Silver Surfer

With the power of the Heart-shaped herb, Shuri had finally succeeded in raising the Nine Yin Divine Claws Li Congxin had taught her to the grandmaster level. Her figure split into nine, and all nine images struck at once, as if nine great experts had formed a battle array, making it impossible to tell illusion from reality.

In an instant, the entire room was shrouded in an eerie wind, causing everyone except Li Congxin and Mindy to shiver with fear.

Wherever the fierce wind stirred up by the claw shadows passed, it left clear finger marks even on the solid rock walls.

Yet the fragile Heart-shaped herb on the ground remained completely unharmed. Clearly, what had been enhanced in this little one’s body was not merely her strength—even her control had reached the level of acting entirely at will.

A moment later, the eerie wind dissipated. The nine figures merged into one again, revealing Shuri’s petite, slender body.

At that moment, she looked little different from before. The only change was that her arms had become even more crystal-clear, as if they had been carefully carved and polished from black jade.

With a sweet smile, Shuri was the first to approach Li Congxin amid everyone’s congratulations. "Brother Clark, in the name of Wakanda’s Black Panther, I formally invite you to become a citizen of Wakanda."

Li Congxin: ???

What was this girl up to?

Just as everyone stood there in bewilderment, the little girl leaned close to Li Congxin’s ear and whispered, "As far as I know, Brother Clark, you and Sister Hill, Sister Ava, are both… hehehe. And Sister Daisy is also very interested in you."

Li Congxin’s old face immediately flushed when he heard that. I helped you before, and now you’re turning around and exposing my secrets. Is that really okay?

At that moment, Shuri continued, "But in America, because of the law, you’ll ultimately have to make a choice. That’s not necessary in Wakanda. Did you know that Wakandan law allows a man to marry many wives?"

Was there really such a corrupt policy?

Li Congxin was stunned, and the Queen on the other side immediately refuted her. "Shuri, you’ve remembered wrong. Wakandan law has always upheld monogamy. There has never been any provision allowing polygamy."

"I couldn’t possibly be wrong." Shuri spoke with absolute certainty in the face of her mother’s objection. "The first article of Wakandan law states that the Black Panther has the right to amend existing laws."

Li Congxin: …

Mindy: …

The Queen: …

Everyone: …

Just as everyone was rendered speechless by this eccentric devotion to the Black Panther, Shuri spoke up again. "Brother Clark, you should think this through carefully. If you become a citizen of Wakanda, you can marry as many women as you want, and whoever you want. Even the female Black Panther isn’t entirely out of the question…"

The little girl’s motives were impure!

Before Li Congxin could react, Mindy had already shot her good friend a fierce glare, the challenge in her eyes unmistakable.

Shuri paid it no mind. Instead, she stepped forward enthusiastically and said to Mindy, "Sister Mindy, don’t be so hostile toward me. You should know that only if Brother Clark joins Wakanda will we have a chance to remain sisters forever…"

The Queen felt like crying.

Her perfectly good daughter was now growing legs of her own and rushing to court a pig—and together with all those other cabbages, no less. Who had come up with this idea?

T’Challa, who had been watching the show from the side, suddenly felt a pang of unease. He quickly coughed and said, "Well, according to tradition, a banquet must be held to celebrate Shuri becoming the Black Panther. I’ll go prepare it now…"

"Grandpa, that grandson of yours is calling you again."

A savior!

Li Congxin hurriedly pulled out his phone and answered it. "Hello, Tony."

"Clark, this is bad. Something major has happened!" Tony’s voice came from the other end immediately. "Severe abnormal weather has appeared in the tropical Pacific region. The sea has frozen over across a vast area, and the surrounding magnetic fields have also been affected by some kind of force. All monitoring satellites have gone offline!"

Something had happened to Earth again?

Hearing Tony’s report, Li Congxin couldn’t help giving a bitter inward laugh. Strange had unfortunately been right. And from the sound of it, this trouble was no small matter. It was likely to be a real headache.

Tony continued, "I tried to track down the source myself, but the other side was simply too fast. Even I couldn’t catch up. I think the next upgrade plan for the Iron Man suit needs to list propulsion-engine technology as a key research priority…"

While Tony rambled on, Li Congxin had already spread his mental power outward, instantly enveloping the entire globe. Then he said in a solemn voice, "I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news for you. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Tony answered without hesitation, "The bad news."

Li Congxin said, "I already know where the problem is. And it’s not just the person causing trouble on Earth right now—even the person behind him is someone I have a certain understanding of."

