[Mission Objective: Blood for Blood, a Tooth for a Tooth, kill ten supervillains plaguing the World (9/10)]
This time Banner was truly dead, dead as can be.
The specific process was slightly brutal, so I won't go into detail; just know that Banner was turned into Banner paste.
Darian looked at the updated mission progress and nodded, "Now there's only one supervillain left to complete the mission."
This wasn't hard; he knew the locations of several supervillain hideouts, and he could just pick one at random to make up the numbers later.
After taking out Banner, the three didn't leave but instead found a corner to lie in wait.
From the information Banner revealed before he died, they knew there were still some Hulk Gang members wandering outside.
To pull up weeds, one must remove the roots. Wolverine would never allow any potential threat to approach his family again, and he was determined to wipe out the Hulk Gang completely.
The waiting time was far too boring, so Darian pulled out a deck of cards, and the three of them started playing poker—Texas Hold'em, to be specific.
Playing for nothing was boring, so Wade suggested adding some stakes, swearing he would win back the ten dollars he had just lost.
Then, he and Wolverine were cleaned out by Darian until they didn't have a penny left.
The two of them stared blankly at the terrible cards in their hands, already numb from losing.
They couldn't even put together a decent pair in any round; their luck was at rock bottom.
On the other hand, Darian had either a straight flush or four-of-a-kind in every hand, winning without any suspense; it was as if he were blatantly cheating without even trying to hide it.
Although Wade knew Darian's gambling skills were impressive, he believed his own luck had always been good—he had won plenty of money before—and felt that Darian would be no match for him.
Because of this confidence, he lost even more than Wolverine; in the final "all-in" round, he even lost his own uniform.
Although Darian was very disgusted by this stake, as the saying goes, it's not about what he wants, but what the opponent has.
Wade was exasperated and suspected Darian of cheating, demanding to inspect the cards, but he found nothing; even if he dealt the cards himself, Darian still got a royal flush.
By the time the two had lost everything, a few Hulk Gang members finally returned.
The carnage at the scene left them momentarily stunned, but before they could figure out the situation, they saw three figures emerge from the ruins, surrounding them while brandishing various weapons with malicious intent.
Two of them were even stark naked except for a pair of underwear, looking even poorer than they were.
Hulk Gang members: ( )
What's going on? Has our home been robbed by homeless people?
With the last few Hulk Gang members being taken out, the Hulk Gang, which had run rampant across the wasteland for decades, was declared completely annihilated.
To be cautious, Darian and the others waited on the spot for another half-day, and only after confirming there were no stragglers did they prepare to leave.
It's worth mentioning that while searching Banner's lair one last time, they inadvertently found a green-skinned baby in a crude corner at the deepest part of the cave, clearly another of Banner's offspring.
Wolverine was a superhero after all, and he couldn't bring himself to harm this helpless infant, eventually deciding to take him home for adoption and naming him Bruce.
Darian wondered if Wolverine had some sort of fetish; otherwise, why did he always like naming his children after old acquaintances and being their father?
He suddenly thought of something and looked at Wolverine with an unfriendly gaze: "Old Wolf, don't say I didn't warn you. If you have a third child or pick up another one in the future, and you dare name it Darian or anything that sounds like it, you're dead!"
"Uh... how could I?"
Wolverine looked away, his voice sounding a bit guilty.
He indeed had that thought, for no other reason than simply hoping his child could be as powerful as Darian.
Yes, the thought was just that simple.
Wade quickly chimed in: "Exactly! And my name and codename aren't allowed either! You haven't paid me any royalties!"
"Don't worry, that definitely won't happen."
Wolverine answered exceptionally quickly and firmly this time.
He didn't want his future child to be even slightly like this idiot Wade.
Afterward, Darian piloted the quinjet to take Wolverine and his newly adopted Little Hulk to the hiding spot of Wolverine's family.
When Wolverine's wife, Donovan, saw him return with a baby, she almost turned into a Hulk herself; before she could demand to know who the green-skinned "mistress" was, Wolverine quickly explained, and Donovan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It didn't matter if the baby was green, as long as she wasn't the one being "greened" herself.
