Chapter 67 High-Stakes Gamble
In his consciousness, the menu, so clear it made him want to cry, dissipated all of Chu Hang's resentment.
Ability Analysis Function.
The weight of these four words was too heavy.
It meant that the barbaric era of copying abilities like opening a blind box, relying entirely on luck, was completely over.
From now on, he could directly see what good things a target had and take whatever he wanted.
This feeling was like a primitive man poking around in the dark with a fire poker, suddenly being equipped with a top-tier exoskeleton armor and a high-precision sniper rifle with an 8x scope.
The experience?
It wasn't even on the same dimension.
However, when his gaze followed the menu downwards and landed on the first option, he froze.
[1. Twin Star Form (Cosmic Energy Manipulation)]
"Wait a minute..." Chu Hang's heart skipped a beat, and he muttered, "Didn't I already have this? Six years ago, when the light-speed engine exploded, didn't I already copy it? What, did my system restart and also format my save file?"
This was no small matter.
If he lost his abilities, that would be a huge problem.
With a hint of unease, he tentatively asked in his mind, "System, what exactly is going on? I clearly already have Twin Star Form."
[Answering Host.]
The system's voice was still the same—cold, mechanical, without any human emotional fluctuations.
But this time, it didn't just give a simple prompt; it provided a long string of detailed explanations that made his heart pound.
[Six years ago, due to severe damage to the system's core module during spacetime jump, and the copied target (light-speed engine explosion) being in an extremely unstable energy overflow state, the 'Twin Star Form' you copied was a fragmented data shard, with only 17% completeness.]
[This data shard caused the Tesseract's primordial energy within your body to be in a long-term unstable state, and it generated continuous conflict with your 'Healing Factor' and 'super soldier serum,' severely depleting your life essence.]
[This restart, thanks to resonance with a high-intensity, stable, homologous energy body (Carol Danvers), allowed the system's energy to be completed.]
[The current option 'Twin Star Form' is a complete data template.
Selecting this option will complete and upgrade the fragmented data shard within your body, and using it as a framework, completely integrate the Tesseract's primordial energy within you.
At that time, you will gain perfect control over this energy.]
Chu Hang read through the explanation word by word, feeling a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to his head.
His back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
So, for the past six years, he had been carrying an unstable nuclear reactor around!
He had always thought that the energy within him was difficult to control because the power was too high-end, too advanced, and beyond his ability to wield.
Now he realized that wasn't the case at all.
To put it plainly, what he copied from the light-speed engine back then was just a "trial version," and one with backdoors and viruses!
No wonder!
No wonder for the past six years, he always felt two forces fighting within his body.
One was the Tesseract's wild and peerless energy, and the other was the life force from the fusion of the Healing Factor and the super soldier serum.
Every day, he had to be like the most cautious beast tamer, carefully guiding and managing the wild beast within him that could break free at any moment.
It felt like a bomb disposal expert sleeping with an activated nuclear warhead every day, his nerves constantly stretched like a taut, about-to-snap violin string.
He had always thought this was a necessary trial on the path of a strong person; now it seemed he had simply brought it upon himself.
It was entirely thanks to the Healing Factor copied from Logan and Steve's strong super soldier serum foundation, with its tenacious life force, that he had managed to endure for six years without blowing himself up.
Anyone with a weaker foundation would probably have been torn to shreds by this internal conflict long ago.
Now, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity lay before him.
A "complete version" ability, officially licensed, fully functional, and with lifetime after-sales service.
It could not only completely remove the biggest safety hazard within him but also allow him to take a single step, transforming from a rookie trembling with a bomb into a big shot who could detonate bombs at will and control the whole situation.
Did he even need to choose?
"It's decided! Twin Star Form!" Chu Hang roared in his mind, making his decision.
[Command confirmed.
Beginning to copy and integrate 'Twin Star Form' complete data template...]
Almost the instant the system's prompt sounded, an unprecedented experience swept over him.
A completely different energy flow was precisely drawn from the invisible energy resonance field between him and Carol.
It was no longer the violent pain of being struck by hundreds of millions of volts of high-voltage electricity like six years ago, but an extremely gentle, extremely orderly warm current, slowly pouring into his body, into his soul.
If the copying six years ago was a savage, reckless energy infusion.
Then this time, it was more like a precise genetic surgery.
A perfect code, a flawless genetic sequence, was precisely etched into the fundamental logic of his life.
He could clearly "see" the Tesseract energy within him, which had been boiling and unruly for six years, like a herd of untamed wild horses galloping and colliding on the prairie for countless days and nights, finally meeting their destined rider.
The originally chaotic and colliding energy, guided by the new "data template," began to rearrange, combine, and operate in a mysterious and elegant way.
Those volatile, destructive power particles were gradually soothed, tamed, and then incorporated into a new, stable, and powerful circulatory system.
Chu Hang closed his eyes.
He could feel every cell in his body resonating with cheers under the soothing of this new power.
The Healing Factor finally shed its heavy burden, no longer needing to constantly guard against energy runaway.
The powerful physique brought by the super soldier serum finally found a perfect fit, truly integrating with this cosmic-level power, no longer repelling and consuming each other.
He felt like a computer running a pirated system for many years, constantly lagging, overheating, and crashing with a blue screen.
And now, he had finally installed the official, deeply optimized operating system.
The entire World, in his perception, had become different.
If before, his control over spatial energy was still in the crude stage of using brute force to "bend" and "twist," like a blacksmith with a large hammer, striking purely by feel and luck.
Then now, he felt he only needed a thought to precisely "edit" and "modify" space itself, like a top-tier surgeon with the most precise scalpel.
This absolute sense of control over power almost made him intoxicated.
However, while Chu Hang was enjoying this transformative metamorphosis, Carol, on the other side, felt the complete opposite.
The moment Chu Hang began copying, she felt an incredibly strange connection establish between them.
An information flow she couldn't understand was flowing from her body, or rather, from the source of her power, towards him.
She didn't feel any loss of power; the feeling was even stranger, like... like she had become an open book, being "read" and "analyzed" page by page by the other person.
Immediately after, some memory fragments that didn't belong to her at all, without warning, surged into her mind like a tide.
In a muddy trench, shells whistled past her ears, and a man with a cigar and a weathered face suddenly extended three stark white bone claws from the back of his hand... In a frozen cockpit, outside the window was an unfathomably deep blue ice layer, a blond, blue-eyed man in a blue, white, and red jumpsuit was smiling warmly and apologetically at her through the ice... These images flashed by, too fast for her to catch the details, yet so real that her heart pounded.
She instinctively took a step back, looking at the man in front of her, whose eyes were closed and whose face seemed to hold a hint of enjoyment, her shock turning completely into terror and confusion.
Who exactly was this man?
Why did he possess the exact same power as her?
