Everything happened too fast, like a tornado.
Poor Reynolds was completely bewildered. The things he had experienced in these short few hours were too stimulating.
He only saw Duval talking to two strangers one after the other, and then their heads exploded. Immediately after, Duval forced a strange liquid down his throat.
Good heavens, Reynolds had just adjusted to the Xenomorph and his new self, his mind filled with trepidation and ecstasy. He had already begun to fantasize about becoming a superhero, the center of attention.
Maybe like Tony Stark, wherever he flew, he would elicit cheers from countless people, all taking out their phones to take pictures? Oh, he didn't seem to be able to fly, but that didn't matter. Reynolds couldn't wait to escape his past life of being ignored and disliked, and become a respected powerhouse.
As for pledging allegiance to Duval? Well, that was a sincere statement. Reynolds was indeed grateful and revered that a figure like Duval would notice him, and was willing to use extraordinary means to pull him out of the mire, bestowing him with special powers.
But...
Reynolds didn't expect the moment he had to pledge allegiance would come so quickly!!
It even skipped the allegiance part entirely, and in Duval's mouth, it had become loyalty! "It's over, I'm done for. Seeing their serious attitude, this thing is very terrifying, I'm going to die..." Reynolds only had this thought in his head, and his face showed despair, with two lines of clear tears flowing from the corners of his eyes.
"Don't add so many meaningless mental activities to yourself, you won't necessarily die."
Duval made sure all the Serum was drunk by Reynolds before letting go, observing Reynolds's condition, and said.
The communication equipment in his hand transmitted Stryker's shocked voice: "What are you doing? This is Super Serum, even if it's highly toxic, it shouldn't be wasted like this! You haven't looked at the past experimental records, haven't understood the composition of the Serum, even using just a drop or two to feed him would be enough, but what are you doing?!"
Stryker looked at the satellite image in front of him, combined with the swallowing sound he heard, and knew what Duval had done, and was immediately dumbfounded.
This was Super Serum, and he just let an ordinary person drink it all in one go? "Do you think I'm being perfunctory?"
"Isn't that perfunctory?! I really doubt how you got your master's degree! Is that how your tutor taught you to do human experiments?"
"Stryker, don't blindly define things you don't understand, just like your understanding of Mutants. Without a lot of observation and research, you wouldn't dare to call yourself an anti-Mutant 'Preacher'," Duval said, carefully sensing the changes in Reynolds through the Xenomorph.
The effect of the Super Serum was indeed terrifying. As soon as it entered Reynolds's body, it went berserk. Even though the amount was small, it was like a boiling ocean, destroying all the cells in a devastating manner.
Even more microscopic than cells, the countless atoms that made up Reynolds's body were now subjected to violent impacts, swaying under this force.
The Xenomorph larva in Reynolds's body, like Reynolds, directly faced this terrifying scouring, teetering on the verge of collapse.
The host and the larva instantly fell into a state of complete collapse. Every piece of living tissue showed signs of fragmentation and melting. They were about to die.
"Is it going to fail?" Duval frowned, somewhat regretful.
Only Reynolds could grasp that one in a billion possibility, using the power of the Super Serum to link to an unknown pocket universe, and obtain the power gifted from that soon-to-be-destroyed universe.
After thinking it over, Duval decided to parasitize Reynolds during his mortal period, wanting his Xenomorph to also master this power simultaneously.
"Of course it will fail, did you really think doing this would succeed?" Stryker's voice revealed a hint of mockery and schadenfreude, "I don't know why you have so much confidence in this guy, is this guy a Mutant with adaptability? Let me give you an idea, recover this guy's body and re-extract the Super Serum."
Suddenly, Duval's expression changed slightly, and he slowly said, "Well then, this conversation with you is very unpleasant, this transaction ends here."
"Wait, you haven't agreed to attack the Mutants, we can..."
"No need, I'm very satisfied with the existing Xenomorphs. Compared to Mutants, I still think it's more suitable to continue capturing Vampires as hosts."
"Wait, since you refuse to participate in the war, when will you give me the Xenomorph eggs?"
"Next time, for sure."
"?"
Duval hung up the communication without any credibility, and casually threw the device to a Xenomorph, letting it take it far away to prevent Stryker from eavesdropping.
