In the chaos that followed the collapse of the financial order, no nation was spared. The United States was merely the most visible example, the perfect symbol of how quickly civilization could unravel when its foundation disappeared.
Other countries actually suffered even worse.
Several nations in Latin America and parts of Africa descended directly into armed conflict. Without stable institutions or strong centralized control, their societies fractured almost immediately. Militias formed overnight, rival groups seized territory, and full-scale warfare erupted in places that had once barely held together even under normal circumstances.
Compared to them, the losses in Europe and Eastern Europe were relatively smaller.
One nation in particular surprised Ethan.
That country managed to respond with remarkable efficiency. Government agencies quickly unified command structures, emergency measures were issued across every sector, and national resources were mobilized at extraordinary speed.
Through rapid coordination and decisive authority, the country managed to ride through the global financial tsunami with far less damage than most of the world.
Even Ethan couldn't help feeling a little surprised.
He had to admit that the country possessed an extraordinary level of resilience.
Still, his focus had never been on those nations.
His real target had always been the United States.
For decades, it had portrayed itself as the "beacon" of modern civilization. If that beacon were extinguished, the symbolic impact alone would shake the entire structure of human society.
In that regard, the United States did not disappoint him.
During peacetime, the country's powerful government and military created the illusion of absolute stability. But once the underlying order collapsed, those same institutions proved far less capable of maintaining control.
From the moment the unrest began, restoring order was never going to be simple.
A society built on personal freedom had its advantages, but in times of collapse that same freedom became a double-edged sword.
When citizens no longer trusted their government, rebellion came naturally.
Over the following weeks, more than a dozen American states descended into deeper chaos. Organized rebel groups began forming across the country, openly confronting the military forces sent to restore order.
What followed was effectively a series of localized wars.
The conflict dragged on for more than half a month.
Eventually, thanks to the overwhelming authority of the federal government and the superiority of its military resources, the United States finally managed to suppress the worst of the unrest.
But the price was heavy.
By that point, the entire world had developed a new understanding of Ethan Cole's terrifying influence.
Almost every country with a functioning government placed his name at the very top of their most dangerous threat lists.
In official documents, he was now labeled the number one global terrorist.
Of course, everyone also understood something else.
Stopping Ethan was not going to be easy.
Five days after the unrest was finally brought under control, the world witnessed another shocking event.
A low-yield nuclear weapon detonated above Manhattan.
In an instant, the sky seemed to ignite.
The explosion blossomed like a miniature sun suspended in the air. Blinding light erupted outward, overwhelming the sky with endless heat and radiation.
For a brief moment, the brilliant explosion even outshone the real sun.
Ethan stood calmly on the terrace of the skyscraper.
He looked up at the explosion unfolding above him.
The detonation point was less than a hundred meters away.
He was standing almost directly beneath the center of the blast.
Temperatures approaching tens of millions of degrees erupted outward in every direction, instantly erasing nearly everything caught within the explosion.
It was a force comparable to the raw destructive power of nature itself.
Even Ethan felt a faint tremor in his chest.
The energy level of a nuclear explosion was extraordinarily high—far beyond most forms of attack he had ever encountered.
If he were an ordinary human, he would have been vaporized in an instant.
His existence would have been erased completely.
But Ethan was no ordinary human.
He wielded the Phoenix Force.
He also possessed both the Space Stone and the Time Stone.
At the moment the nuclear weapon detonated, the Phoenix Force erupted instinctively from his body.
Brilliant crimson flames surrounded him, expanding outward in an instant to envelop the entire skyscraper.
The reaction was almost subconscious.
No thought was required.
It happened automatically.
When the shockwave of the nuclear blast reached him, Ethan could clearly see the terrifying effects it had on reality itself.
Space seemed to twist under the pressure.
Blinding rays of energy converged together, forming violent distortions that looked capable of tearing his body apart at any moment.
The overwhelming radiation and heat sought to vaporize him completely.
For a brief moment, even the Phoenix Force seemed to retreat.
Against such vast energy, its defensive power appeared insufficient.
After all, the Phoenix Force was a force of destruction.
It was not designed primarily for defense.
But that moment lasted only an instant.
As soon as Ethan reacted consciously, the Phoenix Force surged outward from his body like a tidal wave.
It fought back against the nuclear explosion from every direction.
Even so, Ethan could clearly see the traces of damage being inflicted on the Phoenix energy. When confronting the raw force of a nuclear blast, the Phoenix Force struggled to fully contain it.
But Ethan was no ordinary being.
Even if the nuclear explosion could not be controlled by anyone, that didn't mean he was powerless against it.
The Phoenix Force moved incredibly fast.
And its power was more than enough to keep him alive inside the blast.
"So even with my current abilities… completely ignoring a nuclear explosion is still a bit difficult."
Ethan thought about this calmly.
Then a smile slowly appeared on his face.
"You think this is enough to kill me?"
His eyes flashed with excitement.
"Then it's time to show you what I'm really capable of."
Since advancing the Phoenix Force to the third level, Ethan had never unleashed his full strength.
Even he didn't know exactly how powerful he had become.
This was the perfect opportunity to test it.
Ethan exhaled sharply.
His chest contracted deeply.
Then he inhaled.
Violently.
The air around him began to spin like a hurricane. Powerful winds rushed toward him from every direction.
Even the blazing nuclear explosion in the sky seemed to respond to an invisible force.
The massive sphere of energy began stretching downward.
The portion closest to Ethan narrowed rapidly, forming a gigantic funnel whose lower end pointed directly toward his mouth.
When the Phoenix Force had only been at the second level, Ethan had already possessed the ability to devour energy.
At first it had been passive absorption of free energy in the environment.
Later, he gained the ability to actively choose which energy to consume.
In theory, a sufficiently powerful Phoenix host could even devour the energy of an entire star.
Ethan wasn't capable of swallowing the sun yet.
But the energy of a nuclear explosion?
That was something he was eager to try.
The energy of the blast roared wildly.
It had no natural structure or restraint—only pure destructive force.
As Ethan swallowed that energy, his eyebrows suddenly tightened.
It was hot.
That was his first and most immediate sensation.
It felt like he had just filled his mouth with boiling liquid metal.
A sharp pain spread through him.
Of course, the act of swallowing with his mouth was only symbolic.
In reality, every cell of his body was capable of absorbing energy.
But visually, the act of breathing in the explosion made the process far more dramatic.
Above him, the nuclear explosion began to distort.
The funnel-shaped vortex grew longer and longer as the blazing mass of energy stretched downward like molten strands of glowing noodles.
A violent hurricane formed around the skyscraper.
Everything nearby was swept into the raging winds, howling through the air as the storm intensified.
.....
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