The Season of Mates Has Come Again

Aurora was a luminous phenomenon.

It usually occurred at Earth’s north and south poles, when charged particles from the solar wind entered Earth’s magnetic field and displayed brilliant, beautiful radiance across the nighttime sky.

Kyle had never expected that his Fire God Divine Power, imbued with the profound essence of the gods, combined with Lorna’s mutant ability, Magnetism Control, would create the naturally luminous phenomenon of an aurora when they came into direct physical contact.

It had to be said, it was a coincidence ordained by fate.

There was no need to mention the Fire God Divine Power first. One had to be of the divine race and possess an innate fire-based divine power. A thunder god or war god, for instance, would not do.

As for Magnetism Control, the superior form of magnetic field manipulation, it required a special X-gene mutation and was one in ten thousand even among mutants.

The odds of possessing these two abilities separately and bringing them into direct contact were still practically zero across the entire universe.

Yet at this very moment, inside a lowly bar called Black Rose in Queens, New York, Earth—

Centered on the hands Kyle and Lorna held, the two abilities began operating on their own, joyfully blending together as the dazzling, colorful glow of an aurora lingered throughout the room.

"Ah!"

Staring blankly, Lorna suddenly snapped out of her daze and jerked her right hand back as if shocked.

The magnificent aurora vanished in an instant, and the bar hall immediately returned to normal.

Kyle gave Lorna one final look, casually waved to signal Yutong to follow, then headed for the bar entrance on his own.

"Lorna, see you for now. Next time, I’ll come by alone," Yutong said before quickly following Kyle’s footsteps.

Only after the two had left the bar did Lorna come back to herself and nod. She looked inexplicably at her right palm, where a trace of the Fire God Power’s warmth still remained.

"What… what’s wrong with me? I’ve never felt this way before." Lorna muttered to herself, pressing that palm over her chest. Her heart raced uncontrollably, as though the contact between their abilities had left lingering side effects.

"What exactly did that guy do to me?!"

Her body was heating up, and she even had the illusion that she wanted to see that aurora again.

After leaving the Black Rose bar—

Kyle thought for a moment, then said with a faint smile, "Your friend’s not bad. You can get to know her better. We could even try recruiting her into the Supernatural Affairs Agency."

"I know." Yutong nodded. Lowering her head, she revealed a delighted, breathtaking smile.

She had brought her boss here because she wanted him to acknowledge Lorna’s presence. Otherwise, she would never be able to treat Lorna with genuine friendliness and sincerity.

As things stood now, this trip had been a complete success.

Looking at Kyle’s tall, broad back, Yutong suddenly thought, As long as things can stay like this, following behind the boss, even for a thousand years or ten thousand years, doesn’t seem like such a big deal.

She quickened her pace and moved closer to Kyle, yet always maintained that final meter of distance.

After this trip, Kyle returned to Emperor Building and thoroughly settled into life on twenty-first-century Earth.

His daily routine mainly consisted of researching the combat applications of the Fire God Divine Power and the use of the divine artifact Eternal Fire, checking on Tony’s improvements to the Iron Man Armor when appropriate, and keeping an eye on supernatural phenomena around the world.

At the same time, Bruce Banner had moved to New York alone and was subjected to long-distance surveillance by S.H.I.E.L.D.’s elite agents every day.

And over the past week or two, undercurrents had been surging throughout the world.

First—

In order to use the power of the state to find his best friend, the Winter Soldier Bucky, the legendary hero Captain America—Steve Rogers—officially announced his return and joined the mysterious United Nations department, S.H.I.E.L.D.

He, Black Widow, and Hawkeye ran all over the world on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secret missions, tracking down the remnants of Hydra.

Second—

The Karl family and Zero Organization’s disciples also mobilized in secret, likewise searching for the Winter Soldier. Before they knew it, they stirred up turmoil in the underground world. Countless old aristocratic families and private organizations had no idea what was happening and could only strictly forbid their members from going out on their own, hiding at home and trembling in fear.

Besides that, other unknown events were unfolding in secret.

Africa, a remote region in the center.

On the vast tropical grasslands, a large herd of cattle and sheep drank leisurely by a somewhat dried-up pond. In the waist-high grass nearby, predators such as lions and leopards waited for their chance.

A mighty male lion crept closer. Just as it was about to launch into a sprinting kill, its ears suddenly twitched.

Alert, it raised its head and looked toward the sky. Its suddenly constricted beastly pupils reflected blazing firelight.

In the azure sky, an Interstellar Ship was rapidly approaching!

As it broke through and passed through the atmosphere at high speed, the ship’s hull ignited from friction, making it look like a blazing fireball falling toward the ground.

The distance between the ship and the grasslands below rapidly closed—ten thousand meters, five thousand meters, one thousand meters…

Countless cattle, sheep, and predators fled in panic for their lives!

BOOM!!!

The Interstellar Ship crashed headfirst into the pond. Under the terrifying impact, mud splashed dozens of meters into the air.

Most of the ship was embedded in the ground. Its engines died with a sizzling sound, and a small hatch facing the sky suddenly opened.

Amid rolling smoke, a tall, powerfully built alien man crawled out of the hatch. Standing atop the crashed ship, he looked around the tropical grasslands with slight confusion.

"So this is… Earth."

The alien man murmured. His eyes were as black as ink and held an unusual emotion, while his fists clenched with nervous unease.

After leaving Sakaar’s Space-Time Wormhole, he had wandered through the Human World in the universe for a full twenty-six years.

Along the way, he had changed countless biological hosts, crossed the Milky Way Galaxy, and finally stumbled his way here.

Earth—the place that had continuously surfaced in his memories.

"I hope I can find the thing I’ve been pursuing in my memories here."

The alien man let out a deep breath, jumped down from the Interstellar Ship, and crouched beside the remaining half of the pond, staring at the bubbling mass of mud.

He shot out a hand, grabbed and pulled. A pitch-black fish was already in his grasp, desperately thrashing its tail.

The alien man licked his lips. His stomach growled, and without caring that the fish was covered in mud, he stuffed it straight into his mouth and began devouring it raw.

In the grass not far behind him, the male lion silently approached, staring coldly and warily at the prey before it.

It sprang forward like an arrow released from a bow. The fierce wind it kicked up flattened the grass as it swiftly and nimbly lunged to bite the man’s neck.

The alien man did not move. He was still savoring the Earth-flavored raw fish, completely unaware of the danger about to strike.

The lion opened its bloody maw and leaped. When it was less than half a meter from his neck, a black spike suddenly shot out from the back of the man’s neck.

Awooo!

The lion let out a miserable whimper. The sharp, tough black spike pierced through its soft mouth, impaling and skewering its entire body as scarlet blood streamed down it.

The alien man wiped mud from the corner of his mouth, pulled the lion’s corpse off the spike with one hand, then brought it close and bit into the wound, filling his mouth with fur and the stench of blood.

"Pah. Disgusting."

The alien man spat it out, disgustedly tossed the lion aside, and angrily stomped on it several times.

The poor ruler of the African grasslands had, by sheer misfortune, encountered a top-tier creature returning to Earth.

Venom.