Under these circumstances, Zod Heath could rely on his micro-level observation ability to see who was suitable to take the Superman drug.
Originally, only a small number of people in World Serpent had taken the Superman drug and been enhanced. Zod Heath called them "Tank-class" Supermen.
Then there were the candidates: Blonsky, Bucky, Rumlow, and Grant Ward.
Blonsky refused to take the Superman drug because he felt being the Abomination was more than enough. Besides, those "Tank-class" Supermen were no match for him anyway.
Zod thought it over and agreed with Blonsky's wish to maintain his own uniqueness.
That left the three members of the Hydra male model squad.
Unfortunately, Zod couldn't capture Zemo. However, through Grant Ward, he confirmed that the universe he was in probably wasn't the MCU—the movie universe. As for what universe it actually was, that was hard to say.
Bucky had originally undergone the "Asura Unicorn" Super Beast Soldier transformation. But for Zod, who could now manipulate atoms and practically raise the dead and regrow flesh, reversing the transformation was not difficult.
Thus, Zod reversed the modifications on Bucky. After taking the Superman drug, Bucky fell into unimaginable agony.
The Superman drug fundamentally alters everything starting from the genetic chain. The pain far exceeded any level humans could imagine, many times worse than childbirth, enough to literally kill an ordinary person with low pain tolerance.
Only because Bucky's willpower was extraordinarily strong did he manage to endure it.
Once the Superman drug completed the transformation, Bucky not only gained an indestructible body of steel and immense super strength, but also the ability to project energy.
Ordinary Supermen who took the drug were weaker than Bucky in every stat and lacked energy projection. Zod thus designated Bucky as a "Battleship-class" Superman.
A Battleship-class Superman possessed the power to instantly kill a Tank-class Superman.
Following Bucky's successful transformation, Rumlow and Grant Ward also successfully became Supermen, and they too were Battleship-class.
"The Superman drug is even more appealing than the Beast Soldier and Hulk serum," Zod remarked.
He looked at the three Battleship-class Supermen before him. They all wore the Burning Legion's dark black uniforms, designed after the handsome SS uniforms of the past: high collars, long skirts, and trench coats. The difference was the silver trim on all the edges.
These uniforms were woven from vibranium fibers; even the Hulk couldn't tear them.
All high-ranking Burning Legion cadres had uniforms like these. As for Beast Soldiers, Zod Heath had phased them out. Mainly because their monstrous appearances hurt the Burning Legion's reputation. They weren't a villain organization. Turning into monsters lowered their style points and would get them killed fast.
Zod's phase-out simply meant reversing the former World Serpent members who had undergone Beast Soldier modification and turning them into Super-Soldiers.
Super-Soldiers were an inferior product of the Superman drug, or one could call them a semi-finished version. But they should be stronger than Doctor Erskine's Super-Soldier Serum. If Captain America didn't have his shield, he probably couldn't beat a Burning Legion Super-Soldier.
Except for a few mutants and other cadres—such as Dr. Connors the Lizard, who was mainly in charge of biological research. Even though Zod no longer needed Beast Soldiers, Connors was a researcher and didn't need to fight, so he was allowed to keep his Beast Soldier modification.
There were also Iton Vanko and Anthony Vanko, father and son, who had also been Beast Soldiers. They were transformed into Super-Soldiers, with strength, speed, defense, and recovery far greater than ordinary people.
Norman Osborn was still at Oscorp and not officially part of the Burning Legion, so Zod Heath didn't bother with him.
Black Tank, Colossus, and Iron Man were mutants, so they didn't need any modifications.
The symbiote "Rumble" was the commander and head of the Burning Legion's special forces. Since it was doing well, Zod had no interest in modifying it.
As for the assimilated Luke Cage, Zod gave him a choice, and Luke chose to retain his X-gene enhancement.
Having assimilated himself into a "Vibranium Man," Luke Cage was already enjoying the benefits of that physique, with no fear of injury, so naturally he didn't choose to become a Super-Soldier.
As for the remaining Juggernaut Cain Marko, he needed even less modification.
The artificial beings Zod created himself—Android 18, Heracles, Esdeath, and Tifa—also didn't require any modifications.
Thus, the hierarchy of the Burning Legion was clear: at the top were cadres and Battleship-class Supermen, then Tank-class Supermen, followed by Super-Soldiers, and at the bottom were unmodified Burning Legion members.
In fact, Zod Heath could have easily cloned the successful Tank-class Supermen to mass-produce large numbers of Tank-class or even Battleship-class Supermen. But he was wary of the Ancient One's reaction. After all, the last time he tried to create a Hulk army, the Ancient One stopped him.
If the number of Superman troops got out of hand this time, there was no guarantee the Ancient One wouldn't intervene again.
For now, he would maintain the status quo. After all, there were no opponents left on Earth for the Burning Legion. Sooner or later, they would leave Earth and develop in the cosmos.
After the modifications, some Burning Legion members and cadres openly registered as new superheroes with S.W.O.R.D., while some Super-Soldiers became S.W.O.R.D. agents.
At the same time, Zod Heath was still cultivating symbiotes. A Super-Soldier with a symbiote suit could probably defeat most of Marvel's superheroes and supervillains.
The vampire carnival soon arrived.
After ten o'clock at night, the NYPD's phone lines were completely jammed. Violent assaults and murders were happening everywhere, and they could barely keep up. But S.W.O.R.D. quickly intervened.
With extensive experience dealing with monsters, the Hellfront Task Force inflicted massive casualties on the vampires as soon as they entered the fray.
Their weapons weren't ordinary silver bullets, but ultraviolet ray guns that fired high-intensity UV light. No matter how powerful the vampire, they were all dead.
Even the seemingly fragile S.W.O.R.D. agents pulled out their atomic guns and laser guns. Their offensive power far exceeded their defense, which summed them up perfectly.
Vampires hit by the atomic gun were instantly reduced to ashes, without a chance to regenerate.
"The whole of New York is in chaos, and Zod Heath is nowhere to be found."
"He didn't even arrange for the evacuation of citizens. He just told us to handle everything ourselves."
Inside S.W.O.R.D., Black Widow, Tony, Nick Fury, and the others sat together.
/-\
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