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"I'm very touched that you still remember me. My memories in this timeline are too tragic, aren't they? But I have to thank you. One of your previous research allowed me to know a secret and gain an extremely powerful power."
Victor von Doom spoke while suspended in mid-air. Familiar energy fluctuations transformed into magical elemental lights, nimbly swimming around him. Those lights made Reed and the other three sense a deadly danger.
"Psychic power!" Even though Reed was unwilling to admit it in his heart, he still couldn't help feeling depressed when he saw this scene.
"You know too? It seems that the trouble that ran away before I could get rid of it has indeed hidden in your timeline. Look at the psychic fluctuations around, it seems that he has done a lot of small moves here, doesn't he?" Doom felt the familiar energy fluctuations around him, with surprise in his tone.
"What are you talking about?" Reed had no idea what Doom was trying to say, but he cleverly used inquiries to attract his attention, his brain racing as he thought about how to escape or how to plan the battle. He hadn't thought his actions and motives could be hidden from Doom. After all, Doom was a smart man, but he knew him well enough to know that, given his arrogance and pride, even if he saw through his intentions, he would still go along with them. It was like a cat playing with a mouse.
The facts proved to be true. Psychic powers gave Doom immense confidence and arrogance, making him increasingly arrogant. Especially when he saw Reed, who had once surpassed him in many aspects, he was happy to follow his lead. He was eager to see what other means he could use to stop him.
"A person who doesn't belong to this timeline like me. He belongs to another world. It's the world where psychic power exists. He should have died, but he seems to have survived by luck, and has been hiding here and quietly creating so many industries and technologies. Is that Harry Osborn? You work for him now? Then he is really unlucky." Doom's words made Reed and the others look at each other in surprise.
"Why, are you surprised I know this?" Doom's voice seemed to notice Reed and the others' astonishment and confusion, and he continued at the right moment: "Psychic power is far more amazing than you imagine. It seems that Harry Osborn is not involved in the core technology.
Look at this old, obsolete technology, the thin, chaotic mess of psychic energy. Are you using it simply as energy? This limits your vision and prevents you from understanding psychic energy at a deeper level.
"What are you trying to say?" Ben Grimm, with his rock-like body, muffled his words. He watched Doom approach them seemingly defenseless, his fists clenched in anticipation. He was not one to advocate violence, even though he possessed immense strength far beyond human power. But he would not, in a moment of crisis, abandon this advantage and power to protect his friends or others.
"Isn't what I'm trying to say obvious? Psychic energy can be used not only as a form of energy, but it's also a very good recording medium. As long as I'm exposed to the surrounding psychic energy and master the corresponding methods, I can access all the information recorded by it.
For example, its origin in this world, the people it comes into contact with the most, and everything that happens within its coverage area. They can even act as supercomputers to deduce what will happen next in a certain area.
For example, right now, I know you're eager to punch me once I get close, and Reed's mind is also secretly plotting another attack on me. I can even tell from this what abilities and strengths each of you possesses.
This is a different kind of foresight, or omniscience." Doom stopped in front of Reed and the other three, speaking in a long, mocking tone.
"You're talking nonsense." Ben Grimm and Johnny Stone, two people who usually don't get along well with each other and look down on each other, showed considerable tacit understanding at this moment.
Ben's sturdy body jumped high and punched the iron mask that was close at hand.
Under the cover of the opponent, Johnny Torch instantly released the huge energy in his body, turned into a man of fire, and released his latest trick, high-temperature jet, towards Doom.
Like magic, the fireballs rained down around Ben's bulky form, landing where Doom was in Johnny's memory. The seething flames instantly raised the temperature of the surrounding area by several degrees.
Susan Stone almost subconsciously used her telekinesis to release an invisible transparent defense layer for herself and her boyfriend Reed to prevent them from being burned by the high temperature or even in danger of their lives.
"You're still stupid, Ben. I hate to use that word to describe you, but please forgive me, I think it's the only word that fits your behavior right now."
Ben was shocked to find that his outstretched fist suddenly encountered some kind of delayed resistance, just like hitting cotton. The further he swung forward, the faster the force faded.
Johnny's instantaneous high temperature of several thousand degrees did not have the desired killing power. They were directly absorbed and wiped out in the air.
"Perhaps I haven't told you that I once learned quite a bit of magic. Of course, without the proper energy to support it, most of it was like the crazy fantasies of a madman. They were completely useless.
But now it's different. I have the energy to support them, just like humans have electricity. A whole new world has opened up before my eyes."
Doom's voice drifted in. He seemed to enjoy the surprised looks on Reed's and the other three's faces, which fueled his desire to talk. Of course, this eagerness would soon wear thin. If Reed couldn't show off his impressive skills again, Doom didn't want to waste any more words on him.
The power he now wields is, in human terms, already akin to that of a god. Perhaps before he officially attains godhood, he might still harbor some interest in the person who had repeatedly thwarted him. But if that person fails to demonstrate the necessary resistance, that obsession will quickly fade. In his mind, Reed and the other three are no different from ordinary humans, or even insects.
