Mr. Blue hid in the distance, his oversized head now throbbing with the overwhelming power of the Hulk serum, greedily observing everything unfolding before him.
Kicked away by Abomination, a drop of Hulk serum had landed on his head, triggering a groundbreaking evolution in his brain. But the smarter he became, the more reluctant he was to leave.
He couldn't let go of these strange creatures.
With his newfound intellect, Mr. Blue processed every bit of information he had seen upon first encountering Duncan and the xenomorphs, running countless simulations—no exaggeration, his memory and computational capacity now surpassed even the most advanced artificial intelligence.
He marveled at the xenomorph's perfection as a weapon, where every contour of its body was designed purely for combat efficiency.
He noticed subtle differences among the xenomorph types and, through careful deduction, pieced together fragments of their nature, making it even harder for him to walk away.
Then, with his enhanced vision, he witnessed the horrifying moment when Abomination was chest-bursted. His entire body trembled.
Not just from fear—but from exhilaration.
"So, monsters like this exist in the world. I understand now. That man carried the egg for a reason. The spider that emerged and latched onto Blonsky's face only to die moments later... everything had a purpose."
"It was all for parasitism. Everything was to acquire Blonsky's power!"
If that were all, Mr. Blue would have been astonished but not desperate enough to risk his life to stay. But when he saw the xenomorph's inner jaw, sharp as a spear, effortlessly penetrate Abomination's missile-proof skull, he shivered.
Piecing everything together from his deductions, Mr. Blue formed a hypothesis.
"These creatures can parasitize different hosts and absorb their powers. No, their genes! But how do they filter through the infinitely complex genetic sequences of an organism so quickly? What criteria do they use to differentiate between valuable and worthless genes?"
Is it just extracting combat-related genes? Or something even more outrageous... absorbing all superior genetic traits while discarding the inferior ones, emerging far more powerful than the host upon chest-bursting?
Mr. Blue couldn't be certain. The idea was too wild. But if it were true, there was no doubt—these unknown creatures were perfect beings.
He could hardly fathom how the mysterious man had acquired these creatures or managed to control them.
"A psychic link, like Professor X? Or perhaps, like birds, they imprint on the first being they see as their parent?" Mr. Blue's heart raced wildly.
As a scientist, ambition came naturally to him. But above all, he had an innate drive—an obsession with the pursuit of perfection within his field.
To Mr. Blue, creatures like Abomination and the Hulk were mere relics of nature compared to the xenomorphs, obsolete and insignificant.
The stronger, more exceptional, and more boundless the host's potential, the more the xenomorph surpassed them upon bursting forth. How could anything compete?
Most people can never fully realize their potential due to time, energy, and countless other limitations. It's impossible to master everything one could theoretically excel at.
But xenomorphs are different. They seize all the host's superior traits, max out their potential, and evolve into a mature form that surpasses the host entirely.
It was terrifying. Suffocating. And… beautiful.
"They're mine. These perfect creatures should belong to me—Samuel Sterns, the greatest biologist in human history!" Mr. Blue's giant head finally stopped swelling, his intellect having expanded nearly five hundredfold in an instant.
But intelligence aside, when confronted with such unheard-of monsters, his hysterical greed and desire nearly drove him mad.
"And that black-haired man—he withstood Blonsky's desperate attacks. His body isn't normal either! Could it be related to these creatures? Is that why he can control them?"
Though Mr. Blue's intellect was unparalleled, the lack of information in this unknown field left his mind reeling. The logical impasse was suffocating.
Suddenly, Duncan turned his head and looked in Mr. Blue's direction.
Their eyes met.
"He noticed me!" The thought exploded in Mr. Blue's mind.
"Looks like the big-headed baby pulled through," Duncan mused, "but I wonder how he measures up to the other Samuel Sterns."
While mentally communicating with the Abomination-xenomorph, Duncan also kept an eye on Mr. Blue.
In the comics, Samuel Sterns—the Leader—is reputedly one of Earth's eight smartest individuals, gaining his immense intellect from gamma radiation.
However, the Mr. Blue standing before Duncan had enhanced his intelligence through a drop of Hulk serum on his brain.
This confirmed something for Duncan: the universe he was in was not purely the movie version.
Given the vastness of Marvel's multiverse, recklessly assuming the nature of the universe without extensive exploration was a surefire way to get himself killed in critical moments.
Maintaining a cautious attitude toward everything was the safest mindset.
Besides, even if this were purely the movie universe, it wouldn't be safe. Beyond the universe, multiversal entities toy with entire dimensions—lending power, planting traps, setting up disasters. Who knows when some obscure corner might spawn a being infused with multiversal-level power?
Not to mention the supercosmic entities that exist beyond the multiverse, whose danger was beyond comprehension.
By the time Marvel's seventh multiverse came into existence, countless true big shots had made their moves, upgrading Marvel's cosmology to omnipotent concepts.
Sending a messenger xenomorph to secretly monitor Mr. Blue, Duncan turned his gaze to the distance.
The commotion here had already spread. He anticipated someone would soon arrive.
However, he didn't expect the newcomer to be Blade, Iron Man, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, or any other heroes or villains.
No. It was… Superman?
A figure clad in a blue-and-gold bodysuit floated effortlessly in midair, needing no physical medium to remain suspended. His face was stern, his eyes flashing with golden light that hinted at an immense energy ready to fire at any moment.
Other than lacking a cape and red briefs, this guy bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain superhero from the next universe over.
At first glance, Duncan kept his composure, but internally, he couldn't help feeling odd. He hadn't expected the first one to show up would be this guy.
One of the 11 Eternals stationed on Earth for thousands of years, tasked with fostering the Celestial race and indirectly dooming Earth and humanity—Ikaris.
...
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