Three Days

Another month passed.

The Karl family members who were Card Disciples or above gradually relocated in secret through the portals to the fortress base on Dragon Turtle Island.

The old estate was retained as a base for the family to secretly train newcomers, while also indirectly keeping watch over the Winter Soldier, who lay frozen beneath the estate.

During this time, Kyle once again used the Super Agent Card to train ten Card Disciples. Using special materials, he also created a third fixed portal, linking the island base, Stark Industries, and the nation of Wakanda—three places separated by vast distances.

At the same time, he could no longer hide his genetic mutation illness from the other Karl family members. Though his physique had yet to show many abnormalities, his brilliant golden hair had completely turned silver-white, a sign of his declining health.

In roughly six months, Kyle’s Super Soldier physique would face irreversible nuclear radiation-induced genetic mutation. His body would collapse and disintegrate on its own, leading to functional death.

Logan, Yutong, and Natasha were all shocked beyond belief when they learned this grave news. It took them a long time to gradually accept this earth-shattering fact.

Kyle—the Patriarch they had followed and sworn loyalty to.

He was the man universally acknowledged as the strongest in the world. He had fought across battlefields as a Super Soldier, maintaining a one-hundred-percent victory rate in every battle, from his days as a recruit to his retirement as a major general!

With his own strength, he had influenced and turned the tide of battle, destroyed Hydra, and forced the warrior nation to surrender.

Such a legendary figure standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid, the Symbol of Peace known as a God-tier Hero—now, after World War II had ended and everyone longed for peace and pursued happiness, his body still carried the terminal ailments left behind by war…

It was as if he had become a frail old man. As the end drew closer and his genes mutated at an accelerated rate, there was even a short, unstable period each day when he lost his superhuman abilities.

After Lucy personally informed them of the news, Logan and Yutong immediately went to Kyle for confirmation. On the spot, they both declared in unison that they were willing to leave Earth with him and journey into the starry cosmos.

Kyle refused them both.

To him, the cosmic expanse was filled with unknowns and dangers. Traveling alone or with three people would not make much difference.

Besides, Logan and Yutong were high-end combat assets of the Karl family. If they left Earth with him, the Karl family would truly be left in shambles.

"Don’t worry. Watch over the family. I’ll definitely come back alive," Kyle promised them solemnly.

Though Logan and Yutong were helpless, they could not persuade Kyle after he had made up his mind.

Thus, amid the days of collective gloom among the family members at the island base, time passed day by day. There were only three days left until Kyle’s planned departure from Earth.

During these final three days, Kyle set aside all family affairs and entered the Gravity Room to keep himself warmed up, practice the more than one hundred combat techniques he possessed, and sort through the weapons, equipment, and reserve cards he carried.

The Item Cards stored in Card Space—gold, gemstones, cannons, firearms, collectible odds and ends, and the like—were all taken out as physical items and placed in the base warehouse, entrusted to Lucy, the family’s chief financial officer.

Kyle kept only emergency food, a laser pistol, and useful items such as planes and tanks for himself.

He was about to embark on an extremely perilous journey. Either he would transform and return, or he would become a small pile of wreckage in some corner of the vast starry sky, buried in a foreign land beyond Earth.

This time, even Kyle had no confidence.

On Marvel Earth, he could still benefit from being a transmigrator, knowing all kinds of known and unknown dangers, as well as the main course of history. But once he left Earth, his intelligence would be completely reset to zero, and he could only explore and investigate everything on his own.

Dragon Turtle Base, second underground level, Gravity Room.

Under the glaring spotlights, Kyle was upside down, continuously doing one-handed push-ups. His silver-white hair was soaked with sweat, which streamed down his strands and pooled into a puddle on the polished floor.

"1,023, 1,024, 1,025…"

His chest rose and fell sharply as he panted. Wearing only a pair of workout pants, his perfectly proportioned body remained straight and firm, his muscles and abs solid as if forged from steel.

The Super Soldier physique at ten times the human peak, the Healing Factor—these are all within me, embedded in my blood, marrow, and even carved into my genes! Even if genetic mutation suppresses them, it won’t take what belongs to me so easily!

Kyle’s will was unwavering. He kept his mind and body brimming with fighting spirit, unwilling to be devoured by his mutated genes and reduced to an ordinary person.

"Beep beep!"

As the mechanical door to the Gravity Room opened, Natasha appeared in a black leather bodysuit. Seeing Kyle inside, she hurried in as though she had something urgent to report.

"Patriarch, news has come from the New York estate. Nick Fury has already…"

Before Natasha could finish speaking, she entered the range of the Gravity Field and let out a startled cry. She tripped on level ground and slammed face-first onto the floor, even flattening her chest beneath the zipped leather suit.

"This gravity is set to the maximum, twelve times?!"

Natasha’s face flushed red as she struggled to push herself up with both hands. Looking at Kyle, who was still doing one-handed push-ups ahead of her, her beautiful eyes were filled with astonishment.

With a Superman-level monstrous physique like that, how could he look like someone whose body was about to decline and die?

"Fury has already arrived at the estate?" Kyle asked. With a forceful twist of his wrist, he flipped half a turn through the air and landed steadily on his feet.

"Yes. I’m ready as well. I can report to S.H.I.E.L.D. at any time," Natasha said with difficulty after taking a deep breath. Even with her exceptional Super Agent physique, her movements were sluggish and slow under the pull of twelve times gravity.

Kyle nodded and spoke toward the receiver in the room that could receive voice commands. "Jarvis, turn off the gravity and switch to cleaning mode."

"Understood, Patriarch."

Jarvis’s voice rang out. Following the programmed system settings, he quickly shut off the room’s Gravity Field.

Natasha had just sighed in relief and easily risen from the floor when water pouring down from above soaked her to the bone. Several showerheads had opened in the ceiling of the Gravity Room, creating an indoor downpour.

Ten seconds later, the sprinklers stopped, and dry hot air blew from the walls on all sides.

Kyle had already taken a quick shower to wash away the grime. He drew out the Venom Card and summoned it, the symbiote transforming into a hooded casual outfit.

Kyle put the Sling Ring on a finger of his left hand and cast a spell, opening a portal to the meeting room on the second floor of the estate. He urged, "Let’s go. I’ve arranged a bright path for you. From now on, everything depends on your own fortune."

"Yes." Natasha responded quickly, wringing out her still-soaked hair with one hand before hurriedly following Kyle into the floating, rotating, blazing portal.