Victor Von Doom stood quietly where he was. Suddenly, a silver figure streaked across the sky, flying rapidly toward the area.
"He's here!"
Victor's heart tightened.
Moments later, the Silver Surfer arrived near Victor. As if noticing something unusual about him, the Surfer glanced briefly in his direction.
Then he simply looked away, as if it did not matter at all.
He hovered in the air without any visible movement.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out. The ground below suddenly collapsed, a huge section of it vanishing as if it had been erased.
Victor's pupils shrank. Even though he had been watching from close by, he still could not see how the Surfer had done it.
Too fast.
After finishing his task, the Silver Surfer paid Victor no attention and turned to leave.
But Victor had come here intending to cooperate with him. There was no way he would let him walk away just like that.
"Wait!"
Victor shouted loudly, forcing the Surfer to stop.
The Silver Surfer looked at him calmly. There was no killing intent in his eyes, but there was no warmth either.
To him, everything he did was simply part of his duty to find food for Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds.
If this planet proved suitable, then soon no life would remain here.
And for life that was about to disappear, he naturally felt no concern.
Still, a trace of curiosity made him drift closer.
This human seemed… strange.
He resembled the intelligent lifeforms of this planet, yet he was clearly different in some way. That alone sparked the Surfer's interest.
Victor, of course, had no idea that in the Silver Surfer's mind he was little more than a curiosity, like an exhibit in a zoo.
"My name is Victor. Victor Von Doom. I don't know who you are, but I believe we have a basis for cooperation…"
Victor smiled faintly and began explaining his intentions, outlining how the two of them could work together.
But as he spoke, he noticed something troubling.
The Silver Surfer kept staring at him with the exact same expression the entire time.
Unchanging.
As if watching a monkey perform tricks.
"You haven't told me your name."
Victor's face darkened. He stopped mid-sentence and instead asked about the Surfer's identity.
But the Silver Surfer gave no answer.
At that moment, Victor understood the situation.
"Are you joking with me?"
His voice rose sharply.
The Surfer's response was simple. He turned away.
The human seemed angry. It was not an expression that interested him, so he prepared to leave.
But when Victor saw the Surfer turning his back, fury exploded inside him.
He had approached this being with goodwill, offering cooperation, yet the Surfer had not taken him seriously at all.
Who did he think he was?
Victor Von Doom was not someone who could be ignored.
Sparks burst from Victor's body as arcs of electricity erupted outward, slamming toward the Silver Surfer without hesitation.
The Surfer stopped and turned back to look at him.
His expression remained calm.
Then the board beneath his feet moved.
In the next instant, the Silver Surfer shot toward Victor.
Victor showed no fear. Even greater currents surged from his body, roaring forward like a thunder dragon made of lightning.
But the Surfer simply tilted the silver board beneath his feet.
In an instant, the massive torrent of electricity was swallowed entirely by the board.
Victor's face changed in shock.
He had never imagined the Silver Surfer possessed such an ability.
Still, he felt no fear.
After killing Reed Richards, he had not wasted his time.
Since he had already stepped into darkness, he had long accepted what that meant. Over this period he had undergone a complete transformation.
So what if the Surfer could absorb energy?
Electricity was not his only weapon.
Victor strode forward without hesitation, electricity surging around him. The raging lightning made him look like a god standing within a storm.
He had prepared for this day for a long time.
The power stored in his body had nearly reached its limit.
"Ha!"
Victor roared. Lightning flashed across the sky as he raised his fist.
His power was control over electricity, but his metallic body also granted him terrifying physical strength.
With this punch, he would show the Surfer what true power looked like.
Cooperation required strength as its foundation.
If the Surfer looked down on him, then Victor would make him witness his power firsthand.
With overwhelming energy and force gathered into his strike, Victor sneered confidently.
No one could stop this punch.
But in the next second, the Silver Surfer did not retreat. Instead, he surged forward.
The raging electricity was swallowed by the silver board beneath his feet. Moving with incredible agility, the Surfer appeared directly in front of Victor.
Before Victor's fist could land, the Surfer's hand had already rested lightly on his head.
There was no visible force.
Yet the lightning vanished instantly.
Victor Von Doom froze as if struck by an invisible spell. His body refused to move.
Not only that, but he felt as if his bodily functions had completely stopped. Even breathing became impossible.
The Silver Surfer ignored Victor's increasingly pale face and turned away, flying off without another glance.
Several seconds passed before Victor suddenly doubled over, gripping his knees as he gasped desperately for air.
Just a few seconds more.
If the Surfer had kept his hold any longer, Victor might have died.
"Damn it!"
Victor's eyes burned with fury.
The Silver Surfer had ignored him.
Even though he clearly had the power to kill him instantly, the Surfer had not bothered. From beginning to end, his gaze had treated Victor like nothing more than an insect.
At that moment, Victor almost wished the Surfer had simply killed him.
At least then it would mean the Surfer saw him as a threat.
Looking at the empty sky where the Surfer had vanished, Victor's eyes flickered.
Then he turned and left.
This was not over.
Elsewhere.
"The Silver Surfer has attacked another location. He's getting closer and closer to New York."
Inside a conference room, another meeting was underway to discuss the situation.
"Nolan was right," someone said grimly. "We don't have the ability to stop his attacks across the western region. He's simply too fast. We can't deploy forces quickly enough."
Nolan remained silent as the others debated.
After a long while, he finally spoke.
"Everyone, instead of arguing here, we should start preparing for battle. If our calculations are correct, we have about thirteen hours before the Silver Surfer attacks."
He turned toward the Army General.
"General, are the ground forces ready?"
The general's face was stern.
