I'm having a blast in Marvel!

Page 57

Chapter 68 Real Flight

No, it's more terrifying than weightlessness. It's a feeling of being forcibly ripped out of the real world.

Carol felt like a pebble thrown into a slingshot, launched in a fraction of a second. Everything around her became a blurry, infinitely stretched beam of light. The wind was no longer wind, but a wall so hard it could tear steel apart, violently compressing her body. Her internal energy instinctively formed a shield, but even so, the terrifying acceleration left her mind blank, unable to even scream.

She instinctively looked at the man who had grabbed her arm.

Then, she saw a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Chu Hang's expression was as calm as if he were strolling in his own backyard. His trench coat wasn't even wrinkled, as if the raging winds that could tear everything apart didn't exist for him. Unlike her, he didn't transform energy into blazing armor; he simply stood there, or rather, "floated," surrounded by an almost invisible, gently rippling energy field. All the gale, all the resistance, all the terrifying acceleration, upon contact with that thin force field, were effortlessly deflected to the sides, as if hitting an absolutely smooth mirror.

Highly efficient, precise, and without the slightest waste.

This is not flying at all.

This is a blatant disregard for the laws of physics.

Carol finally understood the meaning of his earlier words. Her own method of flying, relying on bursts of energy and reckless charges, was indeed like a three-year-old child wielding a battering ram compared to the man before her. And he, on the other hand, was a top-tier master who could carve an entire "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll onto a grain of rice with a willow-leaf knife.

They were using the same power, but they were displaying two different dimensions.

"Where...where are we going?" Carol finally recovered from the suffocating acceleration and managed to squeeze out a few words. Her voice sounded insignificant amidst the sonic boom.

"Let's find a quiet place where no one will bother us." Chu Hang's voice clearly reached her ears, as if the two of them were not flying at several times the speed of sound at tens of thousands of meters in the air, but chatting in a quiet coffee shop.

He even had the leisure to lower his head and smile at her.

“Relax, Carol. You have to learn to trust people, especially… your own kind.”

Carol was silent.

The word "kindred spirit" was like a key, unlocking a long-dormant corner of her mind. She recalled the fragments of memories she had just seen that didn't belong to her. The man with the outstretched bone claws, the man wielding the shield. She could feel an incredibly intense emotion called "trust" contained within those memories.

Perhaps, she could really try to trust him just this once.

After an unknown amount of time, the tearing sensation finally subsided. Chu Hang carried her, landing smoothly like a feather on a vast, boundless white plain. The ground was parched, cracked salt flats, reflecting an eerie white light under the cold moonlight. It was desolate, devoid of even a single weed, only deathly silence.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Carroll immediately broke free of his grasp, jumped back more than ten meters, and cautiously assumed a fighting stance.

Chu Hang ignored her actions, simply brushing off non-existent dust from his trench coat and watching her with a leisurely air.

“Alright, now we can talk,” he said. “Nick Fury’s men will need at least a few hours to find this place. We have plenty of time.”

"Who exactly are you?" Carol's voice was hoarse with tension. "Why do you possess the same power as me? And why can I see into your mind?!"

She threw out all her questions in one breath, the golden light on her fists flickering with her emotions.

"First question, my name is Chu Hang. You can think of me as... a pioneer who came into contact with this power a little earlier than you." Chu Hang's tone was calm, like a teacher explaining a complex problem to a student.

“As for the second and third questions, the answer is actually the same.” He pointed to his heart, then to Carol. “Our power comes from the same source. Six years ago, the light-speed engine at the Pegasus Project base. You absorbed the core energy when it exploded, while I absorbed another portion that leaked out. We're like… two people struck by the same lightning bolt. That's why our powers resonate, and our consciousnesses establish a faint connection. You can see my memories, and I can feel your emotions. That's fair, isn't it?”

This explanation is plausible and perfectly conceals the existence of the system.

Carol was stunned. The worldview that the Kree had instilled in her for six years was being shattered bit by bit by his words. The Kree had told her that her power was a unique gift, an honor bestowed upon her by the highest wisdom. But now, this man was telling her that it wasn't a gift at all, but merely a "bonus" from an accident, and that she wasn't the only one who had "won the lottery."

“No…it’s impossible…” she instinctively retorted, “My power is from the Kree…”

"The Kree gave it to you?" Chu Hang laughed out loud as if he had heard the funniest joke. "Carol, do you really think so? They told you they saved you, gave you a new life, and gave you this powerful strength. Sounds like a perfect fairy tale, doesn't it?"

