"Boom!"
Su Ming kicked in the door he thought was the exit, but it wasn't an elevator; it was more like a vault.
From a human perspective, this position on the wall seems reasonable as a transportation line, but the Inhumans clearly didn't think so.
Actually, when he touched the door, Su Ming realized something was wrong. This not-so-large door was half a meter thick, made of an unknown, special semi-transparent material that somewhat resembled plastic.
It's very lightweight but incredibly sturdy. Even with his strength, he couldn't kick the door open; he only managed to deform it, revealing a slit through which the inside could be seen.
Strangulation immediately conveyed a message; it 'smelled' the scent of living people.
It's quite easy to understand; the so-called scent of living people is the air exhaled through the lungs, carrying that internal body feeling—slightly moist yet somewhat unfamiliar.
Su Ming immediately drew his weapon, cut a piece from the door, put it in his bag, and then squeezed through the hole.
This place looked like an office, fairly spacious but very messy. It was obvious that it had been ransacked, and then, due to loss of energy, the people inside were trapped.
The interesting part was here. Strangulation detected the scent of others, but Su Ming and Hel saw nothing.
Not because it was pitch black all around, but because the living person was an Invisible Woman.
"Strangulation, find them."
A thought flashed through Su Ming's mind, and several tendrils emerged from his body, whipping through the air like a whip, then suddenly reaching out behind the two and tightly binding something that looked like air.
Turns out, after Su Ming and Hel entered the room, the invisible person tried to sneak out through their entrance but was caught by the alien creature.
The light twisted as if the space was constantly shattering, and due to external interference, her mimicry was disrupted; she could no longer maintain the chameleon-like ability.
Strangulation tightly wrapped around her neck, hoisting her up like a Barbie doll. Her legs kept kicking while her hands desperately clutched a baby.
There's no need to kill her; she was still nursing the child. Su Ming had Strangulation release her; the woman posed no threat.
Hel stood by the entrance on her own accord, blocking the hole with her body, while casually examining her nails and striking various bored poses.
Su Ming crouched down, revealing his face.
"Can you understand me?"
The woman tugged at her clothes, shrinking against the wall, while the baby in her arms kept its eyes closed, suckling greedily.
Her expression was extremely frightened, sweat glued her hair to her face, her clothes bore signs of being scorched, and she didn't reply to Su Ming's inquiry.
Su Ming put away his weapon and asked several times, switching between English, French, and Russian, but the woman kept curling up, clearly not understanding him, just trembling and sobbing quietly.
"Tsk, language barrier." Su Ming pinched his brow; should he use sign language?
Hel yawned while staring at the dark ceiling: "Try Atlantis or Ancient Norwegian. If that doesn't work, kill her, and I'll read her memory."
"It's already hard enough surviving; dying by my hand doesn't mean much," Su Ming smiled, rejecting Hel's proposal. But maybe Ancient Norwegian was worth a try, after all, Asgard has deep roots, and perhaps Odin interacted with the Inhumans before?
"I...can a little," the woman finally responded, though her tone was bizarre, and her articulation was fragmented, at least Su Ming and Hel could communicate with her.
"Relax, we won't harm you or your child. Could you tell us what exactly happened?"
"I...am called Tanis." She pointed to herself with her finger, then touched the child's face: "I'm...the person in charge here. They...suddenly came in, killing others, taking the child, I don't understand."
"Who are they?" Su Ming pressed the question.
"Council guards." Tanis covered her face, seemingly unable to accept this reality.
In a place similar to Utopia, they lacked military strength, and the so-called council guards were more like a small security team.
But they were more adept with superpowers and trained professionally, good enough to deal with the others.
It seems it's not an uprising of the lower caste people; instead, it looks like there's infighting within the council.
"What's the total population of Atlan now? How many in the guard?"
"Atlan...2 million, guard, 4000 people," the woman said, struggling to articulate the numbers.
Hel immediately let out a scoff—4000 people? Not even enough as a snack. Even if they're all Superpower Users, that number is still too small.
If Atlan weren't floating in the sky, she'd awaken her army and overrun it, burying the entire city with her undead, scraping every bit of dust from their bones.
But Su Ming knew Utopia functioned like this, relying on everyone's moral standards to regulate behavior, working together to build a society.
Yet, ironically, it pairs with the most unjust caste system—status determined at birth, which is truly ironic.
And now, someone plans to start a revolution from above.
Controlling all the children is the best trick of a terrorist organization. Whether it's brainwashing them for training or using them as bargaining chips in negotiations, they hold great value concerning the future of the entire species.
Su Ming has a backup plan for himself. If one day, the Inhumans become his enemies, he would target the children of Atlan.
