Changes began at the cellular level. His genetic sequence started to tremble, creating more gaps so newly formed sequences could insert themselves.
But at that moment, Alex felt like he was falling apart.
His nails detached from his fingers. His hair turned black. His eyeballs felt like they were trying to escape their sockets.
His consciousness seemed to split into countless fragments in an instant, and countless voices began echoing in his mind.
["Am I going to die? No, I don't want to die."]
["Hahaha! This is hilarious. Who told you to take the risk? Now you've ruined yourself, haven't you?"]
["Isn't today Sunday? Why am I here? I should be at home playing games."]
["I want to go to the DC universe and conquer Wonder Woman!"]
["So bored. I want to watch a movie."]
["I'm so weak. I'm really too weak. I need to get stronger."]
["Go crazy! All of you, go crazy!"]
The chaotic voices felt as if each one was Alex's main consciousness, each one independent.
His mind began to blur, but somewhere deep inside, he instinctively knew that if this continued, he might truly collapse.
The moment he realized that, among the countless voices, one voice rang out.
["Shut up, all of you!"]
["Do you really want to die?"]
["If you die, there'll be nothing left!"]
["No games, no movies, no women, and no chance to conquer Wonder Woman in the DC universe!"]
["Nothing at all!"]
["Are you still me?"]
["You weaklings, is this all it takes? Just a bit of Mind Stone energy and you're breaking down?"]
["Listen to me."]
["I am Alex!"]
["I will never die here!"]
["Let alone a bit of Mind Stone energy, even if all five Stones were here, I wouldn't die this pathetically!"]
["So pull yourselves together!"]
In an instant, all the voices vanished.
Alex suddenly opened his eyes, seeing everything around him again. He saw the energy filling the sphere all flowing into his body, saw the gem on Loki's scepter finally stop emitting golden light.
He had absorbed the Stone's energy, gained certain abilities, and undergone a complete transformation.
Alex first withdrew the bio-force field, then raised his hands and examined them carefully.
After scanning himself, he saw that while his appearance remained human, his internal structure had completely changed.
Every one of his cells now felt like a miniature reactor, filled with Stone energy. Once activated, they could unleash unimaginable power.
He could now switch between a physical form and a mental form. Simply put, the mental form was his "soul."
When he switched to this form, physical attacks couldn't harm him, and he could freely pass through solid objects, including human bodies.
This was the most basic change.
Next, he had gained abilities in the domain of the mind.
These abilities included the following: First, Telepathy. The most basic ability. It allowed Alex to sense the existence of other lifeforms, identify them, locate them, and track them.
Second, Mind Transfer. Based on telepathy, Alex could mark the lifeforms he sensed as anchor points and use his mental form to achieve instant teleportation.
Third, Mind Invasion. Like Professor X, Alex could invade the minds of those he sensed and control their bodies, even forcing them to commit suicide.
Fourth, Mind Storm. This could destroy a target's will, turning them into walking corpses. Even if resisted, it would still cause severe interference.
Fifth, Mental Resistance. Alex himself would gain resistance against mental attacks or influences, with a certain chance of reflecting them back, causing backlash.
Sixth, Fear Ray. Alex could fire beams that attacked both the physical body and the mind. Those hit would be affected, even dominated, by their own fear, and ultimately reduced to ashes in both body and soul.
Feeling his new changes and abilities, Alex then checked his status.
Just like abilities such as "self-replication," the abilities of the mind domain did not appear in the status panel.
That meant these abilities couldn't be enhanced or upgraded.
However, his life level had changed.
[Life Level: 6 (Legendary)]
'Finally, it increased.'
Closing his eyes, Alex slowly let out a breath.
When he opened them again, an invisible wave spread outward. Within its range, Alex sensed intelligent lifeforms and identified them.
This was the mental field, an ability derived from telepathy. By the time the field settled, Alex had acquired a large number of mental coordinates and anchor points.
He picked up Loki's scepter, then his form turned intangible. With a soft pop, Alex disappeared into the air.