Why... why could she see what was in his mind?
Just as she was lost in thought, feeling her brain about to burn out, Chu Hang opened his eyes.
In his eyes, a brilliant golden light flashed, and his gaze was so profound it seemed to contain an entire Universeof stars.
He looked at Carol, at the wild energy arcs still uncontrollably overflowing from her body due to her emotional agitation, and a slight smile played on his lips.
He raised his hand and made a loose fist in Carol's direction.
The next second, Carol was horrified to find that the power surging from her, like wild horses unbridled, seemed to be firmly choked by an invisible hand, instantly becoming incredibly docile, then obediently flowing back into her body.
Even her "Twin Star" state, which she couldn't control due to emotional agitation, was forcibly suppressed by that gentle grasp.
The dazzling golden light on her body quickly receded, and she returned to her normal human state.
Throughout the entire process, she couldn't even muster a single thought of resistance.
That feeling was like a new recruit who had just learned to shoot, whose rifle hadn't even warmed up in his hands, was disarmed by a veteran soldier king who had fought on battlefields for many years, with just a look.
"You... what did you do to me?" Carol's voice, for the first time, carried an undisguised tremor.
Everything happening before her had completely exceeded her cognitive range.
"Nothing," Chu Hang lowered his hand, his tone as relaxed as if discussing the weather, "Just helping you turn off a leaky faucet."
He took two steps forward, stopping three meters from Carol, his gaze calm and sincere.
"Your power is strong, but your control over it is like a three-year-old child swinging a siege hammer.
It's too wasteful, and too dangerous."
He looked at her, saying word by word, "Now, can we have a proper talk? Talk about who you are, where you came from, and... what you've forgotten."
Carol looked at him, her lips moving, but she couldn't utter a single word.
The confusion in her mind surpassed even when she had just fallen from the sky to Earth.
An instinct made her want to trust him.
That homologous power, that absolute sense of suppression when he easily controlled her power, gave her a strange sense of closeness and dependence.
But six years of Kree brainwashing made her wary and suspicious of any stranger.
"I..." She was about to say something to break the suffocating silence.
Suddenly, a harsh engine roar, from far to near, broke the stillness of the ruins.
A dozen bright headlights, shining in unison from the entrance of the ruins, pierced the Mojave Desert night like sharp swords, precisely locking onto their location.
Chu Hang's brow furrowed slightly.
He didn't need to look to know who had arrived.
Nick Fury.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions were even faster than he had imagined.
"It seems we don't have time for a slow chat," Chu Hangglanced at the rapidly encircling black Chevrolet Suburbans, then turned to Carol and said, "If you want to understand everything, trust me.
Now, hold on tight."
Carol hadn't yet reacted to what he meant.
Chu Hang had already stepped forward, and in her astonished gaze, he grabbed her arm.
"Hold on tight to what?" Carol asked subconsciously, her body stiffening at the warmth on her arm.
"Hold on tight to experience," Chu Hang grinned, "what real flight is like."
Before his words finished, an unimaginably vast cosmic energy erupted from beneath his feet.
He didn't let the energy burn around his entire body to form a fiery aura like Carol, but instead, with extreme efficiency, precisely concentrated all the power onto that single point beneath his feet.
Boom—!
The hard ground instantly cracked, and a perfect circular impact crater suddenly appeared.
Chu Hang, holding the bewildered Carol, launched himself like a cannonball fired from an electromagnetic catapult, without any superfluous movements, ascending vertically, instantly breaking the sound barrier.
Below, Nick Fury and Phil Coulson, who had just rushed out of their cars, could only stare open-mouthed, looking up at the fleeting, almost uncatchable golden streak of light in the night sky, and the huge sonic boom that arrived a moment later, making their eardrums throb.
"Coulson..." Fury removed his sunglasses, rubbing his throbbing temples, feeling his migraine coming on again, "Write this down for me.
From today onwards, we're adding two zeros to our department's budget."
Chapter 68 Real Flight
A feeling of weightlessness.
No, it was more terrifying than weightlessness. It was a feeling of being forcibly ripped from reality.
Carol felt like a pebble flung from a slingshot, launched in 0.01 seconds. Everything around her became blurred, infinitely stretched lines of light. The wind was no longer wind, but a wall so hard it could tear steel, pressing down on her body with insane force. The energy within her instinctively formed a shield, but even so, the terrifying acceleration left her mind blank, unable to even scream.
She subconsciously looked at the man holding her arm.
Then, she saw a scene she would never forget in her life.
Chu Hang's expression was as calm as if he were strolling in his own backyard. The corner of his trench coat didn't even have a single wrinkle, as if the gale that could tear everything apart simply didn't exist for him. He didn't wear energy as burning armor like she did; he just stood, or rather, "floated," with a nearly invisible, subtly rippling energy field around him, like water waves. All the gale, all the resistance, all the terrifying acceleration, upon touching that thin force field, were like striking an absolutely smooth mirror, gently sliding away to both sides.
Efficient, precise, without an ounce of waste.
This wasn't flying at all.
This was a blatant disregard for the laws of physics.
Carol finally understood what he meant by his previous words. Her own flying style, relying on energy bursts and charging head-on, was indeed like a three-year-old wielding a siege hammer compared to the man in front of her. And the other party was a top master who could carve an entire Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival on a grain of rice with a scalpel.
They clearly used the same power, but what they displayed were two different dimensions of mastery.
"You... where are we going?" Carol finally recovered from the suffocating acceleration and managed to squeeze out a few words from her throat. Her voice was insignificant amidst the roar of the sonic boom.
"To a quiet place, undisturbed," Chu Hang's voice clearly reached her ears, as if they weren't flying at several times the speed of sound tens of thousands of meters in the sky, but chatting in a quiet cafe.
He even had time to look down and smile at her.
"Relax, Carol. You need to learn to trust others, especially... your own kind."
Carol fell silent.
The word "kind" was like a key, unlocking a long-sealed corner of her mind. She remembered the fragments of memory she had just seen that didn't belong to her. The man with the bone claw, the man with the shield. She could feel that those memories contained an incredibly intense emotion called "trust."
Perhaps, she really could try to trust him this once.
After an unknown period, the tearing sensation finally disappeared. Chu Hang carried her, stable as a feather, slowly descending onto a vast, boundless white plain. The ground was dry, cracked saline-alkali land, reflecting an eerie white light under the cold moonlight. It was desolate, not even a blade of grass visible, only a deathly silence.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Carolimmediately broke free from his hand, jumped back over ten meters, and cautiously adopted a combat stance.
Chu Hang didn't mind her actions; he merely patted non-existent dust from his trench coat, watching her at his leisure.
"Alright, we can talk now," he said. "Nick Fury's people will need at least a few hours to find this place. We have plenty of time."
