[+1 billion, account balance: 1,303.12 million USD]
The system notification sounded, and Tony's transfer arrived right on schedule.
Looking at the more than 1.3 billion dollars on the account, a trace of a smile appeared in Corin's eyes.
"Not bad. All this running around lately wasn't for nothing after all."
At this time, the military had already tracked Betty's phone and bank card records, and followed the trail to place the email account of "Mr. Blue" under surveillance as well.
General Ross knew that if Banner wanted to cure himself, he would definitely contact Mr. Blue again.
Sure enough, the email Banner sent was intercepted by the military, and they locked onto Mr. Blue's location.
A carefully laid hunting net quietly unfolded.
As for Corin, General Ross asked him to stay on standby at all times, and only step in to assist when they were ready to close the net.
Corin neither agreed nor objected.
He watched the military's combat footage, and as he looked at Hulk wreaking havoc with overwhelming might, a question arose in his mind, 'With my current power, can I fight the invincible Hulk?'
On this point, Corin did not have much confidence. After all, his not-so-high-level steel body combined with Deadpool-level recovery could only guarantee that he would be very hard to kill, not that he could not die.
So many fighters with strange and unpredictable abilities had yet to appear, and Corin never dared to be blindly optimistic.
After all, staying alive was the most basic principle for a transmigrator.
The [Immortal Body] in the system shop cost 5 billion, and he did not have enough to exchange for it yet.
Lying in the rest room provided by the military, Corin planned to use this long-lost quiet time to study the system shop and boost his strength a bit.
In this ever-changing Marvel world, personal strength was the foundation of everything.
Even if he had an immortal body, being exiled to the edge of the universe or trapped in the cracks of the microscopic world would make him feel as miserable as death.
Corin decided to upgrade his steel body first. After all, a body that could not withstand heavy weapons could not really be called a steel body.
"Upgrade!"
[-500 million, upgrade successful. Account balance: 803.12 million USD]
Feeling the subtle changes in his body, Corin thought of something else, 'Flight.'
Although he could achieve flight now, each time was basically like throwing himself out.
The drawbacks of this method became exposed as Corin used it more and more.
That was, it was far too inconvenient in combat.
Back when he fought Iron Monger in the air, every time he changed position or accelerated, he had to throw out flying knives and use their momentum to do it.
'Way too troublesome.'
'Is there any way to let me fly without working so hard like that?'
With this question in mind, Corin browsed the system shop.
Superman's bio-field was undoubtedly the best choice, but it was expensive. He could not afford it.
A technological flight method like Tony's, for example giving himself wings or rocket devices, belonged to the realm of technology, and the system shop did not have that.
It could only exchange talents and innate abilities.
There was, however, a talent that could let him grow wings:
[Vampire → Transform into a Bat. 300 million USD]
'But this…'
Imagining himself turning into a bat and flapping around, Corin decisively shook his head.
He did not know if it was his imagination, but this ability just felt very sneaky.
Besides, how fast could a bat fly? And how would he even fight after transforming?
"Pass."
[Flight Magic → Magic Broom, 80 million USD]
'Riding a broom?'
Corin imagined himself straddling a broom flying through the sky, and compared to Tony's Iron Man armor flight style, it was just pathetic.
It was even worse than throwing flying knives.
"Better forget about the broom…"
[Doctor Strange → Time Vortex Traversal, 20 billion USD]
This seemed very powerful, but not only could he not afford it, it also seemed to be an ability leaning toward a prophetic direction.
"Wrong direction."
"Pass!"
Corin calmed down and seriously thought about what other way, besides Superman's bio-field, could allow him to fly freely.
With a sudden thought, Corin saw a talent:
[Magneto → Magnetic Manipulation, 20 million USD]
His eyes lit up, and Corin thought of that old man with the overwhelming presence.
It seemed that he too could move freely through the air.
"That's right! Thinking from another angle works too!"
If he could have footholds and points of force in the air just like on the ground…
'Wouldn't the sky become flat land?'
'This is it!'
"Exchange!"
[-20 million USD, talent acquired: Magnetic Manipulation Lv1 (999 milligrams of magnetism). Account balance: 783.12 million USD]
Looking at the upgrade interface for Magnetic Manipulation, Corin inwardly muttered that this was as expected.
How could Magneto's kingly power be obtained with a mere 20 million?
[Magnetic Manipulation Lv2 (999 grams of magnetism). 80 million USD]
[Magnetic Manipulation Lv3 (999 kilograms of magnetism). 200 million USD]
[Magnetic Manipulation Lv4 (999 tons of magnetism). 500 million USD]
[Magnetic Manipulation Lv5 (999 thousand tons of magnetism). 5 billion USD]
Magnetic manipulation was also divided into levels, but since money could buy it, Corin felt—
"What a steal!"
Looking at the other talents, it seemed that upgrading magnetism had the highest cost-performance ratio.
"Upgrade!"
[-780 million USD, talent upgrade successful! Account balance: 3.12 million USD]
He opened the attribute panel:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Name: Corin]
[Age: 28]
[Physical Power: 2255]
[Current Account: 3.12 million USD]
[Talents Owned: Deapool-level Recovery, Dynamic Vision Lv.2, Jeet Kune Do Mastery, Physical Enhancement Lv4 (5/5 stacks), No-Form Mask, Precision Throw Lv.2, Sketching Mastery, Iron Body Lv4, Magnetic Manipulation Lv4.]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Looking at how he had unknowingly accumulated nine talents, Corin deeply realized what was more precious than money.
"These are all my capital for getting around the world in the future."
He tried using magnetic manipulation.
Rebar suddenly peeled out from the surrounding walls of the rest room, looking as if it were about to assemble into formation.
Boom!
Losing the support of the rebar, the roof of the rest room collapsed as easily as a child's building blocks.
Whoosh!
Corin flashed outside, looked at the military building he had accidentally collapsed, and silently stuck out his tongue.
'Magneto really is a big shot. This ability is just too overpowered.'
Only 999 tons of magnetism could at most be considered a "hundred-magnet" little king, yet even so, the destructive power was a bit too astonishing.
'When Magneto casually lifted a cruise ship from the sea, how much force must that have taken?'
"What happened?"
"Enemy attack?"
"Where's my gun?"
A crowd of soldiers rushed out of the building one after another, their faces panicked as they looked around.
The loud crash of the building collapsing made them think the base was under attack.
As soon as General Ross walked out of the command center, he was hit with a face full of dust. After coughing a few times and looking at the collapsed building, his brows jumped in anger, 'Damn it, cutting corners all the way to my military base?'
Looking at the flustered soldiers, his anger flared up as he roared, "It's just a building collapsing. What are you all panicking about? Do what you're supposed to do! Get lost!"
Then he called over his adjutant, "Go get everyone who built this building and bring them back here! I'm going to punish them severely!"
The adjutant received the order and trotted off to trouble those innocent architects.
General Ross took the towel handed over by his secretary, wiped the dust from his face, and walked over to Corin, "Mr. Cockroach, that seemed to be where you were just resting. Are you alright—"
Before he could finish the greeting, he saw Corin looking clean and tidy, and immediately stopped.
Recalling Corin's abnormal physique, General Ross thought to himself, 'I'm so stupid. Even if everyone in the base died, he'd still be fine.'
He glanced again at the collapsed building, snorted coldly, and turned back toward the command center.
Corin looked at what had happened with amusement, knowing that General Ross had misunderstood.
Although he felt some sympathy for those architects with uncertain futures, he had no intention of explaining things for them.
Quietly looking at his own hands, Corin sighed, 'It seems I will need some time to adapt to this new ability.'
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