The Killer’s Identity

AIM (Super-Intelligence) Island.

Cable and the others followed the last signal sent by the Extraordinary Avengers team to this base, which had originally been controlled by M.O.D.O.K. But by the time they arrived, they were still one step too late.

Extraordinary Avengers was merely a temporary codename. The team’s original name had been the Avengers Unity Squad.

After the Avengers and the X-Men clashed, Captain America gathered members from both hero groups to form a special operations team, both to ease the hostility between them and to help the public place greater trust in heroes.

The team’s membership was incredibly diverse. It included nearly every kind of superhuman hero: humans, mutants, sorcerers, Inhumans. Even Human Torch, Cable, and others had served on the team.

The team had been founded to promote the principle of peaceful coexistence among different races.

In the current era, with superheroes constantly emerging, the team designation had remained in use, and its membership had barely changed. Only its leaders had changed, becoming Rogue of the X-Men and Doctor Voodoo, the veteran sorcerer from the Midnight Sons.

The other members were Synapse of the Inhumans, Deadpool, and Quicksilver. Yes, this universe’s Quicksilver had also been part of this team. But if Zhang Ye had seen the scene before them, he probably would no longer have worried about the possibility of two Quicksilvers meeting.

The last signal sent by the Extraordinary Avengers had come from the island base where M.O.D.O.K. Murdock was located. With more and more superheroes recently dying or vanishing, Nick Fury had realized that events seemed to be gradually slipping beyond his control.

To obtain more crucial intelligence from the villains, he had not only summoned Cable and the others, but had also secretly arranged for the Extraordinary Avengers to serve as another line of attack against M.O.D.O.K.’s defenses, hoping to pry information about Butcher from him.

But Nick Fury probably never could have imagined that this decision would lead to the complete annihilation of the Extraordinary Avengers.

By the time Cable and the others arrived, the entire base had long been abandoned. Murdock had not even bothered to clean up the scene. The whole facility was covered in blood, with corpses scattered everywhere.

"We’re too late. Another group of superheroes has been added to the casualty list." Cable’s expression was grim. Looking at the horribly mangled bodies of the Extraordinary Avengers, his heart was filled with mixed emotions. These people had all been his friends.

"The traces of battle here haven’t been cleared away. That may be a blessing in disguise. We might be able to find vital clues." Moon Knight spoke calmly. Rather than mourn the dead, he wanted to uncover the killer’s true identity as soon as possible.

Unlike him, Kate could no longer hold herself back. "More and more heroes are dying, and you still think concealing the information is the right thing to do? The Fantastic Four’s disappearance has already made the newspapers. People aren’t fools—Mister Fantastic was interviewed just last month!"

"I spoke to Nick Fury about it. He has already secretly informed some lone heroes to keep a lower profile lately. But you know how most heroes are—they do things their own way. Whether they heed the advice isn’t something we can decide." Cable shook his head helplessly.

"I think we should make the whole matter public. That way, those lone heroes will understand how serious this is. Now even the Extraordinary Avengers have died at that guy’s hands. That means his combat ability may be far more terrifying than we imagined."

"That’s impossible. If we announce that a murderer capable of threatening every superhero exists, it would be a slap in the face to every superhero team. The public’s trust in heroes would plummet. Nick Fury won’t agree to it."

"You’re from the future, aren’t you, Cable? Can your future sensor help us find, or guide us to, the one behind all this?" Misty Knight asked curiously.

"I’m afraid not. My timeline is somewhat chaotic right now. After Nick Fury found me and gathered all of you together, everything in the future became obscure. That means… I might be next." Cable muttered, and no one knew how complicated his feelings were at that moment.

"If you ask me, these people were just too useless." Punisher spoke up then. He swept his gaze over the corpses on the floor and said coldly.

"The killer has already exposed his murder weapons. They’re nothing more than ordinary blades and firearms. Forget high-tech criminals—even any street gang could get their hands on weapons like these. If they died to such weapons, doesn’t that prove they deserved it?"

"Frank, show some respect when you speak! I know you have issues with people with superpowers, but they were still our comrades!" Kate snapped, her brows tightly furrowed.

"I think Punisher has a point." Moon Knight suddenly spoke. He slowly rose to his feet, and when he noticed Kate’s hostile glare, he said quietly, "Don’t misunderstand. I don’t share his view, but he got one thing right: the killer’s weapons."

As he spoke, Moon Knight walked over to Quicksilver’s corpse. This world’s Pietro had collapsed on the steps, his legs cleanly severed at the ankles by a sharp blade. There were also gunshot wounds in his chest. His death had been utterly gruesome.

"At first, I wondered whether the killer was deliberately misleading us. But now it seems we’ve been overthinking it. Ladies and gentlemen, the killer we’re dealing with is simply an expert at using firearms and blades."

Moon Knight then turned his gaze toward Doctor Voodoo’s severed head. His eyes were still wide open, and it was clear that Doctor Voodoo had not made any response before he died—or rather, he had not had time to react at all!

"I knew Doctor Voodoo. His strength was terrifying; ordinary beings could hardly hurt him. But judging from his current condition, I suspect the killer launched a sudden attack against him. And someone who could get that close to him on a battlefield must have been someone he trusted deeply."

Piecing together the clues, Moon Knight narrowed his eyes slightly. At that moment, a name slowly surfaced in his mind.

"I said the killer might be closer than we imagined. Ever since I left the Avengers, I’ve rarely paid attention to the rosters of these action teams. But Deadpool was on this team too, wasn’t he?"