"Who exactly are you?" Carol's voice was hoarse with tension. "Why do you have the same power as me? Also, why can I see things in your mind?!"
She threw out all the questions in one breath, the golden glow on her fists flickering with her emotional fluctuations.
"First question, my name is Chu Hang. You can think of me as... a pioneer who encountered this power a little earlier than you," Chu Hang's tone was calm, like a teacher explaining a complex problem to a student.
"As for the second and third questions, the answer is actually the same." He pointed to his heart, then to Carol. "Our power comes from the same source. Six years ago, the Project Pegasus Base's light-speed engine. You absorbed its core energy when it exploded, and I absorbed another part of it that leaked out. We are like... two people struck by the same lightning bolt. Therefore, our powers resonate, and our consciousnesses have established a faint connection. You can see my memories, and I can feel your emotions. That's fair, isn't it?"
This explanation was reasonable and perfectly concealed the existence of the system.
Carol was stunned. The worldview instilled in her by the Kree for six years was being shattered by his words, bit by bit. The Kree told her that her power was a unique gift, an honor bestowed by the Supreme Intelligence. But now, the man in front of her told her that it wasn't a gift at all, just a "bonus" from an accidental incident, and she wasn't the only one who "won the lottery."
"No... impossible..." she instinctively retorted. "My power is from the Kree..."
"Given by the Kree?" Chu Hang laughed as if he had heard the biggest joke, unable to help himself. "Carol, do you really think so? They told you they saved you, gave you a new life, and bestowed upon you this mighty power. Sounds like a perfect fairy tale, doesn't it?"
He took a step forward, his gaze sharpening.
"Then tell me, before you became the elite Kree Starforce member 'Fos,' who were you? Where are your family? What do you like to eat, what do you dislike? Do you... do you even remember your own name?"
Each of Chu Hang's questions was like a heavy hammer, striking Carol's heart.
Her face instantly turned pale.
Name... family... past... these words were like an abyss shrouded in thick fog to her. She knew they were there, but as soon as she tried to approach, she would be pushed away by an invisible force, followed by a tearing headache and countless chaotic, meaningless images.
"I... I don't remember..." Her voice was filled with pain and confusion. "The Supreme Intelligence told me that focusing on the present and future is a warrior's duty. The past... isn't important."
"Is it 'unimportant,' or do they simply not let you think about it?" Chu Hang's voice grew cold. "They took away your most important things, your memories, your life, then put a false halo on you, making you fight for them. They are not benefactors, Carol, they are thieves, they are liars."
"No! You're talking nonsense!" Carol's emotions completely spiraled out of control. She roared, and the energy on her fists instantly erupted. Two thick golden beams of light, like two heavy cannons, blasted towards Chu Hang.
However, Chu Hang just stood there, not moving a muscle.
He didn't even bother to raise a hand.
The two energy beams, capable of melting a tank, solidified in mid-air less than a meter from his body, as if hitting an invisible wall. Then, under Carol's horrified gaze, the two violent energies, like tamed pets, obediently changed direction, drawing two graceful arcs, bypassing Chu Hang's body, and shooting into the distant sky, disappearing at the edge of the night.
"You see," Chu Hang said with a hint of pity, "you can't even control your own power. It doesn't listen to you, because from the beginning, it wasn't 'given' to you by them, but something that was already within your body. They just put a lock on you, making you mistakenly believe that the lock was the source of power."
Carol was utterly stunned. She looked at her empty fists, then at the man who was completely unharmed, not even a wrinkle on his clothes, and the last line of defense in her mind began to collapse.
"What... what should I do?" Her voice was tearful, like a lost child.
Seeing her like this, Chu Hang knew the time was right.
He softened his tone and said, "Remember. Try hard to remember. Don't be afraid of the headaches, don't resist the memory fragments. They are not enemies, they are a part of you. The more you try to hide, the more chaotic they become. Try to accept them, to piece them together."
As he spoke, he extended his hand, and an extremely faint but incredibly pure cosmic energy slowly flowed into Carol's body. This energy was not aggressive; it was like a cool stream, gently soothing her inner energy that was on the verge of berserking due to emotional agitation.
Carol felt that the tearing headache had indeed lessened a lot. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes as Chu Hang had instructed, and no longer resisted the chaotic images in her mind.
She saw an airfield.
She saw a strangely shaped aircraft.
She saw a Black woman in a flight jacket with a warm smile.
She saw a White woman wearing glasses, looking somewhat serious.
"Dr. Lawson..." A name involuntarily escaped her lips.
Immediately after, another name surfaced.
"Maria..."
"Very good," Chu Hang's voice sounded in her ear, like a patient guide. "Who is Maria? Where is she?"
"She's... my friend. My... family." Carol's body began to tremble slightly as more memory fragments flooded in. She saw herself and Maria singing karaoke in a small bar, saw them repairing planes together in the hangar, saw Maria's adorable daughter... "We're in... Louisiana." She suddenly opened her eyes, no longer confused, but illuminated by a new light called "hope."
"I remember an address. A house near the air Base."
She looked up, her gaze fixed on Chu Hang. At this moment, most of the wariness and suspicion in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a complex emotion: dependence, gratitude, and a hint of... trust that even she hadn't noticed.
"Can you take me there?" she asked.
Chu Hang smiled.
That was what he was waiting for.
"Of course," he said. "This is your first step home."
He didn't say anything more, just extended his hand again. This time, Carol didn't dodge, but hesitated for a moment before actively taking his hand.
The next second, golden light shone again.
The two shot into the sky, leaving a brilliant golden trail over Salt Lake City, speeding towards the southeast, towards the home that held all her past.
Nearly an hour after they left, a dozen black Chevrolet Suburbans finally arrived. Nick Fury got out of the car, looked at the empty, salt-alkali land with only two shallow pits, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
"Coulson."
"Yes, Officer."
"Connect me to the Pentagon, top priority." Fury put on his sunglasses, his voice icy. "I need to request access to... the space-based kinetic weapons system."
"Officer, that's just a theory..."
"Not anymore." Fury cut him off, looking up at the empty starry sky. "We have guests. And not just one."
Chapter 69 Talk to Me? Are You Worthy?
The night in Louisiana was humid and stifling.
The air was thick with the earthy smell of recent rain and the decaying scent of unknown plants, clinging stickily to the skin, making one very uncomfortable.
Chu Hang and Carol descended slowly from several thousand meters in the sky, making not a sound, not even stirring a breeze.
Their toes lightly touched a neatly mown lawn, like two leaves silently blown down by the night wind, making no sound.
Before them stood a typical Southern U.S.-style detached wooden house.
It was a two-story house with a wraparound porch, its white paint appearing somewhat mottled in the cool moonlight, showing the traces of time.
