Chapter 404: Strengthening the Flesh

In the suburbs of Los Angeles, deep underground, inside an unfinished base.

The originally busy construction workers had long since left, leaving behind one robot after another controlled by the supercomputer, perfecting some defensive measures within the base.

These robots were assembled by Ye Nan using various identities to purchase materials from major companies, forming a production line, and manufactured under the personal control of the supercomputer. They could be considered his hidden power.

However, Ye Nan was in no mood to pay attention to this right now. He focused all his attention on the few drops of blood in front of him.

After the competition ended, Ye Nan hid in the base, staring blankly at the blood in front of him. He had spent a day and a night here.

Superman's blood was no different from ordinary human blood; it was bright red and beautiful. But it was this bright red, beautiful blood that had plunged Ye Nan into a dilemma.

When he didn't have the blood, he craved it; when he was about to possess it, he was ecstatic. But when he was truly about to consume it, one thought after another popped up.

"Is Superman's blood really effective?"

"Will Superman's blood conflict with my own genes, causing my body to collapse?"

One question after another surged in Ye Nan's heart, making him hesitate. The ecstasy he had felt upon obtaining Superman's blood had also vanished without a trace.

"You seem unable to make a decision." A cold, emotionless female voice came from above. Ye Nan didn't even lift his head; he knew the owner of this voice was the supercomputer.

Although the supercomputer was composed of a part of Smila's program, and although the supercomputer's voice was Smila's voice, there was still a huge gap between the supercomputer and Smila. The most important one was emotion.

Smila's words often carried a hint of playfulness, while the supercomputer's voice was always cold.

"Yes, it's hard to make a decision." Ye Nan faced the supercomputer without any concealment. "Superman's blood might be effective for me, enhancing my power, but it might also be ineffective. And it could even produce unknown effects."

For it, as long as nothing modified its program, it would not betray.

"Because it's a risk!" Although the supercomputer was asking a question, its tone was very certain.

"Yes, a risk." Ye Nan nodded, acknowledging the supercomputer's words.

"Back then, because I was single-mindedly wanting to enhance my power, I just saw a possibility and worked for it, never once thinking about what consequences it would bring. But when I truly obtained the blood, I hesitated. It seems I am really not a decisive person."

After Ye Nan finished speaking, he turned his left hand into a blade, cut a slit in the palm of his right hand, and then, with lightning speed, sent Superman's blood inside.

"Why take the risk when you clearly know there is a risk?" The supercomputer's cold voice finally carried a hint of confusion.

As a supercomputer, let alone this fifty-fifty chance, even if there were a ninety-nine percent success rate, it wouldn't take the risk. So it didn't understand why Ye Nan would do this.

"Although I am not a decisive person, I am a person with courage. To live in this world, one must experience risks." Ye Nan said. Hesitation not only affected his growth in strength but also affected his soul.

Being cautious is certainly not wrong, but being overly cautious cannot make one grow. So when he realized there was a problem with his mindset, he directly consumed the blood to dispel the indecisiveness in his soul.

"Once a decision is made, one must do it, even if this decision might be wrong."

"Even if it is wrong, I am right, because my hands can twist the wrong into the right."

"Nothing is eternal. As long as you have the perseverance, the blue sea can turn into mulberry fields."

"Caution is not wrong, but being too cautious is wrong."

Thoughts surged in Ye Nan's heart one after another, and then he quietly focused on the changes within his body.

After Superman's blood entered Ye Nan's body, it directly fused with Ye Nan's blood—no, to be precise, it was devoured by Ye Nan's blood. Afterwards, a strange feeling spread from his palm throughout his entire body.

It was an itchy feeling like ants crawling, from his blood to his skin, everywhere was itchy.

"So uncomfortable."

The itchiness transmitted from his skin to his soul instantly overwhelmed Ye Nan's mind. He reached out and scratched his body. With a few slapping sounds, all the skin and flesh on his body were scratched off. Dark red skin, bronze skin, fair skin—all disguises, all matter, fell off his body one after another, leaving behind only a layer of bronze skin.