Whether it was Stryker or anyone else, any attempt to control the Xenomorphs was foolish.
"I should give Stryker a quick death." A trace of killing intent flashed in Duval's eyes.
After obtaining and using the Super Serum, he would block this last loophole of Stryker.
But the most important thing now was not to kill Stryker, or even participate in the war between the Mutants and Stryker, but to ensure that Reynolds could survive smoothly.
"It's already taking effect, this guy's body is undergoing internal shifting," Duval's eyes lit up.
The atoms in his body were undergoing phase shifting, linking to the outer universe.
Next was to wait patiently. As for whether he could grasp that almost impossible possibility, it depended on Reynolds himself—or should he also count the Xenomorph larva in his body? Duval immediately grabbed the twisting Reynolds and entered the underground cave, with layers of Xenomorphs surrounding it.
"Reynolds, I know you can hear me, remember, you still have a great new life to enjoy, the super power you possess has not yet been seen by the world, it would be a pity to die like this."
Duval transmitted his words directly into Reynolds' brain through the Xenomorph larva.
Reynolds' self-awareness was growing weaker and weaker. Hearing this, and thinking that he had not yet displayed his strength before the world, a strong sense of unwillingness and desire almost devoured his heart, followed by an extraordinary will.
There's no doubt that Reynolds is this kind of person. No matter which universe, his "addiction" is great. After becoming a Sentinel, he transformed his drug addiction into an addiction to being a superhero. In many cases, he doesn't have the sacrificial awareness and sense of justice of a superhero.
But Reynolds only persisted for a while before he was about to fail again.
Duval stimulated him again, causing him to scream and straighten up again, repeating this process.
"It seems that the Xenomorph larva is indeed putting a burden on him, at least making it more difficult to shift the atomic phase in his body to the right position," Duval said, stroking his chin.
...
Alkali Lake Dam.
In every universe, Stryker sets up his base here, where all his ambitions and sins are buried.
Stryker sat at the lab table, his expression uncertain in the dim light. He thought for a full three minutes, unable to figure out what Duval was doing. Was he just trying to verify the effectiveness of the Serum? But the process was too casual. Wasn't he afraid of wasting the Serum?
Around Stryker were various strange devices. On the shelves on the walls were countless bottles and jars, filled with all kinds of strange organs.
A closer look reveals that these glass jars contain not only the remains and internal organs of mutants, but also parts of Xenomorph bodies.
Stryker had spent a lot of time collecting these little by little.
Duval constantly sent Xenomorphs into battle, and they couldn't always retreat unscathed. There would always be Xenomorphs injured or killed. Even if only a single cell remained, it gave people like Stryker an opportunity.
Stryker collected them silently. In fact, he already had a certain amount of Xenomorph genes in his hands. In theory, he could even start cloning Xenomorphs.
But Fury's painful lesson served as a warning. Stryker felt he could wait a little longer to avoid angering Duval.
"Hiss! Heh!"
Several Xenomorphs of various shapes surrounded Stryker, making noises, lifelike.
Stryker could even feel the murderous aura on these Xenomorphs. Reaching out to touch them, he could feel their coldness.
Just like the real thing.
"Enough, Jason. I don't need these fake illusions. And stop trying to please me in this way! 'Preacher' doesn't need these!"
Stryker impatiently picked up the phone and gave an order. Soon, all the surrounding Xenomorphs disappeared.
Don't underestimate him just because he's a colonel. In the underground world, he's a notorious figure.
Ever since his wife died tragically and his family was destroyed, Stryker, deeply traumatized, transformed into the Preacher and embarked on a bloody path of persecuting mutants.
"As long as I can get the Xenomorphs, and then use them to parasitize mutants, thereby controlling the ugly X-Genes of the mutants, I can build an invincible army! But the problem is, how can I break Duval's control over the Xenomorphs and monopolize them?"
S.H.I.E.L.D. had already suffered a crushing defeat once, indirectly assisting Duval's troop deployment. Stryker would be more cautious, thinking about new ways to control the Xenomorphs.
Rely on his son, Mastermind, whom he had already transformed into a tool? Mastermind Jason can deceive people's five senses, creating illusions that are flawless in terms of sight, hearing, and touch.