Watching Wolverine's family huddle together, Darian grabbed Wade, who was eager to join them, and turned back to the quinjet, setting off immediately to find the next supervillain.
He didn't choose to bring Wolverine along; a house dog like him would only ever guard his own territory and wouldn't go wandering around with them.
"Logan, your friends are leaving."
Donovan noticed the departing quinjet and gave a soft reminder.
Wolverine looked up, watching the quinjet quickly shrink until it finally merged into the dusky sky, a helpless smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
"It seems I've been abandoned by my team."
"Then are you going to chase after them?"
"No, they have more important things to do."
Wolverine looked at Donovan and his children and smiled slightly: "Besides, I have something more important to do, and that is to stay by your side and protect you."
Tears welled up in Donovan's eyes as she leaned her head against Wolverine's shoulder, moved.
She suddenly remembered something, looked up, and whispered, "Logan, I have some good news for you... I'm pregnant again."
"What!?"
Wolverine's eyes widened, a massive surge of joy hitting him as he quickly asked, "When did this happen?"
"During those days you were away. I originally wanted to give you a surprise, but I didn't expect..."
"..."
Donovan didn't want to talk about unpleasant things, so she stopped herself and continued, "This is our third child. Just like before, why don't you pick a name for the baby in advance?"
"Uh, what do you think of the name Charles?"
At this moment, Darian regretted a bit not bringing Wolverine along.
Without Wolverine as a meat shield, Wade automatically locked onto him as the only listener on board, starting a new round of all-encompassing verbal bombardment.
Darian was beyond annoyed; he was afraid of polluting the environment if he killed the guy, and ignoring him was useless since he could talk to himself all day.
Finally, unable to take it anymore, he threw a pure iron poke ball and released Max.
"Holy shit! You actually have a Poke Ball!?"
Wade was instantly stunned: "But why is there a human inside? Is it a humanoid Pokémon? Wait, your face looks a bit familiar... you look like the Garfield version of Electro."
Darian said expressionlessly: "No, you're mistaken. He's Pikachu. Max... Pikachu, use Charm on this guy."
"Pi~ka~chu~!"
Max: (≧≤)
Wade:"...."
What kind of cult version of Pikachu is this!?
Wade couldn't help but get angry, poking himself with his thumb: "You're not Pikachu at all! Do you know who the official English voice actor for Pikachu is? It's that Canadian guy! Our voices are identical! I'm the real Pikachu! Pika Pika!"
Darian:"....."
Your version of Pikachu isn't much better either.
With Max as the new shield drawing all of Wade's fire, Darian's ears were finally at peace.
Based on information provided by Red Skull's HYDRA forces, Darian piloted the quinjet all the way to California.
The target they were looking for this time was Dr. Lizard.
With the tenacious vitality granted by reptilian genes, Dr. Lizard was better adapted to this wasteland than most creatures; he had built a massive lair in California, breeding a large number of Lizard within it and forming a savage tribe.
Just like the members of the Hulk Gang, these Lizard also fed on humans.
Darian really couldn't understand; these supervillains could have lived much more comfortably in peaceful times, yet they insisted on causing trouble until the World collapsed, finally ending up as cannibals. What on earth was the point?
He didn't understand, and he didn't respect it.
The quinjet hovered above Dr. Lizard's lair.
Below was a massive concrete building almost entirely covered in weeds and vines; through the mini-map, one could see the area below was filled with densely wriggling red dots, a sight that made one's skin crawl.
"I'm ready! Let's charge into the lair together and slice that big lizard into lizard fillets!"
Wade, wearing a red uniform he had cobbled together from red fabric found in the jet, held two katanas with a murderous look on his face.
His reaction was because he had learned that Dr. Lizard was on the list of killers involved in murdering this World's Spider-Man.
As a self-proclaimed true lover of Spider-Man, Wade naturally had to settle this score.
"Who said anything about charging in?"
Darian casually set the quinjet to hover mode and walked to the open hatch.
As the gale howled in, he clenched his right hand in the air, and an RPG appeared out of nowhere, which he steadied on his shoulder.
Without intentionally aiming, he simply pulled the trigger toward the main body of the lair below.
