Northern New York State
Hydra Secret Research Base
Alpha Station
Xiao Han's eyes snapped open suddenly. The blinding white light made him instinctively raise a hand to shield his vision.
But the next second, he realized he couldn't move.
His body was fixed inside a cylindrical metal experiment pod. His limbs were tightly restrained by some kind of alloy bands that glimmered with a cold light.
A heavy metal collar clamped around his neck, red indicator lights flashing across its surface.
"Where… am I?" Xiao Han's temples throbbed violently as memories surged like a tidal wave.
He remembered the uncontrolled dump truck on his way home, the moment the windshield shattered, the excruciating pain as the steering wheel crushed his chest…
"Am I not supposed to be dead?"
Outside the experiment pod, several figures in white protective suits worked at a console. The red skull insignias on their chests made Xiao Han's pupils shrink in shock.
Hydra!?
This is… Marvel?
Did I… transmigrate?
But his body was clearly still his own—he hadn't swapped souls. Then… what was going on?
"Subject X-137 has awakened. Vital signs are stable." A cold female voice echoed through the pod's speakers.
"Prepare for the seventy-third injection of the gene serum."
Xiao Han struggled with all his might, but the restraints did not budge an inch.
His gaze swept over the lab through the reinforced glass of the pod.
He saw walls plastered with human anatomy charts and gene sequencing diagrams. In the corners were several empty metal pods, their inner walls stained with suspicious black residue.
"Serum ready." Another male voice spoke.
"Based on the results of the previous seventy-two experiments, we've adjusted the gene recombination sequence and added a new catalyst."
"Let's hope this one survives the first phase," the female researcher said coldly. "Last month, when the previous subject exploded, cleaning up took us two full days."
Xiao Han's throat tightened.
Luckily, he had learned foreign languages to prepare for a foreign trade job. Every American client he had dealt with had praised his English.
He realized he had become a human test subject for Hydra. Judging from what he'd heard, none of the first seventy-two subjects had survived.
"Injection countdown: 10, 9, 8…"
Xiao Han twisted frantically. The metal restraints cut into his flesh, blood dripping from his wrists.
He couldn't die here. He couldn't die in such a ridiculous way again!
"…3, 2, 1, injection start."
A mechanical arm extended from the top of the pod, the needle glinting coldly as it slowly pierced the vein in Xiao Han's neck.
The icy liquid surged into his bloodstream. He immediately felt his blood boil.
"Ahhh!"
Agony washed over him like a tsunami, every nerve screaming in pain.
Xiao Han saw his skin begin to crack, his muscles unnaturally bulging and contracting, and his bones grinding with a nauseating screech.
"Vital signs spiking! Heart rate 200, blood pressure 220/150!"
"Brain waves abnormally active, exceeding instrument limits!"
"God, his muscle density increased by 300%! He'll explode! Stop the experiment now!"
Xiao Han's vision was flooded with red. He felt his cells being torn apart and recombined, some primal, violent force awakening inside him.
His consciousness blurred, leaving only the thunderous sound of his own heartbeat.
Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a cold, mechanical voice rang in his mind:
[Ding! Host vital signs abnormal. Superhuman growth system activated!]
[Host: Xiao Han]
[Current world: Marvel Universe Earth-]
[Detected lethal gene mutation threat. Emergency defense protocol activated]
[Granted: Full Steel Body (Same as DC Superman Fusion Life Codex)]
An unprecedented force erupted from Xiao Han's body! Every cell rejoiced as if a giant had awakened from slumber.
The serum's mutating factors tearing at his body dissolved like snow under the sun before this power.
Outside the pod, all monitoring equipment suddenly sparked and short-circuited.
"What's happening? All instruments are offline!"
"The subject's vital signs… impossible! All readings off the charts!"
"Check the pod!"
Inside the reinforced glass, Xiao Han slowly lifted his head. His eyes glowed crimson.
The special alloy restraints, designed to hold a main battle tank, snapped like paper with a single tug.
"No! This is impossible!" the female researcher stumbled back. "That alloy can withstand 500 tons of tension!"
Xiao Han stood in the shattered pod, looking down at his hands.
He could feel the raw power surging through his body—the strength to push mountains and split seas.
His super hearing detected every heartbeat in the base. His X-ray vision could see through dozens of layers of steel. Every cell of his body pulsed with near-limitless energy.
"This… is the power of a superhuman?"
[Ding! Host has obtained the full and growth-capable Steel Body. Current abilities include but are not limited to: Super Strength, Biotic Force Field (including flight and super speed), Heat Vision, Freeze Breath, Super Hearing, X-ray Vision]
The system's notification barely ended when the lab's blast doors flung open. A dozen heavily armed Hydra agents stormed in, energy weapons aimed at Xiao Han.
"Don't move! X-137, kneel with your hands on your head!"
"Open fire!"
Xiao Han slowly lifted his head, a smile curling on his lips.
To him, the agents' movements were slower than snails. He could track the trajectory of every energy projectile flying toward him.
A dozen blue energy bullets shot at him, but each one bounced off his biotic field like hitting an invisible wall.
Xiao Han stood still, not so much as shifting his coat. (I added the coat detail—no funny business with the protagonist.)
He exhaled lightly. Freeze Breath!
A bone-chilling cold swept across the lab, freezing all the agents mid-motion in thick ice, their faces frozen in terror.
Xiao Han approached the control console, pressing down lightly with his palm. The alloy console crumpled like clay.
Alarms blared across the base, red warning lights flashing wildly.
"Warning! Base at Level One Combat Readiness! All combat units proceed to B Zone Laboratory immediately! Repeat, all combat units…"
Xiao Han's X-ray vision pierced walls, seeing hundreds of Hydra soldiers mobilizing. Further away, three heavy mechs were powering up.
He smiled faintly and slowly hovered into the air.
"Perfect time to test my strength."
He slammed through the lab ceiling like a cannonball, smashing through twelve reinforced concrete floors and crashing into the central hall of the base.
Hydra soldiers barely saw what happened before the shockwave tossed them like ragdolls.
"There! Fire!"
Hundreds of energy beams formed a deadly net, but not one grazed his coat.
Hovering in the hall, his red eyes flashed.
Heat Vision swept across the room!
Hydra's heavy armor sliced like butter, load-bearing columns melted into molten iron, and the entire base trembled violently.
Xiao Han grabbed one of the mechs with one hand, hurling its thirty-ton frame at the other two like a toy.
Boom!
The three mechs collided into a fireball.
The shockwave ripped half the base's roof off, sunlight spilling onto Xiao Han as he felt his power surge even further.
"Monster! He's a monster!" the surviving Hydra commander shrieked, collapsing, gun trembling in hand.
Xiao Han landed before him, super hearing picking up a conversation on an encrypted channel deep in the base:
"Activate self-destruct! The subject cannot escape!"
"But sir, there are still our men inside!"
"Carry out orders! Countdown 60 seconds!"
Xiao Han shook his head and shot to the commander in an instant. "You're killing your own people?"
"For the glory of Hydra, sacrifice is necessary!" the commander laughed maniacally. "You can't escape. Everything within five kilometers will be leveled! Long live Hydra!"
Xiao Han sighed and shot skyward, piercing hundreds of meters of rock to the surface.
His eyes locked on the core reactor of the underground base. He took a deep breath.
Freeze Breath!
Absolute zero cold surged through the tunnels, instantly freezing the reactor.
The self-destruct protocol, barely activated, was forcibly halted. The base became a colossal ice sculpture.