American comics: Starting with gaining Spider-Man's abilities

Chapter 152 Fist to the Bone

"The Scepter of the Soul..."

Inside the brightly lit laboratory, Baron Strucker, one of Hydra's most important members, gazes at the beautiful and eye-catching scepter. Scientists around him are analyzing and deconstructing the energy field, hoping to create an even more powerful weapon.

Although he was attacked by the mutant Li Buying, resulting in the death of Alexander Pierce, one of the key leaders, his plans completely failed.

However, this did not affect the actions of the other Hydra members. Fortunately, Pierce did not intend to leave the Mind Scepter in New York, but instead moved it out first, which allowed Baron Strucker to conduct his research here.

They conducted a comprehensive examination of the Mind Scepter, and in addition to studying its unique force field and energy characteristics, they also discovered a very important point—

The Mind Scepter seems to be able to enhance or even activate the abilities of mutants without any side effects. However, for some people, it's less about enhancement and more about fully developing their potential.

This laboratory now houses many die-hard Hydra mutants, whose abilities have been significantly enhanced.

Some people have the ability to achieve a body hardness similar to that of common stones, but now they can achieve the hardness of metal. Others have extremely fast running speeds, but their physical abilities cannot keep up. Now they possess a certain force field that can reduce air resistance and other aspects.

Baron Strucker already had designs on mutants. If it weren't for Li Buying's presence and the Avengers making him hesitant to act, he probably would have already taken action to capture a large number of mutants.

Unfortunately, Pierce caused too much of a stir. During this time, he and his other Hydra agents had to be even more careful. As long as they could get through this period and go back into hiding, Hydra would be able to secretly develop again.

We'll slowly capture those mutants, brainwash them, and amplify their power. Once we have a large army of mutants that have been amplified, conquering the world will be a piece of cake!

Strucker was ambitious, seemingly believing the entire Earth was his for the taking, and that once he had conquered the planet, he would venture into space...

A bright future seemed within reach, but the voices of the Hand members beside him pulled him back to reality: "Baron Strucker, remember our promise."

"Of course I won't forget, and besides, your scientists will send you the experimental data, won't they?"

He adjusted his monocle, turned to look at the ninja-dressed assassin, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes. As a high-ranking member of Hydra, he naturally knew that magic and demons existed, and he also knew that there was something strange behind the Hand.

Whether they were aliens or beings from another dimension was unknown; he only knew they were definitely not good things. However, since everyone was currently cooperating, Baron Strucker naturally didn't care about such things.

The Hand wanted to borrow the Mind Scepter for research, which would in return help Hydra fight against superheroes and Li Buying, who might be targeting Hydra. Strucker naturally refused, but compromised in order for the Hand to help Hydra.

The researchers from both sides conducted joint research and shared the results. He didn't originally want to do this, but the external environment was not good for Hydra, which was causing a major incident.

Strucker observed the Scepter of the Beautiful Mind for a moment, then turned to leave the lab to check on the mutant section. He had barely taken a step when he heard an alarm sound, and a guard's calm voice came over the loudspeaker:

"Intrusion! Intrusion!"

……

Hydra and the Hand are cooperating, which is a good opportunity to take action against the Hand.

After learning about Hydra's current situation from Ai Yi, Li Buying couldn't help but sneer when she learned that they were preparing to go undercover again and work with the Hand to study the Mind Scepter. At the same time, she was planning how to find the Hand's headquarters and already had some ideas in mind.

Upon arriving at the Hydra's fortress, Li Buying squinted at the massive, brightly lit encampment that stretched as far as an entire town, and took out the weaver's mask to put it on.

He raised his right hand and patted his left shoulder, then entered stealth mode and swaggered towards the base, where he could see many patrolling guys along the way.

As for why he didn't use gravity manipulation, it was because he didn't want to attract the attention of those countries. He had already made a big fuss in the United States, and if he continued to be so arrogant, he would probably be attacked by all sides.

Although Li Buying can deal with those who attack him, if he kills too many, he, being a social being, and the mutants, will probably not be able to develop his power base in the short term.