Whoosh—!
The Rocket trailed a blinding tail of fire, tracing a straight downward trajectory before slamming hard into the center of the building.
Boom!!
The fireball from the explosion instantly engulfed the area; concrete blocks and metal frames were blown in all directions, and thick smoke billowed up.
But this was only the beginning.
Darian activated Dead Eye, and the Rockets in his game inventory automatically loaded into the RPG as he pulled the trigger repeatedly.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!
Rocket after Rocket formed a nearly continuous line of fire, frantically battering the lair's structure.
The light from the explosions merged into a wave of fire, tearing huge gashes in the outer walls; the figures of Lizard fleeing in panic flickered in and out of view amidst the flames.
Darian didn't have to worry about Rocket consumption at all; he had looted so many factions that he had as many of these things as he wanted.
Precision strikes for the poor, firepower coverage for the rich!
Under Darian's continuous bombardment, the building's main structure groaned under the strain, large sections of the walls peeled off and collapsed, and flames spread inward along the cracks as the black smoke grew thicker, almost completely shrouding the area.
"Roar!!"
A furious roar drowned out the sound of the explosions, erupting from deep within the building.
Immediately following, the roof of the lair blew open, and a massive figure covered in dark green scales smashed through the obstacles, rising amidst the swirling dust.
It was Dr. Lizard.
He was larger and more hideous than Darian remembered, covered in soot, with monstrous rage burning in his reptilian vertical pupils as they locked onto the quinjet in the sky.
"You bastard! Do you dare come down and fight me!?"
Dr. Lizard roared upward, fire practically spitting from his vertical pupils.
Darian shook his head: "I don't."
Dr. Lizard: "...."
This answer left him choked up.
But in the next moment, he became the primary target of Darian's strikes, with countless Rockets hitting him one after another.
Dr. Lizard wanted to dodge, but the Rockets seemed to have auto-navigation; no matter how he moved, they would eventually crash into his massive body.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions were continuous, and the fire engulfed Dr. Lizard.
He roared in pain repeatedly, his surface scales blasted black and cracked, and green blood splattered everywhere.
But since Darian was on the quinjet and Dr. Lizard lacked the ability to fly, the latter could do nothing about it, only raging impotently on the spot.
Although Dr. Lizard had an extremely strong regenerative ability and thick skin, under this continuous firepower coverage, he was soon riddled with wounds; the new tissue couldn't keep up with the rate of injury, and his movements became increasingly sluggish.
He tried to find cover, but the Rockets blew him away along with the cover.
Within moments, Dr. Lizard was slammed to the ground by a Rocket, unable to rise again; beneath his damaged scales, pale bones and wriggling internal organs were faintly visible.
"No..."
Dr. Lizard's eyes were filled with unwillingness and grievance.
Another Rocket came whistling in.
Dr. Lizard, who was no longer able to resist, was lifted by the explosion and thrown over a dozen meters away; his body twitched violently a few times before becoming completely still.
In the next moment, a system prompt sounded in Darian's mind.
[Mission "Sin Buster" settlement complete]
[Rewards obtained: 3000 Experience Points, 3 Anchor Shardss, item "Canned Spinach", item "Fire Flower", equipment "Machete"]
[Item: Expired Canned Spinach (After use, the user's physical attributes are significantly increased, and it comes with a special effect of death immunity for a period of time. At this moment, you are Popeye the Sailor)]
[Item: Fire Flower (After use, the user gains the ability to release blazing fireballs for a period of time. Don't worry, these fireballs can burn people to death)]
[Equipment: Machete (The favorite weapon of a certain water-fearing, introverted big boy. Throwing it into a lake might bring a surprise)]
Death immunity!?
Darian ignored the other two items, his gaze fixed intently on that expired Canned Spinach.
This item actually had a death immunity effect.
This meant that while the item was in effect, he would be an immortal and indestructible existence—a perfect life-saving item!
Another trump card added.
Darian was quite satisfied with this; the Fire Flower was also good, as the effect of being able to burn people to death was enough to crush the vast majority of ninjas.
As for the Machete, the description made it seem unusual; he would find a lake to try it out later.