Invincible's World, a bright and sunny morning.
Outside the window, a few birds chirped happily on the branches.
Coming out of the bedroom, Russell's brow furrowed slightly, the hot blue laser light in his eyes flickering.
One piece of good news, one piece of bad news.
Just now in The Boys World, he went to the Compassionate Hospital and conducted some experiments on secondary template replication, figuring out the pattern.
"Templates can be replicated a second time, but it requires a person's strength to change so drastically they are like a different person."
He could replicate the infants who awakened decent abilities a second time, but those who awakened weak abilities and whose strength didn't change much could not be replicated.
"Templates can be replicated a second time, that's the good news."
The bad news is the laser-eyed infant that Butcher used as a laser gun to kill several special forces in the plot; he gently flicked its forehead, making it cry, then replicated and solidified the template, which cost eight hundred conquest points.
"The power can only be used to bully weaker opponents."
He found a place to test the power of the laser eyes; it could kill people and cut things like chopping vegetables, easily slicing through a minivan, but that was its limit.
Russell had also planned to use the laser eyes to test the self-healing ability he had just solidified; he burned for half a day, his eyes dry from staring, but didn't even redden a patch of skin on his palm.
Russell walked downstairs and found an unexpected guest at home.
Ciscel, in a suit with a head full of white hair, stood straight as a javelin, his expression serious. He tapped his computer wristwatch, projecting a video onto the living room TV, explaining the emergency situation Earth was currently facing.
In the vast expanse of space, a blurry figure was rushing directly towards Earth at high speed.
"An hour ago, a probe near Mars detected this; it's moving very fast, he's back, estimated to reach Earth in fifteen minutes."
Omni-Man put his arm around his wife Debbie and sat on the sofa, his brow slightly furrowed.
When faced with situations that could threaten the entire Earth, Ciscel often came to ask for help; it wasn't the first time, but this time his expression seemed subtly resistant.
"Cousin, you're back just in time." Mark saw Russell coming down the stairs in the living room and quietly called out.
"Ciscel came to find Father, there seems to be some threat from space."
He hadn't found his Cousin Russell in the bedroom earlier, but Russell appeared in the blink of an eye. Mark didn't mind; he himself often flew out to be a Superhero, only returning through the window after a while.
With the ability to fly, he rarely used the door anymore.
"A threat from space?" Russell glanced at the blurry figure in space shown in the video.
He remembered this point in time... it seemed like Allen, the Coalition of Planets assessment officer, was coming?
"Nolan, now that the Global Guardians are all dead, I can only come to you." Ciscel seemed to have no other choice, looking seriously at Omni-Man.
He completely ignored Mark and Russell, as if Omni-Man was the only choice capable of completing this mission.
However, it also seemed reasonable, as neither of them had space combat experience.
Nolan remained silent, pondering.
Aunt Debbie protested, feeling both heartache and anger: "Nolan just came home severely injured a week ago, and you want to send him to space?"
"No way, absolutely not, he doesn't take orders from you."
"There's no one else, Debbie." Ciscel's tone was calm, as if stating a fact.
"How about... I go with Cousin?"
Seeing that the three people in the room were all in a difficult position, Mark tried raising his hand, wanting to contribute.
If it was a mission that the Global Guardians could handle before, it didn't sound particularly dangerous.
But since it was space he had never been to, he wanted to bring his Cousin along for a bit of security.
"Russell, can you do it?" Nolan raised his eyes to look at Russell, asking for his opinion.
"Of course."
Russell looked at the figure in the video, a light flashing in his eyes and quickly disappearing.
Allen, a super-soldier created by the Unopa people through genetic engineering to fight the Viltrumites. Although his current strength couldn't compare to a Viltrumite warrior, he possessed extraordinary potential.
"Every time he's near death and successfully survives, he becomes stronger..."
In the later stages, he was the strongest after the Regent and Galactic Emperor Mark, with even a slight gap in strength between him and the latter.
"It just so happens that I'm not afraid of being near death right now."
He just didn't know if the replicated template could evolve?
"Then I'll leave it to you, Russell, Mark." Seeing that Mark and Russell agreed, Ciscel said.
Someone had taken on the mission, but his brow was furrowed, as if the matter hadn't been resolved.
This matter wasn't dangerous at all; the alien Allen was peaceful and wouldn't pose any threat to the World. Ciscel's brow remained furrowed, likely because his true purpose for coming hadn't been achieved.
Russell knew that he was likely trying to 'lure the tiger out of the mountain', using this space mission to temporarily draw Omni-Man away from Earth, giving Demon Detective a chance to enter their home, look for clues, and clarify the case.
Omni-Man might have also been suspicious, but couldn't be sure, and hadn't spoken.
"Father, can you tell Cousin and me what that is now?"
"An alien, not very strong; give him a beating, and he'll leave on his own." Walking between them, Omni-Man Nolan patted Mark and Russell on the shoulders and said with a smile.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Russell and Mark set off, arriving in space.
The azure Earth was below their feet. Mark, flying out of Earth for the first time, looked down with curiosity. He didn't see the figure, who seemed to have been waiting for a long time, coming around from the other side and throwing a punch at the two of them.
Bang!
Russell had been paying attention and easily caught the person's punch.
"There's an extra person this time?"
The figure revealed his form: orange skin, a horse-like face, one giant eye, strong muscles filling out his combat suit, orange skin. His somewhat lively voice echoed in both of their minds one after another.
"By the way, which one of you is the guy with the mustache from last time?"
"Neither of us is." Russell swung a punch, sending him flying away like a kite with a broken string, straight towards the Moon.
People of different ethnicities on Earth sometimes feel like they all look the same to each other, let alone aliens and Earthlings. The one-eyed alien Allen thought one of them was Omni-Man, who had beaten him last time.
"Alien, don't approach—our Planet!"
Mark, realizing what was happening, flew up and swung his arm, wanting to follow up with a punch.
But his combat experience was too shallow, especially compared to Allen, who was responsible for testing whether all Planet civilizations had enough strength to protect themselves.
Allen easily dodged his punch, then grabbed him from behind in a hold.
"Good strength, but the accuracy is off—"
Before he could finish, Russell, who had rapidly arrived, punched him flying again.
A trace of blood was left on Allen's lip where it was split. Before he could steady himself, the figure had already rushed over, grabbed him by the neck with one hand, and continued towards the Moon.
"You're more like a warrior who can protect your civilization, decisive in your actions.
So... is it you? Did you shave your mustache?"
Allen chuckled. For him, being powerful, every test was always more like a game. Although he was injured now, it was nothing to him with his super healing ability.
He grabbed Russell's hand, trying to pry it open, but finally realized the hand gripping his neck was as immovable as if cast from iron. His heart jolted, and he looked up, only to see another fist rapidly getting larger.
Bang!
"I told you it wasn't!"
Russell's fist, heavier as if a meteor had struck, hit Allen's forehead, making his head dizzy. Because his neck was being held, Allen didn't fly far.
Wait, this situation seems a bit off this time!