chapter 168 part 2
At this, Colin's eyes glowed a faint red as he prepared to fire his Heat Vision and destroy them all.
Suddenly, an immense Super Strength came from behind him. He turned his head to see that Luke Cage had somehow gotten behind him and was now holding him fast with his thick arms.
Feeling the force Luke Cage was exerting on him, Colin braced his arms, preparing to break free.
Crossbones had already arrived in front of him. He raised his modified arm with a mechanical whir, sharp blades emerging from his fingertips as he stabbed viciously at Colin's head.
The sharp mechanical hand made contact with Colin's head, producing a piercing shriek of scraping metal.
Crossbones' modified arm, capable of easily tearing a steel plate to shreds, couldn't leave the slightest scratch on Colin's body.
It was as if he was grabbing a solid block of iron, not a person.
Seeing that even with his full strength, he still couldn't leave any noticeable injury on Colin, the expression on Crossbones' face turned ugly.
However, before the ugly expression could linger on his face for long.
In the next second, Luke Cage let out a pained cry. The Super Strength emanating from Colin's body had surpassed his limit, and even the self-proclaimed tough guy Luke Cage couldn't help but scream.
Wrenching one hand free, Colin grabbed Luke Cage's arm. Luke Cage's nearly two-meter-tall frame seemed weightless in Colin's grasp as he was effortlessly pulled away. Colin swung the big man, smashing him and Crossbones away together.
Colin cracked his neck, his gaze falling upon Moonstone in the distance.
Under his stare, she instinctively took a small step back.
But she quickly recovered, gritted her teeth, and met Colin's gaze. Then she raised her hands, forming a fierce energy wave that she blasted towards him.
Watching the energy wave fired from Moonstone's hands, Colin controlled the Heat Vision in his eyes, intending to meet it with a blast of his own.
*Boom—*
Mister Hyde's sudden lunge slammed him violently into the ground.
With another roar, he began pummeling the downed Colin with his thick, terrifying arms.
*Boom, boom, boom, boom!*
The Super Strength behind each of Mister Hyde's punches was horrifying, his massive fists nearly covering Colin's entire body.
With each heavy blow, a deep crater was pounded into the ground.
The immense Super Strength spread out from the crater, creating a web of bottomless cracks in the surrounding ground.
Watching Colin being struck by Mister Hyde's torrential rain of fists, Boomerang couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Is he dead?"
Such terrifying Super Strength... even a single punch would have been enough to kill him.
"No."
Shaking his head, Luke Cage climbed out of the collapsed prison ruins, his expression not relaxing in the slightest.
Sure enough, just as Luke Cage finished speaking.
*Boom!*
Mister Hyde, who had been hunched over the ground delivering his ferocious assault, was suddenly blasted away. Flying out from the pit was Colin's body—disheveled, but still intact.
Clearly, Mister Hyde's furious punches hadn't truly defeated him.
"Just what kind of Monster are we facing!"
Looking at the still-unharmed Colin, Boomerang's voice trembled.
As a member of the Thunderbolts, he was well aware of his teammates' capabilities. Setting aside the others, Mister Hyde's Super Strength alone was enough to destroy a small town after his transformation.
But even a being that powerful had failed to leave any significant injuries on their opponent.
At this moment, in Boomerang's eyes.
Colin seemed even more like a Monster than Mister Hyde.
"Can we really defeat a Monster like this?"
Sensing the fear and helplessness in Boomerang's tone, Luke Cage said nothing, but the expression on his face seemed to echo the sentiment.
"I refuse to believe that anyone in this world is invincible!"
Pushing himself to his feet, Crossbones looked down at his arm, twisted from the impact, and spoke with a savage expression.
"There has to be a way to kill Collin Roper. There has to be a way."
Sensing the madness in Crossbones' voice, Luke Cage gave him a long, deep look.
Ignoring Luke Cage's stare, Crossbones' gaze shifted, landing on Moonstone not far away. He yelled with a ferocious look on his face.
"Kara, I don't care what you do, pin Collin Roper in place! I'm going to kill him for good!"
Faced with Crossbones' almost command-like tone, Moonstone couldn't help but frown.
In the past, Karla Sofen would have never paid Crossbones' words any mind. But as her gaze fell on Colin in the crater, Moonstone suppressed her dissatisfaction.
"I can't guarantee how long I can hold him. After all, his Super Strength far exceeds our imagination..."
As she spoke, Moonstone took a deep breath.
Closing her eyes, she began to call upon the Moonstone Gem within her body.
That's right, the Moonstone Gem that granted Karla Sofen her Powers had not disappeared; it had merged with her body.
This mysterious Stone, taken from the Moon, possessed immense power. It was said to be a special rock discovered during Germany's original Moon Landing Program. Because of this, Karla Sofen had proposed to the Federal Government more than once, requesting permission to explore the Moon.
However, the Federal Government had denied Karla Sofen's request every time.
Without the Federal Government's permission, Karla Sofen could not pass through the Satellite Barrier surrounding the Earth's surface, unless she planned to violate federal law and become a fugitive.
Clearly, Moonstone had no such intention at the moment, so she was unable to investigate the source of the Moonstone Gem's power.
"...Moon... more power..."
In her mind, an almost imperceptible whisper passed through.
Moonstone opened her eyes, and the brilliant light formed by the Stone's power once again enveloped her.
"Just... stay put and don't move!"
With Karla Sofen's strained command, a brilliant light, more intense than ever before, shot from her hands, forming a powerful energy wave that instantly engulfed Colin.
The powerful attractive force generated by the energy wave pinned Colin firmly in place.
"What is this?"
Feeling the terrifying attractive force from Moonstone's energy wave, Colin's expression changed slightly.
He raised his arm, fighting against the pull of this force.
Under this gravitational pull, his every small movement seemed to become several times more difficult.
"Interesting."
"Hurry up! I can't hold this for long!"
Gritting her teeth and maintaining the energy wave, Moonstone yelled at Crossbones.
"Leave it to me."
Hearing Moonstone's shout, Crossbones ripped the broken mask from his head, revealing a ferocious face covered in scars.
Then, he pressed a button on his modified arm, revealing a small nuclear warhead housed within its internal mechanism.
(end of chapter)