Why is his holy light red?

Chapter 72 Pre-Battle Preparations

As the blinding golden light tore through the thick thunderstorm clouds like a sharp sword, the long-awaited sunlight once again poured onto the turbulent sea.

Under the vast holy light, both the thunder that tore through the sky and the hurricane that destroyed everything were frozen in those golden rays that seemed to be solid, like inanimate objects sealed in amber.

Storm King hovered in mid-air, his face slightly pale. He stared intently at the man before him, his chest heaving violently a few times, before finally slowly lowering his hands and gathering all the raging vortex around him back into his body.

The entire exchange lasted less than half an hour, yet it gave Storm King a completely different perspective on the power of the Holy Light Angel.

He originally thought that no matter how powerful the Holy Light Angel was, it would only be able to outdo him in terms of destructive power.

The cataclysmic storm he unleashed, covering a million square kilometers, might not necessarily harm this god on earth, but if it were on land, leveling a city would be a piece of cake.

However, the power of the Holy Light Angels exceeded his imagination.

That golden radiance also blanketed millions of square kilometers of sea. From the sky to the deep sea, everything was under the absolute control of the holy light. The raging thunder and the hurricanes that shredded everything were like shackled beasts before this power; no matter how much they struggled and tore at it, they could not cause any damage.

In the distance, Robert, the "Iron Titan" hovering on the sea, seemed to have been mentally prepared for this scene.

He calmly reported to his superior: "According to the monitoring system, over 90% of the test area was protected by the holy light. The preliminary estimate of the casualties among deep-sea fish and birds is less than 100,000. Due to the vast size of the test area, this is the only rough estimate we can give; we cannot be more precise."

The angel of holy light slightly raised his hand, and the golden light that filled the sky instantly receded back into his body like a receding tide.

He looked down at the sea, which was gradually calming down, and said with a hint of regret, "It seems that my current abilities are still insufficient to protect such a large area of ​​life."

Storm King's eyes twitched a few times as he listened.

One million square kilometers! A 90% absolute survival rate!

In such a vast sea area, the number of fish, even measured in hundreds of millions, would be an understatement. And this guy, while withstanding a storm, managed to precisely manipulate his protective force field onto every single fish?!

Can this guy even be considered human?!

Destruction is always a million times easier than protection. If you ask the Storm King to destroy a city, he can do it with just a wave of his hand. But if you ask him to protect the people of a city and ensure that not a single person gets even a scratch, what would you ask him to do?

Storm King will just think you're here to cause trouble.

He recalled the deep-sea monster that had attacked Atlantic City years ago. The aftershocks of the storm he unleashed while trying to tear the monster apart still claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians.

That was the result of his best efforts and the ultimate control.

Storm King couldn't help but ask in a hoarse voice, "Why are you undergoing this kind of training?"

"Of course, it's to save more people in the apocalypse." The Holy Angel's tone was as calm as if stating a matter of course. "No one can say for sure when the next alien invasion will happen, or which ancient god from which plane will suddenly awaken. If I had the power I have now—I could have saved even more people."

Storm King frowned. "No, that's not what I'm asking. Why—why would you go to such lengths to save people?!"

The Holy Angel remained silent for a moment. He gazed quietly at the Storm King and slowly spoke: "Back then, when your family was in danger—did you ever hate yourself for the power you were so proud of, knowing it was utterly inadequate to save them?"

boom-!

A thunderous roar erupted.

Storm King clenched his fists tightly. Almost simultaneously, the sky was once again swallowed up by dark clouds, and deep, rumbling thunder roared wildly.

No one dared to mention this tragedy in front of him. And over the years, he had never truly let it go.

But the Holy Angel did not back down. He simply looked calmly at the Storm King, his tone carrying a rare hint of emotion: "Because I have also encountered this situation. At that time, I asked myself the same question."

"But the past cannot be changed." The Holy Angel's voice was resolute. "Therefore, I have been working hard for this. One day, I will be able to protect everyone and never let this happen again."

The Archangel of Light paused briefly. He looked at the Storm King, a gentle smile on his face: "Just like how you feel now, protecting Rex. You're also afraid of repeating the same mistakes, aren't you?"

Storm King stared intently at the faint smile on the face of the Holy Angel.

His rapid breathing gradually calmed down, and his clenched fists slowly loosened. The thunderstorm that had just formed overhead dissipated into the wind as his emotions calmed down.

"Perhaps—you are right."

Robert, who witnessed the whole scene, was amazed. This was simply outrageous. He had thought that the "Smile of the Holy Angel" was only effective on women, but even a tough guy like Storm King fell for it.

This man is absolutely terrifying.

Robert suggested, "Alright, you two, now's not the time to chat. With such a commotion, the association has probably already sent people to investigate. I've already sent a message in reply; you don't want to argue with those investigators, do you? Let's leave here first."

Storm King and Holy Light Angel said no more and nodded slightly. The next second, these three superheroes with the power to destroy the world transformed into streaks of light on the horizon.

This massive energy storm couldn't be completely concealed. But before public opinion could ferment, the Hero Association's official statement dominated the headlines of all news channels: "The unusual weather in the Atlantic Ocean is an officially approved, controlled doomsday exercise," urging the public to remain calm.

People might not believe what the association said, but the Holy Light Angels quickly came out to vouch for it, saying it was indeed a drill, which calmed the impact of the incident.