In front of the house, a rusty old Ford pickup truck was parked crookedly on the lawn, with several empty beer bottles still in its bed.
Next to it stood a basketball hoop, its net tattered and swaying gently in the night wind.
Everything seemed so ordinary, so full of life, completely at odds with the supersonic flight and energy resonance they had just experienced.
Carol stood motionless, staring fixedly at the house.
Her body trembled slightly, uncontrollably, not from fear, but from a deep stir within her soul.
She had been here before.
She didn't remember how or when she had come, but she just knew.
Her brain, like an old projector with a bad connection, began to flash fragmented, silent black-and-white images.
She saw herself wearing dirty overalls, sitting on the rocking chair on this porch, holding a bottle of iced beer, laughing and talking with a Black woman whose face she couldn't quite make out, seemingly arguing about something.
She saw herself on this lawn, holding a little girl with pigtails high above her head, the girl's laughter seemingly transcending time, echoing in her ears like a string of clear silver bells.
She saw herself and the Black woman lying half on the hood of that old pickup truck, pointing at the stars, a defiant, fearless smile on her face.
"Maria..." she almost unconsciously squeezed the name from deep in her throat.
Her eyes welled up uncontrollably, and her vision began to blur.
Like a puppet pulled by invisible strings, she took a step, walking towards the house that held all her past.
Her fingertips lightly traced the peeling white railing of the porch, then the familiar rocking chair, and finally, stopped before the old wooden door painted dark green.
Chu Hang did not follow, but stood silently in the shadow of the lawn, like a statue.
He knew this was Carol's own moment, and any interruption would be a desecration.
All he needed to do was be a qualified, invisible bodyguard, ensuring that nothing ill-advised would come to disrupt this hard-won reunion.
His senses had long since spread out like an invisible net, covering an area of several kilometers, and any disturbance would not escape his monitoring.
Carol raised her hand, suspending it in mid-air; the door was clearly within reach, yet it felt a World away.
She hesitated to knock.
Six years.
For her, it had only been the intervals between missions, a few bizarre dreams, a forcibly implanted false memory.
But for the person inside the house, it was a tangible two thousand one hundred ninety days and nights.
A person officially declared to have died heroically in a test flight accident, suddenly appearing at her doorstep late one night six years later—would this bring joy or fright?
She dared not imagine.
Just as she was wavering, her heart in turmoil, the light in the house flickered on with a "click."
Immediately after, the door hinge let out a faint "creak," and the door opened a crack.
A tall Black woman in a gray cotton bathrobe appeared at the doorway.
She clutched an aluminum baseball bat tightly in her hand, her face vigilant as she looked at the unfamiliar figure casting a long shadow in the moonlight outside the door.
"Who are you? This is private property; please leave immediately, or I'll call the Police!"
Her voice carried a slight hoarseness from being just woken up, but her tone was unusually firm, without the slightest hint of fear.
Carol looked at the face, both familiar and strange, her lips moving, but no sound came out.
It was her, it really was her.
Time had left some faint traces on her face, a few fine lines at the corners of her eyes, but her eyes were still as bright and stubborn as she remembered, like two obsidian stones.
"Maria..." Carol finally squeezed the name from her throat, her voice as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing.
Maria Rambeau, standing behind the door, stiffened suddenly.
Her knuckles whitened from gripping the baseball bat so tightly.
This voice... this form of address that only the closest people would use...
She instinctively narrowed her eyes, using the dim yellow light from inside the house to scrutinize the blonde woman before her more carefully.
That face, slowly and clearly, began to align with the face deepest in her memory.
"Ca... Carol?" Maria's voice trembled with disbelief, as if she were speaking a dream she herself couldn't believe.
"No... this isn't possible... you... you're already..."
"It's me."
Carol's tears finally broke free, rolling down her cheeks like broken pearls.
"Maria, it's me.
I'm back."
"Oh, my God..." The baseball bat in Maria's hand clattered to the wooden floor.
She covered her mouth with both hands, trying to suppress the sob that was about to escape, but tears instantly welled up.
She rushed forward, embracing Carol tightly, so tightly as if to meld the other into her own body, as if letting go would make this person disappear completely from her World again, just as she had six years ago.
Two close friends, separated for six years, embraced and wept under the silent porch late that night, venting the longing, pain, and grievances of those six years with suppressed sobs.
"Mom? What's wrong? Who's outside?" A childish voice, thick with sleep, came from inside the house.
An eleven- or twelve-year-old girl, wearing pajamas with cartoon spaceship patterns, rubbed her sleepy eyes and peered out from behind Maria.
She looked curiously at the blonde aunt hugging her mother and crying at the door, her small face showing a hint of confusion and wariness.
Carol slowly released Maria, then slowly squatted down, looking at the little girl.
The floodgates of memory burst open at this moment.
She remembered—this was Monica, Maria's daughter, the little one she had once sworn to protect with her life, the "little trouble" who always followed her around, pestering her to learn how to fly a plane.
"Hey, Lieutenant Trouble." Carol choked out, using the exclusive nickname only they understood, gently greeting her.
Monica Rambeau's eyes instantly widened, her sleepiness vanishing in that second.
This address—in this World, only one person called her that.
Aunt Carol, who would secretly take her to the air Base to see the latest fighter jets, who would teach her to make all sorts of funny faces, and who would tell her stories of the Universe and stars before bed.
"Aunt Carol?" The little girl's eyes also reddened instantly.
She didn't hesitate for a moment, pouncing into Carol's arms like a small cannonball, crying heartbreakingly.
Chu Hang, standing in the shadow of the distant lawn, watched this scene, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Thankfully, it wasn't too late.
Some regrets in this Universe still had a chance to be mended after all.
He did not step forward to disturb this deeply touching reunion, but merely expanded his perception to its utmost limit once again.
He knew the S.H.I.E.L.D. flies would be arriving soon.
Their efficiency was a bit higher than expected.
Indeed, less than half an hour later, as Maria finally calmed down and invited Carol and Chu Hang inside, and the three of them gathered around a dusty old photo album, reminiscing about the past through tears, several blinding car headlights shot from afar, cutting through the town's tranquility like sharp swords.
In the album, a young Carol and Maria, dressed in smart flight suits, stood spiritedly beside an F-15 fighter jet.
Carol in the photo smiled boldly and confidently, her eyes full of aspirations for the future and a love for the sky, a stark contrast to her current self, who carried a hint of confusion and vulnerability.
"They're here." Chu Hang put down his now cold coffee, stating calmly.
Maria and Carol's expressions instantly tensed.
They rushed to the window, pulled back a corner of the curtain, and saw several black Chevrolet SUVs silently parked outside the house.
A group of men in black suits with earpieces got out of the cars, fanned out efficiently and quickly, and silently surrounded the entire house.
