company worth hundreds of millions, with business booming. Yet, thanks to his collaboration with Reed, his company went bankrupt in less than a week. And to make matters worse, even the woman he had long pursued ended up in Reed's arms. How could Vicktor not be incensed?
What enraged him most was that while he was scrambling desperately for his company, Reed was suddenly hailed as a hero. Every newspaper headline screamed about the Fantastic Four, and even the Baxter Tower—once on the brink of collapse—received a massive infusion of funds due to the Fantastic Four's newfound fame.
In just one week, their positions were completely reversed. Overwhelmed by the dramatic shift—and having already undergone a genetic mutation—Vicktor immediately resolved to use his abilities for revenge.
Noticing that Reed had a four-man team at his disposal, Vicktor schemed to provoke a conflict between the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. He banked on exploiting the similar temperaments of Blazing Fire and Quicksilver—the two were both cocky and flamboyant, much like Blazing Fire, who used his persona to attract plenty of admirers. Quicksilver, too, had his own share of controversies; even his sister Wanda was hesitant to speak out, as both parties had entered the fray willingly.
When two such egotists collided, even a small spark was enough to ignite a full-blown conflict.
"Vicktor, I'm sorry—I'll find a way to fix this," Reed said sheepishly. He admitted that the whole mess was his fault. If he hadn't miscalculated, none of them would have been unprepared when the cosmic storm hit. Thankfully, although their genes had mutated during that ordeal, everyone—except for our rock-man protagonist—had experienced only benign alterations. Under normal circumstances, the cosmic storm would have been fatal.
"Sorry? Well, then, I'm sorry too," Vicktor retorted. In an instant, his hands erupted with powerful bolts of electricity, striking Reed—who had been caught completely off guard—with such force that he was flung dozens of meters away.
"Reed!"
Seeing Vicktor launch his attack on Reed, Susan cried out in alarm and rushed toward the fallen hero.
"Vicktor!"
Rock-Man Ben, witnessing Vicktor's assault on his good friend, charged at Vicktor and threw a crushing punch. Vicktor countered with his own metallic fists, and the two clashed in a furious melee, evenly matched in a brutal brawl.
Ben's body, made entirely of stone, had proven nearly indestructible—he had previously fought the Hulk without sustaining major injuries. Yet Vicktor's steel body was equally formidable, its hardness rivaling that of diamond, and his strength was not to be underestimated.
"Ben, you're still defending Reed, huh? But it seems Reed couldn't care less about you. Look at the four of you—you're the only one who's a monster. Reed isn't interested in saving you; he's busy rekindling old flames with Susan. You're nothing but a joke—a mere amusement," Vicktor sneered during the fight, his barbed words clearly intended to unsettle Ben.
Vicktor's taunts struck a nerve. If Ben's stone-man form could transform freely, things might be different—but the catch was he had to maintain his stone form at all times. He couldn't even use an elevator without exceeding the weight limit.
This was unlike the Hulk, who—even when Bruce Banner and the Hulk merged—still retained a humanoid shape (albeit with green skin), just as Kamala's skin was also green. But Ben was pure stone—even his internal organs were stone. This raised one burning question in Daniel's mind: How could someone made entirely of stone still manage to eat and drink?
Besides that, there was another question that Blazing Fire had once asked Ben: How does a stone man even handle dating? With Banner and the Hulk eventually merging, that problem was solved—but Ben, being stone, ended up provoking Blazing Fire into repeatedly beating him.
"Ben, don't worry—I will get you back to normal," Daniel promised.
Seeing Ben's movements grow increasingly sluggish under Vicktor's onslaught, Reed, who had been helped back to his feet by Susan, immediately vowed to do everything he could to restore Ben to his original form.
Though Vicktor's lightning attack had been devastating—enough to kill a normal man in a single blow—it was partly because Reed's own mutated body had made him more resilient.