...Okay, that's all the reasons. He simply doesn't want to kill one bunch only to have another bunch come along; it's too much trouble.

After a long absence, he rhythmically moved his fingers, and a hidden sword emerged from his sleeve. He casually walked forward, and Ai Yi's voice reached his ears:

"Master, Hydra's important databases are all offline. We hope you can try to get your hands on that data using the data cable you're equipped with."

"No problem, I'll be careful."

Li Buying nodded, then casually slashed across the neck of a lone Hydra member who was standing guard as he passed by, using spider silk to stick him to the spot, keeping him in the same position.

As they moved forward, they continuously used gravity to pull up the spider silk, forming a web. The completely invisible spider silk gradually spread throughout the area, coated with a deadly poison.

He moved forward in a spiral from the outside in, and the spider web quickly enveloped the entire camp, ensuring that Hydra members would have a hard time escaping from the ground without heavy weapons; the sky or underground were more possibilities.

After dealing with about twenty people, the Hydra branch finally realized something was wrong. Upon discovering the intrusion, they immediately notified everyone, and a large force surrounded the area in the direction where the last person had died.

On the other side, Li Buying pulled the hidden sword from the guard's neck and was about to continue forward when suddenly a strong gust of wind swept by. At the same time, her spider-sense activated and her force field perception detected several mutants rapidly approaching.

It wasn't the kind of rapid approach; the fastest speed was close to the speed of sound. Of course, for Li Buying, this speed was only "quite fast."

He immediately assumed a defensive stance and swung his hidden blade forward, instantly enhancing his dynamic vision. The movements of the Hydra members rushing towards him slowed down, and they were all locked onto by Li Buying.

The man at the front, seeing the swung hidden blade, tried to dodge, still assuming the intruder couldn't keep up. However, when the hooded intruder looked up, the rapidly moving mutant's chest tightened—

Oh no, it's the weaver!

Li Buying, her muscles tense, took a step forward, her hidden blade plunging directly into the neck of the unsuspecting Hydra agent. As it was pulled out, blood slowly sprayed out in the air, while the corpse continued to slide forward due to inertia, its speed gradually decreasing until it finally crashed into the wall, creating a large crater.

At the same moment the agent died, the high-speed ability user who had appeared invisibly seized the opportunity to attack the weaver from behind, his sharp blade already drawn, heading straight for the back of his neck.

To the surprise of the attacking agent, the weaver actually kept up with his speed, raised her hand and grabbed his wrist that was holding the dagger, crushing the bone.

The excruciating pain caused the high-speed ability user to lose his balance. As he groaned in pain, his body tilted to one side. In his last moments, he saw the bottom of the shoe, and his head was kicked to pieces!

I definitely prefer the more visceral, hand-to-hand combat style.

Looking at the kicked corpse, Li Buying felt excited. As he looked down at the body, three high-speed mutants pounced on him, trying to kill him by surrounding and attacking him.

They had just observed that the weavers could keep up with their speed, meaning that the mutants' advantage in ability was essentially gone, and now they could only rely on skill.

A sudden stinging sensation appeared on their face. A Hydra agent who was running a little slower saw countless lines of blood behind his teammate before he died. The blood-stained spider silk had appeared there at some unknown time.

He had excellent control over his speed and braked suddenly when he saw the blood and felt the pain. Blood streamed down his face and forearm, but at least he survived.

The agent, who had stopped, took out a miniature gun from his waist and was about to fire it at Li Buying. Guns were actually not as useful to him as blades, and bullets were not necessarily faster than him, so they were generally used for attacks in environments where running was not an option.

This was a situation where firearms could be used, but before he could fire, his heart suddenly stopped, his muscles quickly went limp, and he collapsed to the ground, struggling desperately.

Li Buying didn't even glance at it, raised her hand to push aside the spider web that had been woven in an instant by gravity control, and left, continuing to venture deeper into this area.

His lethal biotoxin, amplified through multiple processes, can take effect in seconds. These mutants' physical constitutions alone cannot withstand it; at the very least, they need to have immunity to the toxin.

