Activate Full Underwater Mode!
18: Chapter 18: Ripjaws Emerges!
Activate Full Underwater Mode!
Dr.
Connors was originally an amputee who had lost an arm.
After injecting himself with lizard DNA, his arm regrew, and step by step, he mutated into his current form.
The torture Owen inflicted would have been a soul-crushing, body-mutilating agony for anyone else.
For his accelerated healing factor, however, it was merely an appetizer.
Staggering, Dr.
Connors slowly rose to his feet.
Gwen could see that the wounds on his back were already mostly healed.
Standing back up, Dr.
Connors didn’t scream or lose control.
His deep voice sounded eerie and calm, like a mastermind whose evil plot had succeeded.
“Now…
you can evolve together with me.” With that, Dr.
Connors whipped his head around, his hideous smile giving Gwen a sudden chill.
Dr.
Connors pulled a remote control from his other pocket.
Seeing this, Gwen whipped her gaze toward the large gas tanks next to the machine, her face turning pale with panic.
Owen cast a side-eye glance at Dr.
Connors.
Noticing Cryo-Heatblast’s cold glare, Dr.
Connors’s terrifying smile instantly shattered in fear.
In a frantic panic, Dr.
Connors mashed the button.
*Pfft-shhh!
Pfft-shhh!* The gas tanks were activated, venting thick clouds of white mist.
With his plan underway, Dr.
Connors let out a breath of relief.
He finally burst into triumphant laughter, spreading his arms wide like a conqueror: “Stopping me is useless!
It’s too late!” “This gas will flow through the sewer pipes to every corner of New York!” “When that happens, everyone will inhale the gas and evolve into a superior species!” This had originally been his follow-up plan after converting his wife and son, but now he was forced to execute it ahead of schedule.
In response, Owen switched to Heatblast.
With a wave of his hand, roaring flames filled the entire tunnel above.
Under his pyrokinesis, a massive heatwave swept up the gas and sent it hurtling down the tunnel behind Heatblast.
In the suburbs, the iron grate leading to the ocean was blasted open by fire, releasing massive plumes of white gas that swept over the deserted sea.
Carried away by the ocean breeze, the gas gradually dissipated into nothingness.
…….
The crisis was averted.
Dr.
Connors stared blankly at Heatblast, frozen in shock once again.
The direction the flames swept in was the drainage outlet leading to the sea—which was over a dozen blocks away!
His fire could extend across more than ten city blocks?!
His rigid body shuddered as terror pooled in his eyes.
*Is he really this strong?!* On the other side, Gwen let out a long breath of relief.
After the fiery blast, the air in the enclosed tunnel was noticeably thin and scorched.
Still, compared to turning into a lizard on the spot, this was a perfect outcome.
Seeing that the mother holding her child was unhurt, Gwen breathed easier.
At this moment, she even felt a bit…
redundant!
Dr.
Connors, who had plagued her for days, had been handled by Owen with effortless ease.
And if Owen wanted to, he could easily crush her right now as well.
Owen’s strength repeatedly shattered Gwen’s perception of him.
Staring at his back, Gwen swallowed hard, a flicker of awe and dread rising in her eyes.
*So powerful and mysterious…
where did he even come from?* ……
The stunned Dr.
Connors suddenly pointed at Heatblast and shouted excitedly, “Wait!
You inhaled the gas!” Heatblast was the height of an adult male, more than a head taller than Gwen and the woman.
And the blazing fire had brushed right past Heatblast’s head.
Spider-Man and his wife were shorter and might have missed the main burst.
But at such close range, there was no way a concentration of gas like that hadn’t affected Heatblast!
When the fire swept back earlier, the resulting draft had blown straight into his face!
Dr.
Connors was confident in this.
To mutate the entire city, the gas he developed was extremely potent; inhaling even a single breath was enough to trigger mutation!
Dr.
Connors burst into joyous laughter, taking this as a silver lining in his dark hour.
If a creature this insanely powerful became one of his kind, he would definitely join his cause!
After all, wouldn’t he fear prejudice from humanity?
The gas was odorless, and Owen wasn’t sure if he’d inhaled any.
To be safe, he switched to Wildvine.
Hearing Dr.
Connors, Gwen spoke up worriedly.
With an outsider present, she naturally refrained from using Owen’s real name.
“Otto…
are you okay?” Owen turned around.
Gwen was masked, so he couldn’t see her expression, but the terror plastered across the woman’s face was unmistakable.