Their posture clearly indicated they were not ordinary Police.
"Who are they?" Maria's voice trembled slightly as she instinctively shielded her daughter, Monica, behind her.
"Government people," Carol's eyes grew serious.
"They've been chasing me ever since I returned to Earth."
"Don't worry," Chu Hang stood up and walked in front of them, his tall figure blocking the window and their anxious gaze.
"With me here, no one can touch a hair on your heads."
As soon as he finished speaking, the doorbell rang.
Dong, dong, dong.
Three rings, unhurried and evenly spaced.
Very polite, but also carrying an undeniable sense of pressure.
Maria nervously looked at Chu Hang and Carol.
Chu Hang gave her a reassuring look, motioning for her to take Monica upstairs, then unhurriedly walked over and opened the door.
Two men stood at the door.
One was Phil Coulson, with his standard professional fake smile.
The other was the iconic One-Eyed Man, Nick Fury.
Fury's gaze, like a searchlight, bypassed Chu Hang, who was blocking the doorway, and landed on Carol in the living room behind him.
His single eye gleamed with extremely complex emotions: surprise, wariness, but more than that, a solemnity born from seeing something beyond comprehension.
"Good evening, sir," Fury spoke first, his voice deep and powerful, carrying the authority of someone accustomed to giving orders.
"I am Nick Fury of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
We have some questions we need to discuss with the lady behind you, and with you."
Well, he immediately rattled off the long and awkward full name of S.H.I.E.L.D. as soon as he opened his mouth, clearly intending to use his rank and agency to exert pressure.
Chu Hang, however, didn't even bat an eyelid.
He simply leaned lazily against the doorframe, arms crossed, his tall body like a wall, showing no intention of letting them in.
"She doesn't want to talk right now," he refused succinctly, his tone as indifferent as if he were saying, "The weather is nice today."
Fury's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He had dealt with all sorts of difficult individuals, but this was the first time he had encountered someone so direct and so disrespectful.
The professional smile on Coulson's face beside him also stiffened for a moment, clearly not expecting such an opening.
"Sir, I need to remind you, this is not a request," Fury's tone deepened, and an invisible pressure began to spread.
"This concerns national security, and we have the right to apprehend any potential threat.
I hope you won't obstruct us in our official duties."
"Threat?" Chu Hang finally lifted his eyelids, glanced at him, and smiled.
The smile contained undisguised mockery and disdain.
"Are you referring to her?" He gestured with his chin towards Carol behind him.
"Or to me?"
Fury's single eye narrowed sharply.
He felt an extremely dangerous aura emanating from Chu Hang.
It wasn't the kind of presence an ordinary person would have; it was a confidence born of absolute power, an indifference that regarded all things as nothing.
He had only experienced this feeling from a very few legendary figures.
"We are equally interested in your identity," Fury said in a deep voice, attempting to regain the initiative.
"My identity," Chu Hang dropped his smile, his eyes becoming cold and indifferent, "you are not qualified to know."
He paused, then continued: "Director Fury, I'll give you a piece of advice.
Now, immediately, take your people and get out of here.
Don't disturb their hard-won family reunion."
"Are you threatening a high-ranking federal Agent?" Coulson finally found an opportunity to interject, stepping forward and speaking sternly with righteous indignation.
Chu Hang didn't even bother to glance at him, as if he were just air.
His gaze remained fixed on Fury, like two surgical scalpels.
Suddenly, he extended a finger and lightly, gently, tapped the air beside Fury.
Buzz—
A barely audible, soft sound, as if space itself had been plucked.
Under a tall oak tree about three meters to Fury's side, in the dense grass, there was a sudden muffled grunt.
Immediately following, a sniper in a ghillie suit, with his face painted and almost perfectly blended into the environment, along with his expensive Barrett anti-materiel sniper rifle, was lifted into the air by an utterly invisible, terrifying force.
Then, like a discarded sack, he was lightly tossed at Fury's feet.
The sniper was limp as mud, completely unconscious, but showed no visible injuries.
Fury's pupils abruptly constricted to pinpricks.
The color drained from Coulson's face instantly, and cold sweat immediately broke out.
They hadn't seen what Chu Hang did!
They hadn't even felt any energy fluctuations!
The man was as if grabbed by an invisible ghostly hand!
"I'll say it again," Chu Hang's voice was not loud, but it struck Fury and Coulson's hearts like a cold, heavy hammer, "Get out."
Fury stared intently at Chu Hang, his brain working frantically at billions of calculations per second.
The opponent's abilities were completely beyond his comprehension.
Telekinesis?
Telepathy?
Or something even more terrifying, a spatial ability?
Moreover, he could so precisely locate his sniper, hidden dozens of meters away with top-tier camouflage.
This level of perception was simply inhuman.
Going in aggressively was absolutely not an option.
Fury had no doubt that the other party could genuinely wipe out their small team with just a flick of a finger.
"What do you want?" Fury quickly changed his strategy, his tone softening.
He knew that when dealing with such an unfathomable existence, threats were the most foolish and lowest form of leverage.
Only common interests could bridge communication.
"I don't want anything," Chu Hang said indifferently, his eyes holding a touch of all-knowing apathy.
"I just want to tell you one thing.
This World is much larger and much more dangerous than you imagine.
That 'Avengers' initiative you've tucked away in the deepest drawer, which you consider so brilliant, isn't even a child's game in places you can't see."
Fury's heart felt as if it had been gripped tightly by an invisible hand, almost stopping its beat.
The Avengers initiative!
This was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest internal secret!
It was a top-secret proposal he had just drafted after witnessing Carol's power and the existence of the Kree!
Apart from himself and a very few high-ranking officials he absolutely trusted, there was no way a fifth person could know about it!
How did he know?!
At this moment, Fury finally understood completely that he was not facing a simple superhuman today.
This was a phantom, an observer, who commanded an intelligence network beyond his imagination and unfathomable power.
"We... must talk," Fury took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, his tone more serious than ever, even carrying a hint of a plea.
"Talk to me?" Chu Hang finally shifted his gaze from Fury, sizing him up and down, his eyes like those scrutinizing a lifeless object, with a hint of playfulness and assessment.
"Are you worthy?"
With that, he ignored the two men frozen like stone statues at the door and simply shut the door with a decisive "bang."
Outside the door, Coulson looked at the tightly closed door, then down at the unconscious elite sniper on the ground, cold sweat already streaming down his face like rivulets.
"Officer, what do we do now...?"
"Withdraw," Fury said only one word, his voice somewhat hoarse.
He turned and walked towards his car, his single eye gleaming with an intensity he had never shown before—a mix of apprehension, frustration, and a hint of... almost crazed excitement, spurred on by the encounter.
The game was getting more and more interesting.
Chapter 70 Curious Monica
The moment the door closed, the living room fell into a dead silence.