He took a step forward, his gaze sharpening.

"Then tell me, before you became 'Firth,' an elite member of the Kree Starfleet, who were you? Where was your family? What did you like to eat, and what did you hate? Do you... even remember your own name?"

Every question Chu Hang asked was like a heavy hammer blow to Carroll's heart.

Her face turned deathly pale instantly.

Name... Family... Past...

These words were like an abyss shrouded in thick fog to her; she knew they were there, but whenever she tried to get close, she would be pushed away by an invisible force, followed by a tearing headache and countless chaotic, meaningless images.

“I…I don’t remember…” Her voice was filled with pain and confusion. “The highest wisdom tells me that focusing on the present and the future is a warrior’s duty. The past…is not important.”

"Is it 'unimportant,' or do they simply not want you to think about it?" Chu Hang's voice turned cold. "They took away your most important things, your memories, your life, and then draped a false halo over you, making you work for them. They are not benefactors, Carol; they are thieves, they are liars."

"No! You're talking nonsense!" Carol completely lost control of her emotions. She roared, and the energy in her fists instantly exploded, two thick golden beams of light, like two heavy cannons, blasting towards Chu Hang.

However, Chu Hang simply stood still, without moving an inch.

He didn't even bother to lift his hand.

The two energy beams, powerful enough to melt a tank, froze in mid-air less than a meter from his body, as if they had struck an invisible wall. Then, to Carol's utter astonishment, the two violent energies, like tamed pets, obediently changed direction, tracing two graceful arcs, bypassing Chu Hang's body, and shooting into the distant sky, disappearing into the darkness.

“Look,” Chu Hang said with a hint of pity, “you can’t even control your own power. It doesn’t listen to you because it wasn’t ‘given’ to you by them in the first place, but something that was already in your body. They just put a lock on you, making you mistakenly believe that the lock is the source of your power.”

Carol was completely stunned. She looked at her empty fist, then at the man who was unharmed, not even a stitch of clothing was out of place, and the last line of defense in her mind began to crumble.

"What...what should I do?" Her voice trembled with tears, like that of a lost child.

Seeing her like this, Chu Hang knew that the time was almost right.

He softened his tone and said, “Remember. Try to remember. Don’t be afraid of the headaches, don’t resist the fragments of memory. They are not the enemy, they are part of yourself. The more you try to hide from them, the more chaotic they become. Try to accept them, try to piece them together.”

As he spoke, he reached out, and a faint but incredibly pure cosmic energy slowly flowed into Carol's body. This energy was non-aggressive; it was like a cool stream, gently soothing her inner energy, which was on the verge of going berserk due to emotional agitation.

Carol felt that her tearing headache had actually lessened considerably. She took a deep breath, and as Chu Hang had instructed, closed her eyes, no longer resisting the chaotic images in her mind.

She saw a helipad.

She saw a strangely shaped airplane.

She saw a Black woman wearing a flight jacket with a warm smile.

She saw a white woman wearing glasses who looked somewhat serious.

“Dr. Lawson…” A name slipped out of her mouth uncontrollably.

Then, another name emerged.

"Maria..."

“Very good.” Chu Hang’s voice rang in her ear, like a patient guide. “Who is Maria? Where is she?”

“She is…my friend. My…family.” Carol’s body began to tremble slightly as more fragments of memory flooded back. She saw herself and Maria singing karaoke in a small bar, saw them repairing planes together in the hangar, saw Maria’s lovely daughter…

“We are in…Louisiana.” She suddenly opened her eyes, which were no longer filled with confusion, but were illuminated by a new light called “hope.”

“I remember an address. A house near an air force base.”

She raised her head, her gaze fixed intently on Chu Hang. At this moment, most of the wariness and suspicion in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a complex emotion: dependence, gratitude, and a trace of trust that she herself hadn't even realized she possessed.

"Can you take me there?" she asked.

This was what he was waiting for.

“Of course,” he said. “This is the first step for you to get home.”

He didn't say anything more, but simply extended his hand again. This time, Carol didn't flinch, but hesitated for a moment before taking his hand.

The next second, the golden light shone again.

The two soared into the sky, leaving a dazzling golden trail above Salt Lake City, speeding southeast toward the home that held all her past.

Nearly an hour after they left, a dozen or so black Chevrolet Suburbans finally arrived. Nick Fury got out of the car, looked at the deserted salt flats with only two shallow pits, and his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Colson."

"Yes, sir."