When the old skin and flesh fell off, the itchiness was gone. At the same time, he himself seemed to have been reborn; his entire person erupted with a brand-new temperament.

If his temperament before could be described as scholarly, then now, there was a hint of determination in his aura, a determination that seemed as if no one could make him bow.

"It seems, it's really different." Ye Nan looked at his arm. Under the bronze skin were bright red blood vessels. Listening closely, he seemed to be able to hear the surging blood beneath, that kind of roaring torrent.

"It seems I have infinite power." Ye Nan aimed at the ground and threw a punch. With a boom, the entire underground base trembled, as if there had been an earthquake.

Soil and steel plates covered his entire arm. When he pulled it out, a deep hole appeared in his eyes. He flicked it casually, and a series of popping sounds followed—this was the rhythm of the air being shattered.

"My power is more than double what it was before. But I don't know who is more powerful when compared to Superman." A thought flashed through his mind, and then Ye Nan laughed. Thinking about it, he was still inferior to Superman, because he had only been reborn after obtaining Superman's blood.

"But after I obtain other people's blood, I will surpass Superman." Hancock's image popped into Ye Nan's mind. He did as he thought. He immediately walked out. Just as he was about to walk out the gate, he turned his head and exhorted: "Supercomputer, those damn Martians should have the data ready. If possible, have them transmit the data over. I have a premonition that peaceful days won't last much longer."

After the exhortation, Ye Nan walked out. He casually hailed a taxi and sat in.

About half an hour later, Ye Nan arrived at the valley area. He got out of the car and headed straight for the house where Ray lived—no, it should be called Mary's house. Ever since Ray left, Mary and Hancock had moved into this house.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ye Nan knocked on the door urgently, shouting while knocking: "Hancock, Hancock."

With a clatter, Hancock opened the door and said: "Why are you here? I haven't seen you lately."

"I have something I want to tell you. Is Mary here?" Ye Nan said anxiously.

"She's not. What's wrong? What about the other superheroes?" Hancock looked at the hurried Ye Nan, feeling a bit confused. He hadn't been a superhero for a long time. He and Mary were living a simple, happy life here, and he was somewhat reluctant to leave. So he subconsciously asked about the other superheroes. The implication was for Ye Nan to find the other superheroes to deal with whatever urgent matter he had.

"It's not like that." Ye Nan naturally understood Hancock's meaning, but he wasn't what Hancock thought.

"There is something I want to tell you."

Hearing this, Hancock immediately stepped aside and invited Ye Nan in.

After Ye Nan went in, he plopped down on the sofa. Before he could even drink water, he said urgently: "It's like this, I discovered that the four Chaos Gods intend to invade our dimensional universe. You must be careful."

"What four Chaos Gods, what dimensional universe? Speak clearly." Hancock was confused, hearing it without rhyme or reason.

"It's like this." Ye Nan told Hancock about the situation where he encountered Superman, The Flash, and Lex fighting, and then added: "The four Chaos Gods are terrifying evil gods from the Chaos realm. They seduce living beings through various means, absorb power from them, and then take the opportunity to invade the dimensional universe, dragging the dimensional universe into Chaos."

Ye Nan's words were a mix of truth and falsehood. Anyway, these superheroes didn't know about the four Chaos Gods, so the more terrifying he described them, the more he could attract the attention of these superheroes.

"Is what you said true?" Hancock looked at Ye Nan suspiciously. If it were an ordinary matter, he would naturally believe it without doubt, but Ye Nan described it so terrifyingly, as if the world were about to end. His first reaction was that Ye Nan had gone crazy. But then, he began to doubt, because it involved Superman and The Flash.

"It's true." Ye Nan said with a sincere face, "Because of certain connections, I have learned about the four Chaos Gods and know their terror. So when I knew their power appeared here, I understood that they had set their sights on this dimensional universe, or rather, set their sights on this planet."

