Marvel's Death Merchant

Marcus and Red Skull were both surprised and astonished. This was Hydra's first near-perfect experimental subject, surpassing all previous ones. It was more perfect than any other biological weapon.

The Winter Soldier underwent another astonishing transformation; his bones creaked and cracked as he evolved and developed like a normal person. This pleased everyone present, because even without becoming enormous, he was still quite formidable in battle.

The mutated virus was fighting against the Winter Soldier's cells, mutating the tissues it invaded. However, because the Winter Soldier had been fused with the Superman serum for a relatively long time, the mutated T-virus eventually succumbed to the Winter Soldier's cells and will.

Finally, the Winter Soldier opened his eyes, looked around, and found himself bound tightly to a laboratory table, his vital signs displayed on the instruments beside him. With a struggle, he managed to break the chains.

"Captain America, Rogers. What's that?" The Winter Soldier stood up, somewhat dazed. He saw the mirror beside him and walked over, looking up at his reflection. His handsome face was unchanged. But then he looked at his eyes and noticed the pupils were shrunk to mere slits—the eyes of a beast. Startled, he rubbed his eyes, then pried open his eyelids to examine them closely, utterly unable to believe his own eyes. After the T-virus mutation, the Winter Soldier had lost most of his memories, not knowing who he was or why he possessed the strength to break free from steel. The Winter Soldier possessed strength comparable to the Black Giant; he was a blue giant and the first giant perfectly modified by the T-virus.

Just as things were getting unbelievable, the door behind the mirror was kicked open, and five researchers with guns rushed into the laboratory. The Winter Soldier, confused, quickly raised his hands to signal not to shoot, but he was still hit by a tranquilizer dart and fell to the ground. The Hydra researchers put down their tranquilizer guns.

“Dr. Marcus, everything is progressing well. The Winter Soldier's vital signs are intact, and there's a possibility of recovery. I need to implant a controller in him once he's under control.” This is the basis for determining whether he's still Hydra's ace, Red Skull said earnestly to Marcus.

“Of course, that’s no problem. Those superheroes, like that big green guy who just appeared, have given me some new ideas. I’m very satisfied with the Winter Soldier becoming a weapon comparable to Tyrant. The mutated T-virus is really excellent. I finally have a virus here that’s no worse than Umbrella’s.” Marcus answered Red Skull confidently.

"Dr. Marcus's research this time is truly remarkable. The Winter Soldier's combat power has increased at least 30 times, which is the foundation for Hydra's rise." Red Skull thought about the future and still expressed his gratitude to Marcus.

“Of course, because you are my partner,” Marcus replied with a smile to Red Skull.

Chapter 337 Legend of Gods and Demons

The events in the Marvel universe have temporarily concluded, and Tang Tian has already transmigrated to a new dimension. The boundless technology and resources of this movie dimension will further enhance Tang Tian's strength. One can only imagine the power he will wield when he next descends upon the Marvel universe.

In the special dimension, because of Hawaii's disappointing trip, the others had no interest in resting for the next nine days. They did nothing but train. Zero taught everyone how to use firearms, Zhao Yingkong taught everyone some close combat skills, and Tang Xing also provided a large amount of weapons for everyone to train with.

Zhang Jie remained unremarkable, except for his hearty laughter. He seemed like a newcomer just like Qi Tengyi, constantly learning their fighting techniques and even asking Zheng Zha for advice on unlocking the gene lock. Tang Xing naturally joined in Zheng Zha's explanations, since coming to a special plane was all about acquiring different technologies, and the gene lock was a characteristic of this plane.

Time passed by, and Zheng Zha suppressed his doubts and focused on training his vampire skills and the second level of his gene lock. Then, nine days passed... When the pillar of light fell from the "God", the majestic and deep voice rang out again.

"Enter the pillar of light within thirty seconds, target locked, teleportation initiated in Legend of the Gods and Demons..."

"Is it finally starting? I'm really looking forward to it. It would be great to fight." Tang Xing thought to himself.

