Doom still had no idea he was about to get screwed so hard he'd lose everything. Trusting Reed's talent even more than Reed trusted himself, Doom's head was full of nothing but sweet dreams of success.
These past few days, the news had been all about Doom. Every day, he emphasized how important this plan was, and how bright the future would be.
Zod couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him.
Black Queen also found a lead from the explosive, and that lead pointed straight to Western Europe.
"Western Europe?"
Zod had considered countless possibilities, but Western Europe had never been one of them.
Western Europe referred to the regions of Europe bordering the Atlantic, along with nearby islands. It included seven countries: the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Monaco. It also included developed capitalist European nations such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Greece.
Things immediately got complicated. Zod even started wondering if he'd gotten it wrong, and the bomb wasn't actually aimed at him, but was simply a terrorist attack.
But if it was terrorism, the explosive's power was way too large.
He had Black Queen continue tracing the lead, while also having the Beast Soldiers assist. Some places were difficult for electronics to reach, and most Beast Soldiers were mercenaries who'd seen every kind of mess. Sending them was better.
Then there was the symbiote research.
Zod had already figured out the life structures of Lasher, Riot, and Rend. He could even replicate them now.
But after thinking it over, Zod used psychic power to erase the self-awareness of those three symbiotes, then had them form a fused symbiote battle suit. It was like how Deadpool had once worn multiple symbiotes at the same time, releasing power far beyond what a single symbiote could do.
"Isn't this basically Unit G from the Guyver bio-boosted armor, just without particle cannons or high-frequency swords?" Zod clicked his tongue.
Symbiotes were the closest thing to Guyver cells. If he had Krypton's biotech engineering techniques, creating Guyver cells and the bio-boosted armor wouldn't be a problem. But he came here empty-handed.
Thinking of that, Zod couldn't help feeling jealous of Clark Kent. Sitting on a mountain of treasure and not using it. What a waste. Give it to me instead.
Although laying eggs was technically a disease for symbiotes, considering that symbiote offspring were stronger in every aspect, Zod induced Rend to show signs of egg-laying.
Rend, with its cells modified by electromagnetic force, successfully laid an egg.
After sensing Zod's strength, the newborn symbiote immediately pounced at him.
Zod simply used electromagnetic force to make the molecules around the symbiote move rapidly, generating high heat. The symbiote instantly shrank back.
Symbiotes could copy a host's abilities, and Zod didn't want anyone obtaining his powers, so he avoided using symbiotes on himself as much as possible.
He found a Beast Soldier as a host for the symbiote. After it bonded to the Beast Soldier, it immediately attacked Zod.
"Too weak."
Zod flicked a finger. A subtle but far from weak magnetic force shifted the surrounding magnetic-sense field. Atomic binding forces changed in delicate ways. That microscopic drift in atomic structure reflected into reality as a powerful twisting force.
The symbiote in front of him instantly twisted into a pretzel, unable to break free from that invisible yet massive force.
"What's your name?" Zod asked, using electromagnetic force and super vision to examine it in detail.
Very good.
As expected, this symbiote was stronger than Rend in every category. It had even developed resistance to ultrasonic waves and flames, though not to a very high degree yet.
The symbiote recognized how terrifying Zod was, and since its host Beast Soldier wasn't a lunatic, its thinking remained fairly normal.
"Roar," the symbiote said, giving its name.
"Good. See your three kin?" Zod said. "Because they didn't behave, I erased their consciousness. I assume you don't want that happening to you, right?"
Roar looked at Lasher, Riot, and Rend. They were muddleheaded now, fused into one. It was… extremely uncomfortable for a symbiote to look at.
"…What do you want?" Roar fell silent for a moment, then chose to compromise.
It planned to find an opportunity to escape Earth later. This planet was too terrifying. It was nothing like it looked on the surface.
"You can maintain a symbiotic relationship with him, but from now on, you serve me and obey my orders. Of course, I won't expect you to behave obediently, so I've already implanted my psychic power into your consciousness. As long as I want, your consciousness will disappear instantly. Understand?" Zod said.
Roar's expression turned ugly, but it knew it had no choice, so it could only submit.
Zod nodded in satisfaction. Roar was stronger than Spider-Man. If symbiotes could be used properly, they weren't completely worthless.
At minimum, it could function as a top-tier enforcer.
As for the three-in-one symbiote, Zod thought about it and left it in the lab. It would likely be useful later. Better not waste it.
Right now, Zod desperately wanted to know whether Venom had given birth to Carnage. Carnage would also make a good enforcer.
Letting a psychopath be the one to bond with it would be a waste.
Luckily, Zod had been cautious earlier. He had Black Queen monitor Eddie and Venom's every move, including everywhere they went.
So far, there were no signs that Venom had laid an egg. To ensure sufficient surveillance, Zod used electromagnetic force to modify some nanorobots, giving them 4K4K high-definition cameras and night vision. Black Queen controlled those nanorobots for the monitoring work.
Zod enjoyed a thick slab of beef barbecue from his own ranch, thinking about when he should get a few Wagyu cattle for breeding. After all, he still hadn't tasted what Wagyu beef was like.
Then a news report appeared on TV.
A breakout had occurred at a private prison. The escaped man was named Carl Lucas, an African American born in Harlem, New York. So the police suspected he might return to New York City.
Zod calmly finished his cola. The Marvel world really did have related incidents in the news every single day.
Carl Lucas was exactly the Luke Cage Zod was looking for.
Luke Cage, real name Carl Lucas. When he was young, he ran the streets. But as he grew older, and after losing family, he decided to abandon that life. One day, he was framed by a former friend and sent to prison. In order to get out earlier, he voluntarily accepted an experiment meant to recreate the old Super Soldier Program.
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