Man at the Top of the Food Chain

"Current altitude: 10,080 meters. Flight path normal…"

Inside the new transport aircraft, aside from the pilot in the cockpit, Kyle was the only one seated in the rear cabin. The cabin was so quiet that only the faint hums of various instruments could be heard.

Kyle sat with his eyes closed, resting while his consciousness entered the Card Space and gazed at the nearly thousand cards in the Ability Card section.

They said the poor relied on mutation, while the rich relied on technology. Now, he possessed both mutations and technological items, but what he valued most was still his own physical constitution.

The body was the foundation!

Kyle’s mental avatar looked at Super Soldier, the rare blue constitution-type Ability Card floating at the center of the Ability Card section. Drawn from Steve, it was the cornerstone that had allowed his genetic constitution to transcend that of ordinary humans.

Super Soldier. This genetic enhancement ability, which comprehensively improved human physical potential, initially raised a person’s strength, speed, physique, resistance to damage, and other attributes to roughly four or five times that of an ordinary human. At the peak of one’s physical potential, it could even reach the terrifying threshold of ten times that of a human.

Ten times human strength—what did that mean?

The average impact force of an ordinary adult’s punch was one hundred kilograms. Ten times that strength meant one ton.

A Heavy Fist weighing over a ton could knock a person flat with ease. Even a bull would be cleanly knocked to the ground by one punch.

Naturally, the ultimate peak of the Super Soldier ability could not be reached merely by growing older. It required long-term, continuous training, control, and excavation of one’s own physical potential.

Steve had acquired the Super Soldier ability before Kyle, yet even on the day of his crash, he had only begun to tap into his physical potential. His attributes had merely reached five to six times those of an ordinary person—after all, it took him three days of practicing without rest or sleep to learn and master military hand-to-hand combat techniques. That was already an incredibly fast Superman-level achievement.

But Kyle possessed the ability to draw cards. He only needed three seconds to master something from nothing! Long periods of training and cultivation? No such thing!

As long as he continuously drew other people’s white and green Ability Cards, accumulating all kinds of skill-type and constitution-type Ability Cards, they could become keys that rapidly unlocked the doors to the Super Soldier’s inner potential.

During the previous battle in Germany, Kyle had drawn over a hundred green skill-type Ability Cards from Logan. After claiming them as his own—equivalent to undergoing half a century of training and cultivation himself—his constitution had finally entered the peak level of the Super Soldier physique.

Healing Factor, this blue constitution-type Ability Card, perfectly preserved that peak physical condition, preventing it from declining due to age or the accumulated hidden injuries of prolonged combat.

Of course, that still was not his best combat state. When fully covered and symbiotically bonded with Venom, his overall physical attributes could rise another small step.

Twelve times human strength!

Kyle now had every confidence that, based solely on his powerful physique, he stood at the pinnacle of the currently known biological pyramid on Earth.

"Major General Kyle."

The pilot in the adjacent cockpit seat spoke up, pulling Kyle’s thoughts back to reality. He opened his eyes, slightly surprised.

"We are now above Japanese territory. We will cross the Tokyo border in another five minutes." The middle-aged pilot wore an apologetic expression as he said, "Because we are flying over enemy territory, the transport aircraft can only maintain an altitude above ten thousand meters. You will need to parachute alone from this altitude later. The military has prepared protective clothing and an oxygen tank for you. Please put them on in advance."

"Just tell me when we reach the destination. Open the rear cabin first." Kyle answered coldly. He did not take the protective clothing, oxygen tank, or even a parachute. Rising to his feet, he walked toward the rear cabin.

At the pilot’s controls, a steel deck at the tail of the small transport aircraft lowered, revealing the night sky and the vast high-altitude view outside.

The transport aircraft had crossed the ocean from New York to Japan, and half a day had passed—from noon until the deep night.

Kyle stood tall at the edge of the deck as the bitter wind poured inside, blowing up the golden fringe over his forehead.

"At this altitude, the temperature is already below freezing, and the air is thin! If you parachute without protective gear, sir, you will die!" the pilot shouted in warning. Having already equipped himself with an oxygen supply device, he turned around from the cockpit. When he saw that Kyle was not even wearing a parachute, he was too stunned to speak.

"I never use a parachute." Kyle shrugged coolly. The protection of the Venom Suit kept him from feeling the slightest chill. As for oxygen deprivation? He could now go more than ten minutes without breathing, even while engaging in intense physical activity.

Just as the pilot hesitated, the aircraft suddenly tilted and jolted in the airflow.

When he turned back to look at the aircraft’s Reconnaissance Instrument, he seemed to see something terrifying. His face instantly turned pale as he muttered in horror, "How is this possible?!"

"What happened?" Kyle asked coldly.

The pilot said in disbelief, "Seven fighter planes have been detected, approaching us at high speed!"

"We just arrived over Japanese territory and have not even landed, yet they are already in such a hurry to welcome their guest?" Kyle said with an indifferent chuckle.

He even suspected there were spies among the upper ranks of the American Empire. It was hardly unexpected that someone had installed a tracker on this transport aircraft and conveniently leaked its location to Japan.

"Pilot, head back directly. Good luck." Kyle waved behind him, then leaped backward and jumped from an altitude of over ten thousand meters.

Suspended in midair, Kyle faced the howling wind and violent air currents. Looking in every direction, he saw nothing but darkness within a hundred meters of visibility.

Less than five seconds after he left the cabin, a thunderous explosion erupted above his head amid dense bombardment like a raging storm!

"Boommmmm—"

Kyle twisted in midair and looked back. The transport aircraft he had just left had been attacked. Fierce flames engulfed more than half its fuselage as it broke apart and plunged downward without power.

Amid the dark clouds within a hundred-meter radius, illuminated by the fire from the falling aircraft, several Japanese single-seat fighter planes could vaguely be seen darting through the sky at extreme speed, circling around it.

"Whoosh—"

Kyle remained in free fall as he pinpointed the nearest fighter. A single-seat aircraft, its rear propeller and jet exhaust roaring, was about to streak past him at an altitude roughly twenty meters away.

"You’ll do!"

A cold glint flashed through Kyle’s eyes. Black wings suddenly extended from the back of the Venom Suit, bringing his body to a halt in midair. Then, shifting from uncontrolled free fall, he glided at high speed toward the fighter.

"Tap!"

Kyle reached the airspace above the fighter’s nose. With a slight adjustment of his wings, he crouched down and actually landed atop the windshield of the single-seat fighter’s cockpit.

"Nani?" The Japanese Army pilot froze briefly. Looking at the young man outside the aircraft who had suddenly smiled at him, he inhaled sharply, every hair on his body standing on end.

This was over ten thousand meters in the air! Was he human or a ghost?

"R-Report, this is Shiden-02…" His teeth chattered. Before he could finish speaking, he saw three Dark Claws extend from each of the cold young man’s clenched fists.

"Shk!"

Kyle’s claws easily pierced the windshield, slicing downward and tearing open a gap. He grabbed the pilot inside the fighter and tossed him out into the high-altitude sky!