Legend of Gods and Demons...

The story takes place in 1290 BC, when the Egyptian high priest Imhotep and Pharaoh's beloved wife Anshuna were accidentally spotted by Pharaoh Seti I. Imhotep and Anshuna then joined forces to kill the Pharaoh, and Anshuna was subsequently forced to commit suicide by the Pharaoh's guards.

To save his beloved, Imhotep risked everything to steal An'tsuna's body from the tomb and entered the mausoleums and treasure troves of past pharaohs. In Hamunaptra, the city of the dead, he retrieved the Black Bible, the sacred book that controlled death. He then placed An'tsuna's internal organs into five sacred vials and used the Black Bible's mystical incantations to summon An'tsuna's soul back from the underworld. Just as the ritual was about to be completed, the pharaoh's guards stormed in, interrupting the ceremony, and An'tsuna's soul was forced back into the underworld.

Imhotep and his priests were severely punished by the guards. The priests were mummified alive, while Imhotep, having murdered the Pharaoh and disturbed the peace of the dead, was subjected to the most horrific punishment in Egyptian history: being devoured by insects. His tongue was cut off, his entire body was wrapped in a mummy, and he was placed alive in an iron coffin filled with flesh-eating scarabs, the sacred scarabs of Egypt, to slowly consume him. He could feel his flesh being devoured as he died, for this punishment was utterly cruel. Moreover, it is said that those who suffer this punishment, if they return from the underworld, will possess boundless magical power and become monsters that destroy Egypt!

"...This is basically the story from The Mummy, which happened thousands of years ago. Three years ago, in 1923, a group of soldiers accidentally discovered the legendary city, Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, because it held the treasures of past pharaohs. The soldiers attempted to open the tombs there, but when they did, they were attacked by the descendants of the pharaohs' guards. From the movie, it seems only two people escaped the attack: one was the protagonist, O'Connor, and the other was Benny, the little man in the movie, who was ultimately devoured by countless scarabs," Zhan Lan murmured.

"So where are we now?" Zheng Zha asked, puzzled.

This is a dimly lit, enclosed room. Apart from the iron bars on the windows, there is nothing in the room. No, there is a blond, muscular man sitting with his head down, and five dark-haired men and women lying on the floor.

Zero looked around and muttered, "This should be a prison, right? And it should be a very old prison. Zhan Lan, were there any prison scenes in this movie?"

Zhan Lan touched her forehead and said, "Yes, of course he appeared. The male protagonist, O'Connor, is one of the only two who escaped from Hamunaptra. He obtained the key to open Imhotep's coffin there. This key can also open the Bible of the Dead and the Book of Resurrection. In short, it is a very important prop in the whole movie. As a result, when he got into a fight in the bar, the female protagonist's brother stole the key. The female protagonist, Eve, wanted to go to the legendary city of the dead, Hamunaptra, so she came to the prison to rescue O'Connor. The time now should be just before O'Connor is about to be rescued. It should be similar to the previous horror movies. When the people around can detect our presence, this horror movie will really start. I think this blond European should be the male protagonist, O'Connor."

Zheng Zha smiled and said, "But we're lucky this time. Including the newcomers, we have a total of twelve people. This horror movie shouldn't be too difficult. But I've seen The Mummy, and it doesn't seem to be a horror movie, right?"

Upon hearing Zheng Zha's voice, Tang Xing also said, "It seems so at the moment. I don't know if there are any other dangers."

Zhan Lan didn't pay attention to Tang Xing's words, but said with a smile, "Well, that's true. It's not a horror movie, but even if it's not a horror movie, as long as the danger level is high and the mortality rate is high, it will probably become a movie chosen by the 'God', right? It seems that the last deduction has really been confirmed. As long as the danger level is high, it doesn't matter if it's not a horror movie... As for the difficulty of twelve people, as long as we are careful, this horror movie may not be so dangerous."

