What surprised Zod Heath was that after the entire physical examination process was finished, the Ancient One never showed up.
He had actually wanted to ask about Morgan when she appeared.
After all, she was the daughter of a dimensional demon god. For all he knew, she might turn into Marvel's version of Raven from DC.
"Could something have happened to Kamar-Taj? Has the Ancient One finally reached her limit?"
Zod Heath thought about it for a moment, but did not dwell on it.
As for the mysterious Mr. Blue who had been in contact with Bruce Banner, in other words, the future Leader, Zod Heath had already sent people to capture him ahead of time, which meant the blood sample Bruce Banner had mailed out also ended up in Zod's hands.
"So my power came from what's inside him?"
Blonsky stared at Bruce Banner, visibly restless.
"To be precise, not exactly."
Zod Heath corrected him.
Honestly, he suspected there was something wrong with the bloodlines of both the Banner family and the Ross family. A normal person would die from gamma radiation, but these people got hit by gamma radiation and turned into giants instead. Where exactly was the logic in that?
What Zod Heath had injected into Blonsky was blood from General Ross before transforming him into Abomination, and the result had actually turned out to be quite similar to the effect of Hulk serum.
At the same time, World Serpent had already quietly collected every sample they could from Ross's daughter, in other words, Banner's girlfriend Betty, the future Red She-Hulk, as well as Banner's cousin Jennifer Susan Walters, the future She-Hulk.
As for the rest of the Hulk family, none of them had been found yet.
After the physical examination was completed, Bruce Banner was given his own combat suit.
"Uh... I don't really need a suit."
Looking at the battle suit in front of him, Bruce Banner spoke awkwardly. There was no suit in the world that could survive a fight involving the Hulk, was there?
"Give it a try, Dr. Banner. This suit is made from a special fiber. It's indestructible."
Zod Heath said.
In truth, it was vibranium fiber. Of course, there was no way he was going to say that openly, especially since Wakanda had already lost several hundred tons of vibranium. Though by now, Zod Heath no longer needed to steal it anyway. His ability to construct matter at the atomic level meant he could obtain any material he wanted, and vibranium was no exception.
Bruce Banner did not have much hope for it, but he still put it on.
He would just treat it as an experiment.
Just as Zod Heath obtained the Hulk sample and was preparing to head back and begin testing, a man dressed like an aristocratic gentleman appeared. He carried a refined walking stick, and his hair was combed back so smoothly it could rival Aizen's absurdly slick hairstyle, the kind of smooth where a fly would not even be able to stand on it.
There was only one word for it.
Silky.
This middle-aged man in noble attire had originally been heading somewhere else, but as he passed by Blade Technology Industries, he suddenly stopped.
"The scent of Hell..."
The man looked toward Blade Technology Industries, then changed direction without a second thought and walked in.
Whether it was the War Machine security guards at the entrance or the Black Queen's surveillance systems, it was as if none of them had noticed the man at all. He simply walked in unimpeded.
The sound of his cane echoed steadily down the corridors of Blade Technology Industries.
Zod Heath was different from everyone else. He almost frowned the very instant that cane struck the floor of Blade Technology Industries.
And yet, within the electromagnetic field he could sense, there was no unusual reaction. The atoms showed no abnormal changes either. Everything looked perfectly normal.
He put down the research in his hands. The Dark Knight armor spread across his body, and he stepped out of the laboratory.
The fact that he felt something was wrong was itself the biggest sign that something was wrong.
When it came to things like this, Zod trusted his instincts. Even though he was a scientist who ought to believe in data and laws above all else, sometimes human intuition really was that mysterious.
When Zod pushed open the door to his laboratory, a door made of atomic alloy and set to require five hundred tons of force to move, he immediately saw a middle-aged man dressed like a noble gentleman.
And this man did not exist within magnetic fields or the atomic domain!
"Good evening, Zod Heath."
The man smiled as he spoke.
"Who are you?"
Zod Heath instantly understood that he had run into the kind of enemy he least wanted to face, an enemy from the mystical side.
The moment that thought flashed through his mind, the Dragon Force tattoo beneath the Dark Knight armor lit up, allowing Zod Heath to finally see the man's true form.
Teeth like razors.
Curved goat horns.
Reverse-jointed goat legs.
And darkness wrapped in black mist.
A devil!
"Who I am is not important, Zod Heath. What matters is that you carry the scent of Hell on you. Have you been to Hell?"
The man appeared out of nowhere at Zod Heath's side. Circling him slowly, he spoke in a calm tone.
The moment he said that, Zod Heath understood.
It was probably because he had spent five days in that hell dimension with the Ancient One, and in the process, some of the hell dimension's aura had clung to him, which had led to a devil marking him as a target.
At the same time, Zod Heath also guessed the devil's identity.
Aside from Mephisto, there was probably no other devil who would dare stroll around Earth so brazenly during the Ancient One's era of control. Though to be precise, this was only a projection, not his true body.
That was indeed why Mephisto had come.
As one of the owners of Hell dimension fragments, he possessed an especially sharp sensitivity toward unfamiliar Hell fragments. And the Hell aura on Zod Heath was one he had never encountered before. His initial conclusion was that Zod had gone to a new Hell fragment he had never seen!
That alone would drive countless devils and demons mad with greed.
Naturally, Mephisto was no exception.
Now that Zod Heath understood why the other party had come, he also understood that negotiation was impossible.
Dragon Force surged forth instantly.
A deep-blue divine dragon spiraled vividly around Zod Heath's body, making him look almost like a god or a Buddha.
Mephisto's pupils contracted sharply.
As an ancient Hell lord who had seen countless things and survived this long without being destroyed, Mephisto naturally knew what Dragon Force was. He also knew that Dragon Force had once beaten back even the Phoenix Force.
Damn it!
This projection had not been easy to send over at all. But before Mephisto could speak another word, Zod Heath had already thrown a punch!
Dragon Force wrapped itself around his fist, producing an effect almost like Goku's Dragon Fist.
Mephisto's projection was struck by the Dragon Force and instantly disintegrated, annihilated so completely that nothing remained!
"Doesn't seem that strong?"
Looking at the spot where Mephisto had vanished, Zod Heath found it a little strange.
Sure, it was only a projection, but it should still have had some power, right? Just to be safe, Zod Heath had gone all out with that punch and only stopped at the final moment. Otherwise, that single blow would have been enough to flatten all of New York.
No matter what, being targeted by an old devil like Mephisto was still a troublesome matter.
/-\
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