Under the cold lights of the Global Defense Agency's underground laboratory, Immortal's head was slowly lowered by a robotic arm onto the body in the regeneration tank.
Nanoscale sutures flashed with blue light, connecting nerves and blood vessels at the severed neck one by one.
"Life signs stable," a mechanical voice calmly reported. "Nerve connection completion 100%."
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
"Global Guardians!" Immortal burst from the operating table, the alloy restraints tearing like paper under his strength, his hands instinctively reaching for his neck.
His memory was still stuck in that nightmarish moment—Omni-Man's hand slicing through, his vision spinning, the last image being the shattered corpses of his teammates.
"Where is Omni-Man?!" He grabbed the nearest technician by the throat, his eyes bloodshot. "I'll tear that traitor apart!"
Ciscel pointed a finger, and on the live broadcast screen, Immortal's figure stood above Yellowstone Park.
Immortal's pupils contracted violently. He shot up, smashing through thirty layers of protective domes, a sonic boom cloud exploding in the night sky, and sped towards Yellowstone Park.
Above Yellowstone Park.
Mark lunged at his father, Omni-Man, grabbing his neck and accusing him with grief and indignation.
"All these years, father, you made me look forward to becoming a Viltrumite, a Superhero. Now you tell me it was all fake?"
"I couldn't tell you the truth, Mark!"
Omni-Man's face was grim as he pried his son's hands away.
"The Empire sent me to weaken Earth, to get it accustomed to the protection of Viltrumites.
Now the time has come, Earth must join the Empire!"
"I don't believe it. For over a decade, you've been wearing a mask and acting, uncle." Russell waved the helicopter away with his magnetic ability, looking at him.
"Don't you have any feelings for this World?"
"That is the mission the Empire has given me. Get out of my way, Mark, Russell, or I won't mind attacking you, beating you until every bone in your body is shattered and you can do nothing more!"
Omni-Man punched Mark away, his presence terrifying, and rushed towards Russell.
"Aunt asked me to bring you back. If you won't listen, I'll just have to bring you back injured, uncle!"
Russell spoke coldly, lasers bursting from his eyes. Omni-Man was prepared, turning his body to dodge the lasers.
The scorching lasers sweeping with his turning gaze were blocked by Omni-Man raising his hand. The pain of his palm being burned made the veins on his forehead throb, his expression becoming fiercer as he closed in on Russell.
Bang!
A wave of air exploded!
A heavy punch sent Russell, who was blocking with crossed arms, flying out.
The clouds above Yellowstone Park were torn to shreds by the violent shockwave.
"Damn the Empire!"
His father was so strange he almost didn't recognize him. Mark tumbled in the air a few times, stabilized himself, his anger disbelieving, and charged forward with clenched fists.
"Don't disappoint me, Mark."
His angry punch was easily caught by Omni-Man, who grabbed his wrist, squeezing until Mark's hand bones cracked and ached. Omni-Man warned through gritted teeth.
"The Viltrum Empire shows no mercy to 'weak and soft' descendants. Annihilation is their only outcome!"
He flung Mark away dozens of miles with a flick of his hand.
Omni-Man turned and dove to pursue Russell, but Russell had already stabilized himself, unharmed, and shot several more lasers at him.
Whoosh whoosh!
Dodging the attacks, Omni-Man's eyes reflected his nephew's figure.
He knew the biggest obstacle to conquering Earth wasn't his son Mark, who shared his Viltrumite blood, but the nephew before him.
"Russell, you might be misunderstanding something. The Empire will only bring a better life to Earth! The Empire will accept the strong who are willing to submit, and can even grant them the status of independently governing a Planet!"
"I'm not interested."
Russell coldly refused Omni-Man.
Suddenly—
"Omni-Man! You bastard!"
A loud roar came.
A yellow meteor streaked across the sky. Immortal, wrapped in the fire of vengeance, crashed into the red-caped figure above the sea of lava. His fists scraped against the air, igniting flames.
"We trusted you so much! Pay for my teammates' lives!"
"Immortal?"
Nolan raised an eyebrow in surprise, just slightly shifting his body.
Crack!
Immortal's fist grazed Nolan's head, the shockwave spreading out in a fan shape for thousands of meters.
Meanwhile, Nolan's fist heavily smashed into Immortal's abdomen. Immortal coughed up blood violently, but paid no mind, raising his angry, contorted face and headbutting the other's head.
"I don't have time to play with you."
Omni-Man raised his hand to press down, his voice cold enough to freeze one's soul, then punched again with force.
His fist, like an armor-piercing round, directly punched through Immortal's body.
"You..." Immortal's eyes widened in disbelief.
Before he could say anything, Nolan tore him in half with both hands from the abdomen, and he fell down.