"It's probably a team battle, not a danger from the movie plot itself," Tang Xing thought to himself.

Qi Tengyi, however, exclaimed with unusual excitement, "The treasures of ancient Egypt! And the legendary Bible of the Dead and the Book of Resurrection! My God! I also know ancient Egyptian and cuneiform, although I'm not particularly proficient, but I still want to see the contents of these two books! My God! This is amazing!"

While everyone was talking, Zhao Yingkong silently looked at the watch on her wrist. After looking at it for a long time, she said, "What does this say? The dense text is hard to read."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at their watches. This time, however, there was no countdown on the watches, only dense text. Zheng Zha quickly went to the iron bars and carefully examined them in the sunlight.

"Destroy the undead creature Imhotep! Reward: one D-rank side quest for the entire team... There's another number below, 5000 meters away, O'Connor?" Zheng Zha read aloud curiously.

As he uttered the word "O'Connor," a faint glow emanated from the blond man sitting with his head down.

"It seems this mission is going to be very interesting," Tang Xing said, turning to Zheng Zha with a smile.

Zheng Zha immediately gave a wry smile and said, "It seems that this time we are restricted to a certain range. We must stay within 5000 meters of him, otherwise we will be wiped out by the 'God'... There is more text below."

"After Imhotep's resurrection, the Indian team will enter the world of Might and Magic I. Killing an enemy team member whose gene lock has not been activated will grant 2,000 reward points and one C-level side quest. Killing an enemy team member whose gene lock has been activated will grant 7,000 reward points and one B-level side quest. Each friendly team member killed will result in a negative point, while each enemy member killed will result in a positive point. The final number multiplied by 2,000 will be the reward points for the remaining members of both teams. It can be said that this team battle is a must."

Chapter 338 Xiao Honglu

Zhan Lan and Tang Xing didn't look at the five newcomers; they all looked at Zheng Zha, who was continuing to speak. The team didn't know the newcomers' talents and couldn't properly assign them roles.

"As long as the other side is even slightly stronger than us, they will definitely try to kill us. When they kill one of our people, we will have no choice but to fight back and kill one of them. Otherwise, when this horror movie ends, we will likely be wiped out. Apart from Tang Xing, who rarely uses reward points, who has more than two thousand reward points? At that time, we will naturally have no choice but to fight back desperately... Once either side fires the first shot, it will be a fight to the death!"

While Zheng Zha and the others were talking, the five newcomers also sat up from the ground. One of the women immediately screamed and desperately moved to the corner of the room. At the same time, the other four also jumped up. They chattered and made a ruckus. The newcomers consisted of four men and one woman: a bald man in his forties with a face full of fat, a bespectacled man in his thirties who looked refined, a young man in his twenties with a delicate appearance and a slightly baby-faced look, and a boy of eleven or twelve years old.

Zheng Zha sighed as he looked at the five newcomers. He said to Zhan Lan, "Why don't you explain the situation to them?"

Zhan Lan nodded with a wry smile. She began to explain the existence and rules of the "God's" space to the five people in detail, including death, enhancement, the cycle of horror movies, and so on. She only nodded slightly to Zheng Zha after she received the reward notification.

Tang Xing didn't disturb them; he was also secretly preparing his troops, which would be very interesting to work with as a team.

The five men appeared somewhat panicked and confused, especially since they were confined to this prison and had no way to escape. Zheng Zha looked at them calmly and said, "Just as I told you, we're currently in a horror movie loop. Here, we'll get injured, we'll die, and we'll even die in unbelievable situations. If you watch horror movies often, you'll know what I mean—like being corroded by a virus, being pierced through the body by an alien, being drained by ghosts, or even… being eaten alive by countless insects!"

The five men shuddered, but Tang Xing said nothing. After all, this was a normal human reaction. Of course, if Tang Xing already knew about this, he wouldn't worry. Zheng Zha then said, "Tell us about your previous professions and abilities. We'll decide whether you're qualified to join our team based on your abilities and character. If you're not a member, we'll give you a weapon, one hundred spirit bullets, and a gold brick. Of course, you can't leave this person's vicinity by more than five thousand meters..."

