Chapter 828: The Base Strikes Back

Bonnie armor’s electronic-warfare capabilities still had room for improvement. Inside the military base buried beneath thick layers of concrete, the short-range radio transmissions from the soldiers’ walkie-talkies could not be completely jammed by Bonnie armor outside.

Perhaps their communication range had been reduced and the static had become quite heavy, but the soldiers’ radios could still be used to some extent. They simply could no longer communicate smoothly from every corner of the base as they had before.

The most reliable means of communication was still the internal telephone system, so communications had not been completely severed.

So far, no one had died at the hands of the intruder. But plenty had been knocked unconscious, while most of those who remained conscious had lost the ability to move freely.

They had no time to determine whether the unconscious soldiers were dead or alive. Aside from helping themselves, the first thing they did was report news of the intruder up the chain of command and request reinforcements.

Thus, information about a humanoid robot with a pig’s head and a pair of enormous tusks soon reached the base’s higher-ups, including Colonel William Stryker, the commanding officer.

The soldiers reporting the situation couldn’t determine whether their opponent was entirely mechanical or not. However, the obvious signs of machinery in the intruder’s movements led the base personnel to rule out the possibility that it was a mutant.

Firearms were ineffective. Neither rifle grenades nor hand grenades worked.

And inside an underground base, the U.S. military naturally didn’t dare use more powerful weapons. Someone had gone to retrieve a flamethrower, but it would take some time to bring it over.

Upon receiving the report, William Stryker immediately dispatched the strongest team under his command—the group of mind-controlled mutants led by Lady Deathstrike.

His order was simple: kill the intruder.

Meanwhile, William Stryker also ordered Number 143 and Professor X to be taken to the chamber housing the unfinished brainwave amplifier.

The components dismantled from the X-Men’s base were being assembled onto this specially designed brainwave amplifier by engineers working overtime. According to the original estimate, it would not be completed until sometime tomorrow afternoon.

But now, it seemed that every part of the plan would have to be brought forward.

William Stryker felt that he needed to push those engineers harder. If the base couldn’t be held, then at the very least, his objective had to be completed. Once that happened, whether the base survived or not would no longer matter.

Wild Boar armor, charging through the base, naturally had no way of knowing what William Stryker was thinking. But the mutant team that appeared in front of him certainly hadn’t come to chat over tea.

Lady Deathstrike took the lead, apparently serving as the team’s tank. The other mutants were spread out, some in front and some behind. This prevented them from standing too close together and all being caught if Wild Boar closed in on them. At the same time, their formation subtly created an encirclement, preparing to trap Wild Boar armor.

Looking at the metal claws extending from Lady Deathstrike’s ten fingertips, Wild Boar glanced at the kukri in his hand and decisively returned it to the storage compartment on his thigh.

He wasn’t interested in finding out, for the time being, how Isu energy technology would fare against adamantium claws.

If he spent too much time “playing” here and let Stryker and his son escape, he had no idea when he would get another chance.

Those two father and son were still his top priority.

Of course, mind-controlled Lady Deathstrike had no knightly or samurai code to speak of. Her opponent putting away his weapon was no reason for her to show mercy.

The Japanese-American mutant, now dressed in a leather outfit suited for combat, flourished her claws and charged at Wild Boar armor!

The other mutants also seemed to have trained together and knew how to coordinate their attacks. Some carried guns, while others formed plasma balls with their bare hands, all charging in at once.

Strictly speaking, there weren’t many mutants who fought using only their innate abilities. Most still relied primarily on firearms combined with their mutant powers.

It was much like the experience Wild Boar’s wearer had gained when he joined the Marine Corps in the illusionary world.

Wild Boar naturally recorded any mutants who clearly demonstrated their abilities. But most of his attention remained focused on Lady Deathstrike.

If he allowed her to tear open the armor and expose the wearer’s appearance, it would undoubtedly be a complete failure.

Fortunately, although this highly valued mutant possessed both formidable offense and defense, her agility was only somewhat greater than Wolverine’s.

To Wild Boar’s wearer, who possessed the ability to enter the realm of extreme speed, Lady Deathstrike was practically slower than a turtle.

Unlike purely mechanical suits such as Green Arrow Duck and Minotaur, whose powered-assist systems rigidly controlled the upper and lower limits of the wearer’s output, Wild Boar armor did not impose such restrictions.

If a purely mechanical suit lost power while its wearer was an ordinary person, the wearer might not even be able to perform something as simple as raising an arm.

Wild Boar armor, which was primarily based on Isu technology, was closer in design to a flexible metal armor. It did not use an auxiliary system to rigidly control the wearer’s movements. Instead, it used energy technology resembling magic to enhance the wearer’s strength, allowing the wearer to move more freely.

As for the wearer himself, when he had previously entertained Spider-Man with the Hulk treatment, he had directly broken the powered-assist system shared by Aetos armor through his own use.

So he had simply removed all the powered-assist systems from Wild Boar armor and relied on his own physical strength.

There was still an upper limit. If he exerted too much force, he might end up tearing his clothes apart and exposing his backside. But the armor’s output ceiling was still far higher than that of purely mechanical suits like Green Arrow Duck.

This modification had been made specifically to deal with Lady Deathstrike.

So Wild Boar watched coldly as Lady Deathstrike performed her elaborate maneuvers. He even saw the corners of the mutant’s mouth curl upward.

Perhaps she thought she could confuse her enemy and attack from an unexpected angle.

But what truly caught everyone off guard was that, while Wild Boar ducked beneath her claws, he reached out and grabbed Lady Deathstrike by the ankle.

Sure, he didn’t have a blunt weapon capable of breaking through an adamantium skull.

But the Earth was still here!

The Japanese-American beauty whose ankle had been seized wasn’t about to experience some exciting romantic technique.

The man holding her was more like a completely clueless steel-hardheaded straight man who had no appreciation whatsoever for beauty. He simply swung her around like a discarded sack, smashing her into the floor on the left and right!

After smashing her back and forth, the treatment should have continued as it had with Spider-Man, by throwing her horizontally away.

But this time, Wild Boar didn’t let go. Instead, he used Lady Deathstrike as a flail and swung her directly into a plasma ball fired toward him.

Her metal skeleton made her an excellent conductor. The plasma ball shattered on impact, and powerful electrical currents coursed through Lady Deathstrike’s entire body.

Unfortunately, the residual effects of such an attack were insignificant to Wild Boar armor, which had been designed with lightning protection. He didn’t even release the “weapon” in his hands, continuing to swing the human flail as he launched attacks against the other mutants.

With her ankle in his grasp and her body being swung around by terrifying force, both of Lady Deathstrike’s arms were thrown uncontrollably to the front.

Her adamantium claws were like blades, slicing through everything they came into contact with.

As the saying went, an extra inch of reach meant an extra inch of strength.

Faced with this “long weapon” standing over five feet nine inches tall, quite a few mutants were left with their flesh torn open by the adamantium claws.

One unlucky bastard even had his entire abdomen ripped open, his intestines spilling across the floor.

Lady Deathstrike wasn’t unwilling to fight back. But after that first round of brutal smashing, her brain had already been shaken into mush.

Even with her powerful healing factor, injuries of this magnitude would require several minutes to recover from.

But Wild Boar wasn’t about to give her that opportunity.

Every attack not only injured the other mutants but also damaged the “weapon” in his hands.

It was true that Lady Deathstrike’s skeleton was made of adamantium.

But her tendons and ligaments weren’t.

Her entire body had long since become little more than a disassembled wreck, with severe dislocations everywhere, held together by nothing but flesh.

She couldn’t die.

And at this point, even the desire to die was a luxury.