"Trust him, or trust me—he hasn't made any progress at all these months. Do you really believe he'll wholeheartedly help you recover? You know, the revival of Baxter Tower is all thanks to…" "Shut up," Vicktor snapped.
Whether it was because of Reed's promise or because Ben had come to his own realization, when it came to his massive stone fists, Ben unleashed a ferocious barrage on Vicktor. Yet, in the very next moment, amid a blinding flash of lightning, Ben was hurled away by a colossal bolt that Vicktor had summoned in a bid to buy time.
"Your enemy is me," Vicktor declared.
After Ben was sent flying, Blazing Fire immediately transformed into a blazing ball of flame and encircled Vicktor. The scorching heat forced Vicktor's metal body to struggle to withstand the assault. However, once Susan joined in, Vicktor was trapped within the searing flames, howling in defiant anger.
Susan's force field managed to compress Blazing Fire's flames around Vicktor, but then Vicktor roared, "It looks like I have no choice but to turn my body into flame. I can't, like those 'Burn-Burn Fruit' users, spontaneously create fire from nothing!"
Blazing Fire's movements—and his earlier duel with Quicksilver—revealed to Daniel that his ability had a critical limitation: he could only transform his own body into flames for direct attacks. He was unable to project fire in a three-dimensional, ranged form.
"Looks like we don't need to help anymore," Daniel observed.
Glancing at Vicktor, who was now pinned down by Susan and his own brother's efforts, the team captain—who had intended to join the fight armed with a shield—stopped in his tracks. After all, the previous conflicts with the Fantastic Four had been mere displays of bravado, and Vicktor's nature was on an entirely different level.
"Flame, body transformation, invisibility, force field, stone-man, metal-man—seems like I'll have to upgrade my battle armor when I get back," Daniel mused.
At Stark's headquarters, Jarvis had been analyzing the abilities of both the Fantastic Four and Vicktor. Although this clash was relatively minor, no one could predict whether a larger battle might break out in the future. Naturally, developing anti-Fantastic Four battle armor was suddenly a top priority. Especially after Reed had managed to immobilize Stark's Iron Man suit with his own body—a vulnerability Stark had never anticipated. Although only Mr. Fantastic could have done that, Stark simply could not allow such a weakness to persist in his suit.
"Seems you spoke too soon, Captain," came a voice.
No sooner had the captain finished his sentence than a sudden burst of intense lightning erupted from Vicktor's flaming body, flinging the visibly exhausted Blazing Fire several meters away and shattering Susan's force field in the process. Earlier, Blazing Fire and Quicksilver had engaged in a high-speed contest, followed by another bout of combat, leaving both sides visibly drained.
"You're all going to die here today," Vicktor bellowed. Despite his body being scorched and riddled with burns, his expression radiated wild excitement.
Just then, a massive water ball plummeted from the sky and smashed into Vicktor. His metal body—previously seared by the intense heat of flames—was suddenly subjected to an abrupt, freezing temperature, and within moments, his body congealed into a pitch-black statue.
That water ball, of course, was crafted by Daniel. As for Vicktor—the so-called Doctor of Destruction—Daniel wasn't particularly concerned by him; Daniel had plenty of ways to deal with Vicktor. What truly worried him was the emergence of the Fantastic Four, which suggested that soon Silver Shadow and the Planet Devourer might also appear.
Especially the Planet Devourer—nicknamed "Swallower of Stars." Though he was touted as a superhero capable of being taken down by almost anyone, there was no doubt that the Swallower of Stars was among the strongest, godlike beings—dangerous enough to rival even Thanos or Ego.
"Looks like we need to speed up our progress. Thanos still has some time, and Ego's operations are manageable if one plays it smart. But the Swallower of Stars—that's a whole different story. And I almost forgot, there's also Hela. I hope Odin can continue to lend his support for a while longer."
Even though Vicktor had been transformed into a statue, Daniel could still detect a faint pulse of life within him. Initially, Daniel had intended to finish Vicktor off for good. But after some thought, he decided that Vicktor might prove useful later, so he refrained from delivering the final blow and instead branded him with a Thunder God's sigil.
