chapter 178 part 1
Chapter 177: Intellect Enhancement
By reporting the news, he had successfully orchestrated a protest against the Superhero Registration Act in the Anti-World.
Colin, the mastermind, withdrew once his mission was accomplished. Aside from his participation in the very first protest, he left the stage to the citizens of New York City.
Outwardly, he stated his desire not to overshadow the protest or infringe upon the protesters' rights.
But the real reason was that Ben Urich of The Frontline and Jameson believed Colin's reporting had already attracted too much animosity, and for safety's sake, Colin should avoid public appearances for a while.
Although, the concerns of Jameson and the others were unfounded.
There might be dangerous entities in the Anti-World that could harm him, but they would certainly not appear at a protest.
However, since Ben Urich and the others insisted, Colin was more than happy to take a break.
In any case, the fuse had been lit. Even without his involvement, the protesting crowds would only grow larger over time.
In fact, according to online media reports, small-scale protest clashes had also erupted in Los Angeles and Washington.
Clearly, the protests against the Superhero Registration Act had spread from New York to all corners of America.
Next, the Thunderbolts, or the Superhuman Activities Monitoring Committee behind them, would have their hands full dealing with the problems and troubles caused by these protests.
...
Withdrawing his gaze from the televised anti-Superhero Registration Act protest, Colin looked at the text before him.
[Super Intellect (Bronze)]
[Super Durability (Bronze)]
With the latest serialized story in The Messenger Newspaper, he had successfully upgraded two of his Black Iron-level abilities.
The latter didn't require much explanation.
Bronze-level Durability would help him better withstand various kinds of damage from the Anti-World, especially since the thermal weapon levels in the Anti-World far exceeded those in the Main World.
In fact, if possible, Colin would have loved to replicate the classic scene of Superman emerging unscathed from an atomic bomb explosion and taking a picture.
However, he was limited by the era.
In the Main World, the atomic bomb was still in its earliest science fiction stage; even the crucial paper on Uranium Nuclear Fission showed no signs of being published. Without a real-world reference, even if Colin created this scene in the comic, the impact on readers wouldn't be very profound.
Of course, Colin could also use his upgraded Bronze-level Super Intellect to research nuclear weapon production in the Main World.
But he wasn't some evil comic book villain bent on world domination, and with Superman's abilities available for him to unlock, why would he bother researching nuclear weapon production?
Such a thankless task was clearly not something Colin pursued.
Having unlocked Bronze-level Super Intellect, Colin's cognitive abilities had clearly improved significantly.
In a single moment, he had already deduced over a third of the Fission Chain Reaction Formula. He couldn't complete the rest due to limitations in his knowledge base, but if he wished, he could easily complete the remaining formulas through reading.
Shaking his head, he suppressed the deduced formulas in his mind and refocused on the Super Intellect (Bronze) ability itself.
Undoubtedly, once an ability was upgraded to Bronze, it was on a completely different level from Black Iron.
This was evident from his previous Super Strength. After that ability reached Bronze, his fights against the members of the Thunderbolts could almost be described as a complete stomp.
And this point seemed even more apparent with Super Intellect.
Casually picking up a book, Colin found that he could commit its entire contents to memory in just over ten seconds if he wished.
This was merely one manifestation of his enhanced intellect. The ease with which he had deduced the Fission Chain Reaction Formula also proved that it wasn't just his memory that had been upgraded, but his computational ability as well.
[Ability Description: Superman possesses incredible intelligence and an astonishing computational learning ability, capable of reading a book in ten seconds and mastering knowledge that would take an ordinary person half a month to learn.]
From the ability description, the improvements brought by the upgrade were clearly evident for Colin.
The enhancement of Super Intellect was within Colin's expectations, so he showed no great surprise.
In a matter of seconds, he adapted to the comprehensive upgrade this ability enhancement brought, including the leap in his cognitive abilities and a more meticulous mastery over all his powers.
He glanced down at the cup of water on the table. As a thought flashed through Colin's mind, two red beams shot from his eyes and landed on the cup, instantly reheating the cooled coffee within to a suitable temperature.
This level of control over the release of his Heat Vision was something he could only achieve after his Super Intellect was upgraded to Bronze.
If it were before, a single blast of Heat Vision from Colin could have burned a hole through the entire building, let alone just the cup.
"Not bad."
Taking a sip of the hot coffee, Colin nodded in satisfaction.
Immediately after, his gaze shifted to the laptop before him. The application of Heat Vision was just a small experiment with his ability; what came next was the main reason he unlocked Bronze-level Super Intellect.
As a thought flashed through Colin's mind, his fingers flew across the laptop's keyboard.
Soon, numerous blueprints appeared on the computer screen.
Densely packed schematics flickered rapidly across his lenses, like a data storm.
...
"As expected, the same feeling as always."
In the Main World, having completed the accumulation of knowledge, Colin opened his eyes. Feeling the familiar sense of suppression from his body, a look of understanding crossed his face.
Abilities unlocked in the Main World would be weakened to varying degrees, but this feeling of suppression would change slightly with each upgrade. If the Black Iron-level felt like he was wearing a suit of thick iron armor that suppressed his abilities, then after upgrading to Bronze, that suit of iron armor seemed to have become a bit lighter, allowing him to exert a portion of his Black Iron-level ability.
Although it was still a suppression, at least it was no longer as uncomfortable as before.
He closed his eyes and searched through the memories in his mind.
Actions that could be completed with a single thought in the Anti-World now felt as if they were shackled by heavy locks, greatly restricting his cognitive abilities. He had to patiently undo the locks to retrieve the information he needed.
Fortunately, from shuttling between the two worlds, Colin had long since grown accustomed to the restrictions of the Main World.
Frowning, he spent nearly ten minutes finding what he wanted in his mind. A slight smile tugged at the corners of Colin's lips.
The world has changed because of me.
...