Tony paused. "That’s the bad news?"

Li Congxin added, "He’s far more terrifying than any opponent we’ve faced before."

"That really is bad news." Tony sighed helplessly. "Then what’s the good news?"

"The good news is that this opponent’s strength is extremely unstable. If he’s in his strongest state, even I would have no chance against him. But under normal circumstances, I can barely fight him to a standstill." After a slight pause, he added, "However, he isn’t fighting alone. I won’t be able to judge the exact situation until I see them. Gather the Avengers and prepare for battle."

With that, Li Congxin hung up directly, then turned to the people beside him and said, "Shuri, T’Challa, I’m afraid we’ll have to miss the rest of the celebration. Earth seems to have gotten itself into enormous trouble, and we may need your help later. For now, though, Mindy and I will go take a look."

After calling out to Mindy, he placed his hand on her shoulder—er, forehead—then space energy swept around them, and the two figures vanished from the Wakandan palace, appearing high above the international waters of the Pacific.

"Moon Prism Power, transform!" Although Mindy had Li Congxin’s divine power supporting her and did not fall, she still struck the reactor on her chest at once and transformed into battle mode.

In fact, the Queen Knight Mindy suit had continued to upgrade as Eris’s data became more complete. It had now reached the Bleeding Edge armor mode, and its technology was almost on par with Tony’s Iron Man suit. After being enhanced to this level, the armor could render the helmet transparent. From the outside, it looked like she was wearing only a golden headpiece, but in reality, her entire head was protected by the suit.

Eris had even designed Mindy’s suit to be completely different in style from Tony’s Iron Man suit based on her combat style.

From the outside, Mindy now looked more like a medieval female warrior clad in golden armor. Golden light glittered across her entire body, while her golden hair streamed in the wind, giving her the air of a Golden Saint.

"I am Sailor Moon’s representative, the beautiful girl Mindy Macready!"

As the transformation ended, Mindy willed the golden Gungnir into her hand. Then, accompanied by another clear neigh, the Eight-legged Divine Horse Sleipnir appeared beneath her.

With a horse beneath her and a spear in hand, Mindy, fully armed, now possessed terrifying Sub-Celestial combat power!

"I will enforce justice in the name of the moon and destroy you!"

Looking at Mindy after her transformation, Li Congxin nodded in satisfaction.

They were both using Sailor Moon’s transformation BGM, but it suited Mindy perfectly, without the slightest hint of incongruity. It was far more pleasing to the eye than when that burly Tony used it!

When certain people judged this, they completely failed to consider that the problem lay entirely with the BGM. It had nothing whatsoever to do with Tony.

Mindy had only just completed her transformation when the seawater opposite them suddenly split apart as a huge wave surged forward. Someone was moving across the surface at high speed. The divided seawater shot toward both sides, only to automatically freeze halfway, forming a huge V-shaped splash that looked extremely beautiful.

Yet the beauty of its appearance could not conceal the terrifying truth behind it.

Causing such a widespread drop in temperature in a tropical region would severely disrupt the ecological balance. It was an atrocious act!

Soon, the culprit behind the ecological disruption appeared before Li Congxin and Mindy. He was a figure standing on a silver surfboard, his entire body wrapped in a silver shell. He looked almost like a T-1000 liquid-metal Terminator!

Mindy leveled her spear and warily eyed the silver figure before her. She asked Li Congxin, "Who exactly is this guy? He looks like trouble."

Li Congxin smiled faintly and replied, "He’s Silver Surfer. You can also call him Silver Surfer, or Silver for short. His strength isn’t weak, but that’s not the important part. His appearance usually means that the person behind him—the planet-devouring Galactus, one of the five Cosmic Creator Gods of the universe—has set his sights on Earth."

"Galactus?" Mindy turned toward Li Congxin in surprise. "I remember that character appeared in your novel Swallowed Star. And he already died. Even the monster his clone transformed into was possessed by the protagonist in the novel."

Li Congxin explained as though it were only natural, "As one of the universe’s five Cosmic Creator Gods, how could Galactus die so easily? As for the story in the novel, I made all of that up."

Received 999 Impression Points from Mindy Macready!

He can actually say he made it up with such righteous conviction. That’s so like Brother Clark!

Li Congxin waved his hand and directly asked Silver Surfer before him, "Why would Galactus suddenly take an interest in Earth? Could he be starving?"

Li Congxin naturally had no good intentions in asking this.

He did not care whether Galactus was hungry. What he cared about was how much of his peak strength Galactus could currently bring to bear.