Looking at the expressionless white-haired woman across from her, Vera, now green-skinned and much more heavily built, narrowed her eyes.
"A force field?"
"Or some kind of force-control technique?"
"If it's the latter, that's pretty rare."
"I thought everyone in this world liked charging around head-on. In fact, among the people I've met, very few put any effort into technique."
"Thinking about it, that makes sense. When you have powerful strength backing you up, what's the point of technique?"
"It's like a five-year-old child. No matter how good their fighting skills are, there's still too much of a gap in physical ability between them and an adult. Could they really beat an adult with technique alone?"
The white-haired woman, who had rarely spoken, slightly opened her mouth this time, "Then you'll get to see what fighting techniques can do when they're in the hands of an adult."
Vera shrugged, "So I was right. You're good at fighting techniques?"
"I actually don't mind."
"On the contrary, I'm happy."
"Because after this is over, I'll become even stronger."
The white-haired woman beckoned with her hand, "Then what are you waiting for?"
"Coming right now."
Vera started walking toward her.
With each step, Vera took a long breath.
Her full chest rose high, then slowly fell.
She felt every cell in her body burning. The Hulk gene made it seem as though a gamma-ray storm was raging inside her body. The boiling power was like red-hot iron, igniting every cell and every strand of awareness.
Then it turned into overwhelming fighting spirit.
Vera suddenly stepped forward.
The Stars and Stripes cape behind her was pulled straight. Explosive power surged through every blood vessel in her body.
The next second, Vera suddenly shot forward at top speed and charged toward the white-haired woman.
She was moving so fast that friction with the air created a long trail of flame. In an instant, she swept past the woman.
A fist became a blurred afterimage, smashing toward her opponent's waist at a speed that broke the sound barrier.
If an ordinary person were hit by that punch, their body would probably explode into dust.
However, the white-haired woman's expression remained unchanged. She reached out a hand and directly, accurately, and swiftly caught Vera's fist.
She succeeded.
But this was a strike powered by Hulk genes plus Homelander's strength.
Even if the two did not multiply each other, the combined force was still terrifying.
Immediately, the white-haired woman's eyes suddenly widened. Every strand of her white hair stood upright, and then her body flew back with tremendous force.
She crashed into the metal monument holding the two Mother Boxes. The Mother Boxes shone brightly, forming a soft force field that supported her.
At the same time, it neutralized the momentum behind Vera's punch.
Only then did the white-haired woman land on the ground, but the cape behind her suddenly burst apart, and the bracers on her arms groaned as they warped.
She glanced at her wrist, then looked at Vera and let out a long breath.
"Terrifying. Can a creature from this primitive planet really possess such power?"
"Even Kryptonians aren't much more than this, are they?"
"In terms of pure strength, I lost."
She admitted it openly and directly.
Vera was not happy at all.
Because there was no fear in the woman's eyes. In other words, even after witnessing her power, this woman was still not afraid.
A wild smile appeared on Vera's green face.
"Then let me see how capable Apokolips' elite really are."
She lowered her center of gravity slightly and gently twisted her toes against the ground. The surface immediately shattered with crackling sounds, forming a shallow crater dozens of meters wide.
However, before she could attack.
The battle staff in the white-haired woman's hand erupted with brilliant light. The moment it appeared, it filled the entire space.
Then, within that radiance, Vera saw the woman rush out. The battle staff, already raised above her head, came straight down.
She moved so fast that in that instant, every sound was left behind the light emitted by the staff.
"So fast."
Vera's pupils widened slightly. Realizing she could not dodge, she decisively crossed her arms, leaned her body back, moved her left leg behind her, and pressed her toes into the ground, taking an extremely stable stance to withstand the strike.
Vera also had some understanding of technique.
BOOM!
The battle staff came down with power that seemed capable of splitting heaven and earth, landing between Vera's crossed arms.
The light on the staff concentrated into almost a single point before igniting and blasting out like a rocket engine.
It poured directly into Vera's body, washing over her.
Vera let out a muffled grunt. Her breathing became strained as she felt as though a pile driver had slammed into her.
That extremely concentrated force was nearly impossible to redirect, and it was focused entirely between her arms.
If she had not used She-Hulk Gene Enhancement, relying only on her previous strength, her stance might have been broken by that single blow.
But now, Vera lowered her center of gravity, her feet pressing dense cracks into the ground. Her shoulders sank slightly, absorbing most of the force.
She shouted and raised both arms, forcing up the opponent's staff. Then she kicked out fiercely, only for the white-haired woman to block it with her metal staff as she pulled it back.
The kick struck the metal staff, creating a ring of white shockwaves. The nuclear power plant shook violently and finally collapsed after the repeated head-on clashes between the two.
Rumble!
Even after being modified and reinforced by the Mother Boxes, the nuclear power plant still could not withstand the violent power of Vera and the white-haired woman.
As it fell apart, Steppenwolf stood before the metal monument, protecting the Mother Boxes.
After being kicked away by Vera, the white-haired woman and her battle staff were sent flying.
Yet while still in midair, her body suddenly stopped.
This scene completely defied common physics, but it did not surprise Vera much.
It would have been strange if someone who served at Darkseid's side had no special abilities.
Vera had no intention of stopping just because the nuclear power plant had collapsed. She started running, every cell in her body burning wildly.
The power brought by the She-Hulk gene was being deeply drawn out and stimulated, then layered on top of Homelander's own strength.
At this moment, Vera's pure strength had already far surpassed that of She-Hulk in the Marvel Universe.
Running, charging, advancing without stopping.
A serious expression also appeared on the white-haired woman's face.
Against a Vera who was going all out, she could no longer maintain her indifferent expression.
She drove her metal staff into the ground. With that thrust, most of the staff disappeared beneath the surface.
As the white-haired woman flicked the staff upward, the earth exploded apart. Tens of millions of tiny fragments shot toward Vera like a storm, each moving faster than bullets.
The fragments ignited as they tore through the air. Looking closely, one could see that each was wrapped in a faint layer of light.
All of them were covered in energy released by the white-haired woman. In a single instant, she wrapped thousands, even tens of thousands, of tiny fragments with energy.
This was incredibly precise control over energy.