"Of course. Every soldier is on standby. This time we've gathered more than thirty Titan mechs. No matter what tricks that guy has, if he enters the ambush zone, he's finished."
"That's good to hear."
Even so, Nolan's expression carried a hint of unease.
The Silver Surfer was far more troublesome than he had imagined.
Did Galactus really still not know Earth's location?
Honestly, Nolan no longer believed that was likely.
Soon afterward, Nolan and the others headed to the battlefield.
Several surrounding city blocks had already been evacuated.
Everyone remaining in the area was either a superhero or a soldier.
To avoid alerting the Surfer, they had disguised their preparations carefully so he would not suspect an ambush.
Finally, a silver figure appeared in the distance, flying rapidly toward them.
Just as Nolan had predicted, the Silver Surfer flew straight into the center of the encirclement.
"He's here," said Tony Stark, standing beside Nolan.
"Everyone, get ready. Hopefully this time we can end this problem for good."
The Silver Surfer sensed nothing unusual.
After reaching his target location, he immediately activated his power.
The ground below began to vanish.
But at that exact moment, Nolan shouted:
"Now!"
This was their best opportunity.
The instant Nolan gave the order, everyone moved.
Hidden superheroes rushed out from their positions.
Farther away, the roar of machinery filled the air. Countless APU exoskeleton units charged forward while Titan mechs lifted into the sky.
As the military closed in, Johnny Storm was the first to reach the Silver Surfer.
Their previous fight had left him utterly frustrated.
Now that he was prepared, he unleashed all his anger.
Flames roared toward the Surfer as Johnny charged through the fire and appeared right in front of him.
The Surfer's expression remained unchanged.
Just like last time, he reached out to grab Johnny.
Although Johnny tried to dodge, the Surfer still brushed his shoulder.
But Johnny did not panic.
Instead, he burst out laughing.
"You think that trick still works?"
The Silver Surfer could force the cells of anyone he touched into uncontrollable activity.
But this time Nolan had prepared a stabilizing device beforehand.
Seeing Johnny still standing, the Surfer wasted no time. He threw a punch.
Johnny's flames did nothing to slow him down.
But that single punch was more than Johnny could handle.
He was blasted backward instantly.
"So strong!" Nolan murmured in surprise.
But when he thought about it, it made sense.
The Silver Surfer's body was composed of one of the hardest substances in the universe. With a body like that, it would be strange if he were weak in close combat.
Tony Stark followed right behind.
His Iron Legion surged toward the Surfer at incredible speed.
But moments later, the sky exploded with bursts of fire.
Tony was stunned.
Where did this monster come from?
How could he possibly be this powerful?
His entire Iron Legion posed no real threat to the Surfer.
As for the others, their usefulness against such a fast opponent was limited.
The Hulk and Ben Grimm, the Thing, possessed tremendous strength, but they could not fly. All they could do was watch helplessly from the ground.
"Fall back!"
Suddenly a voice sounded through everyone's earpieces.
The heroes fighting the Surfer reacted instantly and retreated without hesitation.
Only one armor unit, controlled by J.A.R.V.I.S., advanced instead.
The Surfer wasn't stupid. If everyone ran, he would escape as well.
Someone had to hold him in place.
The next moment, every APU exoskeleton unit opened fire.
A terrifying storm of bullets poured toward the center of the battlefield, forming a rain of metal that completely engulfed the Silver Surfer.
But it was useless.
The Surfer did not even bother dodging. The bullets struck his body without leaving a mark.
Fortunately, that had never been their real weapon.
Immediately afterward, the Titan mechs unleashed their bombardment.
Missiles and psionic weapons rained down on the Surfer.
The devastating firepower turned the battlefield's center into a dazzling storm of explosions, like nuclear blasts blooming in the air.
"He should be dead… right?" Johnny said as he flew back beside Nolan, still shaken.
Earlier he had thought that once he became immune to the Surfer's cellular attack, he would finally be able to beat him.
Reality proved otherwise.
He had been knocked away in seconds.
And that terrifying rain of bullets earlier…
If he had been caught in it, he would have been torn apart instantly.
"No," Nolan said calmly.
The Silver Surfer was not that weak. He was certain of it.
Sure enough, as the first wave of attacks began to fade, the Surfer appeared again.
The silver board beneath his feet had absorbed most of the attacks.
Many missiles had been swallowed before they could even detonate.
And the remaining explosions simply were not enough to harm him.
"He's still alive!" Johnny shouted.
Nolan's face remained calm.
Against a being of this level, Titan weaponry was simply not enough.
Even Thor, before fully awakening his power, had survived Titan bombardment for quite some time.
The Silver Surfer, empowered by Galactus, might already be stronger than the awakened Thor.
Titan weapons were no longer effective.
The second wave of attacks began immediately.
At the same time, Nolan moved.
A golden, spark-filled portal opened.
Nolan reached into Unit-01, and a surge of power rushed through him.
Activating his Absolute Defense Field, he leapt forward and charged straight toward the Silver Surfer.
His target was simple.
The board.
The Surfer himself was incredibly powerful.
But if Nolan remembered correctly, the source of his power was the board beneath his feet.
It was also the channel through which the Surfer communicated with Galactus.
If they could seize the board, the battle would already be half won.
With it, Nolan might even discover Galactus's weakness.
That had been his goal from the very beginning.
He moved at incredible speed.
Amid the bombardment, the Surfer had no time to react.
But no one noticed that someone else was moving behind Nolan, cautiously approaching the Surfer as well.
Nolan controlled Unit-01's arm and swung it down with tremendous force.
The unexpected blow smashed the Silver Surfer off his board.
Seeing this, Nolan smiled.
And at that very moment…
A figure flashed forward and landed directly on the board.
…