They were simply the ultimate labor force—the kind that required no compensation whatsoever.
Moreover, these guys never complained. After all, they couldn't speak.
Tell me, who wouldn't love an army of omnipotent ninjas like this?
If there was one problem…
"Why aren't you female ninjas?"
Luke Rowling complained.
The ninja corps, kneeling on one knee as they awaited Luke Rowling's orders, dispersed with a bang, dissolving back into shadows.
The next moment, they reformed.
This time, they were no longer tall male ninjas, but female ninjas with attractive, voluptuous figures.
"Amazing!"
"Isn't this much more pleasing to the eye?"
Luke was extremely satisfied with the Dust Spirit Mask. He didn't even need a nanny anymore.
If he ever started a company, this ninja corps would be the perfect workforce.
"Excellent. Follow me!"
Luke had them merge into his shadow while he flew into the sky. He didn't use any templates, relying instead on the Rooster Talisman for levitation and the Rabbit Talisman for acceleration as he sped through the air.
With his vast energy reserves, Luke's flight speed could reach Mach twenty in a very short time and continue to increase.
Of course, given his current Agility attribute, if he ran along the ground, he could easily surpass Mach twenty as well.
However, compared to running on two legs, Luke preferred flying through the sky.
That feeling of embracing freedom and overlooking the world was something everyone longed for.
Luke thought of Mikaela.
"Knowing Mikaela's personality, she's probably itching to experience flying herself… Hmm, I'll give it a try when I get the chance."
...
S.H.I.E.L.D., conference hall.
Nick Fury, having just returned from the Department of Defense, immediately convened a small meeting.
Natasha, Hawkeye, Hill, Coulson, and even Bruce Banner and Tony Stark were already present.
Everyone was eating pizza, their brows furrowed in thought.
Nick Fury glanced around the room. "Where did you all get the pizza?"
Coulson shrugged and said casually, "The Pentagon sent it. Apparently, they ordered eight times their usual amount of pizza today, and since they couldn't finish it all, we took some."
"Give me a slice."
Nick Fury took a slice of pizza and started eating. Aside from the usual verbal sparring, the biggest takeaway from these regular meetings had actually been Luke Rowling's bacteria and virus plan.
The plan had been extremely successful. The Martians who had originally invaded Earth had now become pariahs.
Despite their advanced technology, they had ended up on the receiving end of the beating.
As of today, at least two hundred thousand tripod mecha had been destroyed worldwide.
"Stark, you just finished testing the data on the tripod mecha. What are your thoughts?" Nick Fury looked at Tony Stark.
Perhaps because the setbacks he had suffered in recent days far exceeded the total of the past thirty years, the playboy looked unusually dispirited.
"The technological level of the Martian tripod mecha surpasses human technology by at least a hundred years. If this were a conventional war, our chances of victory would be less than ten percent."
"Next, I suggest we focus our efforts on acquiring Martian technology. If we can reverse-engineer their force-field shields, heat-ray weapons, and energy systems, it would greatly enhance humanity's external defense capabilities."
"At the very least, the next time aliens invade, we won't be completely helpless."
Tony's morale was completely shattered at this point.
He had always taken pride in believing his Iron Man suit to be invincible.
Whether it was the materials, the AI systems, the weapons, or the power supply, everything was top-tier by Earth's standards.
Yet who could have imagined enemies descending from the skies?
After the meeting, he had personally piloted the most advanced Mark Six new-energy armor.
However, in his battle against the tripod mecha, he hadn't even been able to penetrate its force-field shield.
Meanwhile, on the other side, a guy called the Thunder God Thor had casually destroyed three mecha.
A god was a god, after all.
For a mortal to stand shoulder to shoulder with a deity, he still had a long way to go.
Tony Stark was confident that with his intelligence, he would one day be able to develop armor comparable to that of a god.
But… was there enough time?
The two Godzillas that had appeared in San Francisco.
And the unknown sea beasts.
Asgardians.
Martians.
Cybertronians.
And even the unknown spacecraft discovered in Antarctica.
In the span of a single day, Earth had been ravaged by at least five different external forces.
At this pace, even a workaholic would collapse from exhaustion.
Tony no longer had any interest in fooling around with women. He was making use of every second he had.
He didn't even dare to sleep. Every time he did, he dreamed of various terrifying doomsday scenarios.
He heard that Pepper had helped him get in touch with a famous psychologist for mental counseling.
It seemed that person's name was… Hannibal?
Hopefully, that guy really knew what he was doing.
Nick Fury nodded. He agreed with Tony Stark's assessment.
Just moments earlier, he had already instructed S.H.I.E.L.D. to quickly establish five new departments or initiatives.
"The Martians are no longer a threat. We just confirmed in Washington that Rowling has eliminated the Cybertronian invaders, leaving behind nothing but a rectangular crater—one hundred meters deep and three hundred meters across."
"After that, the invading sea beast in San Francisco—Axe Head—was also suppressed and killed by Godzilla."
