Chapter 195: Chapter 195: The Dark Apostle Revisited
The news that the S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy transporting Maya Hansen was attacked, resulting in the death of Maya Hansen along with all the escort personnel, quickly reached Clark through Hill.
Clark felt no ripple in his heart upon hearing this.
With the basic data of the Extremis virus in hand, whether its creator, Maya Hansen, was alive or dead became irrelevant.
Indeed, in both the movies and the comics, Maya Hansen had pushed the Extremis virus to its current extent, reaching her limits. Advancing it further was beyond her capabilities.
Even in the comics, the Extremis virus shone mainly in Tony's hands, having little to do with Maya Hansen herself.
In short, her abilities were average; her presence or absence made little difference.
If she survived this incident, Clark would honor his promise before the trip and invite her to join his research team.
If not, then so be it.
Compared to this, the cargo ship in front of him piqued his interest more.
No, to be precise, it was the thirty-six pirates on the cargo ship that Clark sensed a strange energy fluctuation from.
"Clark, Director Fury has said that you will command this battle," Natasha's voice came through the S.H.I.E.L.D. earpiece. "Do you have a battle plan?"
His gaze shifted, falling on the void less than thirty meters away.
Seemingly empty, it actually harbored a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet, with Natasha and Hawkeye leading the operatives concealed inside.
Noticing Clark looking in their direction, Natasha was surprised and asked, "Can you see through the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane's cloaking system?"
"That's not important," Clark lightly shook his head. "My orders for you are to stand by and be ready to take over the cargo ship."
With that, he boldly descended directly towards the cargo ship.
"Who's there?"
Clark's appearance immediately drew the pirates' attention. Two pirates armed with machine guns turned around and, without hesitation, opened fire upon seeing Clark.
"Da! Da! Da!..."
Bullets crazily shot out from the barrels, only to be halted three feet in front of Clark.
Then, with a slight frown, Clark made the bullets suspended in mid-air turn around and shoot back at the two pirates.
Blood splattered, but the two pirates didn't immediately fall. Instead, they emitted a scorching aura, a sign of the Extremis virus going out of control.
Was this a scheme by the Ten Rings?
With a wave of his hand, an electromagnetic field formed by the Blood Sky trapped the two pirates about to explode and threw them tens of meters away from the cargo ship. Following two loud explosions, they were reduced to dust.
However, the deaths of these two pirates were not in vain. With the two explosions, they successfully drew out all the pirates on the ship.
Clark's gaze swept over the remaining pirates, noting that each had been injected with the Extremis virus, turning them into human bombs ready to explode at any moment!
Among them, three individuals stood out with a distinct aura.
Besides the power from the Extremis virus, Clark felt a special energy fluctuation from these three.
This energy made them far stronger than the others, but it was so deeply hidden that Clark couldn't identify it until they acted.
"Clark Lee," the bald man with tattoos on his head among the three spoke first. "I didn't expect S.H.I.E.L.D. to have you handle this. But even with you, can you really take on so many superhumans?"
Clark responded with a cold laugh, saying disdainfully, "With all due respect, I don't consider you lot worth my attention."
"Kill him!"
At the bald man's command, the pirates on deck burst into a scorching aura, attacking Clark with a suicidal strategy.
Facing over thirty human bombs, Clark calmly extended his left hand, adorned with the Blood Sky ring, and gently pressed towards the empty space in front of him.
Divine Retribution!
A surging repulsive force suddenly appeared, spreading out from Clark as the center.
The nearest dozen pirates were instantly repelled by this force, flying out of the deck area in different trajectories.
This was Clark controlling his strength to avoid damaging the cargo ship's dangerous goods.
Had he used his full strength, a single Divine Retribution could have wiped the cargo ship from the sea!
After repelling the nearest attackers, Clark pointed in the air, and beams of milky white energy shot from his fingers, piercing through the pirates outside the cargo hold, each hit targeting vital points.
With the quality and quantity of Clark's "qi," a single energy beam was more potent than a sniper rifle bullet!
Another round of explosions, and Clark had eliminated nearly half of the thirty-plus pirates.
Seeing this, the three individuals with hidden powers finally joined the battle, showing the capability to stand against weaker Avengers like Hawkeye and Black Widow. However, they barely sparked Clark's interest.
The only surprise was the mark resembling a bull's head that appeared on their foreheads upon activating their powers.
The Mark of Dormammu!
These three were also endowed with dark energy?
And Clark had failed to detect this dark energy due to the cover of the Extremis virus!
Dark energy combined with the Extremis virus explained their supervillain-level strength.
After swiftly dealing with the other enemies, Clark crushed one individual's head with a palm strike, then casually opened a portal to the heart of the Sahara Desert, sending the yet-to-explode corpse through it before closing the door.
Receiving impression points +10 from Flora Valerian!
With negligible impression points gained, Clark felt no dark energy entering his body.
So, as long as the spatial distance between himself and the Dark Apostles was sufficient, killing them wouldn't risk the dark energy flowing into his body?
Discovering this, Clark repeated the process, successfully eliminating the second Extremis virus-injected Dark Apostle, again isolating the dark energy using the portal.
The remaining bald man with tattoos, seeing Clark's prowess, roared, "Clark Lee, no matter how strong you are, it's useless. Manda will avenge me!"
His reply was a shockwave, directly blasting him into the already opened portal behind him. Following the portal's closure, the shockwave's force, now unrestrained, completely destroyed all signs of life in the tattooed man.
"Boom!"
In the desolate Sahara Desert, a dazzling firework lit up once more!
After ensuring no other living beings were on board, Clark finally told Natasha through the S.H.I.E.L.D. communicator, "The enemy has been dealt with. You can safely take over the cargo ship now."
Receiving impression points +666 from Natasha Romanoff!
Receiving impression points +666 from Clinton Francis Barton!
Receiving impression points from…
Reluctantly turning off the Quinjet's impression mode, the faces of the elite S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were utterly bizarre.
What exactly were we here for?
Using the Quinjet's cloaking mode, were we just silently watching him show off?
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