The reason he stayed here and didn't immediately go find Harry Osborn was because he wanted to catch up with Reed and the others in this timeline. He wanted to see how much resistance Reed, who was always technologically omnipotent, could put up against him now.
But it seemed that his expectations of Reed were indeed too high. After all, he had arrived so suddenly that the opponent had no time to use his skills to counter him. And the abilities of the four opponents might be powerful enough for ordinary people, powerful enough to be unmatched, but in his eyes, they posed no threat to him.
"The power and abilities you possess now come from psychic powers, right? But what if you lost your psychic powers? Would you still have the confidence you have now?"
Doom, who was feeling somewhat bored, had no time to make his next decision when Reed's voice, accompanied by the humming sound of several machines starting up, fell into his ears.
Several drones quickly appeared in the sky and circled over the area where the four men were. At the same time, Doom felt the psychic energy around him and within him suddenly stagnate and fade. The feeling of omnipotence and power also left him.
Ben's fist, frozen in mid-air, suddenly regained its mobility. Ben instinctively exerted force, and his fist, larger than an adult's head, slammed into Doom's face. The iron mask on his face clunked under the force. Doom was sent flying backwards, tumbling twice on the ground.
"If you are really the Doom of this timeline, if you really know everything with the help of psychic powers, then you should understand that Reed always has targeted backup technical means. After all, I've had enough of those accidents over the years. I hate accidents and dangers." Reed emerged from the protective shield that Susan had dispersed and spoke.
"Using the technology you invented, you disrupted the surrounding psychic energy and made it enter a kind of [vacuum state]? Amazing technology!" Doom stood up from the ground, as if Ben Grimm's punch, which was powerful enough to smash a person's head, did not really hurt him. The distorted iron mask on his face, like memory metal, quickly returned to normal in front of Susan and the other three.
"But your technology is never perfect, Reed! It can only work, but there are bound to be accidents." At Doom's words, the drones in the sky fell to pieces, as if cut by a sharp weapon. The surrounding psychic energy once again converged on this [Vacuum Zone]. But Doom no longer needed it. He had his own source of energy. The towering gate not far behind him provided Doom with a vast amount of power.
"No!" Reed cried out in frustration when he saw his drone destroyed. He had secretly built it using Osborn Industries' equipment, specifically as a trump card for today's operation.
Doom's appearance disrupted his plans.
Reed was puzzled. Clearly, the other party had temporarily lost their psychic connection, yet how had they managed to destroy the drone? The shattered drone was clearly some incredibly sharp weapon. Remember, the drone was made of a special alloy metal he'd developed at Osborn. It possessed both exceptional toughness and strength.
In other words, according to previous tests on the strength of these alloy metals, if they can cut open the fuselage of the drone so easily, then cutting open their bodies should not be difficult either.
Especially now he didn't know what kind of weapon it was, or maybe it wasn't some kind of cutting weapon at all, such as a laser.
"It's some kind of energy creature!" Susan panicked and gave the answer before Reed could figure it out. Her telekinesis was like a sixth sense extending from her body, so in her [field of vision], she saw the culprit who destroyed the drone.
They were a group of shadow-like beings, perfectly blending into the night and darkness. Yes, they were living beings! Susan sensed the ripples of life in them.
"Where are they?" Reed asked subconsciously.
"In Doom's shadow!" Susan quickly gave her observations. After destroying the drone, the black, irregularly shaped creatures quickly fell back to the ground and merged into Doom's shadow.
"Be careful, Doom is not normal now!" Then, Susan seemed to have noticed something and reminded Reed and the others in a panic.
"Of course I know he's not normal. How could a normal person be like him?" Ben roared, feeling frustrated and trapped in the air again by a force, like a rock statue. He had infinite strength, but when he met Doom, he felt like he was stuck in a quagmire, trapped in various ways.
Johnny, who turned into a fire man and rose from the ground, only dared to move quickly on the periphery. It seemed that a voice told him that if he dared to approach Doom, his end would be very miserable.
"What I mean by abnormal is that his life form has also undergone tremendous changes from ours. In other words, his changes are even more drastic than ours. We at least still maintain our human form, but he has become another life form." Susan took two steps back in horror, looking at Doom with fear and horror in her eyes.
"Isn't he still in human form like us?" Looking at Doom's body, Reed asked in confusion as he stepped forward to comfort the frightened Susan.
Susan didn't answer, but Doom clapped his hands in approval.
"It seems that you are always the most sensitive one among them." Doom looked at Susan who was looking at him with horror, and a smile was strangely twisted on the iron mask.
Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Doom's body began to swell, and then underwent violent deformation. Under the green robe that was torn by the surging body, the ugly body was exposed to the air. The dense, velvety tentacles swayed in the air with the wind. The opponent's shadow was like a group of demons dancing wildly, twisting and dancing happily on the ground, as if it had its own will, doing movements that were completely different from its body.
"I have evolved! Infused with psychic energy, I have transcended the limitations of humanity. I have gained immortality and possessed powerful strength. The price is that I am no longer human!"