Watching this scene through the news live broadcast cameras, the World was shocked and in an uproar.
Before people could recover from the shock of Immortal's resurrection, in the blink of an eye, Immortal was cruelly killed by Omni-Man again.
"What did Immortal just shout?"
Seeing this scene through the news live broadcast cameras, the World was shocked and in an uproar.
"He said Omni-Man should pay with his life. Could Omni-Man be the murderer of the Global Guardians?"
"Was that really Immortal?
In less than a second, Omni-Man killed Immortal as if an adult was abusing a child. That was the Captain of the Global Guardians! Who else can stop Omni-Man!"
"Can Infinitoid and Invincible really do it?"
"Is... is today the end of the World?!"
Global panic ensued. If they had been somewhat unclear about what was wrong with Omni-Man before, it didn't matter now, because the World was in imminent danger.
They had to survive the crazy Omni-Man first!
"They definitely can. There's no one else. Infinitoid is the strongest among the younger generation of Superheroes!
If he can't do it, who can!"
Countless people looked through the cameras, pinning their hopes on that white-caped figure.
"God, bless Infinitoid, bless him to defeat Omni-Man and pull the World back from the brink of destruction!"
Including some Superheroes, they were praying. They knew Omni-Man's terror even better!
[Conquest Points +0.01]
[Conquest Points +0.02]
[Conquest Points +0.01]
...
Conquest Points were refreshing at an unprecedented speed. Seeing Immortal being torn apart by Omni-Man, Russell showed no change in expression; everything was within his expectations.
Besides, Immortal couldn't truly die.
His death would add fuel to the fire of global fear towards Omni-Man.
Now, the whole World was watching all of this.
"Enough is enough, uncle."
Russell suddenly charged, a sonic boom cloud trailing behind him for several kilometers in a long white line. His fist, carrying the power to sink an island, flew straight towards Omni-Man hovering above.
Omni-Man dove down, also throwing a full-force punch.
Boom—!!!
The moment their fists collided, a spherical shockwave exploded.
The forest below for ten kilometers in radius flattened like fields of wheat, and the surface of Yellowstone Lake was pressed into a thousand-meter-wide depression.
Russell felt the sharp pain of his finger bones cracking, while a hint of pain flashed across Nolan's face.
"I've almost never seen anyone as strong as you besides Viltrumites, nephew," Nolan grabbed Russell's wrist, his fist heavily smashing towards his face.
"Especially considering you were born among the weak Earthlings, it makes it even more precious."
"Don't waste this miracle!"
Russell hit his face with lasers. Nolan had to close his eyes in pain and dodge. Russell seized the opportunity and punched Omni-Man in the face first.
Omni-Man flew backward. Centered on his landing spot, a spiderweb of cracks instantly spread across the entire ground. Lava erupted from the cracks, staining the night sky blood red.
"You're the one wasting the heroic image you've built over the years!"
Russell fell rapidly like a meteor, a flying kick hitting Nolan squarely in the chest. Shattered rock plates shot up hundreds of meters into the sky, and lava splashed high.
The boiling lava suddenly exploded, and Omni-Man rose abruptly, punching Russell back.
The two engaged in a dazzling offense and defense at a thousand meters altitude.
Hundreds of punches and kicks colliding per second generated continuous sonic booms, and shockwaves spread out in waves.
"Father, stop, enough people have been hurt by you!"
Mark also rushed over, joining the battle.
The three fought fiercely in the air.
However, unlike the original plot where Omni-Man still had energy to spare, slowly teaching his son a lesson and trying to 'correct' his views, he was already injured facing Russell.
And seeing that he injured Russell one second, Russell would recover completely the next.
"Don't force me, get out of the way, Mark!"
Omni-Man felt a sense of urgency and couldn't hold back. Soon, he severely injured Mark with a series of heavy punches, breaking his ribs, swelling one eye shut, and sending him falling powerlessly towards the ground.
"Why did we have to reach this point?" After exchanging hundreds of blows in the blink of an eye again, Omni-Man wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, awkwardly dodging a heat vision blast from Russell.
The crimson beam evaporated a hundred-meter-wide mist cloud from the lake behind him.
"You think I'm destroying the World?" A hint of desperation flashed in his eyes as he charged at Russell. "I'm saving it, saving you, Russell."
Omni-Man was covered in burn marks from Russell's laser beams.
His strength and speed surpassed Russell's, comparing them was like the difference between a half-grown teenager and a strong man, but Russell's immortality and laser eyes were enough to compensate for everything.
When your gaze can kill, any punches and kicks seem slow and clumsy.
Omni-Man was covered in wounds, his strength and speed decreasing. In contrast, Russell was still calm and composed, not yet showing a desperate stance.
This made him even more anxious.
Boom!
Above Yellowstone Park, two figures collided like meteors.