Maria and Carol stood at the top of the stairs, their faces still etched with lingering tension and shock. Although they hadn't seen everything that happened outside the door very clearly, the invisible sense of oppression, and Chu Hang's final understated yet domineering "Are you worthy?" still reached their ears distinctly.
Especially Carol. She watched Chu Hang's calm retreating figure, as if he had merely shooed away a fly, and her heart churned. She knew Chu Hang was strong, but she hadn't expected him to be this strong. That One-Eyed Man, clearly a ruthless character with great power, was not even qualified to enter the house in front of Chu Hang, was rendered speechless, and finally had to leave dejectedly.
That wasn't just a suppression of strength; it was a higher-dimensional, comprehensive crushing from identity to power to mindset.
"They... just left?" Maria asked, somewhat disbelievingly. She quietly walked to the window, pulled back a corner of the curtain, and saw the black SUVs silently turning around, driving away one by one, quickly disappearing into the night of the small town.
"They left," Chu Hang turned around, his face resuming that lazy, harmless expression, as if the cold-eyed, imposing figure from just now wasn't him at all. "I told you, with me here, no one can disturb you."
As he spoke, he walked to the sofa, sat down, and casually picked up the already cold coffee on the table, taking a sip before frowning in distaste.
"Alright, the flies have been shooed away, we can continue," he pointed to the open old photo album on the table. "I haven't finished looking at it yet. Turns out your hair was even messier when you were young than it is now."
His tone was so relaxed, like he was making a harmless joke, instantly dispelling the tense and heavy atmosphere in the living room.
Carol looked at him, her eyes complex. How many faces did this man have? He was powerful, mysterious, and domineering, yet in the next second, he could become like a big brother next door, joking around with you.
Maria also let out a sigh of relief. She gave Chu Hang a grateful look, then walked over and took the cold coffee cup from his hand.
"I'll go brew you a fresh pot," she said. "Monica, go back to your room and sleep. It's late."
"Oh..." The little girl at the top of the stairs responded, but her big, dark eyes remained glued to Chu Hang, filled with undisguised curiosity and a hint of admiration. She had also seen the scene where the sniper was lifted into the air out of nowhere. For an eleven-year-old child, it was even cooler than the superheroes in comic books.
The night passed uneventfully.
The next day, as the first rays of morning Sun streamed through the blinds, casting dappled light on the wooden floor, Chu Hang had already finished his morning exercise in the backyard and was sitting at Maria's dining table.
The table was set with a simple U.S. breakfast: perfectly fried Sunnyside Up eggs, sizzling bacon, golden crispy toast, and a steaming cup of black coffee. Maria's cooking was excellent, full of the taste of home.
Carol also sat at the table, but she was clearly distracted, poking at the egg on her plate with her fork, her eyes distant. She hadn't slept well all night, her mind replaying a movie of new and old memory fragments intertwined, along with Chu Hang's unfathomable strength.
"What are you thinking about?" Chu Hang asked, his words muffled as he bit into a piece of toast.
"I'm thinking... about the Kree," Carol put down her fork, her expression serious. "Yon-Rogg and his people won't just let this go. They'll find me soon."
"I know," Chu Hang nodded, taking a sip of coffee. "So, you need to get stronger quickly. Not by learning how to fire energy blasts more intensely, but by learning how to control it, feel it, make it a part of your body, as natural as your breathing."
"Like you do?" Carol asked.
"Something like that," Chu Hang shrugged. "But my situation is special; you can't learn it. The principle is the same, though. Your body is an energy reactor, and your will is the control valve. Before, the Kree installed a faulty valve with a backdoor. Now, what you need to do is remove that old one and replace it with one that is completely your own."
Carol nodded, half understanding.
The next few days were surprisingly peaceful.
Chu Hang and Carol settled in, like distant relatives staying at a friend's house.
During the day, Carol, accompanied by Maria, would drive the old pickup truck into town, visit their usual bar, and try to retrieve more memories belonging to "Carol Danvers" from these familiar surroundings. She started learning how to use a microwave, readapting to Earth food, and even watched a boring late-nineties romance movie with Maria and Monica.
As for Chu Hang, he spent most of his time in the house or on the empty lawn in the backyard. He appeared to be daydreaming or sunbathing, but in reality, his consciousness had long since sunk into his spiritual World, like a precise engineer, constantly analyzing, sorting, and mastering the new energy within him, which was a fusion of three powers.
He could feel his control over space improving at an extremely slow but incredibly solid pace. From initially only being able to crudely twist and compress, he could now precisely split a water droplet suspended in mid-air from the inside into two halves without causing any energy fluctuations, while the droplet's external shape remained intact.
This kind of meticulous control was the truly terrifying part. It meant that if he wanted to, he could silently sever someone's main artery, and the victim wouldn't even know how they died until their last breath.
Of course, he was also contemplating his next plan.
Currently, his ability library included [S-Rank Healing Factor], [super soldier serum], [Twin Star Form], [Elementary Atmospheric Control], [Kinetic Infusion], [Superman Senses and Physique], and [Form Mimicry]. Offense, defense, disguise, AOE – it covered almost all aspects, making him a well-rounded warrior with no obvious weaknesses.
But Chu Hang never thought he had too many trump cards. He knew that the Water of this Universe ran deep. Not to mention the cosmic deities hidden behind the scenes, just the upcoming Thanos alone was not someone he could confidently defeat with his current abilities.
His system could copy one ability every week. There were still three days until the next cooldown ended. He needed a new target.
Nick Fury hadn't sent anyone to bother them again, but Chu Hang knew that old fox had definitely not given up. He could feel a few "eyes" constantly circling the outskirts of the town, not too close, not too far, maintaining a subtle distance. Several times, he had even "heard" some very faint communication signals that didn't belong to this era, which must have been S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to contact him through various encrypted channels.
Chu Hang ignored them all. He enjoyed the feeling of the enemy being in the light and him in the Shadow. Let Furyguess; the more he guessed, the more he imagined, the safer Chu Hang would be.
That afternoon, Chu Hang was in a lounge chair in the backyard, resting with his eyes closed, pondering the techniques of spatial folding, when a small figure tiptoed up to him.
It was Monica.
The little girl held a glass of lemonade with a straw in it, carefully offering it to Chu Hang.
"Mr. Chen?" she whispered, calling him that ever since she learned Chu Hang's pseudonym was Anthony Chen. "Mommy asked me to bring you Water."
Chu Hang opened his eyes, looked at the curious and slightly nervous girl in front of him, smiled, and took the cup.
"Thank you, Monica."
"You're welcome." Monica didn't leave immediately. Instead, she stood still, her small hands clasped behind her back, twisting the hem of her clothes, looking as if she had something more to say.
"Is there anything else?" Chu Hang asked.
