XElenea
patreon
Ch. 263 Wanda's Superpower
🕑 Added 2024-01-14 16:00:23 +0000 UTCSeeing Pietro pick up Wanda without hesitation and run, Russell sighed helplessly.
He had just been so polite, and yet...
Russell shook his head and activated his X-ray vision and telescopic vision.
It had to be said that Pietro, with his super speed, was incredibly fast. In just a few seconds, he had covered several kilometers with Wanda in tow.
If it weren't for Russell's telescopic vision, he wouldn't have been able to locate them.
After confirming Pietro and Wanda's current location, Russell cracked his neck and flexed his legs.
Pietro's superpower was super speed.
Coincidentally, Russell possessed super speed as well.
Although he hadn't demonstrated the super speed granted by his Kryptonian physiology much before, it didn't mean his speed was slower than Pietro's.
Taking a deep breath and letting Pietro run a few more kilometers, Russell decided not to waste any more time. He exerted force with his legs.
Boom!
The floor beneath him instantly cracked, forming a crater nearly two meters in diameter.
Just like Pietro, Russell disappeared from the command center as if teleporting.
One Mach, two Mach, three Mach...
Running on the ground might not be as convenient as flying in the air. It required continuously dodging obstacles along the way. However, for Russell, this was no issue at all.
In the blink of an eye, Russell had increased his running speed to Mach 5.
Although this wasn't his maximum speed, it was sufficient to catch up with Pietro, who was sprinting with all his might.
When Russell flew, he was enveloped in a mysterious bio-energy field that shielded him from the physical effects of high-speed flight such as acceleration and wind pressure.
Pietro, after using his super speed, also generated an inexplicable bio-energy field around him. This field not only protected him during his supersonic sprint but also allowed Wanda, who he was holding, to endure the reactions caused by supersonic speeds, even though her constitution wasn't extraordinary. It effectively nullified the physical phenomena produced during high-speed sprinting.
Pietro didn't have a specific destination in mind at the moment.
In fact, he didn't know why he had decisively picked up Wanda and started running after Russell's introduction.
From Russell's behavior, it seemed he didn't harbor ill intentions.
However, even so, when Russell approached them, Pietro couldn't help but feel an indescribable pressure. It felt like a defenseless toddler encountering a pack of ravenous wolves in the wilderness.
Especially after witnessing Russell calmly break Baron Strucker's neck.
This man, Russell, was very dangerous!
Pietro mentally tagged Russell with that label.
After running more than ten kilometers at once, Pietro finally came to a stop. Although the distance covered wasn't particularly long, he felt they were safe now and didn't need to worry about Russell and his men catching up.
However, just as he was about to set Wanda down, he saw a dark blue figure appear within his line of sight.
Before he could react, the rapidly approaching dark blue figure came to a halt, revealing its true appearance.
"I have no ill intentions, neither of you need to be so tense."
After stopping about five meters away from Pietro and Wanda, Russell spoke to them.
Upon seeing the rapidly approaching dark blue figure, both Pietro and Wanda showed expressions of shock.
How could this be possible?
How could he be so fast?
While Pietro and Wanda hadn't been to New York, they were not unfamiliar with Russell.
Putting aside the fact that Russell and the Justice League were media darlings, often making headlines, the recent Battle of New York, which had just concluded a few days ago, had spread Russell and the Justice League's names worldwide.
However, this wasn't the only reason Pietro and Wanda knew about him.
Although the United States had many superheroes, Pietro and Wanda weren't interested in knowing the superpowers of American heroes.
Their familiarity with Russell was mainly due to his good relationship with Tony Stark.
Before the Battle of New York, people's impression of Tony was that of a playboy and a weapons inventor. But for Pietro and Wanda, who wanted revenge on Tony, any information about Tony was their focus.
They knew that Tony had been kidnapped by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan. They also knew that Russell had saved him from that kidnapping.
Although they didn't know the true nature of Russell and Tony's relationship, they saw Russell as one of Tony's associates, even if not a friend.
In their intelligence, Russell possessed only a few superpowers: flight, heat vision, super strength, and super durability.
That's why Pietro's shock was evident when he saw Russell demonstrate a superpower he had never displayed before others: super speed.
This was especially important for Pietro.
While Wanda had superpowers, her abilities didn't include super speed. Anything faster than the human eye's capture limit made no difference to her.
However, it was entirely different for Pietro.
He already had super speed himself, so his judgment of speed was far superior to Wanda's.
Whether it was the human eye's capture limit or neural reactions at high speeds, he was several orders of magnitude better than Wanda.
Wanda couldn't discern what was special about Russell's super speed, but Pietro could instantly tell that Russell's speed was no slower than his, and might even be faster than his top speed.
Trouble!
This thought flashed through Pietro's mind, and his expression became somewhat grim.
While Pietro wasn't worried about whether he could outrun Russell, he at least had to make sure that Russell couldn't capture them too easily.
Although Pietro didn't say anything now, Russell could read something from his current expression.
