Xiao Han leaned by the Villa's swimming pool, his fingertips gently tapping the rim of the glass, the red wine shimmering with an amber glow under the moonlight.
He closed his eyes, his Super Vision expanding like an invisible radar, the sounds of the World flooding into his ears like a tide.
The wail of police sirens on New York streets, the station announcements on Tokyo subways, the debates in the London Parliament, the whispers of underground arms deals in Moscow… billions of sounds intertwined into a cacophonous torrent.
He filtered this information precisely, searching for valuable fragments.
"…Superman, I want a girlfriend…"
"…Hurry, Mark, hope that Superman doesn't come tonight…"
"…Officer, tomorrow's parliament…"
Countless pieces of information were filtered and screened in Xiao Han's ears.
Suddenly, a faint sound caught his attention.
"If there really is a Superman… then please come and save me…"
The sound was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet it carried a heartbreaking despair.
Xiao Han's eyes snapped open, his Super Vision piercing through layers of obstruction, locking onto a HYDRA Base deep in the mountains somewhere in Eastern Europe.
Inside a transparent cylindrical glass enclosure, a red-haired girl sat.
She was about nineteen or twenty years old, with fair skin, and her red eyes flickered with pain and hope.
Crimson energy flowed around her like a living thing, occasionally striking the glass enclosure, causing the external instruments to emit a piercing alarm.
He put down the red wine glass, slowly stood up, and Water droplets slid down the contours of his muscles, glistening under the moonlight.
He put on his clothes and picked up the watch nearby.
With a hum of nanomachines, the multi-functional watch on Xiao Han's wrist instantly disintegrated, and countless black particles spread along his arm like living things.
In less than a second, the dark battle suit covered his entire body, the golden S emblem on his chest faintly flashing under the moonlight.
Xiao Han walked to the Villa's terrace, the night wind brushing against the surface of the battle suit.
He closed his eyes again, his Super Vision precisely locking onto that faint cry for help, somewhere in Eastern Europe, a HYDRA Base hidden underground, a red-haired girl's desperate whisper.
"Found it."
He raised his right hand, golden magic energy flickering at his fingertips.
With a fluid circling motion, fine golden fire sparks appeared in the air, quickly expanding into a two-meter diameter teleportation gate.
On the other side of the gate, a dim laboratory and the red-haired girl suspended in the glass enclosure were faintly visible.
Xiao Han didn't hesitate, stepping into the teleportation gate.
The golden fire sparks slowly extinguished behind him, and the Villa returned to tranquility, with only the surface of the swimming pool gently rippling, as if narrating everything that had just happened.
Half an hour ago
Eastern Europe
HYDRA Secret Base
Laboratory
Wanda was curled up in the glass enclosure, her hands wrapped around her knees, her gaze fixed on the operating table in the center of the laboratory.
Lying there was a thin boy, no more than fifteen years old, his pale wrists secured by metal shackles, his bare chest covered in electrodes.
His pupils were dilated, and his lips trembled with fear, but he couldn't make any sound; HYDRA's nerve inhibitors had stripped him even of the right to scream.
"Subject 47, X-gene activation test, 9th attempt."
A researcher wearing a gas mask coldly recorded the data, while another held a syringe flashing with a greenish liquid, the liquid dripping from the needle tip casting an eerie glow under the operating light.
"Serum concentration increased to 80%, adding a new catalyst."
Wanda's fingernails dug deeply into her palms. She had seen this kind of experiment too many times.
And failure meant Death.
The needle pierced the boy's neck, and the serum was slowly pushed in. At first, nothing happened.
Then
The boy's muscles suddenly spasmed, his back arched, and a hoarse whimper squeezed from his throat.
His skin began to turn red, and blood vessels wriggled under the skin, as if countless snakes were crawling inside his body.
"Vital signs soaring! Heart rate 220!" The researcher's voice held a hint of excitement.
The boy's bones made a grating cracking sound, his arms twisted and deformed, his knuckles elongated, and his fingernails hardened into dark claws.
His pupils contracted into Beast-like vertical slits, and a low growl rumbled in his throat.
"Successful?" someone whispered.
The next second
Splurt!