"Um..." Monica hesitated for a moment, then finally mustered the courage to ask, "That night... that bad guy, did you make him faint?"
Her eyes sparkled, filled with longing for unknown powers.
Chu Hang looked at her inquisitive gaze, and his heart stirred. He remembered that in the future, this little girl would also gain powerful energy manipulation abilities due to an accident, becoming the superhero - Spectrum. Perhaps, planting a seed in her heart now wasn't a bad thing.
He didn't answer directly, but instead extended a finger.
A sparkling droplet of Water slowly, defying physics, floated up from the lemonade in front of him, suspended in mid-air.
Monica's mouth slowly formed an "O" shape.
Immediately after, the droplet of Water began to transform in the air. It first became a tiny butterfly, flapping its wings, then circled in front of Monica. Then, it transformed into a miniature cartoon spaceship, exactly like the pattern on her pajamas. Finally, it became a small stick figure, waving at her.
"Wow—" Monica couldn't hold back any longer and let out an exclamation. This was a hundred times more magical than any magic trick she had ever seen!
"This isn't some kind of mind control," Chu Hang's voice was gentle. "This is a... deeper understanding of the World. When you can read the 'code' that makes up this World, you can make small modifications to it, like this."
As he spoke, he gently flicked his finger, and the stick figure made of Water lightly flew to Monica's nose, then "plop," it transformed back into a droplet of Water, leaving a cool sensation on her skin.
Monica unconsciously touched her nose, then giggled, her eyes overflowing with adoration for Chu Hang.
Just then, Carol and Maria walked out of the house. Carollooked at Chu Hang interacting with Monica, and her eyes softened considerably. These past few days, although Chu Hang didn't say much, he was like a calming force; as long as he was there, he gave people an inexplicable sense of security.
"Looks like you're popular with kids," Carol said, walking up to him and teasing.
"Perhaps," Chu Hang smiled noncommittally.
Suddenly, his smile faltered slightly, his eyes instantly sharpened, and he looked up at the sky.
Before Carol and Maria could react, they saw Chu Hang's figure leave a faint afterimage where he stood, and in the next second, he had appeared on the roof.
"What's wrong?" Carol immediately became alert, energy surging within her body.
"We have guests," Chu Hang's voice came from the rooftop, carrying a hint of icy coldness. "And they're coming for you."
No sooner had he spoken than a tiny, imperceptible black dot in the clear blue sky began to rapidly grow in size.
Immediately after, a green energy beam, like a Death ray, tore through the sky, plummeting straight towards Maria's house!
Chapter 71 Yon Rogge
A green light tore through the sky.
It wasn't a beam of light, but rather like a red-hot iron rod dropped directly from orbit, carrying a sharp whistle that ignited the air along its path. Before it even landed, a scorching heatwave had already pressed down, instantly withering and curling the green grass on the lawn, emitting a burnt smell.
Maria held Monica, her mind blank, even her scream caught in her throat. She was just an ordinary mother; with Death pressing down so concretely, all she could do was close her eyes and hold her daughter tightly, utterly helpless.
Carol's reaction was a step faster. Every cell in her body screamed, and the combat instinct implanted by the Kreemade her instinctively want to rush forward. Golden cosmic energy seeped from beneath her skin, her legs slightly bent, ready to use her body to collide with that pillar of Death light.
But she knew it was too late.
That thing was too fast, too close.
Just then, Chu Hang, standing on the roof, moved.
He simply raised his right hand, extending his five fingers towards the green light descending from the sky.
There was no charging up, no incantation, not even a hint of energy light effect. His movement was as calm as snapping his fingers, or merely trying to catch a tennis ball thrown by a friend.
Then, he gently clenched his hand.
Buzz—
A deeply suppressed muffled sound, as if from another dimension.
A bizarre scene unfolded.
The destructive beam, powerful enough to vaporize the house and a hundred-meter radius of land around it, stopped less than three meters from the roof tiles.
It just stopped in mid-air.
It didn't hit anything, nor did it stir up a single ripple. It was like a movie frame paused, the destructive energy at its forefront still surging wildly, yet unable to advance another inch.
On the lawn, Carol, whose body was about to leap, froze in place, her mouth slightly agape. She could feel how terrifying the energy contained within that beam was; it was pure, unadulterated destructive energy, the standard output of the Kree Empire's main ship cannons. Even if she activated her Twin Star Form, taking a direct hit would still leave her severely injured.
Yet, it just stopped.
Immediately after, something even more incredible happened.
The stationary beam began to twist.
It was no longer a straight light, but like a venomous snake caught by an invisible giant hand, forcibly folded, coiled, and squeezed from head to tail. The destructive energy clashed wildly within the tiny space, emitting a piercing shriek, yet unable to break free from the invisible restraint.
One second.
Just one second.
The energy pillar, descending from the sky and thousands of meters long, was forcibly kneaded into an energy sphere the size of a basketball, flickering with unstable green light.
It pulsed, expanded, and contracted violently half a meter above Chu Hang's palm, like a heart ready to explode at any moment.
Chu Hang looked at this 'toy' expressionlessly, even with a hint of boredom in his eyes. He loosely cupped his hand, then flicked his wrist, like throwing trash, sharply tossing it upwards.
The extremely compressed energy sphere instantly reversed direction.
It transformed into a green meteor, ten times faster than it arrived, following its original trajectory, shooting back into the clear blue sky.
Three seconds later.
Boom!!!
A delayed, deafening roar finally came from the distant high altitude.
A massive green fireball exploded above the clouds, and a violent energy Impact wave, like an eraser, instantly wiped away all clouds within several kilometers, leaving a huge, empty blue ring. Sunlight poured unobstructed from that void, as if the sky had a hole in it.
The entire process, from the beam's descent to its reflection and subsequent high-altitude explosion, took no more than five seconds in total.
On the lawn, there was a deathly silence.
Maria slowly opened her eyes, finding herself alive, her daughter still in her arms. She looked up, staring blankly at the huge hole in the sky, then at the figure on the roof with his hands in his pockets, as if he had done nothing, her brain completely losing the ability to think.
Carol stood there, rigid, the golden light that had just surged to her body slowly receding. She looked at Chu Hang on the roof and, for the first time, felt what 'disparity' truly meant.
It wasn't a disparity of strength; it was a disparity of life levels.
She could block that attack, but it would require burning energy, colliding with her body, and paying a price.
As for Chu Hang, he merely raised his hand.
"Stay inside and don't come out." Chu Hang's voice came from the roof, still calm, betraying no emotion.
Having said that, his figure slowly faded on the spot and disappeared.
The next second, he had appeared thousands of meters in the sky.
Here, six Kree Soldiers, wearing dark green standard combat suits and metal helmets, were riding hoverboards, still shaken as they watched a small scout ship, blown into a fireball by their own energy cannon, explode in the distance.
