chapter 188 part 2
"Thank you, Doctor."
"No. Just as you said, Howard, this is merely a transaction."
It seemed the exchange between Howard and Hank Pym was not going well.
Taking in the conversation at the Control Console, Colin silently commented to himself.
Ever since the operation at the Peenemünde Base, Howard had been engrossed in studying Dr. Phineas Horton's 'Synthezoid' experiment data and the Human Torch's body.
Even rescuing Hank Pym from Hydra served his own agenda.
As for the reason behind this agenda, Colin had more or less formed a hypothesis after gathering intelligence on The Resistants Base over this period.
To be honest, though, he wasn't very optimistic about the outcome.
Reining in his wandering thoughts, Colin continued to scan other parts of the Base.
In the Base's training ground, a fierce battle was underway.
Swish swish swish—
Drawing the string of his bow, Clint fired several arrows that flew toward their target in an encompassing formation.
Watching the arrows shot by Hawkeye, a woman inside the Base moved with light steps, brandishing her longsword and deflecting them with nimble postures.
After parrying the arrows, the woman closed the distance in the blink of an eye, rushing in front of Hawkeye and thrusting the sword at his heart.
Faced with the woman's merciless attack, Clint's brow furrowed slightly, but his movements didn't pause for an instant. He gripped his Longbow, twisted it forcefully, and used one end to block the thrust. Immediately after, he flipped the bow, drew an Arrow from his back, and aimed it once more at the woman's neck.
"You lose, Adeline."
Aiming the arrowhead at the woman's neck, Hawkeye made no further move, simply offering a quiet reminder.
"No, I don't think so."
Glancing down at the arrowhead aimed at her neck, the woman named Adeline pressed a catch on the hilt of her longsword, not to be outdone.
In the next moment, a small, slender blade shot out from the hilt and landed in Adeline's left hand.
"Again."
Wielding a long and a short sword, Adeline beckoned provocatively at Clint with her finger.
Clang clang—
The sounds of combat once again filled the training ground.
Adeline Duquesne, daughter of the former member of The Resistants, Jacques Duquesne. After Jacques's death, she had been desperately searching for the truth behind her father's death. She had recently joined the Dark Avengers, succeeding her late father as the new female Swordsman.
Hawkeye had consistently voiced his opposition to Adeline Duquesne joining.
However, Adeline's resolve was exceptionally firm, so Clint eventually had to give up trying to stop her and instead began putting her through rigorous training.
He wanted to prevent the tragedy that befell the Swordsman from repeating itself with his daughter.
Among the members of The Resistants, the relationship between Hawkeye and the deceased Swordsman was the most complex. They had once worked together, and in a way, Jacques was Clint's mentor, having taught him his fighting techniques. Now, Hawkeye was passing on the skills he had learned from the Swordsman to his daughter, a situation that seemed to carry a certain sense of legacy.
"Tippy-Toe, did you see that? In that instant, another sword appeared from the sword!"
"Squeak squeak—"
Adeline Duquesne wasn't the only new recruit to join The Resistants.
The Thunderbolts' campaign to capture and imprison superheroes, while causing some to abandon the idea of being a Superhero and return to normal life, didn't deter everyone.
A group of people refused to give up. Some of these superheroes returned to their old stomping grounds to continue their fight against crime. Others, however, ultimately decided to join the ranks of The Resistants.
Although Howard rejected most of them, he still kept a small number who possessed combat capabilities.
Among these members was Big Bertha, also known as Ashley Crawford, a miraculous lady who could freely control her own body weight.
She possessed the ability to change her height and mass at will, allowing her to increase her height by 15 inches and her weight by 286 kilograms, transforming her figure from that of a standard model to a large, fat woman.
In Big Bertha's so-called "Flesh Ball" form, she would possess superhuman stamina, durability, Enhanced Reflexes, and Super Strength. At the same time, the density of this added body tissue was higher than that of an ordinary person, enabling her to withstand large-caliber Bullet shots and resist extreme temperatures.
Even falls from great heights and massive impacts could not harm her.
Simply put, she was a perfect tank-type team member.
Although Big Bertha's increased strength and defense were not yet comparable to Colin's, she was already an extremely powerful individual among ordinary people.
It was worth mentioning that, besides her Superhero Identity, Big Bertha was also a supermodel in her daily life, even appearing in some fashion shows and magazines.
Flatman, a man who could freely stretch, expand, deform, and fold his body. His body possessed astonishing flexibility and elasticity, allowing him to do things ordinary people couldn't, and, just as his name suggested, compress his entire body into a flat plane.
To be honest, the first time Colin saw him, he almost mistook him for Mister Fantastic.
After all, Flatman's Powers were identical to those of the Fantastic Four's leader, Mister Fantastic. It was only after some investigation that Colin confirmed that the superhero group known as the Fantastic Four did not exist in this world, or perhaps the twisted timeline had altered the history of their creation.
It was common knowledge that the Fantastic Four's powers were inextricably linked to cosmic ray radiation.
However, in the Anti-World, exploration of Outer Space was surprisingly stagnant.
Without space exploration, the absence of the Fantastic Four seemed to become a matter of course.
This was clearly not good news for Colin.
The Fantastic Four were, after all, celebrities in the Superhero world, and one of the few who had made their identities public.
Their absence didn't just mean the loss of the Fantastic Four team; it also affected the emergence of a great number of supervillains. For Colin's collection of [Time Shards], this was undoubtedly a massive loss.
Thanks to 'Da Luo Tian Xian Zhu Zhi Long' for the 100 Qidian Coin donation.
(end of chapter)