The bald, burly man with a face full of scars grinned menacingly, "Gold? Are you kidding me? I'm in jail now, so don't spout any nonsense. I don't believe a word of it." With that, the bald man punched the earthen wall of the prison. The punch actually dented the wall, showing he was indeed quite sturdy and powerful.

Just as the bald, burly man reached out, a shotgun was suddenly pressed against his neck. The tall man, over six feet, instantly sensed danger. He was then violently thrown into a corner of the cell with a loud thud. The bald man was half-dead from the impact. Half of his body was even wedged into the wall by the force of the fall.

It was Zheng Zha who made the move. Seeing that Tang Xing remained silent after making his threat, Zheng Zha walked over and swatted the guy away like a fly. Zheng Zha then clapped his hands lightly and said, "I understand. Your profession is criminal, right? Your specialties are intimidation and thuggery… You're useless to our team, and your aggression is too strong. We won't issue you any weapons."

The bald, burly man, surprisingly, stood his ground. He swayed his head as he pushed himself out of the wall, spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. He immediately roared menacingly at Zheng Zha, "You son of a bitch, do you know who I am? You dare to ambush me from behind? I'll beat you into two pancakes..."

Zhao Yingkong, who had been silent all along, suddenly flashed in front of him. The bald, burly man had just lowered his head when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in both arms. In the blink of an eye, both of his arms had been torn off. Before he could even shout, Zheng Zha had already slashed him with his dagger. The bald, burly man felt nothing and fell to the ground.

"Ah! Murder! Murder!" The bald, burly man had lost all his banditry and toughness. At this moment, tears and snot streamed down his face. After his hands and legs were cut off, only his torso remained, struggling desperately on the ground. The blood flowing from his limbs had already soaked the ground, and his torso lay in a pool of blood.

Zheng Zha silently took out hemostatic medicine and bandages, quickly stopped the bleeding of the bald man, and then turned to the other four newcomers and said coldly, "Anyone who can threaten the existence of our team will be turned into this. As long as you leave this man within five thousand meters, he will be directly wiped out by the 'God,' so don't test my patience..."

"However, I still have something good to give him. This is a special bacterium from the 'No More Bones' technique that I exchanged for. It can make him disappear in 3 days," Tang Xing said coldly, while quickly taking out a test tube and implanting it into the unfortunate guy's body. Inside was the special bacterium.

"That guy is not easy to deal with, he's too dangerous." The team members, including the newcomers, all felt that Tang Xing was far too dangerous. Some of those who knew about the "Boneless" bacteria turned pale; that thing was extremely dangerous.

Seeing Tang Xing in such danger, the well-dressed, bespectacled man immediately said, "My name is Gao Hongliang. I'm a computer programmer and I'm very confident in my computer programming skills. Uh, I hope to join your team, no, even just as a preliminary member would be fine. I have no other requirements, and it's okay if you don't even give me weapons first..." Before the bespectacled man could say anything more, Zheng Zha waved his hand to stop him. The man immediately stood quietly next to Zheng Zha and the others, as if he had met a leader. He really did look like a mid-level white-collar worker in a company.

The baby-faced young man scratched his head and said, "My name is Zhang Heng. I'm currently a junior in college and a substitute athlete for the Olympic archery competition. I have a lot of experience using compound bows, and my physical strength should be pretty good too. Hehe, I wonder if I can become your team member?"

The little boy was the strangest one. He leaned against the wall and kept drawing something with his finger until Zhang Heng finished speaking. Then he said calmly, "Xiao Honglu, twelve years old, lives in a mental hospital and is being studied. He has a strong premonition... I believe what you say."

"You're very nice. You remind me of someone," Tang Xing said to Xiao Honglu with a smile.

Just as the team members were talking, the prison door was suddenly flung open, and the story officially began.

