"Listen, Mark, your dad is going to conquer the World. You and Russell need to stop him." Seeing her son return, Debbie wiped away her tears. As the only adult in the family, she had to be strong now.
"What?"
Mark was stunned, as if he hadn't heard clearly.
In fact, he had heard clearly, but his father, Omni-Man, the Superhero who had always protected Earth, was going to conquer the World?
"Mark, there's no time to explain. The Global Guardians were killed by your dad. He's been lying to us all along. His mission from the Viltrum Empire to Earth was to conquer this World."
Debbie pushed Mark outside, urging him to go with his Cousin Russell to catch up to Omni-Man and stop him before he caused irreversible damage to this World.
"Get ready, Ciscel." Russell took out an earphone and put it on.
"Ready for what?" Looking at his Cousin, who was serious and seemed prepared, Mark felt his head was about to explode. The sheer amount of information was overwhelming him.
Russell sympathetically patted Mark's shoulder and left first, letting Aunt Debbie continue to explain the current situation to him.
The situation was too sudden, and Mark, who had been kept in the dark, couldn't immediately accept the reality. However, it didn't matter; Russell had already prepared for the possibility that Mark wouldn't be much help.
"Omni-Man has appeared over Yellowstone Park."
At the Global Defense Agency, Ciscel was already prepared, using satellites to clearly track Omni-Man's current movements.
"Yellowstone Park?"
Russell's expression shifted slightly.
Beneath Yellowstone National Park in the United States lies one of Earth's most destructive supervolcanoes.
A magma chamber about 70 kilometers in diameter and 10 kilometers thick, this massive magma reservoir is only 8 kilometers from the surface at its closest point and is constantly expanding. If it erupts, it could destroy most life on Earth.
"Omni-Man's goal is to conquer the World, not destroy it. He probably wants to use this volcano to threaten the countries of Earth into disarming and surrendering immediately."
Russell said.
"Send Immortal Man. I'll be there immediately."
"Wait, Cousin, I'll go with You. I need to ask dad, has he been lying to us all these years? If everything is fake, what is real?"
Aunt Debbie quickly told her son everything that had happened: the blood-stained suit and Omni-Man's confession. Mark clenched his fists, a surge of anger from being deceived churning within him.
...
The last ray of twilight sank below the horizon, and the night sky over Yellowstone Park was dotted with the campfires and camping lights of the campgrounds, resembling a sea of stars.
A group of people were having a barbecue party, holding up their phones to film the meat on the grill, when suddenly someone saw something on their phone screen.
"That's... Look at that!"
The man wearing a baseball cap moved his phone away and pointed at the sky, exclaiming.
Everyone looked into the distance. Someone zoomed in with their phone's high-power lens and saw the familiar figure with the red cape—Omni-Man was hovering several hundred meters above the Yellowstone volcano.
His cape fluttered in the evening wind, and his face was obscured in Shadow, making his expression unreadable.
"It's Omni-Man!" The crowd erupted in cheers. Someone immediately held up their phone to start a live stream. "Why is he here? Is he on a mission?
Omni..."
Before the cheers had even faded—
Rumble—!!!
Under everyone's gaze, Nolan dove down like a projectile, slamming his fist into the ground.
The moment that punch struck the Earth, the air within a few kilometers was compressed into a tangible Impact wave.
Tourists were knocked off their feet, and picnic tables and tents were swept into the sky like fallen leaves. The ground cracked like a fragile eggshell, and a bottomless fissure spread outwards from the center of the punch.
Boom, boom, boom!
As people, dazed and covered in dirt, scrambled to their feet, before they could even stand steady, the ground kept shaking, as if drilling missiles were repeatedly bombarding the ground of the Yellowstone volcano.
The ground bucked violently like the back of a furious horse. Everyone belatedly realized what was happening and screamed as they fled.
"What is Omni-Man doing? Is there some monster there?" Someone who had specifically read up on Yellowstone Park before the picnic fled with a look of terror.
"You absolutely cannot fight here!"
"If the volcanic geological layer beneath Yellowstone Park is subjected to severe impact and vibration, it could very likely cause a volcanic eruption, and the entire World will face the end of days."
Beep, beep.
"Magnitude 6.3 earthquake detected!"
"Magma layer pressure is rising sharply!"
Alarms blared throughout the park management area.
News helicopters ventured closer. Impact waves spread out one after another, dust and smoke rose into the sky, and the blurry figure in the red cape made the hard granite layers seem like brittle foam under his fists.
He punched repeatedly, creating earthquakes that could be felt clearly for hundreds of miles.
Cities were already in a panic.
"Omni-Man, what is he doing?" A reporter holding a camera was in disbelief.
Nolan's fist paused slightly as he noticed the helicopter in the distance. A few kilometers of rock layers could be punched through in just a few hits if he wanted.
He chose to work slowly only because he didn't want to actually cause the volcano beneath his feet to erupt.
The Viltrum Empire wanted a Planet suitable for colonization, not a dead World.
By now, the entire World was probably paying attention to this place. Omni-Man suddenly flashed in front of the helicopter, terrifying the reporters inside. He snatched the camera with lightning speed, held it up to himself with one hand, his face cold and emotionless.
"Listen well, countries of Earth." His voice, like a killing machine filled with cold killing intent, spread across every corner of the globe through the live broadcast lens. "You have 24 hours to disband all armies and destroy nuclear weapons, or I will detonate this supervolcano."
"A new era is coming—whether You are ready or not!"
Saying this, Omni-Man swung his fist. On screen, the helicopter spun and flew backwards, trailing black smoke, looking as if it would crash to the ground and explode into a fireball.
People around the World were horrified.
The Superhero who had once saved the World was now threatening to kill people live on broadcast. The people in the helicopter screamed, their voices shrill. Some couldn't bear to watch.
Suddenly, a figure in a black suit killed his way over like a black lightning bolt. A strong arm caught the helicopter.
"Uncle, it's still not too late to stop!"
Holding up the helicopter, Russell slowly raised his head, a calm light shining towards Omni-Man.
"Russell? You came after all!"
Omni-Man had intended to kill a few people to show the whole World, lest the impression of him as a Superhero be too deep and people who held onto hope might think he was just messing around. Now, he was stopped.
"You should remember what I said."
His face was so grim it could almost drip Water. He was about to dive down, like a missile, to smash the helicopter and then punch Russell in the face.
"Do You really think sacrificing your life for a group of strangers is worth it?!"
Whoosh!
Just as Nolan made his diving motion, a figure suddenly appeared between them. Mark extended his arms to block Nolan, his face full of anger.
"Enough, father!"
"Mark?"
A vein twitched at Omni-Man's temple.
Watching Omni-Man threaten countries globally and start killing.
In bars in London, people's beer glasses fell; in the subway stations of Paris, commuters stared at their phone screens, dumbfounded; in Moscow's Red Square, tourists looked up at the big screen, letting out gasps of terror.
At the campground in Yellowstone Park, the person who had first spotted Nolan collapsed to the ground, his phone camera still pointed at the sky.
The live stream's bullet comments had exploded, with the number of viewers exceeding ten million. He looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar blue figure on the screen and trembled, muttering:
"This is impossible... This is definitely not the Omni-Man we know..."
"Infinitoid, is that Infinitoid?!"
"And In... Invincible, they've come to stop Omni-Man!"
"Is Omni-Man being mind-controlled?"
"That's the most powerful Superhero in the World. If Omni-Man goes crazy, who can stop him?
Earth is finished!"
"Can Infinitoid and Invincible stop Omni-Man?"