The Peak of the God of War, the Hunted White Queen
The training session lasted more than two hours.
When his power finally stabilized, Xu Mo slowly opened his eyes. A dark brown layer of impurities clung to his skin. After washing it off, he returned to the training room, feeling lighter and renewed.
He pulled up his status panel:
Name: Xu Mo
Age: 20
Strength: 93,560 kg
Speed: 386 m/s
Telekinesis: 387,600 kg
Special Ability: None
Score: 6,160 points
Xu Mo's eyes gleamed. Ninety-three tons of raw physical force, three hundred eighty-seven tons of telekinetic force—more than six times his previous level.
And thanks to the heart of the millennium willow, his body now possessed accelerated regeneration. Curious, he drew an adamantium throwing knife and dragged it lightly across his arm. The blade left only a faint white line.
Xu Mo froze. Oh my god.
He had expected durability, but not this much. Even restrained, the strike carried hundreds of kilograms of force—enough to cut steel like paper. Yet his skin barely registered a mark. At this level, even a sniper rifle round might not penetrate.
He increased pressure gradually. Only after channeling nearly two tons of strength did the knife carve a thin, bloody line. But before a drop could fall, the wound sealed itself before his eyes.
"This recovery… faster than Sabretooth's," Xu Mo murmured. "Insane."
The willow's heart had multiplied his combat power more than tenfold.
Moments later, Xu Mo launched himself from the villa. His flight speed now exceeded Mach 2—about 2,500 kilometers per hour. In less than three minutes, he reached the mountains of New Jersey, a hundred kilometers away.
---
At that exact time, inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters—
"Commander, major crisis!" Coulson burst into Nick Fury's office.
Fury's one eye narrowed. The last time Coulson used those words was during Iron Man's battle with Iron Monger.
"A UFO just passed over New York—speed, Mach 2!" Coulson handed over a tablet.
"Mach 2? Tony Stark?" Fury asked.
"No, sir. We've confirmed Tony is at his Malibu villa. He's under near-constant surveillance since his identity went public. It's not him."
Fury scrolled through the telemetry, tracing the UFO's course. The origin point was close to Xu Mo's Hudson River estate. His suspicions solidified.
"It's him."
But he kept his conclusion to himself. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been compromised too many times by Hydra and other factions. Some secrets had to be held close—ace cards to play only when needed.
"Erase it," Fury ordered, handing back the tablet. "Delete the record. This never happened."
Coulson hesitated but nodded. Orders were orders. He left the room.
Alone, Fury sighed. "We'll need to reassess this one's strength."
---
Meanwhile, Xu Mo, armored, hovered before a sheer rock wall. He wanted to test his limits.
Drawing a deep breath, he struck with his right fist, reinforcing the blow with half his telekinetic force. Nearly four hundred tons of power slammed into the mountain.
The detonation was deafening. Cracks spiderwebbed outward from the impact point, before the entire rock face collapsed into rubble. A hole hundreds of meters across yawned where solid stone had been.
Birds erupted from the trees in a panicked flock. Xu Mo nodded, satisfied. At this level, he could surpass Spider-Man's greatest feats and even contend with the Hulk.
Just as he prepared to test his flying knives, a sudden fluctuation pulsed from the Star Tower within his mind. At the same time, bursts of gunfire echoed from a forest a kilometer away.
Xu Mo froze. The Tower had remained dormant since he acquired it. The coincidence was too sharp.
He exhaled slowly. "Not yet ready… but something's happening."
He moved toward the sound, slipping silently through the trees until he came upon the scene.
Seven or eight towering Sentinels, each nearly ten meters tall, had surrounded a blonde woman in white. Blood soaked her left shoulder as she clutched it, yet fury blazed in her eyes.
With a flash, her flesh crystallized into glittering diamond, refracting the sunlight. She charged at her attackers.
"White Queen," Xu Mo whispered, recognizing Emma Frost. Her unique diamond form was unmistakable. And her other gift—telepathy—explained the Star Tower's sudden pulse. She had likely reached out, whether for aid or to seize his mind as a shield.
But the Sentinels adapted. Their outer shells shifted, their surfaces mimicking her diamond state.
Xu Mo's eyes widened. Adaptive models… no wonder mutants were driven to the brink by these things.
Emma fought fiercely, but she couldn't break their encirclement.
Xu Mo crouched in the branches, considering. Help her—or stay hidden?
His decision came instantly. An Omega-level telepath like Emma Frost was too valuable to ignore. With her, betrayal from subordinates was nearly impossible.
And while he could purchase telepathy through the system, the ability would start only at a newborn level, untrained and weak. Better to focus on spiritualist illusions and leave telepathy to a master already perfected.
Xu Mo's gaze sharpened. He had his answer.