They formed a semicircle, surrounding Chu Hang.
Leading them was Yon-Rogg.
His face was ashen, his fingers, gripping the energy rifle, were slightly White from the force. He never dreamed that his sure-fire shot would not only fail to force out his target but would instead be thrown back like a ball, even casually taking out one of his own ships.
This was a humiliation, an unprecedented humiliation.
"Who are you?" Yon-Rogg's gaze was fixed on the suddenly appearing Chu Hang, his voice as cold as the winds of Hala. "This is a family matter between the Kree Empire and the traitor, Fos. Earthling, get lost immediately!"
Chu Hang had his hands in his pockets, as if taking a leisurely stroll in his own backyard, walking a few steps in the air with unhurried ease. He glanced at these seemingly well-equipped Kree Soldiers, his eyes like he was looking at merchandise on a shelf, assessing their value.
"First, her name is Carol Danvers, an Earthling, not Fos." Chu Hang spoke lightly, his voice not loud, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears.
He paused, his gaze falling on Yon-Rogg, a hint of playful mockery in his eyes.
"Second, didn't your Emperor teach you that when visiting a new Planet, you should first learn to be polite?" Chu Hang said. "Firing cannons at someone's house without asking questions isn't a good habit. It will make your Empire...lose face."
"You're asking for Death!" Yon-Rogg was thoroughly enraged. As a Commander of an elite Kree squad, he had never suffered such humiliation. The Kree Soldiers behind him immediately raised their energy rifles, their dark green muzzles gleaming with dangerous light, all aimed at Chu Hang.
"It seems you've chosen the path of Death." Yon-Roggsqueezed out a few words through gritted teeth, no longer wasting time. "Then die. Fire!"
At his command, five green energy beams shot towards Chu Hang from different angles, forming a deadly net of Firepower that sealed off all his escape routes.
However, Chu Hang had no intention of dodging.
He simply stood there, motionless, not even taking his hands out of his pockets.
The energy beams, powerful enough to melt tanks, caused a scene that made all the Kree Soldiers' livers and gallbladders tremble when they reached within one meter of his body.
They were like shooting into a bottomless mire, slowing down, their light dimming, and finally, half a meter from his body, they completely annihilated and disappeared without a trace, like extinguished cigarette butts.
No explosion, no shield, not even a ripple in the air.
Space-Curvature Absorption.
This was a small trick Chu Hang had developed in the past few days: extremely subtle, high-frequency folding of the surrounding space to form an invisible energy shredding field. Any energy body entering this field would be instantly disintegrated into its most primitive particles by countless spatial folds.
"Is that all?" Chu Hang pouted, a perfectly timed expression of disappointment on his face. "The Kree Empire's elite squad, is this all you've got? Like tickling."
Yon-Rogg and his team were all dumbfounded.
Their attack... was 'eaten'?
How was this possible! Those were pure energy weapons, not physical bullets! How could they be absorbed out of thin air? This violated every physical law they knew!
"Monster!" One Kree Soldier finally couldn't hold it together and screamed in terror.
"Only just realizing it now? Too late."
Chu Hang's voice seemed to echo right by each of their ears.
The next second, his figure vanished from his spot.
Yon-Rogg's pupils suddenly contracted to a pinprick! His battle-hardened instincts screamed warnings at him; before his brain could react, his body had already moved. Without thinking, he immediately activated the energy shield on his wrist, while simultaneously retreating sharply.
But it was too late.
His warning system didn't sound, and there were no alerts of an enemy approaching in his tactical visor.
He just felt a weight on his shoulder.
A hand, an ordinary-looking hand, not even wearing any gloves, just lightly rested on his shoulder.
His proud energy shield, capable of withstanding direct hits from small blasters, popped silently like a soap bubble before that hand.
Yon-Rogg's hair instantly stood on end!
He felt no force, no energy fluctuations. But it was this lightly resting hand on his shoulder that made him feel as if he was crushed by an unmovable mountain, making even wiggling a finger a luxury.
He watched wide-eyed as Chu Hang's figure materialized before him, still wearing a harmless smile.
"See, I've got you." Chu Hang grinned at him, revealing a mouthful of White teeth.
To Yon-Rogg, that smile was more terrifying than a demon from the abyss.
Immediately after, Chu Hang's hand on his shoulder tightened slightly.
Snap—
First, a crisp sound of metal shattering. Yon-Rogg's shoulder guard, made of a special alloy, shattered in response, turning into countless fragments like a biscuit crushed by a hydraulic press.
Crunch... Then came a bone-grinding sound that made one's teeth ache. His shoulder bones, along with his collarbone and shoulder blade, were literally crushed into a mixture of pulp and bone fragments by this irresistible force.
"Ah—!"
The intense, bone-deep pain made Yon-Rogg let out a shrill scream that was not human.
And the four team members behind him hadn't even reacted to why their Captain was screaming when Deathhad already arrived.
The closest one only saw a blur; his energy rifle suddenly twisted like a pretzel, and then the barrel slammed hard into his helmet. His vision went Black, and he knew nothing more.
Another felt as if he had been hit by a high-speed truck. An invisible immense force came from all directions, slamming him, along with the hoverboard beneath his feet, into the body of his nearby teammate.
Bang!
A dull thud, and the two, stacked like human pyramids, became a blurry mass of flesh and metal, falling from the sky.
The last Soldier, seeing this scene, was scared out of his wits and tried to flee without thinking. But as soon as he turned around, he found his neck being constricted by something. He looked down and saw it was his own energy rifle. The hard gun body, at some point, had been bent into a U-shape, like a collar, tightly wrapped around his neck.
He opened his mouth, unable to make any sound, and the darkness of suffocation quickly consumed him.
Four elite Kree Empire Soldiers were silently dealt with in four different ways in less than two seconds.
In the entire sky, only Chu Hang remained, and Yon-Rogg, whom he held like a rag doll, twitching in pain, barely breathing, only exhaling, not inhaling.
All of this happened in a flash.
On the ground, Carol, who had just flown into mid-air, hovered there, dumbfounded, watching the scene of what could only be described as a one-sided Carnage.
She didn't even see how Chu Hang moved.
She only saw Chu Hang disappear from his spot, and then the next second, those Kree Soldiers who had given her trouble were all corpses.
Yon-Rogg, who in her memory was incredibly powerful, like a mentor and a nightmare, was now in Chu Hang's hand, more fragile than an infant.
Chu Hang, holding Yon-Rogg, slowly descended in front of Carol, a playful smile on his face.
"Now," he said, casually throwing Yon-Rogg, who was like a puddle of mud, onto the lawn, stepping on his chest, and looking down at him, "we can have a good talk about all the things you did to Carol."