Chapter 339 Infinite Possibilities

Three jailers entered from outside the prison gate and dragged the protagonist, O'Connor, out. They didn't seem to see Zheng Zha and his group, or even the bald, pained man. They simply pulled O'Connor out without even closing the prison gate.

Zheng Zha said calmly, "Alright, the Legend of Gods and Demons has officially begun. You four, please wait a moment." After saying that, he turned to look at Zhang Jie, Lingdian, and the others.

"Then let's discuss it. What should we do about the four of them..." Zheng Zha scratched his head helplessly.

Zhao Yingkong said calmly, "The best solution is... to cut off all four of their limbs and leave them here. When facing an attack from another team, we can't afford to worry about newcomers who have no combat ability... This is the most rational solution."

"Or, turning them into biological weapons would be a good option. I also have the T-virus here that can create zombies." Tang Xing looked coldly at the newcomers.

Zhang Jie, Qi Tengyi, and Zhan Lan all shook their heads at Tang Xing, while Zero Point added, "That's right, this is the law of the battlefield. Tang Xing's method is extreme, but they are not our partners yet. If we seven die while rescuing them, it would be a huge loss... Moreover, we can't leave them with the enemy team. If all four of us are killed, we'll lose 8,000 reward points. We must kill four of them to fully offset that loss..."

"Three against two?" Zheng Zha smiled wryly. He turned to look at Tang Xing. Although he was the acting captain, Zheng Zha knew that Tang Xing was practically the vice-captain in the team. Tang Xing said to Zheng Zha nonchalantly, "You're the captain, you decide."

“If you’re afraid of other teams…” At this moment, Xiao Honglu pried a few stones off the wall. He crushed them and put them back together, repeatedly crushing and starting over. As he played, he said, “If you’re afraid of other teams, then the four of us can be the bait.”

"Judging from the information you've provided, having gone through one or even several horror movies, you should be much stronger than ordinary people. Especially the one in the suit, he's beyond the realm of ordinary technology, as you could see from that experimental subject earlier... In other words, you don't want the seven of you to be in danger, do you? If the enemy outnumbers you, has better equipment, and is stronger, why wouldn't they attack the six of you? And even if they didn't attack at first, how do you know they won't attack later? Instead of risking the lives of the six of you to test the waters, why not use the four of us as bait?"

Upon hearing this, not only were Zheng Zha and the other six stunned, but even the other three newcomers stared blankly at him. The little boy continued to slowly tap the stones on the wall, muttering, "Rather than staying in the prison with no hope at all... I would rather choose the exit with only a one in ten thousand chance. I think the three of you feel the same way, right? Choose to be bait, or choose to be killed immediately?"

The other three newcomers nodded repeatedly. Zheng Zha and the others were stunned, because this little boy gave them a strange feeling. That feeling was like… Chu Xuan!

Zheng Zha sighed and nodded, saying, "Alright, the three of you are currently under surveillance, and you..." He pointed to the little boy, Xiao Honglu.

“You’re already a member of this team, but we won’t give you any weapons until this horror movie is over. We’ll also be monitoring you, but we’ll protect your safety. What do you think?” Zheng Zha and the others exchanged glances, and everyone, including Tang Xing, nodded silently before he spoke to Xiao Honglu.

Xiao Honglu threw down the stone and stood up. He said calmly, "I'm fine, but if we're going to run, you'll have to run with me... By the way, we've been talking for more than five minutes, haven't we? I think O'Connor, who was just taken away, will probably be released soon."

Zheng Zha and the others finally came to their senses and ran out of the cell with the other three newcomers. They ran along the cell corridor and headed out. Zhang Jie picked up Xiao Honglu and said, "Have you seen this movie? Do mental hospitals show movies?"

“It’s a mental hospital, not a mental hospital… Have you ever seen a movie where the male lead dies at the beginning of the story? So, if O’Connor is taken out of the cell, it’s either because he’s been released or because some plot point has occurred. We have to keep him within 5,000 meters. If we let him leave the prison, we’ll be at a disadvantage because we won’t be able to find him. If he’s more than 5,000 meters away from us, then we’ll probably be waiting to die like that bald guy.” Xiao Honglu said, pinching his black hair.

