Skye and the others were completely taken aback by Qi Jun’s sudden decisions, but in the end, they complied and accepted the roles he had assigned to them.
Skye officially took over as the CEO of Qi Jun’s corporation, with Harry Henriks and the former leadership team assisting her transition. They began the process of handing over responsibilities and helping Skye grow into her new role as a competent CEO.
Bruce Banner split his time between two places: half the time, he traveled to Venus using a stabilized portal that Qi Jun created, where he trained in fire magic. The rest of his time, he worked in the company’s research division as Chief Scientist, following Qi Jun’s instructions. He also started building connections with renowned scientists like Reed Richards, Victor von Doom, and Dr. Curt Connors.
As for Hulk, Emil Blonsky, and Samuel Sterns, they were brought to the Venus Space Station by Qi Jun. After treating Hulk to a mountain of delicious super fruits, Qi Jun didn’t need to worry about him anymore. Meanwhile, Blonsky and Sterns received injections of a modified Hulk serum—created by Qi Jun through the use of his mutation stone and enhanced by his dark soul magic.
Blonsky successfully evolved into the Abomination but gained the ability to control his transformations at will. Furthermore, his transformed state was not as monstrous or hideous as before. Samuel Sterns, on the other hand, evolved into the Leader, although his appearance was not as grotesque as the version in the comics. His intelligence didn’t reach the insane levels depicted in those stories, but his IQ still increased to five hundred times that of an ordinary human, making him a towering intellect.
Qi Jun even used a modified scouter from Dragon Ball to measure Sterns’ capabilities. Now that his head was no longer grotesquely large, Sterns had to be renamed Blue Doctor. His physical attributes, although not as strong as Blonsky’s, were second only to the Abomination. The energy that would have been used to grow his head was instead redistributed to strengthen his body.
However, even with all these enhancements, Hulk remained the strongest of the three. After all, Hulk’s power increases exponentially with his anger—making him nearly unbeatable.
Just as Qi Jun was settling into the Venus Space Station, preparing to relax while studying the technological knowledge from Cthon’s Notes and harnessing solar energy to assist Blue Doctor in developing a spaceship, Taibai interrupted his plans.
“There’s someone on Earth looking to buy information from the corporation,” Taibai notified Qi Jun.
Qi Jun teleported back to his office on Earth, puzzled. “It’s not Nick Fury?”
“No,” Taibai replied. “Nick Fury hasn’t made contact. But another senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Brock Rumlow, has reached out in private. He claims to represent another faction and wishes to purchase information.”
“Oh?” Qi Jun’s eyebrows rose. “Interesting. Where is he?”
“He’s waiting in Room Three of the corporation.”
“Send him up.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once the receptionist had escorted Brock Rumlow to the top floor and left, Rumlow suddenly stood at attention, bowing respectfully. “Greetings, Your Majesty, Emperor Qi Jun!”
Qi Jun’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Well, that title spread quickly.”
He wasn’t buying it. There was no way Nick Fury would have spread the word about him, nor would his name have been recorded in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files. This confirmed what Qi Jun suspected: HYDRA had indeed infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. all along. Nick Fury hadn’t even detected it. HYDRA’s tactics were subtle but highly effective.
“Your name strikes fear across the globe, Emperor Qi Jun. We all hold you in great esteem,” Rumlow said with an exaggerated display of reverence, obviously well-briefed on his approach. Qi Jun, unimpressed, merely shook his head at the over-the-top formality.
Rumlow, known as Crossbones, showing such deference to someone like Qi Jun was out of character. It was a testament to HYDRA’s brainwashing capabilities. Still, Qi Jun wondered why Rumlow had been sent instead of Sitwell—Sitwell had always been the more personable operative.
“Your Majesty,” Rumlow continued earnestly, “I’ve come on behalf of our organization to purchase critical information from you.”
Rumlow lifted his head and, with a serious expression, said, “But before we proceed, I ask that you confirm my true identity.”
“Oh?” Qi Jun was intrigued. If Rumlow couldn’t verify his real identity, he’d probably leave immediately—or worse, try to cover his tracks by eliminating himself.
Without saying a word, Qi Jun conjured a coin and casually tossed it to Rumlow.
Rumlow caught it and immediately tensed as his pupils shrank in shock. The coin had two distinct sides: one bore the swastika emblem of the Nazis, while the other displayed a symbol of HYDRA—a nine-headed octopus.
It was an authentic HYDRA coin from World War II.
Rumlow stood up straight and, with a much more formal tone, saluted Qi Jun as one would a supreme leader. Clearly, Rumlow now knew that Qi Jun was aware of HYDRA’s secrets.
“Your Majesty,” Rumlow began again, “Our organization has entrusted me to purchase a specific piece of intelligence from you. We wish to know how to smoothly and efficiently replace S.H.I.E.L.D. and establish ourselves as the new power.”
Qi Jun raised an eyebrow.
Rumlow then opened two large briefcases and presented them to Qi Jun. The contents made Qi Jun inhale sharply.
Inside were two cases filled to the brim with miniature first-generation arc reactors—technology that had been developed by Tony Stark.
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