Alex's feet left the ground as he hovered in midair, looking down at soldier Levin among the scattered rocks.
He had already left the wheelchair. He lay on the ground, his body writhing.
His flesh swelled, crackling sounds coming from inside his body, as if his bones were growing too. Sometimes they grew too fast, bulging up against the skin before being quickly covered again by rapidly growing flesh.
The clothes on Levin's body tore apart. Even his pants burst open. Clearly, his pants weren't as durable as the Hulk's. But now tufts of animal fur were sprouting across Levin's body, covering him so he didn't have to stand there completely bare.
Levin kept letting out animal-like roars. At this moment, his head felt like it was splitting apart, his entire body burning hot.
He had no idea he had already stood up. In his vision, he saw a thick, clawed bear paw press down on a rock in front of him, cracking it open with force.
Levin staggered backward. Suddenly, he bumped into something. He spun around sharply. His other hand, tipped with long claws, raked across an old tree.
In an instant, bark flew everywhere. The tree was gouged with several deep marks, then it groaned, tilted, and crashed to the ground.
Thump! Thump!
Levin heard the sound of wings beating. Then he saw his feet leave the ground. One of his legs was a thick bear leg, the other a backward-jointed wolf leg. Then the fur on his legs fell away, turning into a pair of eagle legs.
If there had been a mirror at this moment, Levin would have seen that he had become a monster, bearing the traits of a bear, a wolf, and an eagle all at once.
He shouted again. It was as if he had found the trick, or as if these abilities were his instinct, like breathing was to life itself. Naturally, he brought himself under control, retracting the genes of the three animals and revealing the genes that originally belonged to a human.
That turned Levin back into his original form.
Tall, strong, like one of Michelangelo's sculpted physiques.
Well, completely naked, which wasn't exactly appropriate.
"How do you feel?", Alex looked at the naked man among the rocks and asked.
Levin looked at his own hands and said with delight, "I've never felt better, sir."
"My God, how did you do it?"
"Right now I feel like my whole body is filled with strength. My senses have become incredibly sharp. I can distinguish countless different scents, I can hear sounds from miles away, it feels like I have endless strength."
Alex laughed, "Congratulations. You're already a superhuman."
"Your abilities are best suited for the wild. Stay out here for now and get used to your new talents. I'll come find you again after a while."
Levin nodded, "Yes, sir."
Alex turned around and shot off like a meteor at high speed.
On the hilltop, Levin looked at the endless stretch of mountains and forest below and said excitedly, "Let's see what I can do. First, werewolf form!"
He lowered his body slightly. Immediately, thick, coarse gray fur sprouted all over him. His body twisted and reshaped, and blade-like claws grew out one after another.
In the blink of an eye, Levin turned into the legendary werewolf. He let out a howl, leapt off the hilltop, and bounded toward the forest below, disappearing quickly.
———
"We've arrived, Mr. Arnold."
The sudden voice pulled Arnold out of his dream. The loud roar of helicopter blades filled his ears.
Through the headset, the bodyguard's voice sounded.
"Sir, the outdoor temperature is minus forty degrees. Please put on your cold-weather gear. We're about to disembark."
Arnold nodded. With the help of his bodyguard, he put on thick thermal clothing and an oxygen mask. Once he was ready, the bodyguard opened the cabin door.
Instantly, a world of ice and snow filled Arnold's vision. He quickly put on sunglasses to avoid snow blindness.
Bending low as he stepped out of the helicopter, he was swiftly escorted by his bodyguards into a camp, then into a room equipped with air conditioning.
Only after entering the room did Arnold remove his oxygen mask and take off his sunglasses, "How's the situation?"
A researcher stood up, "Since last week, the 'Ark' has been emitting signals at a specific frequency. These signals are extremely strong. We can confirm that they have not only been transmitted into space, but are being sent rapidly into the distance."
"Sent where?", Arnold asked.
The researcher replied, "The destination is still unknown, but yesterday, computer analysis showed that the signal passed Mars."
"Passed Mars, and you still can't determine the destination?"
"My God, you take my enormous budget every year, and you can't even predict the endpoint?", Arnold spread his hands.
A voice spoke up, "Sir, the universe is vast and boundless. We humans are nothing more than tiny specks of dust within it."
Arnold turned around and saw a beautiful and striking figure.
He shrugged, "Dr. Audrey, I'm not a scholar, nor an expert."
"I'm just a businessman."
"A businessman invests to see returns. So I believe that with the massive manpower and resources I put in every year, I should at least be able to get the destination coordinates of that signal."
At that moment, the computer sounded an alarm.
Arnold turned and shouted, "What now?"
The young blonde, green-eyed doctor walked past him to the computer. After some operations, she said, "Zero is showing signs of waking up. It's expelling carbon dioxide while absorbing oxygen."
"The life indicators inside it are rising. It… is waking up?"
Arnold froze, then quickly put on his oxygen mask again, "Take me to see it."
Audrey looked at him, "That's not a wise choice, sir."
"We haven't ruled out Zero's aggressiveness."
Arnold roared, "I said, take me to see it!"
"You have no idea how bad my situation is right now. The Federation, and that caped bastard, they're all riding over me now."
"I need 'Zero' to turn things around!"
Audrey looked at him, then nodded and had a researcher lead Arnold away.
They walked out of the camp, passed through multiple security checkpoints, and went deep inside some kind of "structure."
The so-called "structure" was actually the "Ark" Arnold had mentioned earlier, a spacecraft discovered by Olga Company, frozen beneath the polar ice.
From the isotopes of certain materials on the spacecraft, it could be determined that it had existed for over 5,000 years.
Olga Company's powered armor technology came from this spacecraft, from "Zero" aboard it.
"Just wait, you bastards in New York."
"This so-called 'Zero' isn't some kind of armor technology at all, but the first extraterrestrial lifeform we've ever discovered."
"It represents the pinnacle of biotechnology. If we can fully analyze it and apply that technology to our powered armor, then Homelander will be nothing!"
Arnold ground his teeth and clenched his fists.
At that moment, they arrived at a room. The room had isolation measures in place, and the surrounding armored walls, capable of defending against bunker-busting missiles, gave a sense of security.
At least, standing here, Arnold didn't feel like anything dangerous could happen.
At this moment, in front of him was a window. Looking through it, Arnold saw something like a cockpit.
In the seats inside the cockpit were corpses wearing heavy armor. Those bodies were larger than humans and had already turned into skeletons.
At that moment, the armor on one of the skeletons began to faintly glow.
Suddenly, an eyeball flipped open on the back of the armor. It immediately looked at Arnold, and their gazes locked.
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