Nolan's right fist slammed into Russell's face, while Russell's left hook simultaneously hit Nolan's abdomen.
Both flew backward at the same time, then stabilized themselves in mid-air. A trace of blood spilled from the corner of Omni-Man's mouth, and a cut opened on Russell's cheekbone.
"Are you trying to trade blows with me, uncle?" Russell wiped the blood from his eyebrow, his flesh recovering at a visible speed.
What Omni-Man said wasn't entirely a sophistry.
If he failed to conquer Earth, and the Viltrum Empire came instead, things wouldn't be so easy.
Omni-Man didn't answer, charging forward again.
Bang!
A straight punch was dodged by Russell tilting his head. Omni-Man immediately changed tactics, smashing down with his elbow.
His inherent brutal nature as a warrior was completely revealed. Omni-Man began to grapple, his attacks like a raging storm, leaving no room to breathe. He dared not create any distance, giving Russell a chance to freely use his laser eyes.
Russell raised his arm to block, and Nolan's knee flew up, aiming directly for his face.
Bang bang!
Russell's combat experience was temporarily no match for Omni-Man, who had conquered multiple Planets for the Viltrumites. His nasal bone took a heavy hit and was severely broken.
Omni-Man seized the opportunity, pressing down firmly on Russell's eyes, intending to blind him.
The two were locked in a stalemate, with searing pain in his eyes. Russell gritted his teeth, grabbed Omni-Man's hand, and activated his psychic ability.
Boom!
Omni-Man's mind felt like it was struck by a heavy hammer. His vision blurred for a moment. In this extremely intense battle, a strong drowsiness descended like thick velvet curtains, threatening to engulf him.
"No..."
He realized something was wrong, shaking his head and instinctively retreating, losing the opportunity.
Zzzzt!
Russell's laser beam blasted Omni-Man in the face.
Omni-Man quickly closed his eyes. The pain in his face was excruciating, his skin burning as if pressed against a hot plate, and he was blasted away by Russell!
Bang bang bang!
Russell flew forward, punching Omni-Man in the face, sending him flying. Omni-Man opened his eyes, and he immediately forced them shut with another laser.
With several consecutive punches, Omni-Man was sent dozens of miles high.
From the start of the battle until now, the severely scalded wounds on Omni-Man's face tore and healed repeatedly.
He quickly became unrecognizable, the skin around one eyelid almost fused together.
Only one eye could barely open, and even that was blurry due to the laser radiation burns, a blood-red mess, seeing afterimages of everything.
"Come, come on!"
With difficulty, his one eye tracked Russell's lightning-fast attack trajectory. Omni-Man roared in anger, holding up his fists. At this moment, he looked like a boxer who had been utterly defeated in the ring, with nothing left but unwillingness to concede.
Bang bang bang!
Russell's fists rained down on him like a storm.
Omni-Man swung his fists numbly and wildly, always a step too slow, unable to hit anything.
It had become a completely one-sided beating. Omni-Man soon started vomiting blood, covered in wounds. He still swung his fists wildly in anger, but it was hard to say if his anger was directed at Russell, or if he was flailing at something he couldn't grasp at all.
Swish!
Russell suddenly stopped, looking at Omni-Man before him with pity.
Even if he succeeded in conquering Earth, it would be painful, and failure wouldn't bring his family back. His uncle, Omni-Man, likely had severe self-destructive tendencies at this point.
"Come on, why stop? Kill me, Russell!
Destroy me, this demon who has been lurking on Earth for twenty years to destroy the entire World!"
Blood mixed with tears streamed down Omni-Man's face as he roared.
"No, there's still a chance to fix everything."
Russell shook his head gently, speaking earnestly.
"I didn't come here to stop you by eliminating you, uncle!"
"Father... surrender!"
The heavily injured Mark covered his ribs, staggering up, looking at his father, who had been severely beaten by his Cousin, with heartache.
Even after doing such things, did his two children still hope he could go back?
"What have I done..."
Omni-Man looked at his blood-soaked hands, unable to accept it.
His wife's tearful face flashed through his mind again, and his heart suddenly ached so much he could barely breathe.
"It's already too late... All too late.
You don't know the Empire's power. There are many among the Viltrumites stronger than me. If I fail, they will follow closely, and there will be even more severe attacks.
And this time, the goal... might not be conquest."
Omni-Man shook his head dejectedly.
"The Empire will not allow a Planet in the galaxy that repelled Viltrumites to continue existing. Other Planets will see hope in resistance."
"Even so, uncle, aunt, and Mark, we can face it together as a family."
Russell extended his hand.
"Dad, surrender!" Mark's eyes were red.
"Can it really still be possible?" His chest felt heavy, like he had been punched, and Omni-Man's lips trembled.