"Connect me to the Pentagon, highest priority." Fury put on his sunglasses, his voice icy. "I need to request authorization to use... the space-based kinetic weapon system."

"Sir, that's just a theory..."

“Not anymore.” Fury interrupted him, glancing up at the empty starry sky. “We have guests. And more than one.”

Chapter 69 Talk to Me? Are You Worthy?

The Louisiana night was humid and muggy. The air was thick with the earthy smell of fresh rain and the stench of decaying, unidentified plants, sticking uncomfortably to the skin.

Chu Hang and Carol descended slowly from several thousand meters in the air, without making a sound or even stirring up a breeze. Their toes lightly touched a neatly trimmed lawn, like two leaves silently blown down by the night wind, making no noise whatsoever.

Before me stood a typical Southern-style detached log cabin. Two stories high, with a wraparound porch, its white paint appearing somewhat faded and worn in the cool moonlight, bearing the marks of time. On the lawn in front, an old Ford pickup truck sat crookedly, several empty beer bottles strewn in its bed. Next to it stood a basketball hoop, its net tattered and swaying gently in the night breeze.

Everything seemed so ordinary, so full of life, so out of place with the supersonic flight and energy resonance they had just experienced.

Carol stood there, motionless, staring intently at the house. Her body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from a deep, soul-stirring tremor.

She's been here before...

She didn't remember how she got here, or when she got here, but she just knew. Her brain was like an old projector with a faulty connection, flashing fragmented, silent black and white images wildly.

She saw herself wearing dirty overalls, sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, holding an ice-cold beer, chatting and laughing with a Black woman whose face she couldn't see, seemingly arguing about something.

She saw herself on this lawn, lifting a little girl with pigtails high above her head. The little girl's laughter seemed to transcend time and space, ringing in her ears like a string of clear silver bells.

She saw herself and the Black woman, half-lying on the hood of the old pickup truck, pointing at the starry sky, with a fearless and arrogant smile on their faces.

“Maria…” she uttered the name almost unconsciously from deep within her throat. Her eyes welled up with tears, and her vision began to blur.

Like a puppet pulled by invisible threads, she began to walk, step by step, toward the house that held all her past. Her fingertips gently traced the slightly peeling white railings of the porch, past the familiar rocking chair, and finally stopped in front of the old wooden door painted a deep green.

Chu Hang didn't follow, but stood quietly in the shadows of the lawn, like a statue. He knew this was Carol's moment, and any disturbance would be a desecration. All he needed to do was act as a competent, invisible bodyguard, ensuring that nothing foolish enough would ruin this hard-won reunion. His senses were already like an invisible net, covering an area of ​​several kilometers, and no movement could escape his surveillance.

Carol raised her hand, hovering it in mid-air. The door was so close, yet it felt so far away. She hesitated to knock.

For her, it was just a few missions in between, a few bizarre dreams, a fabricated memory forcibly implanted. But for the people in the house, it was a real two thousand one hundred and ninety days and nights. A person officially declared to have heroically sacrificed his life in a test flight accident suddenly appeared at her doorstep six years later, late one night. Would this bring surprise or terror? She dared not think about it.

Just as she was hesitating and struggling with her inner conflict, the lights in the room suddenly turned on with a "snap".

Immediately afterwards, the door hinges made a slight creaking sound, and the door opened a crack.

A tall, Black woman in a gray cotton bathrobe appeared in the doorway. She clutched an aluminum baseball bat tightly in her hand, watching warily the unfamiliar figure outside who cast a long shadow in the moonlight.

"Who are you? This is a private residence. Please leave immediately, or I will call the police!" Her voice was slightly hoarse from being woken up, but her tone was unusually firm, without the slightest fear.

Carol looked at that face, both familiar and unfamiliar, her lips moved, but no sound came out. It was her, it really was her. Time had left some faint marks on her face, a few fine lines at the corners of her eyes, but those eyes were still as bright and stubborn as she remembered, like two obsidian stones.

“Maria…” Carol finally managed to squeeze out the name from her throat, her voice hoarse as if sandpaper was being rubbed.

Maria Rambo, standing behind the door, froze abruptly. Her knuckles turned white from gripping the baseball bat so tightly. That voice… that name only used by the closest of kin…

She subconsciously squinted, scrutinizing the blonde woman before her in the dim light of the room. That face, and the face deepest in her memory, slowly but clearly overlapped with her own.

“Carol…” Maria’s voice trembled with disbelief, as if she were talking in her sleep, “No…this can’t be…you…you have already…”