By abducting the children and all women of childbearing age through magic means, even if the remaining people are tough, they'd have to comply and agree to all conditions when facing such a situation.
So now, he feels a sense of displeasure, like his creativity has been plagiarized, as these guards' plans are quite similar to his, only more bloody.
As expected, insiders dealing with insiders can be the harshest, the ancients were not wrong.
With 4000 Inhumans, those who can become warriors naturally have strong abilities, but if their hearts are truly hardened, through urban guerrilla warfare, Su Ming also has a way to annihilate them all.
However, Su Ming first needs to figure out which side his enemies are on, after all, the one who killed Dr. Xavier was an Inhuman disguised as an SSR Colonel.
Su Ming's mission is not only to reclaim the Obelisk but also to catch the murderer back to gain favor with Little Charles. At the same time, he needs to see who is instigating conflicts between the Inhumans and the Blood Race, trying to play a world-destroying game.
In this technologically extreme and unfamiliar environment, actions should not be rushed, and contact with the Terrigen Crystal Cloud should be avoided as much as possible.
"Is this your child?" Su Ming reached out a finger to touch the child's little hand, while Tanis immediately turned around, using her shoulder to face him, not wanting him to touch the child.
"Yes, I... I stole him back."
Su Ming nodded silently. Her ability is somewhat different from that of Invisible Woman Susan, who, in the early days, had to remove all her clothes to become invisible until Mr. Fantastic invented a new uniform to avoid embarrassment.
And this woman in front of him seems more like she hides by changing the color of her surrounding environment through optical color transformation.
"No need to be nervous, it's very safe here now. The others won't return to the places they've attacked." Su Ming comforted warmly, after all, the purpose of the guard's attack here has been achieved, and there's no need to come back.
Even if someone comes, it should be the opponent of the previous group. Now Su Ming needs a map of Atlan. Such a simple answer should be available from any computer-like storage device.
The woman thought for a moment after hearing his words, and visibly calmed down a lot. Her clothing looked very luxurious, with golden decorations on the corners and collar, and she is naturally not an ordinary person, capable of handling the country's critical infant nursery.
Her displayed ability is not strong, or rather not suitable for combat. Maybe the Inhumans evaluate superpower levels not based on combat ability but have their set standards.
However, as far as Su Ming is concerned, the invisibility ability is quite suitable for espionage work. In the comics, Nick Fury is often hiding in the dark, drooling over Susan, making Reed anxious every day.
And the name Tanis seems somewhat familiar to Su Ming...
While he was pondering, Hel suddenly turned around and threw a Spiral Spike towards the door, instantly blowing up the head of an armored person, pinning them to another wall nearly a hundred meters away.
It was as if everyone only heard a gust of wind, and then that ghostly figure disappeared on the spot.
The spike was deeply embedded in the wall, and Hel looked at Su Ming with a faint smile.
"They are back."
As the words fell, various energy beams or elemental attacks surged, with all sorts of colors lighting up outside the room, heading towards the small room.
Hel, as if deflecting arrows, used the Black Stone Spiral to deflect them all.
"You handle them, I need to deepen my understanding with Tanis." Su Ming drew out a golden dagger and grabbed the woman's neck, the mask rising to cover his face.
Hel shrugged and slid through the hole in the door, wielding an invisible Treasure Sword as she silently charged towards the opposite side.
Su Ming took a deep breath, sliding the dagger lightly down Tanis's skin, finally resting it on the child's neck.
"No, please, don't."
Tanis struggled desperately, but Su Ming's strength was beyond her resistance.
"The rebels took away all the children during their retreat, but after about ten minutes, they suddenly returned. Can you tell me why?" Su Ming said word by word.
"No, I don't know!" Tanis shook her head continuously.
"Then let me tell you." Su Ming pressed the Godslayer harder against the infant's neck. The child curiously reached out to touch it, but was shocked by the electric current on the blade, crying immediately: "Because they didn't take away their most desired target, which is your child!"
"I..."
"Let me guess, he has already encountered the Terrigen Crystal, awakened the highest level of superpower, and is the next supreme Speaker."
Everything in the darkness became very quiet, even the sounds outside seemed distant, leaving only a strand of crimson in Tanis's eyes.
She saw destruction and death, she saw fear itself.
Why? Why would this stranger know? Have the Kree People returned?
And Su Ming no longer needed her response, her stunned reaction said it all.
His hypothesis was confirmed, so there was no need to act anymore. Those dozens of Inhumans outside were no match for Hel; Su Ming merely used Tanis's fear to verify the facts.
He finally remembered who she was.