(He really does look like you, bro. Even though he has things you don't, he really does!)

Thinking to himself, Zheng Zha ran up to Zhang Jie and asked, "Didn't you say you had precognitive abilities? Could you foresee those things? The future or..."

“Death! I can sense death coming... Don’t worry, if any of you are going to die, I will definitely tell him in advance.” Xiao Honglu sneered. He plucked a hair, then placed it on his fingertip and blew on it gently. The hair disappeared without a trace.

At this moment, the prison corridor was crowded with prisoners, all of them crammed together looking out. Outside the corridor was a large square, which was enclosed by the semi-circular corridor. In the very center of the square stood a wooden gallows, and the person standing on the gallows was none other than the movie's male protagonist, O'Connor.

Xiao Honglu suddenly asked Zheng Zha urgently, "The movie plot can be changed, right? For example, if we kill O'Connor now, how will the movie proceed?"

Zheng Zha paused for a moment and said, "Next... there will probably be some other changes due to the plot. For example, the undead priest might be resurrected, or we might be made to follow someone else, or it might be just our group searching for the city of the dead, Hamunaptra... Do you sense anything?"

Xiao Honglu pulled his hair back from his forehead and said calmly, "Since the movie plot can be changed, anything can happen in the movie now that we're here. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that O'Connor is likely to die during the hanging. Although I don't know how he was saved in the original movie, if you don't want the movie plot to change because of the male lead's death, you might as well save him later..."

Zheng Zha was quite decisive. He quickly said to Tang Xing, "Tang Xing, your weapons are too conspicuous. Zero, do you still have that silenced pistol? How confident are you in sniping the gallows from here?"

Zero glanced at the plaza outside the corridor and nodded, saying, "No problem, I can see everything in that direction very clearly now... If it's just a rope, I can snipe it without alerting anyone."

After O'Connor was put in a noose and lowered onto the gallows, he was suspended in mid-air. According to the plot, the female lead was negotiating with the warden to save him at this moment. However, more than ten seconds passed, and the warden still did not give any order to release him. When O'Connor's struggles became weaker and weaker, the noose broke automatically, and he fell to the ground. Unseen by everyone, a small crater appeared on the ground not far from the gallows.

Aside from what Tang Xing was thinking, Zheng Zha and the others immediately looked at Xiao Honglu. The little boy plucked a hair, blew on it lightly with his fingertip, glanced at Tang Xing, and murmured, "...Infinite possibilities? Infinite future."

Chapter 340 Team Battle Analysis

Compared to the prisoners, Zheng Zha and his group, who possessed a lot of diamonds and US dollars, easily left the prison. The guards treated them as important guests visiting the prison. In any case, this so-called Cairo prison was not very formal. The group quietly waited at the prison gate for the movie's male protagonist and others to come out.

While waiting, Zheng Zha suddenly asked Xiao Honglu, "You said you were being studied in a mental hospital, so you're not mentally ill?"

Xiao Honglu was already standing on the ground. He kept twirling his hair with his fingers and said, "That's right. The brain's nerve center and cerebral cortex folds are abnormally developed, so much so that I can often feel some strange things... such as a death aura permeating around us, and some of us will die soon."

After he said that, everyone around him looked embarrassed. This was inevitable. Anyone would feel embarrassed when they heard that they were going to die, especially when it came from an eleven or twelve-year-old boy. You couldn't possibly look angry at a little boy, could you?

However, Tang Xing knew that Xiao Honglu had this ability according to the original plot.

Zheng Zha remained expressionless, chuckling as he crouched down and looked directly at Xiao Honglu, saying, "It seems there are quite a few people in this world with special abilities. Being able to foresee death, Tang Xing, your power is even stronger than superpowers?"