Chapter 172: Confrontation

This scene left everyone stunned. The only sound was the mocking laughter of Clown Super, as he let water flow.

But his triumph didn't last long—Clown Super soon witnessed how the Phoenix Force warped reality.

His own released water flowed back along its original path, flooding straight into his own bladder. This bizarre sensation made him jump and scream: "Oh, my God. Oh, my heavens. Are you trying to unlock some weird XP in me?"

Once everything was returned to its rightful place, Wu Ke, relying purely on instinct, delivered a direct, balls-breaking punch. Clown Super twisted his body and took the blow squarely on his buttocks, all while holsters his gun and zipping up.

Wiping sweat from his brow and flicking it aside, Clown Super said: "Phew, barely missed it. To all authors: Kryptonian urine isn't salty enough to extinguish Phoenix flames. So don't bother trying again."

Wu Ke, now standing again, bore no trace of his earlier cold demeanor—he resembled instead the state Qi Jie had been in, teetering on the edge of losing control. He floated upward, head bowed, muttering words no one could make out.

Even with Kryptonian super-hearing, he could barely catch fragments like "I'm dirty"—not in English or any language he knew, but a direct, cognitive understanding.

Clown Super was about to crack another joke, when suddenly his field of vision was entirely filled by a fist, magnified infinitely.

Wu Ke's punch failed to land as intended—Clown Super spun with lightning speed. His right fist followed the motion and struck Wu Ke's fist head-on—a brutal fist-to-fist collision!

Grounded, Clown Super sank his feet an inch into the earth, yet he held firm against Wu Ke's blow and didn't get knocked back.

But while the Kryptonian matched Wu Ke in raw strength, he lacked the capacity to resist the reality-warping effects. His right arm began to disintegrate into ash, as if being erased from reality itself.

"Ah~! Equal Rights Punch!" Clown Super swung a left hook, sending Wu Ke flying again—but his left arm suffered the same fate as his right.

He quickly retreated to Jean Grey's side, raising both hands to his chest: "Girl, can you fix this?"

Due to their shared origin, Jean Grey simply swept her hands outward—the crisis on Clown Super's arms vanished instantly.

Seeing this, Clown Super exclaimed joyfully: "Perfect! I appoint you as my dedicated healer—your job is to control the battlefield and heal me. I'll do the punching. This division of labor—no problem, right?"

Before Jean could answer, Clown Super swung his arms in circles: "Come on, come on. From how lively you still are, I know I haven't been trying hard enough on my path toward perfect gender equality. This time, taste my full commitment!"

Jean, being female, gave him a strange look: "Is this gender equality?"

"Of course it is! I can beat men however I want—I can beat women the same way. Isn't that equal?" As Clown Super spouted this twisted logic, his cheek took a solid punch from Wu Ke.

He let himself fall backward, his waist and legs whipping like a whip, and kicked Wu Ke squarely in the back of the head, sending him flying. Then he sprang up like a leaping carp: "Of course, kicking works the same way."

"Girl, go!" Clown Super ordered Jean. Then he cheered excitedly: "Come on, let's have a fun little 3P! Ah~!"

Jean had no chance to refuse or argue—Clown Super activated super-speed akin to Quicksilver and tangled with Wu Ke. But it was more like Clown Super was beating a punching bag.

And Wu Ke bounced like a ping-pong ball—never flying far enough to smash mountains or carve deep trenches before Clown Super, using super-speed, struck him again in the opposite direction.

Damage accumulated steadily in this back-and-forth, yet remained confined to a small area. Thus, to outsiders, it was impossible to imagine the storm raging within this circle of mere afterimages.

Only the revived Jean Grey understood—it was a battle where the laws of physics were nearly laughing. This was evident from his own refusal to join in and attempt a true two-on-one.

Had it not been for the fact that every punch, upon contact, affected the target's existence in reality, Clown Super could have single-handedly obliterated Wu Ke with just speed and strength alone.

So while Jean Grey assisted other mutants and U. S. soldiers in defending against attacks from sky and ground, she also had to divert attention to Clown Super, who was perpetually on the verge of disintegration.

Under the complete suppression of all non-physical abilities by Jean Grey's same-origin power, Wu Ke was no match for Clown Super. He was, without doubt, the most tragic Phoenix host in history.

Yet this primordial, primordial force born at the dawn of all things—the immortal chaos—though symbolizing emotional life, carried no emotion of its own. It merely amplified the host's inner feelings, whether good, evil, joyful, or sorrowful.

It also mirrored the minds of others. In the hearts of those who revered or yearned for it, the Phoenix's strength was precisely as great as they believed it to be.

But Clown Super had none of these thoughts—or rather, he had all of them, yet none with focus. All he wanted now was to smash this dog's head—and he did.

He drove his fist clean through Wu Ke's face. Such a fatal wound—no one would have thought Wu Ke still alive, and even this immature Phoenix host himself believed he was dead… and then he truly died.

The spilled Phoenix Force reverted to the form seen days earlier by the X-Men in outer space—a massive energy cluster, shaped like a solar flare, erupted from Wu Ke's corpse.

Had Jean Grey not been present, the moment the Phoenix Force spilled out, it would have incinerated everything on-site—Earthlings, aliens alike—then the entire planet.

After eradicating all life and reducing the planet to silence, the Phoenix Force would have moved on to other corners of the universe, seeking the next trigger—just as it had done before.

But Jean Grey was present. Almost instinctively, he absorbed the Phoenix Force spilling from Wu Ke—or rather, that portion of power rushed back eagerly.

The two merged once more, forming a complete whole.

The returned Phoenix carried a portion of Wu Ke's knowledge. This helped Jean better understand the energy within himself, allowing him to control it with greater ease.

The blazing wings flaring behind him swiftly consumed most of the Diberyans and their alien aircraft. The battlefield's tide turned instantly.

He held back only because other Earthlings were present—if he had unleashed his full power, the Diberyan aircraft would have been utterly wiped out, reduced to ash.

But the truest threat still hung high above—tens of thousands of meters up.

Upon sensing their leader's death and the massive losses of ground troops and aircraft, the Diberyan warship still refused to abandon its target energy. The aliens aboard decided to employ a more brutal method.

The warship's main cannon began charging, its muzzle calibrated to target. An orbital ground-strike was the true symbol of a superior civilization dominating an inferior one. After all, the energy cluster couldn't be damaged—clear the field first.

Among those present, many mutants were highly sensitive to energy fluctuations, let alone the scale of a starship-class cannon. Though the aerial warship had fired before, the energy now gathering dwarfed its previous output.

Did they have the power to destroy a planet, like in sci-fi movies? No one dared gamble whether these aliens possessed such tech—but most were powerless. Only Jean Grey rose into the air, attempting to erect a barrier to block the warship's main cannon.

But before he could form the barrier, his collar was seized, and he was hurled toward the warship.

Clown Super laughed heartily: "Girl, why block it? Haven't you heard: offense is the best defense."

"What?" Jean Grey, still dazed from being flung skyward, asked.

"Watch my Phoenix Cannon!" Clown Super spun like a hammer thrower—just one rotation—and hurled the Phoenix Girl straight into the warship's main cannon, just as it was about to fire.

"It's show time!" He then aimed his own body at another cannon mouth, collided head-on with the warship's main beam, and plunged inside!

(End of Chapter)