———
[New York]
[Wakanda Operated Hotel]
T'Challa was looking out the window, "Where did the Conqueror go?"
General Okoye glanced at Caitlin, who had already woken up, "He should come back."
Just as she finished speaking, there was a soft pop in the room. Alex's intangible figure appeared near Caitlin.
He switched back to his physical form and made a silencing gesture toward T'Challa and the others, then silently flew over to them.
General Okoye quickly shut the door so Caitlin couldn't hear what was being said.
Alex said, "I'm going to Manhattan. You stay here and keep protecting my friend."
T'Challa nodded, "As you wish, great Conqueror."
Alex nodded in satisfaction, "Tell your sister to hurry up with my battle suit."
After speaking, he glanced at the general, a faint, ambiguous smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. Then he flew out the window, using someone he had marked in Manhattan as an anchor point. His body turned intangible and vanished.
Watching Alex disappear, T'Challa looked at the general, "Did you feel it? The Conqueror seems even stronger."
Okoye's expression was grave, "Stronger isn't quite the right word. More… strange. What kind of teleportation was that? I've never seen anything like it. It's almost like a ghost."
Wakandans believed humans had souls, so mentioning ghosts made her expression a bit uneasy.
T'Challa nodded, "Indeed. He's very different from last night. That ability he just showed, switching between physical and intangible forms… if he had used it last night, I probably wouldn't have lasted even ten seconds."
Then the prince said, "Something big is going to happen in Manhattan. Staying here might not be safe."
"Go bring Miss Caitlin. Let's leave."
The general nodded and opened the door to find Caitlin.
———
[Manhattan]
On the rooftop of Stark Tower, Dr. Selvig was setting up a device. Inside it, the Tesseract was ready, able to open a portal to outer space at any moment and allow the Chitauri army to enter Earth.
At that moment, the doctor activated the device, letting the Tesseract begin supplying energy.
Suddenly, he heard someone speak above him, "Shut it down, Doctor."
Dr. Selvig turned around. It was Iron Man. Though his suit looked to be in rough shape, with flames sputtering from various parts.
The doctor smiled, "Too late. It can't be stopped now. It's going to show us a brand new world."
"A brand new world? Sorry, that's not the world I want."
Tony Stark made a quick decision and didn't waste words. He raised both hands and fired two energy blasts from his palms.
The blasts struck the device, trying to destroy it, but at that moment a protective shield activated.
Iron Man's blasts hit the shield, only causing ripples before reflecting back as energy that knocked him away.
"Damn it!"
Iron Man looked down. On a circular walkway below, he saw Loki.
"Plan B."
His AI spoke up, ["Sir, the Mark 7 is not ready for combat."]
"I don't think we have time to debate that. Time's up."
Tony Stark landed on the suit-retrieval platform, then walked step by step into the building. As he moved, a circular retrieval device rose from the floor.
By the time he entered the room, his damaged suit had been removed.
Tony looked at a table ahead and casually walked toward it.
Loki entered from the other side of the room, smiling, "Have you come to beg for mercy? Then kneel and kiss my feet."
Tony glanced at him calmly and smiled, "Why aren't you carrying your scepter? Or did you lose it?"
He reached the table and quietly slipped on a bracelet resting there. It was the locator for the Mark 7, allowing the suit to lock onto him and assemble instantly.
"Also, I'm not here to beg. I'm here to threaten you. You'd better not open that portal, or you're going to die horribly."
Loki laughed, "If that's the case, you should at least be wearing your armor."
"Oh right, your armor looks pretty damaged."
Tony Stark chuckled, "I might not need armor to beat you."
Loki walked toward the window, "You really think so? Do I look that easy to deal with?"
"The portal is about to open. My people are coming. I don't see how you plan to defeat me."
Tony poured himself a drink, "The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves. The strongest team of heroes on Earth."
"We'll beat you. Just wait and see."
"Yes," Loki smiled, "I did see how you were chased around like rats by some unknown guy."
"Even my thunder-wielding brother wasn't a match for him."
"So in my eyes, your Avengers… are worthless."
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