The vanguard failed to stop Li Buying's attack. Seeing that he could no longer carry out the assassination, he decisively put away his hidden blade and began to move his fingers rhythmically again. A crisp sound of gears meshing and electronic sounds rang out as his wrist guard switched to sonic weapon mode.

As he walked past a house, the wall suddenly collapsed, and a huge figure stretched out its fist and slammed it towards Li Buying!

Seeing that the mutants' high speed alone couldn't defeat this guy, Hydra and the Hand didn't make any rash moves, but waited for everyone to arrive before attacking together.

As the tall mutant's fist slammed towards him, a mental fluctuation came from afar. Several mutants with mental abilities tried to influence Li Buying, but he simply silently activated the electromagnetic interference device with his left hand, then lightly flicked his right hand and clenched it tightly before swinging it out.

Two fists, almost three times the size of each other, collided, and the mutant's entire arm exploded. This was only because Li Buying hadn't used gravity control to cover the mutant's entire body with the force of her punch.

Those guys' mental abilities were useless. He flung out a large number of sharp spider silk from his wrists, which flew towards the mutants. The energy shield saved their lives, but this howling physical mutant was not so lucky.

Despite losing his right arm, his regenerative ability seemed quite good. As soon as it was smashed, granulation tissue began to wriggle at the break, and his bones also began to grow. However, Li Buying would not give him a chance to regenerate. She jumped up and delivered an uppercut that splattered blood everywhere.

At the same time, the soldiers, mutants, and Hand assassins inside the Hydra base finally arrived. Some were already prepared to attack, and Li Buying's spider senses were beeping wildly.

It's not that it's very dangerous, but the number of attacks is just too many. But it's okay, the [Weaver] still has a wide-range attack method.

Li Buying took soundproofing measures and immediately activated the circular diffusion mode of the sonic weapon, sending a sharp sound directly into everyone's ears!

The glass shattered due to the resonance, cracks appeared in the wall, and blood seeped from the skin and facial features of those who were closer to him and were not physically strong. They then knelt down and covered their ears.

The same was true for the mutants further away who were capable of ranged attacks; the enormous sound severely affected their ability to use it, making it impossible for them to aim at the weaver alone.

Some people, defying the odds, tried to attack him, but the flames, energy beams, and physical projectiles they threw all went astray. Some even hit friendly forces, causing their deaths. For a time, no one could do anything to Li Buying.

"Damn it, artificial vibranium..."

Baron Strucker cursed under his breath. He knew a little about Li Buying, his parents, and the artificial vibranium. He could tell from the Weaver's sonic weapon that Li Buying and the Weaver were indeed acquainted.

Unfortunately, knowing this didn't matter much; the die was cast, and no one could do anything about it unless he could keep the weaver here.

"Can your Hand handle him?"

Baron Strucker glanced at the ninjas behind him. The assassins also looked grim. Their guild had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Li Buying, and they weren't sure if they could defeat them. He turned and said:

"My suggestion is to go straight for high-lethality weapons and stop with all this other stuff."

"He's surrounded by our men, how can we use high-lethal weapons?!"

Baron Strucker was helpless. The main problem was that the weaver didn't swagger over like Li Buying. If he had, he could have killed him with a laser cannon or electromagnetic cannon before he arrived.

If he did that now, even as the leader of Hydra, he would be overthrown by his own men.

"...In that case, our people will be responsible for holding him off, and you can take the opportunity to prepare your attack." The Hand members are not afraid of death; they can be resurrected in the glory of the Hand—as long as they don't encounter someone who can target their soul.

Clearly, they are unaware that, or the demons and higher-ups, have not yet informed them that Li Buying can perform soul attacks.

Baron Strucker was naturally willing to be sent to his death, and if he could, he would naturally want to struggle and not want to run away with the Mind Scepter, abandoning his base.

……

Meanwhile, Li Buying, who was wreaking havoc and covered in blood, quickly noticed the change in personnel. There were noticeably more Hand members around her, and she could tell at a glance that they were trying to buy time until Hydra's attack came.

(End of this chapter)