The boy's chest suddenly burst open, a white bone spur piercing through flesh and skin, blood splattering onto the sterile floor.
His scream finally broke through his throat, tearing through his heart.
"Out of control! Suppress him!"
The alarm blared piercingly, and soldiers raised their taser guns, but it was too late.
The boy's body was torn apart by an invisible force, his bones turned outward, his muscles swelled, and his skin cracked inch by inch. His head twisted and deformed, his jaw split open, revealing terrifying fangs.
"Kill him! Quick!"
High-voltage electricity struck the boy's back, but only made him more violent.
He broke free from the shackles, tearing apart the nearest soldier with a claw, blood splashing onto the operating light, staining the entire laboratory crimson.
Wanda desperately covered her mouth, the energy of Chaos Magic uncontrollably flickering at her fingertips.
She looked at the boy, no, that was no longer human.
He lunged at the second researcher, his sharp teeth crushing his throat.
"Initiate incineration protocol!"
The vents on the ceiling opened, and blinding White flames poured down.
The boy howled in the Fire, his skin carbonizing and peeling off, yet still struggling.
His gaze suddenly met Wanda's, and in those eyes, a trace of human despair still lingered.
"Save… me…"
His lips moved, silently pleading.
Then
Boom!
The laboratory's blast door was opened, and a heavily armed squad rushed in, energy rifles firing in unison.
The boy's body was blasted into pieces, charred remains scattered everywhere.
The flames extinguished, leaving only the pungent smell of burning and flashing alarm lights in the laboratory.
"Subject 47, failed. Record: Uncontrollable mutation after X-gene activation, recommend reducing serum concentration, adjusting catalyst ratio."
The researcher's voice was as cold as if discussing a scrapped machine.
They didn't even spare a glance at the pile of charred corpses, just waved for the cleaning robot to come in and handle it.
"Let's go, another wasted effort today," one researcher called out to the other.
"Baron Strucker said if there's no progress tomorrow, we'll all be punished."
"God…"
Wanda's tears silently streamed down, the red glow of Chaos Magic condensed in her palm, then extinguished.
She had seen such things too many times; the only thing she could do was protect herself.
Soon, everyone evacuated, leaving only two guarding soldiers.
Under the cold White lights, Wanda Maximoff was curled up in the glass enclosure, her slender fingers unconsciously rubbing the ground.
Again, she had witnessed another subject die in agony, a boy who was only in his teens.
The two HYDRA soldiers outside the glass enclosure leaned against the wall, chatting idly out of boredom.
"Heard the news outside lately?" The tall soldier fiddled with the energy rifle in his hand.
"That Superman stopped a runaway truck in Tokyo with one hand last night, didn't even scratch the paint."
The short soldier scoffed, "Reading too many comics? Superman? At most, some Super-powered person, or a Mutant."
"It's true!"
The tall soldier lowered his voice, pulled out his phone, and shook it, "My friend is in S.H.I.E.L.D. logistics, said the satellite captured him crossing the Pacific Ocean at an extremely fast speed. The higher-ups have already ordered all Bases to enter Level 2 alert, fearing this monster will show up."
Wanda's fingertips trembled slightly, the red glow of Chaos Magic faintly appearing and disappearing in her palm.
She held her breath and pressed her ear against the glass.
"If you ask me, the higher-ups should secretly use the Tesseract to create an anti-Superman weapon," the short soldier kicked the shackles at his feet.
"These Mutant monsters are all…"
"Shut up!"
The tall soldier suddenly scanned the laboratory alertly, "Do you want to be transformed into a reptile by Baron Strucker?"
The two fell silent, but Wanda's heart pounded violently.
Superman?
Her gaze fell on her trembling hands, the crimson energy flickering between her fingers like tiny lightning bolts.
"If there really is a Superman…" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Please… come and save me…"
Immediately, she chuckled to herself, shaking her head mockingly.
In this World, Superman was always a character in comics, how could he appear to save her?
Just then, golden red flowers made a sound in the air.
A golden teleportation gate slowly opened.
Wanda suddenly looked up.
A black figure stood on the other side of the teleportation gate.
His eyes burned with the light of the Sun.