Chapter 238: The Ambush by the Absorbing Man
"Flying back and forth!"
After storing the Cosmic Cube and the machine used to extract energy from it, George followed the conveyor belt, placing each glass jar filled with blue energy into a box one by one.
During this process, a large number of fully armed Hydra soldiers tried to stop him, but all ended up falling under the fire of their own energy guns.
As for those energy guns, George stored them in the box as well.
These weapons, powered by the energy of the Cosmic Cube, were quite powerful. Even in the universe, they could be considered decent weapons. Even if George wouldn't use them in the future, he could give them to someone else.
"Who is this guy?"
Inside the base's office, Dr. Zola, who had already merged with a robot, was watching the footage transmitted from the surveillance cameras. He saw George casually walk in and take away the Cosmic Cube and the machine, killing every Hydra soldier who rushed over.
The scene was so shocking that the monitor began to glitch with static, and the CPU emitted a puff of smoke.
He quickly accessed Hydra's intelligence database and began searching for information about George.
"Principal of the Academy of Superpowers. Pierce borrowed robot soldiers because of him. Possesses the abilities of Magneto and Professor X, and can also summon lightning..."
Moments later, all the data related to George was loaded into his memory.
"The Cosmic Cube must not be lost!"
Even though he knew how powerful George was, Zola was still unwilling to just give up like that.
He had schemed for so many years, and had only just managed to get the Cosmic Cube back into his hands. He had just begun researching it—how could he let someone steal it now?
Moreover, if Hydra wanted to completely dominate the Earth and solidify its regime in the future, all kinds of powerful energy weapons were absolutely essential.
Without the Cosmic Cube, there would be no Cube energy. Without energy, energy weapons were nothing more than metal sticks.
"Carl Creel, go deal with the intruder. Remember, he can control metal. Do not transform into metal."
Carl Creel, once a boxer in Hell's Kitchen, had lost a match he should have won, causing his boss heavy losses and nearly getting thrown into the sea to feed sharks.
However, he unexpectedly awakened the ability to alter the molecular structure of his body through touch, and was monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a superhuman.
Later, he was recruited by Hydra and had his powers enhanced through experiments, becoming Dr. Zola's bodyguard—nicknamed "The Absorbing Man."
Zola believed that as long as the Absorbing Man didn't transform into metal, George's metal-controlling powers would not affect him. Moreover, when the Absorbing Man altered his molecular structure, it also blocked mental abilities, making him immune to psychic influence.
With other Hydra soldiers providing support, there was still a chance to win.
"All done. Now, time to deal with Dr. Zola."
After finishing storing all the energy jars and weapons, George used a tracking spell to trace Dr. Zola's location.
A scientist like Zola had to be taken care of. Otherwise, who knew what kind of troublesome black tech he might create in the future.
In the Marvel universe, the people you could never underestimate were the scientists—especially Earth's scientists. They might seem like ordinary intellectuals doing research, but they could unexpectedly cause a major crisis at any time.
Many of Marvel's villains originated from science backgrounds.
Like Bolivar Trask, who created the Sentinel robots; the omnipotent Lord Doom; Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, Green Goblin, and so on.
Although Zola had merged with a robot, as long as his soul still existed, the tracking spell would not fail.
"Reveal footprints, Arnim Zola!"
As the spell activated, golden traces pointing toward Zola's location began appearing in front of George.
By following the traces, he would be able to find Zola.
However, he hadn't gone far before a large group of Hydra soldiers blocked his way.
These Hydra soldiers were no longer wielding energy weapons. Instead, each of them held non-metallic shields and charged at George in a frenzy.
George didn't pay them much attention. He directly controlled the energy guns floating nearby and began firing at the Hydra soldiers.
Zola must have discovered his identity and learned some information about him, so he ordered the Hydra soldiers to use non-metallic shields to get close and attempt to kill him in close combat.
But it was obvious these non-metallic shields weren't specially made—just makeshift items with some defensive qualities, including people holding up solid wooden doors.
Naturally, these makeshift shields weren't very effective against energy weapons.
So before they could even get close to George, more than half of them had already been taken down by the energy guns.
"200 Million Volts Shock!"
The remaining Hydra soldiers, thinking they had finally seen a glimmer of hope after approaching George, were suddenly hit with a massive burst of electricity from his body, instantly electrocuting everyone until they were charred inside and out, collapsing to the ground.
However, just as he was about to continue moving forward, he suddenly sensed a fist strike coming from behind. He immediately dodged to the side.
"There's still a straggler? And he avoided my telepathy."
Standing before him was a muscular man wearing a Hydra combat uniform, but his skin looked like rubber.
Seeing George dodge the attack, the man showed no sign of stopping. He launched a series of well-coordinated punches at George with great skill.
Unfortunately for him, George not only had magic and superpowers, but his physical body was far beyond that of an ordinary person—especially his neural reflexes.
He effortlessly dodged all of the man's attacks.
What surprised George, however, was not just that this man could withstand a 200-million-volt shock, but also that he managed to block his telepathic sensing.
Normally, if someone near him harbored malicious intent or planned a sneak attack, his telepathy would immediately pick it up. This man had just crashed unconscious to the ground, yet George hadn't sensed anything.
"Looks like he's a superhuman too."
With that thought in mind, George stopped playing around. He stepped back to dodge the attack, then flicked a coin into the air.
"Railgun!"
The coin, charged with electricity, struck the man at supersonic speed. He was sent flying, crashing into the base wall, with a hole the size of a fist blasted into his chest.
"He's not dead?"
To George's surprise, even after such an attack, the man didn't die. Instead, the hole in his chest slowly regenerated and returned to normal.
"That hurt! I'm going to kill you!"
The man roared, pulling out a small piece of granite from his pocket. He activated his ability, and his body instantly transformed into a form of solid granite. He then leaped toward George with crushing force.
"So it's the Absorbing Man!"
Seeing the man's body shift from rubber to granite, George immediately realized his identity.
He drew his wand and aimed at the descending Absorbing Man, chanting:
"Avada Kedavra!"
A green magical beam hit the Absorbing Man directly. He instantly reverted from granite form to normal, closed his eyes, and collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
(End of Chapter)