Mercury glanced at the notification on his phone casually. To him, his father, revered as a god by all humanity, was constantly staging his daily world-saving drama; whether this exercise was real or not was irrelevant. As long as that man came home for dinner on time, it was none of his concern, even if the sky fell.

However, this father, who rarely "returns to his family," has indeed changed somewhat. Not only is he spending more time at home, but he is also actively offering advice to Mercury.

Meanwhile, the intelligence coming from Loki's side made the location of the Ogre Gang increasingly clear.

Tonight is the perfect time to close the net.

According to the intelligence provided by Loki, Hannibal Lecter, the leader of the cannibal gang, will personally settle accounts at the underground stronghold on Elm Street tonight. The lure of the profits is enough to ensure that most of the gang's core members will be there on time; who would be late when it comes to dividing the money?

This is a rare opportunity, perfect for taking down this bunch of scum in one fell swoop.

Al's advice was conservative: this is a very complicated situation, so recruit as many people as you can.

Mercury thought so too; there were many heroes in the association, and more people meant more strength.

But reality tells Mercury that most of the heroes in the Guild's primary mission is not to uphold justice.

He posted a recruitment message on the Hero Association's intranet, and apart from Rex excitedly clicking "confirm," the other registered heroes ignored it.

The city of Yaliu is too big.

Registering heroes isn't enough to cover the entire city, so most people choose to protect the canopy area. Who has time to go to the muddy roots area and fight to the death with a few thugs?

This is also why the Holy Light Angels have always believed that heroes should not accept donations.

But if the heroes aren't recruited, the Hero Association will eventually have to, otherwise such a massive organization simply can't operate.

The heroes may not know where their salaries come from, but they're not stupid. Every branch of the Hero Association relies on local donations to keep operating. Even if the accounts aren't transparent, Eternal Life Technology is definitely one of the main donors.

Mercury's operation, ostensibly a crackdown on organized crime, is, with a little inquiry, likely related to immortality technology.

Even though he held the authorization from the "Mother of Life," these shrewd egoists were unwilling to get involved.

When gods fight, mortals suffer – this is a universal truth.

In their eyes, Mercury was nothing more than a pawn thrown across the river in a game of chess played by powerful figures. They couldn't understand the game, but they didn't want to be pawns either, so the best course of action was to stay out of it.

Almost all the heroes found an excuse to be "busy," so in the end only Mercury and Rex were left.

Even Nora, her usually tactful classmate, rationally drew a clear line. She made it clear that she would at most cut off communications and pass on intelligence from the rear, but would never set foot on Elm Street.

Mercury could understand this retreat. The girl's "soap bubble" ability was of little use in such a high-intensity battle, and her ability to protect herself was also questionable.

For her, the risks of wading into murky waters far outweighed the rewards.

Nora has always been a smart person, knowing her place well, avoiding offending anyone, but also avoiding suffering immediate losses.

As for Vincent, who had always been distant, Rex had tried to help him, but Vincent hesitated.

Vincent's father wasn't the Storm King, but a prisoner; it was already quite an achievement for him to become an apprentice hero.

By agreeing to Rex's demands, he would be placing himself on the opposite side of Immortal Technology.

On the afternoon Rex extended the invitation, Vincent had just stepped out of the training room and was unscrewing a bottle of mineral water. The Eternal Life Technology logo on the bottle was etched into his vision.

That brief glance shattered his courage completely.

To fight against a super-corporation that monopolizes the food and drug markets of Alicia City? Vincent didn't even dare to think about it.

Not only did he refuse, he even lowered his voice to dissuade Rex: "Why are you going crazy with Mercury? Can't you just comfortably get through your internship? Haven't you realized that Mercury Anderson is a walking troublemaker? Getting involved with him will drag you down sooner or later."

Rex gave him a deep look, then sighed, "Suit yourself."

Watching Rex's departing figure, Vincent's Adam's apple bobbed, but he ultimately couldn't bring himself to say anything to persuade him to stay.

He dared not take the risk because he couldn't afford to lose any more chips.

After preparing for a long time, in the end there were only Mercury and Rex. There were not enough people, so don't fantasize about not letting anyone go. We can only settle for second best.

Mercury told Rex, "Two objectives: first, protect the informant; second, capture Hannibal, the leader of the cannibal gang."

Rex asked eagerly, "Do you know Hannibal's abilities?"

Mercury shook his head: "We can only speculate that he used a potion of immortality technology, probably a reptilian beast transformation ability."

Rex said confidently, "That's easy then. With the two of us, it's a piece of cake."

The ability to transform into a beast is the easiest superpower to deal with; it's practically synonymous with weakness.

Mercury, however, was not so careless, reminding him, "The premise is that Hannibal is the only opponent. Have you considered that everyone knows we're going to deal with Immortal Technology? Do you think Immortal Technology doesn't know? Tonight, the Ogre Gang is having a gathering on Elm Street. Do you think Immortal Technology doesn't know it's a good opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop?"

Mercury asked with utmost seriousness, "Do you think the Immortal Life Technology will stand idly by?"

Rexton immediately realized: "You mean, Immortal Technology will send out their superhumans."

"Possibly, I can't be sure, I can only say it's possible." Mercury took a deep breath and then said, "But that's exactly what we want. The Ogre Gang was just a stepping stone; what we need to deal with is immortality technology. If they just jump out directly, wouldn't that save us a lot of trouble?"

Rex, however, said with some concern, "That is, assuming we can handle it."

Rex was confident in dealing with a group of street thugs, but the henchmen sent by the immortal technology would be no easy task, and his superpowers might not necessarily be an advantage.

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