Just as many people were struggling to open their eyes due to the blinding, sun-like light, a powerful sonic boom erupted in the sky. It wasn't the sound of an object crashing—it was an explosive crack caused by air compression, from something moving too fast.
Before the roar could fade, an even louder sound swallowed it entirely.
BOOM!
The deafening explosion shattered the awareness of everyone inside the Emperor Project base. For a moment, their minds went blank. Most didn't even realize that their bodies had been violently blown away by the shockwave.
Had anyone managed to keep their eyes open, they would have seen Clark's body begin to glow like the surface of a miniature sun. In the next instant, he shot forward like a golden missile, leaving a trail of light behind him as he charged at the MUTO.
That glowing trail rippled the air, sending out expanding ring-shaped shockwaves.
All of this happened in less than a second.
Before anyone could react, a tremendous shock force burst out from the moment Clark and the MUTO collided.
From their impact point, a shockwave of first-level energy magnitude surged outward, sweeping across the entire base.
When Clark's flare-powered punch struck the MUTO, the creature didn't even get the chance to be thrown back—the sheer power of the blow caused its body to collapse instantly.
It was like smashing a block of tofu with a steel rod—MUTO's flesh exploded outward in a fan-shaped burst, splattering across half the base.
Everything within range—walls, ground, machinery—was now coated in chunks of dark green-black MUTO tissue.
From above, one half of the base looked intact. The other half looked as if someone had spilled black-green ink over it.
After utterly destroying the MUTO with one punch, Clark immediately deactivated his flare mode. In just that brief moment, the energy reserves of his external suit were completely depleted—and it would take hours to recharge.
"Coulson… you okay?"
Inside the base's command room, Ward took a deep breath and slowly got to his feet. The control room had been relatively close to the battle site. Despite its reinforced walls and bulletproof glass, Clark's shockwave had slammed both Coulson and Ward hard into the walls.
The facility was well-built—for humans.
But against beings like Clark or a MUTO, who could easily weigh tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds, even the strongest human-made walls were fragile. Just one look at the deformed command room wall showed how powerful that blast really was.
Luckily, the structure had shielded them well enough that both Coulson and Ward only suffered minor injuries.
"Feels like my ribs are broken," Ward groaned as he stood.
Coulson, born in 1964 and now pushing 50, slowly got up from the ground. He rubbed his ribs to make sure nothing was fractured and said to Ward:
"Hurry up and gather any data you can find."
"I think I found it."
Thanks to his youth, Ward recovered faster. After standing, he spotted a pile of scattered documents. While the messy handwriting and technical jargon were mostly beyond him, Ward had a gut feeling this was the important intel they were after.
As Ward began collecting the files, Coulson scanned the rest of the room, checked his watch, and said:
"Time's up. We're leaving."
"Is he coming with us?" Ward asked, glancing out the window at Clark.
"He's much faster than we are," Coulson replied.
He signaled Ward, and the two exited the command room.
Outside, Clark glanced briefly at Coulson but then looked up at the sky. He had sensed a satellite locked onto his position.
But Clark was already used to being watched from orbit. As long as he didn't plan to take over Earth, the fear of the ruling class was something he had come to accept.
To shield Coulson and Ward's extraction, Clark waited until they had boarded the invisible Quinjet, then opened a teleportation portal and instantly appeared inside the aircraft.
"Coulson, there's something wrong with this data."
Clark had barely stepped aboard when he heard Simmons speak.
"What did you find?" Coulson asked.
Simmons was a biochemistry expert, and Coulson had immediately handed the recovered documents to her upon return, hoping for useful intel.
Though the mission had been "unofficial," Coulson's access to Emperor Project information had only been possible thanks to Nick Fury's tacit support.
Officially, SHIELD and Emperor were both under the World Security Council, operating at the same level of clearance. That was why Fury didn't want Coulson digging too deeply.
He had sent Coulson with Clark because he knew—once Superman acted—the Emperor Project couldn't do much in retaliation. Not unless they wanted war.
Fury's real aim wasn't just to eliminate the MUTO the Emperor group refused to touch—it was also to find any intel related to Skull Island.
That island, said to reach the Earth's core, terrified Fury. He believed it posed a massive future threat to humanity.
But with Emperor unwilling to give up control, Fury's only choice was to destroy the MUTO and simultaneously try to retrieve any relevant data.
go to "patreon.com/Hussain678" for more chapter