"I truly have no ill intentions. Baron Strucker is my enemy, not you," Russell explained kindly, making sure to reassure Pietro and Wanda.
"What do you want?" Pietro asked cautiously.
"Could you put your sister down first? I promise on my honor that I will not harm either of you," Russell said seriously.
In a way, he was indeed a man of his word.
For instance, when he was still a Traveler, he always followed through with his promises. When he said he would kill an entire family, he did it, even without sparing the neighbor's dog.
Otherwise, how could he possibly have earned the titles of "Mad Traveler" and "Cruel Traveler" in the underground world of New York.
After hearing his words, Pietro didn't say anything more, just gave a disdainful grunt.
Although he didn't speak further, Wanda, who was being held by him, raised her right hand and gently patted his shoulder, indicating that he should put her down.
Even though Wanda had been carried by Pietro when she was a child, that was a long time ago. Now, Wanda was no longer a little girl but a woman in her twenties, tall and alluring.
Being held like this by Pietro, especially in front of an outsider, made her feel a bit embarrassed.
More importantly, her intuition told her that Russell did not have ill intentions. Even though Wanda wasn't currently using her telepathic abilities on Russell, she trusted her instincts.
Pietro first glanced at Wanda and then slowly set her down.
After being released by Pietro, Wanda looked at Russell for a few seconds and then spoke slowly, "I believe you mean no harm, but you haven't told us why you're looking for us."
Though this was their first meeting, Wanda's attitude was clearly more favorable than Pietro's, and it might have been due to the fact that they were of the same gender.
"It's quite simple. I came here specifically to recruit you to join the Justice League!"
Russell said sincerely.
"Join the Justice League? Don't even think about getting us to serve country, not a chance!" Pietro retorted with a disgusted expression.
Russell had just finished speaking when Pietro spoke with a tone of contempt.
Russell really wanted to give him a good beating!
Seeing Pietro's expression and tone of disdain, Russell couldn't help but think about punching him.
Although Pietro was now in his twenties, for some reason, Russell couldn't help but feel that he was like an immature teenager, going through a rebellious phase.
"Serving country? No, you've got it all wrong! When have you seen the Justice League serving the country? Do you really not see the true nature of the Justice League's relationship with the government?"
Russell suppressed his desire to punch Pietro and continued speaking slowly.
"Who knows if you're all talk on the surface and have a different agenda in secret? Your Octopus Monster Industries hasn't exactly been shy about supplying weapons to military."
Pietro's tone remained filled with contempt.
"Kid, don't mistake my politeness for an opportunity to get in my face. If you continue with your sarcasm, I can't guarantee what might happen later!"
Even though Russell's current body wasn't much older than Pietro, and might even be a year or two younger, Russell decided to address him as "kid." Because in every way, Pietro seemed like someone who hadn't grown up. Even an underage Peter, before becoming a superhero, appeared more mature than Pietro.
"Do you still want..."
Pietro didn't take Russell's warning seriously and continued to speak.
However, before he could finish his sentence, he felt the overwhelming pressure emanating from Russell, and he swallowed his words.
From an age perspective, Russell did appear to be in his early twenties. However, one must not forget that before he whitewashed his identity with the superhero Serum, he was a notorious assassin Traveler in the underground world of New York.
Not counting the people he had killed as a result of becoming a superhuman and the recent battles against Chitauri warriors and Outriders soldiers, he had killed over a thousand people during his time as an assassin, all innocent victims.
In other words, he was a truly ruthless killer who didn't hesitate to take lives.
Even a seasoned veteran from military might not be able to withstand Russell's unmasked pressure, let alone someone like Pietro, who hadn't killed a single person.
After Pietro shut his mouth, Russell retracted his intimidating presence and returned to his harmless and friendly demeanor.
"I know you probably have a lot of questions right now, and no matter how I explain, you might not believe me."
"So, I plan to prove my sincerity through actions."
"Wanda, you should have developed the ability to read minds by now. I can let you read my thoughts to see if I'm lying or not."
Russell said earnestly.
While Wanda did possess telepathic abilities, the magic of the Kamar-Taj had various defenses against mind magic.
Although her proficiency with chaos magic was not yet complete, if she had mastered it, Russell wouldn't dare to do this.
Chaos magic and Kamar-Taj magic were not the same system, but both belonged to the realm of magic. If Wanda had become proficient in chaos magic, she would easily detect any attempts by Russell to manipulate her thoughts.
Pietro and Wanda were both surprised by Russell's offer. After exchanging glances for a few seconds, Wanda looked at Russell with a serious expression and said, "Alright."
"Let's do it then."
Afterward, Russell casually crossed his hands behind his back and assumed a posture that made it seem like he would not intervene.
In fact, he had no intention of intervening. Quietly, he completed the spell gestures to protect his brain and mind from intrusion.
While he didn't know how to use telepathic abilities like mind-reading, it didn't mean he didn't know how to defend against them. Not knowing mind-reading didn't mean he didn't know how to resist it.
He may not have the ability to read minds, but he knew how to resist mind-reading.