"Why?" Hancock asked curiously. At this moment, he also realized that his friend seemed to be very extraordinary.

"Because Lex is using Tzeentch's power." Ye Nan said, "Tzeentch, one of the four Chaos Gods, is the most cunning demon, best at laying out plans. Every pawn of his has a unique role. Since he bestowed power upon Lex, he must have noticed Earth. Before long, Earth will face a massive invasion by Chaos demons, regardless of the method."

"Can you tell me who you really are?" Hancock asked in a deep voice, looking at Ye Nan with deep eyes, a hint of reluctance in them.

Hearing this, a hint of embarrassment appeared on Ye Nan's face.

He understood that after he spoke about the four Chaos Gods, he would definitely be questioned by Hancock, and he had also prepared a way to deal with it. But when Hancock really asked, he still hesitated and still felt embarrassed.

He hesitated whether to continue lying and deceiving Hancock, this Superman who truly treated him as a friend. In his heart, Hancock was almost becoming a friend.

Hancock watched Ye Nan quietly, not saying a word.

"Forget it, some things should be said." Ye Nan sighed and finally decided to tell Hancock selectively, "I am not from Earth, nor am I from any other planet. To be precise, I am a human from Earth in another dimensional universe. You should have seen the Hulk. I, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four all come from the same Earth."

Hearing this, Hancock still didn't make a sound, but his expression was somewhat painful. He had been deceived—deceived by his good friend.

"I know you are very angry now, and you won't listen to anything I say, but I still want to say that apart from my origin, which I deceived you about, I haven't lied about anything else."

"I truly treat you as my friend, otherwise I wouldn't be busy everywhere, looking for opportunities for you to improve your image."

"If I were using you, I wouldn't have brought you two together, knowing that being with Mary would lead to the loss of your power."

The anger on Hancock's face gradually subsided. Although there was still lingering anger, Ye Nan knew that his anger had subsided quite a bit.

"I am very sorry about what happened back then, but I was also forced by circumstances. I didn't think that under those circumstances, revealing my origin would allow me to walk out alive. Perhaps I don't consider myself, but I also have to consider my daughter and my daughter's pet." Ye Nan said lightly: "Of course, if you want to blame me, you can beat me up to vent."

"So you deceived me?" Hancock said stiffly, ignoring the latter part of Ye Nan's sentence.

"I was also forced by circumstances." Ye Nan spread his hands, making a helpless gesture, "Still the same sentence, if you want to vent, you can beat me up, beat me until my nose is bleeding, it doesn't matter."

"Hmph, if I beat you, I would definitely beat you until your head is broken and bleeding, but I'm afraid you won't be able to hold up." Hancock hummed a few times, but in the end, he didn't strike.

"Alright, let's not talk about this." After Ye Nan laughed a few times, his face turned serious, "I want to ask you to give me a few drops of blood, so I can recover my own power."

Hearing this, Hancock immediately looked at Ye Nan strangely. When he saw Ye Nan's serious expression, he couldn't help but laugh out loud, "You kid, you wouldn't be the legendary vampire, would you?"

"Of course not." Ye Nan didn't follow Hancock's laughter, "My power must be activated through blood. This is also something I just discovered."

In Ye Nan's words, he became someone who couldn't bear the temptation of blood, went up to consume it, and finally unsealed his power.

"So, you really need it?" The smile on Hancock's face disappeared.

"Hmm." Ye Nan nodded without hesitation.

"Here." Hancock picked up a knife and slashed twice on his body. Drops of blood flowed out from his wounds, and his arm was covered in scarlet.

"Thank you." Ye Nan said a word of thanks, used his mental power to stop Hancock's bleeding, and then brought the blood in front of himself.

He turned his left hand into a hand blade, cut a wound in the palm of his right hand, and injected the blood into it...

s ===== CHAPTER 405 =====