"The crisis has basically been resolved, but I hope everyone can unite and work together to face the challenges that may arise at any moment…"
While Nick Fury was speaking, a call suddenly came in.
"What? Ten minutes ago, Luke was flying toward the Antarctic continent at a speed exceeding Mach twenty?!"
Nick Fury's expression stiffened slightly after he hung up.
Mach twenty!
That was equivalent to twenty-four thousand kilometers per hour.
The distance from New York to the Antarctic continent was only about ten thousand kilometers.
Which meant that while they were still holding this meeting, Luke Rowling was already close to the Antarctic.
Nick Fury instinctively grasped the key issue.
Why was Luke heading to the Antarctic? Was it because of the Thing and the crashed spacecraft?
The moment footage of the Thing had been released, Nick Fury had immediately dispatched field agents from the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch closest to the Antarctic.
He had originally thought it was a minor matter …but judging from Luke Rowling's actions—Gasp—could it be that Antarctica was the real source of trouble?
One had to remember that Luke Rowling hadn't even personally dealt with the Martians.
So could it be assumed that, in Luke Rowling's eyes, whatever was in Antarctica posed a greater threat than the Martians?
"Motherfucker! Coulson, establish contact with the Antarctic field team immediately!"
...
At this very moment,
On the Antarctic continent.
A special operations unit belonging to the Red Umbrella Division of the Umbrella Corporation was conducting a systematic search for traces of the U.S. research team.
This special operations unit was the Umbrella Corporation's private armed force, recruiting retired special forces soldiers from around the world. Every one of them was an elite among elites.
The Umbrella Corporation had equipped them with the most advanced gear: black combat boots, tactical uniforms, Kevlar ballistic helmets, top-grade body armor, thermal infrared imaging devices, and more.
All members carried MP5 submachine guns as their primary weapons, along with pistols and grenades. The team was also supported by medics and hackers.
The leader of this special operations unit was a senior instructor named Hank.
"Captain, there are signs of human activity five hundred meters ahead. According to the data, it should be the private expedition team led by Charles, CEO of Weyland Industries, a multinational communications company."
"If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the location of our target."
Hearing this, Hank cautiously scanned his surroundings. "Everyone stay alert. No firing unless ordered!"
When Hank led the squad into the expedition team's camp,
they found it completely deserted.
Dead silence.
Hank, who had carried out countless dangerous missions, immediately sensed that something was wrong.
It was too quiet.
Under normal circumstances, a private expedition team's camp would always leave personnel behind to guard against unexpected situations.
Even if something had gone wrong, it shouldn't have been completely empty.
But here… judging from the state of the scene, it seemed that something extremely terrifying had occurred, causing everyone to abruptly abandon what they were doing and flee frantically in a specific direction.
A faint smell of blood lingered in the air, mixed with the scent of something burned.
"Captain! There's a huge hole over here!"
"They all seem to have gone down through the hole?"
Hank cautiously peered into the opening, first tossing down a glow stick. After confirming there were no immediate issues, he called over two men and ordered them to descend and scout.
Just then, the three members of the special operations team assigned to rear guard duty were suddenly gagged by something unseen.
Before they could struggle, their bodies were pierced straight through by invisible wrist blades.
The entire process was completely silent.
But Hank, known as the God of Death, quickly sensed that something was wrong.
"Be careful! We've got enemies here!"
"Damn it, when—ah!!"
Da da da—!!
"I can't see anything!"
"The enemy seems to be invisible!"
"Everyone, activate thermal infrared and search for enemy traces!"
"It's no good—we still can't see anything!"
"Ah!!!"
Mark watched helplessly as a spear flew out and pierced the teammate beside him. The weapon carried terrifying force, punching straight through the man before embedding itself deep in the snow.
Relying on instinct and experience, Mark immediately opened fire toward the enemy's position.
However, a sharp impact sound rang out, as if the bullets had struck something solid, yet they had no effect at all.
Mark's heart sank.
Clearly, the enemy could not only turn invisible, but also possessed bulletproof equipment.
In this vast, open snowfield, they were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, completely unable to fight back.
"Everyone, throw smoke grenades and fall back toward the hole!"
Mark pulled the pin and hurled a grenade.
The others threw flashbangs and smoke grenades to provide cover.
Originally, Mark had planned to use the smoke to expose the enemy's position, but the opponent seemed fully aware of the smoke's purpose and did not charge in recklessly.
"Damn it. Where did these monsters come from this time?"
Cursing under his breath, Mark gathered the only three remaining men and began descending into the hole using a steel rope.
Mark and his team had originally planned to ambush the enemy inside the cave.
However, when they reached the bottom of the hole, they found a group of bizarre figures staring at them with gentle smiles.
What sent an even deeper chill down his spine was that some members of this group were missing a hand, others had their brains exposed, and still others were nothing more than a head with eight legs growing out of it.
Behind the crowd was a brightly lit opening, which looked like an exit.
"Motherfucker!"
"We're breaking through!"
"Open fire!!!"
____
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