If done well, he could even pull a person's brain into a permanent illusion loop.
Stryker even wrote a user manual for his son. According to his speculation, if he used his son well, he could conquer a city in a short time! "Based on the process of that battle, Nick Fury can control the Xenomorphs. Maybe it's pheromones, maybe it's an imprinting mechanism. So, after confirming that those are ineffective, the most reliable method is mind control... As long as I can capture Professor X, controlling the Xenomorphs can fulfill my lifelong wish!"
A deep madness flashed in Stryker's eyes.
The underground world has witnessed the level of madness in the Preacher's name. Even someone like Fury has to take notice of a colonel like him.
"Duval, that untrustworthy bastard, will pay the price sooner or later, as long as I can get rid of Professor X..."
Stryker's goal was simple: to control Professor X and then use Professor X's brain to control the Xenomorphs. When it comes to using mental abilities to control Xenomorphs, who in this world has a brain more useful than Professor X's?
Originally, Stryker just wanted to use Professor X's brain, with the help of Cerebro, to kill all the mutants in the world in one fell swoop. But after seeing the uniqueness of the Xenomorphs, he gradually changed his mind.
Even if he could kill all the mutants in the world, ordinary humans would give birth to new mutants.
Stryker remembered another secret project, the Sentinel Robot program, which also involved creating powerful robots, continuously updating and upgrading them to eventually complete the global extermination of mutants.
It was a good plan, using mass-produced robots to deal with mutants who could reproduce. But with the Xenomorphs, who would care about Sentinel Robots? As long as he could find a way to break Duval's control over the Xenomorphs, the absolutely obedient Xenomorphs would be much better than robots, which are sluggish, rigid, and prone to code vulnerabilities.
The potential of the Xenomorphs was also incredibly exaggerated, and their way of becoming stronger was much better than upgrading robots.
Stryker's idea was to replace Duval, control the Xenomorphs, and ultimately combine the Weapon X and Sentinel Robot programs. He would be the top person in charge of the two ultimate projects, completing the task of permanently exterminating mutants—every time a mutant appeared in the world, the Xenomorphs would kill them immediately.
Most importantly, now was a golden opportunity. He didn't know what Professor X was going crazy about, but he was clearly going to oppose the authorities and even revealed his hand at the global summit.
Mobilizing a portion of the army to attack Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters wasn't a difficult task.
Stryker indeed did just that, inciting a group of people dissatisfied with mutants, gaining their support, and launching a surprise attack before Professor X and the X-Men moved away from New York.
"This is the last chance! If we act now, the worst outcome is just angering Professor X, but a man like him won't go to extremes. If we can kill him, the threat of mutants to the world will be directly reduced by half!"
Stryker made a few phone calls and convinced many worried individuals.
As it turned out, Stryker's efficiency was remarkably high, so high that he had already moved the army to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters that very night.
Gas bombs rained down densely, covering the entire school.
Teams of well-trained soldiers advanced violently, driving armed helicopters, tanks, and armored vehicles.
Some people might find this scene familiar, because just over a month ago, on Broadway, the Abomination and the Hulk were also enjoying this kind of treatment.
*Boom, boom, boom!* The heavily guarded Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, which was also the X-Men's base, saw its various defenses crumble before missiles and cannons.
"The army is here, humans are going to war against us mutants!"
"The Professor was right, thankfully he secretly moved the students away before attending the global summit..."
"The Professor fainted right after putting on Cerebro, it must have been the humans who did something!"
The X-Men had different expressions, some were angry, some were heartbroken, and then they unceremoniously attacked the invading army.
Theoretically, these modern armies couldn't do anything to the X-Men. Even without Professor X, Wolverine alone, given some time, could complete a solo kill, not to mention Cyclops and the others.
But Stryker's preparations were never something that could be dealt with casually.
Mastermind took action. This illusion creator, arguably the most terrifying in the world, easily altered everyone's sight, hearing, and smell, making people completely unable to sense his presence. He went straight into the school and found the unconscious Professor X.
But he never expected that, besides Professor X, there was another dangerous element waiting on the scene.
Magneto slowly opened his eyes, looking coldly at the empty space in front of him.
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