"Now, let's have a proper discussion."
Soon afterward, it appears that Reed, Stark, the captain, and the others convened to discuss what came next. Unlike the Avengers—who functioned as a collective—the Fantastic Four were led by Reed, while the Avengers were now chiefly under Stark and the captain.
First, Reed stated that he had no intention of joining the Avengers—at least not for the time being. Besides, neither side wanted to be a government-controlled organization. Then, both sides agreed to exchange intelligence and even collaborate to better prevent future disasters.
"These two chaps—after having clashed earlier, now seem to have something in common," Daniel observed. Apparently, through their fierce confrontation, Quicksilver and Blazing Fire had developed an odd sort of camaraderie, even swapping war stories from their barroom days—a development that left their older sisters shaking their heads.
On the other hand, Stone-Man and the Hulk seemed to have nothing in common at all.
"Is that Void? And Death, plus Rukia? So this world really is something else—I'm in luck this time," Daniel remarked.
After the Fantastic Four and the Avengers reached a tentative understanding, Daniel immediately resumed his exploration. With the Swallower of Stars looming on the horizon, he felt a sudden urgency.
In a small copse within a modest park, Daniel quickly ascertained the state of affairs in this world—monstrous creatures were appearing in the sky, and a short, black-haired girl leapt upward.
The black-haired girl was engaged in slashing airborne monsters with a katana.
"Ling Wu, or should I call you Xiu Baixue."
After landing, as the girl found herself besieged by nearly ten phantoms, she began an incantation. Her katana transformed instantly into a pure white blade. As she swept the sword in a circular arc across the ground, a luminous white ring appeared around her, freezing the attacking phantoms into solid ice blocks. As the ice shattered, it scattered into countless shards.
"Truly, no wonder your Zanpakutō is hailed as the most beautiful in the Soul Reaper world," Daniel remarked, marveling at the pristine white blade in her grasp.
"Seeing how strong Rukia is now—and judging by the current state of this world—it seems Aizen's plans haven't even begun yet. We're certainly in luck."
Once all the phantoms had been vanquished, Rukia's figure vanished without a trace. Daniel didn't pursue her. Instead, he settled on an empty park bench, absorbing the ambient spiritual energy as he recalled details of the Soul Reaper world.
"Kurosaki Ichigo… you truly are the main character. Compared to you, Naruto, Sasuke, and Luffy are practically insignificant."
Ichigo had obtained his Soul Reaper powers and, in less than a month, ascended to captain-level strength; before long, he became "Muzuki Ichigo"—perhaps in under six months.
The might of Muzuki Ichigo was such that it completely disregarded the influence of the Hōgyoku or Aizen. Even if Daniel were to face Muzuki Ichigo, he'd very likely be outclassed—such power soared beyond even the Six Paths. The only drawback was its fleeting duration; if it lasted longer, it might have easily overcome even someone like Mikhail. Alas, its effect was short-lived.
"Truly, the world of spiritual cultivation is unparalleled—there's no realm more suited for me."
Whether it was Zanpakutō or Kidō, Daniel felt he was sorely lacking in this world. At his current strength, if he were to join the ranks of the Soul Reapers, his cultivation speed might even surpass Ichigo's—and his power would be formidable.
If the Naruto world prized bloodlines—where the final conflicts were intrafamilial struggles among the Ōtsutsuki—then the Soul Reaper world was much the same: one's power ceiling was predetermined at birth, dictated by the strength of one's soul.
Those blessed with high soul ceilings would reveal their potential early—take Uryū Ishida, who became the captain of the 10th Division at a very young age.
Of course, that ceiling wasn't immutable; Aizen's lifelong ambition was to shatter it—to transform a Soul Reaper into a Hollow, and a Hollow back into a Soul Reaper.
"Aizen—though he's exceedingly dangerous—might not be entirely unworkable as a partner."
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]