The p u rple meteorite seemed to have completed its mission, disappearing after hitting the ground, leaving behind only a massive crater.
As for what was inside the crater… Carol worried, "The area is too large, those citizens…"
Before she could finish, Luke interrupted, "I observed earlier, the surrounding citizens have all fled. The remaining ones are either daring lunatics or reporters looking for a big scoop." He paused, shrugging, "They are a bit far from the impact zone, so they might be injured, but as for death… it's only a possibility."
Carol lowered her head, silent, her face filled with struggle.
Luke sighed helplessly, "Alright, stop overthinking. Let's deal with the matter at hand first."
Luke wasn't sure about Hector's life or death. Logically speaking, such a large meteorite smashing down would be enough to give even Superman a hard time, let alone him.
However, Hector was different from ordinary people. After absorbing countless yellow particles, his body had begun to transform from flesh to pure energy. A form composed of energy wasn't that easy to eradicate.
The two circled the crater but found no living person.
Carol couldn't help but say, "He must be dead, right!"
Luke shook his head, green flames flickering in his eyes, as he quietly looked at the pit in front of him to the right.
There, a hunched soul slowly stood up, radiating dense yellow energy. Yellow particles seeped from the mud and gathered in mid-air. The particles gradually transformed into flesh and blood, from the scalp, to the eyebrows, then to the eyes and ears. Dozens of seconds later, a broken head formed.
After suffering such an attack, Hector was still not dead. His tenacious vitality was comparable to the cockroaches in a certain movie.
"It's you… you did it."
"I remember now, the Coast City meteorite incident a few days ago, it was you, Purple Light Woman, it was you who did it."
Hector stared intently at Carol, the venom in his eyes almost materializing.
He had paid countless prices and endured countless gunshots to instill fear in the soldiers of the Fourth Mechanized Infantry Division. He was on the verge of success, but it was all shattered by a meteorite that flew in from outer space.
Damn it, they must have been nearby during the battle, watching the soldiers die without intervening, only to deliver a fatal blow at the most critical moment.
Two bastards!
"I won't let you off. I will torture you with the cruelest punishments. I want you both to die."
Hector roared, clearly enraged to the extreme.
"That's a line I should be saying to you."
Luke took a few steps forward, standing in front of Carol.
"Hector Hammond, your massive and ugly head will become my trophy. I will pickle it in Marfolin and make it into a living specimen, passed down through the ages like Rasputin's genitalia."
"You're asking for death!"
Hector erupted in fury, his telekinesis transforming into an invisible impact that heavily struck Luke. Blue light flickered on the surface of the battle suit, as kinetic energy was absorbed and converted, stored as energy in his feet.
Luke extended his index finger and gently wiggled it twice.
"Haven't you realized yet, Big Head? You're not the same as before. The attacks from the Fourth Mechanized Infantry Division and the FBI Five-Man Team weren't without effect. They significantly weakened your psychic abilities."
"Your current psychic energy is less than a quarter of your peak. You can't even heal your body, so what else can you do?"
Hector remained silent, seemingly pondering something, but secretly activated his telekinesis.
Bang!
The ground exploded, and an invisible force transformed into a giant hand, gripping the Ghost battle suit tightly.
"Die for me!"
Hector roared, exerting his full power, just as he had crushed the helicopter earlier. The battle suit creaked and groaned, blue light flickering violently, struggling to resist the external pressure.
"Activate energy shield!"
"Maximum power!"
A layer of blue energy shield appeared on the surface of the battle suit, blocking the continuously contracting invisible force field. At the same time, eight spider legs emerged from his back, their tips flashing blue light, firing a large number of energy projectiles.
Hector gritted his teeth in hatred, but ultimately soared into the air, avoiding the energy projectiles. As Luke said, his energy reserves were severely depleted, and he couldn't afford to waste them casually.
The barrage of projectiles split into two waves, one high and one low, forcing him to only run forward.
At this moment, Carol moved. She clenched her fist, and a purple open box appeared out of thin air. Hector had not anticipated this situation at all and plunged headfirst into the box.
The box closed, and Hector's angry roars could be faintly heard from within.
Carol's fingers moved continuously, wrapping countless energy barriers around the outside of the box.
The box shook violently, and deafening roars occasionally came from within, like a beast trying to break free from its cage.
Luke blinked, never expecting Carol to use this move. The original plan was for him to attract firepower and create an opportunity for Carol to materialize the Zamarons' energy cannon for a swift, decisive blow.
Who would have thought that the girl would play outside the box, choosing the most common box? Yet, he had to admit, the move was quite effective.
Hector was not a monster with exploding physical abilities like Superman or Wonder Woman. His weapon was telekinesis, also known as invisible force, skilled in manipulating objects, controlling force fields, and creating impacts. It required a certain amount of space to wield, and what he feared most were confined spaces, just like now, with his head trapped in a box, pressed against the walls, how could he release an impact?
"As expected of the host chosen by the original Lantern Ring."
Luke mused to himself, Carol's adaptability in combat was truly astonishing.
After shaking for a few minutes, the box finally stopped.
Hector seemed to have given up struggling, but Carol dared not be careless. She set up dozens more barriers around the box before finally stopping.
At this point, the surrounding dust slowly dissipated, and citizens and soldiers gradually crawled out of the ruins.
Luke didn't want to expose the Ghost battle suit, so he had Carol take the box. The two soared into the air, disappearing into the sky like a stream of light. They wanted to end this battle in a place where no one was present.
The surviving soldiers huddled together and approached the crater, looking ahead with fear and hope.
"Is that monster dead?"
The same question appeared in different people's minds. A pale-faced Stan Daralov appeared on the other side of the crater. When the meteorite fell, he used his telekinesis to protect his giant companion behind him, which almost exhausted his psychic abilities. His spirit was extremely weak, and he couldn't even stand steadily, only able to reach the crater with the support of his companion.
"How is it? Is he dead or not?"
His companion asked in a hoarse voice, extremely nervous.
Stan Daralov shook his head, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed the surrounding energy field. His companion dared not disturb him, not even daring to breathe loudly.
A moment later, Stan Daralov opened his eyes and smiled wearily.
"Tell the director, mission accomplished."
His companion raised his fist and cheered.
Soon, the news reached the White House office, and a group of bigwigs jumped and cheered, extremely excited. Although many people had questions in their minds about where the meteorite came from, that was a problem for later. What needed to be done now was to cheer wholeheartedly, like players who had defeated a boss with great effort.
Among the group, only Vice President Dick Cheney had a forced smile. Clenching his phone, he remembered the text message from Amanda and couldn't help but mutter to himself,
"Luke Shaw, who exactly are you?"
----------------------------------
I've already uploaded over 40 new chapters on Patreon!
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead, feel free to check it out.
Your support truly means a lot to me!
👉 patreon.com/Kazenova223
Thank you so much for being here!
And if you're having fun with the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone for me!