"Talking time is over."
The corpse controlled by Hive pulled its facial muscles upward, the corners of its mouth stretching all the way to its ears into a savage grin.
"I deliberately gave you this much time to prepare. Your stamina should've recovered quite a bit by now, right?"
"Heh, don't make yourself sound so noble."
Steve, whose thoughts had been exposed, showed no abnormal reaction and sneered in return:
"We're both the same. Weren't you also stalling for time?"
Hive grinned without denying it.
In truth—
Steve had already noticed that Hive was deliberately buying time, but he intentionally let it happen.
After all...
This guy's acting was terrible.
The malice in those eyes was completely undisguised, naked killing intent radiating outward. As long as someone wasn't blind or stupid, a little thought would make the situation obvious.
Villains who kept rambling like this were usually either plotting something, or already believed victory was certain.
The reason Steve didn't expose him and instead played along with Hive's intentions was very simple—
He was recovering his strength.
And now...
He had mostly recovered.
His five fingers slowly clenched one by one. Feeling that special energy inside his body, although it hadn't fully replenished yet, it should be enough for a battle.
A bit more confidence rose in Steve's heart as his sharp gaze swept across the surrounding corpses.
"Bring out your real body. Are you planning to fight me using these corpses?"
"Hehehehehe..."
The corpses let out sinister laughter, then suddenly erupted into motion in unison, pouncing toward him like crazed beasts with bared fangs and claws.
"You're courting death!"
Steve's face turned cold. Calm and unhurried, he raised his shield to block an incoming strike.
The weak force was no more than a mosquito bite. It didn't even push him back a single step.
"When they were alive, they weren't my opponents. Do you really think dying made them stronger?"
Without even using that mysterious energy, relying solely on his Super Soldier physique, he could effortlessly withstand these corpses' feeble attacks.
Even while surrounded by over a dozen people, Steve still appeared completely at ease.
Whoosh—
At that moment, a foul stench rushed toward him.
A corpse lunged from the side, its grotesque face twisted savagely, those stiff gray-white pupils radiating brutal killing intent.
Steve twisted his waist and hips in place, unleashing a powerful high roundhouse kick.
The air itself screamed from the force, the speed so fast it left behind afterimages.
Bang!
The corpse's head exploded like a watermelon, filthy matter splattering everywhere.
"Still not coming out?"
Steve's patience had completely run out. He no longer wanted to waste time with Hive.
The moment his words fell, thunderous explosions suddenly erupted throughout the room.
Hive's pupils contracted slightly.
Steve stepped half a pace forward, and Hive immediately felt the ground violently tremble.
A deep footprint was left behind on the silver metal floor.
Boom!
Using the reactive force generated from that step, Steve shot forward like a cannonball.
His body violently tore through the air, kicking up a raging torrent of wind.
There were no techniques.
Nor any fancy skills.
Just like a herd of enraged elephants charging across the African plains—
A simple charge alone.
But that utterly unmatched brute force shook the earth itself, instilling terror into all living beings.
Bang bang bang bang—
Everyone brushed by or struck along the way resembled reefs smashed apart by tidal waves, or victims hit head-on by a speeding train.
Their bodies directly exploded into clouds of blood, shattered into pieces.
In the past, perhaps he would have shown mercy.
But after reading those documents, these researchers had already been sentenced to death in his heart.
Even as corpses, he didn't want to leave them intact.
Perhaps due to the influence of his left arm, he discovered that he had become much more violent.
Although he didn't know whether this change was good or bad...
At least for now—
He didn't dislike it.
"Still not getting out?"
Steve came to an abrupt halt.
White vapor curled around his body as intense friction between skin and air released scorching heat waves.
From the mangled flesh burst over a dozen black beetles, their wings buzzing as they hovered in midair.
To Steve's surprise, they spoke in human language:
"I must admit, you are an exceptionally outstanding warrior."
"So this is your true form?"
Steve frowned deeply, unable to hide the disgust on his face.
"You're only half right."
The dozen or so beetles buzzed about, releasing sinister laughter.
"My true body is indeed insects... but insects are not my true body."
"What does that mean?"
Steve froze slightly, failing to understand the meaning behind Hive's words.
"It means..."
Before the sentence finished, the metal doors were suddenly ripped open from outside.
Backlit by daylight, a long shadow stretched across the floor.
The second half of the sentence came from the newcomer's mouth:
"This is my true body. Do you understand now?"
The beetles flapped their wings and landed on the man's open palm, slowly burrowing into his flesh.
"So... gods look like this?!"
Steve sized him up briefly, his eye twitching uncontrollably.
The skin was gray-white like a long-dead corpse.
Although the figure resembled a human, the head was completely inhuman, similar to some sort of deep-sea creature, covered in disgusting tentacles.
The face lacked both a nose and ears.
Its mouth resembled that of a lamprey—small yet savage, filled with horrifying sharp teeth.
Within the deeply sunken eye sockets were amber-colored fish eyes, revealing arrogance and conceit.
Ugly...
Not just ordinary ugly.
Even judged by non-human standards, the creature was grotesque beyond measure.
Beauty was a concept utterly unrelated to it.
Rather than a god...
It looked more like a monster.
"Don't look at me with those eyes."
Hive's expression darkened. Flames flickered within those amber fish eyes as he spoke sinisterly:
"After I rule the entire Earth, I will establish a new civilization. As for humanity... remnants of the old era like them are perfectly suited to become breeding nests for a new race."
"Then you'll have to get through me first!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth—
Steve had already moved.
Like a furious tyrannosaurus, he shattered the solid metal floor beneath him and unleashed a devastating punch straight ahead.
"Giant's Strike!!!"
Roaring spirit energy coiled around his left arm, releasing a heaven-shaking blow.
Rolling shockwaves surged like raging tides, completely swallowing Hive.
BOOM!!!
The laboratory's massive metal doors were blown to pieces by that punch.
The violent force poured outward, creating a terrifying storm throughout the hundred-meter-long metal corridor.
Starting from Steve's position, the corridor ahead was engulfed in swirling dust and smoke.
The shockwave produced by that punch was almost tangible, like a giant dragon tearing through vast clouds.
A clearly visible trench nearly half a meter wide was forcibly carved into the sturdy metal floor, extending all the way to the end of the corridor.