Seeing Owen turn into Wildvine and look at her, the woman pulled her son tight in sheer terror, stumbling back several steps.
Her professor husband had become a violent monster after turning into a lizard.
She shuddered to think what an already godlike mutant would do if he mutated into a lizard!
On one side was a worried teammate; on the other, a smug villain.
Feeling all eyes on him, Owen sighed in exhaustion.
*Even if I did inhale it, don’t they know Wildvine is immune to toxic gas?* *Oh, right.
They actually don’t.* With the gas scare resolved, Owen turned back around and transformed into Ripjaws.
Dr.
Connors froze for a second, then cackled even harder!
This time, even Gwen backed away a few steps in alarm, shielding the mother and son behind her.
At first glance, while Ripjaws and the Lizard didn’t look completely identical, they could at least pass for cousins.
This was clearly a sign of mutation!
The only silver lining was that unlike Dr.
Connors’s creepy, sinister appearance, Ripjaws looked somewhat awkwardly cute—not quite as nightmare-inducing…
Believing Owen had mutated, Gwen couldn’t help worrying that he might turn dark like Dr.
Connors.
If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to stop him…
Or worse…
She might be killed too!
Without a word, Ripjaws threw a wall-shattering punch.
Dr.
Connors crossed his arms to block, but the raw power sent him flying back several meters.
Spitting up a mouthful of dark blood upon landing, Dr.
Connors grew pale, yet his smirk never faded: “Killing me won’t change what you’ve become!
You’ll only wind up just like me!” Dr.
Connors extended a hand in fanatical invitation.
“Join me, my kinsman!” *Who’s your kinsman, you ugly freak?* Disgusted by this idiot, Owen didn’t even bother talking.
He charged forward and unleashed a ruthless beatdown.
Dr.
Connors was thrashed into a corner, completely powerless to counterattack.
Gradually, Gwen stood dazed.
The situation wasn’t unfolding the way she had imagined at all.
Even the civilian mother could tell that Ripjaws wailing on Dr.
Connors was as effortless as a father beating a child.
The gap in combat power between the two was a complete curbstomp.
Humiliated and enraged by the one-sided beating, Dr.
Connors spat out a furious “Fuck!” Seizing a brief opening, he cast a tender glance at his wife and child, then shot a venomous glare back at Ripjaws.
“I swear I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth, traitor to our race!” With that, *splash!* Dr.
Connors plunged into the water.
The water was deep and murky, but one could still barely make out Dr.
Connors fleeing rapidly underwater.
Despite boasting earlier that he wasn’t afraid to die and that killing him changed nothing…
…when he realized he couldn’t hit back, he was honest enough to bolt.
Gwen let out a breath of relief.
At least the hostages were safe now.
She could check Owen’s body once they got back.
Now that they knew Dr.
Connors’s general domain, they could easily come back to capture him another day.
Just as she was about to ask Owen for his input, she saw Ripjaws trembling with rage!
“Hunt me down?” “Even a weakling like *you* wants to hunt me down?!” “Fine, fine, fine!
I was just gonna play around and punch the clock, but now I’m gonna beat you to death!” With that, *splash!* Ripjaws plunged right in after him.
Processing his words, Gwen was left flabbergasted.
*Play around?* *Slamming Dr.
Connors into the dirt was just him playing around?!* *What does his full power even look like?!* As if answering her inner thought…
Gwen saw Ripjaws’ legs in the water rapidly fuse into a massive fish tail.
Gwen was used to his transformations, so her reaction was mild.
But the civilian woman’s eyes went wide in terror.
*???* *How did his legs just turn into a tail?!* Two seconds later, Gwen’s eyes widened in equal horror.
Once in the water, Ripjaws was like a completely different creature.
If Dr.
Connors in the water moved like a fish, Ripjaws moved like a bloody rocket!
As his muscular tail whipped violently, every stroke kicked up water surges several meters high.
In just a few seconds, the entire water channel was churning frantically!
Splashes of water slammed into Gwen and the woman’s faces from time to time, stinging painfully.
The shockwaves shook the entire underground cavern so violently it felt like a massive earthquake!
A visceral sense of apocalyptic horror surged in both women’s hearts.
Gwen’s face turned pale as she shielded the mother and child, backing away step by step, her heart trembling in terror.
She really wanted to ask right now: *What in the absolute hell is going on?!*