Chapter 43: New Abilities to Manipulate Energy
The detached villa, with its stark and simple Nordic style, exuded a hint of elite indifference.
After easily dealing with a few stubborn farmers, Rickman returned home. He tossed the car keys onto the coffee table and headed towards the underground wine cellar to pick out a bottle of red wine for a leisurely tasting.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the reflection on the glass surface of the coffee table, standing silently behind him.
He jumped in fright and stumbled backward, his hair standing on end.
"Who are you?"
The tall figure, dressed in blue overalls like a lumberjack and sturdy brown logging boots, with a blue hood featuring only two eye holes, spoke in a low voice.
"Mr. Rickman, don't be afraid."
"What do you want?"
Seeing that the other party wasn't holding a gun, Rickman, who had been startled, breathed a sigh of relief and showed annoyance.
"You used abnormal means to control the farmers into selling their farms and homes without their knowledge. That's not fair!"
"Control? I don't know what you're talking about."
A flicker of unease crossed Rickman's eyes.
"If you want money, you don't need to play these mind games."
"I don't want your money. I just want you to cancel those contracts that were based on falsehoods and caused trouble for the farmers."
Clark stepped forward. His tall frame was strong and powerful, exuding a potent pressure.
Rickman feigned fear and took a step back, then in the next second, he lunged forward rapidly, attempting to touch Clark's neck.
Swish!
His vision blurred, and Rickman lunged into empty air. Clark was already behind him.
"I know your ability.
I suspect you can't activate it without some form of physical contact."
His father, Jonathan, had initially remained clear-headed and forcefully refused the other party. It was only after shaking hands with the person in front of him that he lost his memory and signed. If he could control others with a mere thought, it wouldn't have been so complicated.
It was highly likely that physical contact was necessary to activate his ability, much like Sean, who had to touch others to absorb their body heat.
"If you don't want your ability to be exposed, you'd better do as I say, Mr. Rickman."
"You... you!"
Turning to look at the blue-clad figure who had instantly appeared behind him, Rickman's eyes widened, and his voice was filled with astonishment. "You have abilities too."
"Cancel the contracts, or should I send news of your ability to all the major newspapers?"
Ignoring Rickman's shock, Clark applied the tactics that Fran had once used to threaten him, adapting them perfectly.
"You choose, Mr. Rickman."
"I... I agree."
With a flash of indignation and contemplation in his eyes, Rickman struggled for a moment before speaking.
In reality, there was no need to overthink it. On one side was the exposure of his greatest secret, the ruin of his multi-billion dollar enterprise's reputation, and being overwhelmed by the strange and wary gazes of others. On the other side was a factory plot worth a few hundred thousand dollars that hadn't even begun construction.
"A wise choice.
I'll be watching you, Mr. Rickman. If the contracts aren't canceled by sunset, tomorrow's headlines in this city's newspapers will be reserved for you."
With that, Clark flashed away, a gust of wind blowing the curtains. His tall figure disappeared from the room like a phantom.
Rickman was left alone in the room, his expression shifting between shock and anger, his fists clenched tightly.
Suddenly, he noticed a few small patches of dirt mixed with grass fragments on the polished, black-and-grey marble floor where the blue-clad man had been standing.
Rickman's eyes lit up. He walked over and crouched down, carefully picking them up.
"Fair?
You know who I am, but I don't know who you are. Isn't that also unfair?"
"Hello, is this the Metropolis Geological Survey Bureau?" He pulled out his phone, dialed, and sneered. "I need to submit some soil samples for testing..."
...
Deep within the forest, David looked at his hands, feeling the immense power surging within him. He punched a large tree, thick enough for an adult to embrace, in front of him.
Crack!
The tree, weighing several tons, snapped. Accompanied by the sound of breaking branches, it fell to the ground between two other trees, kicking up a cloud of dust.
David turned and punched another tree. Wood chips flew everywhere, and the broken tree was sent flying several meters before landing on the ground.
"In both punches, I used the same amount of force."
The difference was that the second punch carried the kinetic energy he had absorbed during the first punch.
This was the Black King's ability – to absorb various forms of energy and convert them into his own, which he could then release at will, or temporarily enhance his strength, speed, and endurance with.
The energy he could absorb included, but was not limited to, kinetic energy, thermal energy, electrical energy, and even magical energy, granting him incredibly formidable defenses.
"The Black King's abilities can effortlessly drain a small nuclear reactor, which is quite a powerful template."
A vast, ocean-like surge of energy pulsed within David.
Furthermore, after merging with Thanos's appearance, his energy absorption limit had been greatly increased!
As a mutant Eternal, Thanos contained cosmic energy in every drop of his blood and every cell, making him a massive energy container in himself.
"However, it seems I can primarily absorb kinetic energy right now."
David experimented with the newly acquired ability.
Absorbing kinetic energy was effortless, as simple as breathing or drinking water.
He fired an energy beam from his hand, igniting the scattered wood on the ground. He then reached into the fire, finding absorption much more difficult.
"It's like my throat is parched and smoking after not drinking for days, and I'm being forced to swallow unappetizing, uncooked grains. It's not smooth at all."
He shook his head.
Whoosh!
"It must be because the template fusion isn't high enough yet."
Withdrawing his hand from the fire, David's eyes showed deep thought. He took a deep breath and blew out.
A fierce gust of wind extinguished the fire, preventing a blaze from consuming the forest.
He figured that once his fusion level increased, he would be able to absorb other energies, like electrical and thermal energy from the physical side.
Upon reaching full fusion, he should be able to absorb magical energy from the magic side.
"My magic resistance will reach a terrifying level by then."
"Most superheroes or supervillains' abilities lack any special resistance to magic."
For example, Clark's magic resistance was quite ordinary compared to his physical resistance, leading to him being jokingly called having negative magic resistance.
"Although the Black King's abilities were strong, they weren't without flaws and weaknesses. After merging with the Thanos template, these defects have disappeared."
David felt the cosmic energy spontaneously regenerating within him, excitement flashing in his eyes.
For instance, if the Black King's internal energy wasn't replenished, it would slowly deplete. Without energy, he was just an ordinary person. To maintain sufficient kinetic and internal energy, he had to be beaten up, or continuously punch walls, or use charging methods to replenish his energy.
This was undoubtedly troublesome, but he didn't have to worry about it.
David possessed the Eternal physique and could spontaneously regenerate cosmic energy, filling his entire body with it.
"Another thing is that approaching the energy absorption limit was extremely dangerous for the Black King."
If he accidentally exceeded the limit, his internal energy would explode and go out of control. His body would either be torn apart or cease to exist.
He was easily targeted for overload.
Relying on his Eternal physique, energy overload would at most result in minor injuries.
"Also, after the two templates merged, I don't need to use my hands to assist in absorbing energy."
When the Black King absorbed energy, it was like other mutants activating their abilities, such as Magneto and Professor X, who often used hand gestures to focus their intent.
However, as every cell in his body could originally store energy, he generally didn't need such complications.
"The fusion of the two templates with my body brought benefits far greater than the sum of their parts, a true one plus one equals greater than two scenario!"
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