American comics: Random transformations

When he left, everyone from the Gotham Orphanage came out to see him off.

… … … … … …

After leaving Gotham City, Tian Xiaoban sped away, recalling the location of the empty shell base he had dug out before. He was going to tidy it up!

In the DC world, whether good or bad, hero or villain, they all need a secret base. This place must be hidden and safe, only in such a place can they escape the turmoil of the world.

Allowing them to shed their worldly masks, be themselves, and relax, this kind of secret base can be called by an apt term—a cozy home.

Driven by the current at full speed, Tian Xiaoban found the place that would normally take half a day to reach in just half an hour.

The mud pile he had originally built was now covered with green weeds, looking very much like a grave.

The secret base, ‘Living Dead Tomb,’ lived up to its name.

Within a twenty-meter radius around the ‘Living Dead Tomb,’ there were no large trees providing cover. The trees had all been chopped down by MC Steve, leaving only bare branches of the original canopy.

After these days of natural recovery, many new saplings had sprouted on the ground, and weeds were growing wildly here, competing with the saplings for sunlight.

This area was a lush lawn, quite different from the primeval forest further away.

Tian Xiaoban walked to the entrance of the ‘Living Dead Tomb.’ Several small black shadows rushed into the cave, and seeing the rat droppings at the entrance, a bad feeling suddenly arose in his heart!

Why did it feel like a dungeon adventure!

As a precaution, Tian Xiaoban cast a reversal magic spell: “Water, appear!”

Ten meters away from the entrance, under the transformation of magical power, the grassy ground began to collapse, and a 3×3×3 small pool appeared in the mud.

“Then, transform!”

Boom!

A long-lost green light erupted!

“I’ve shrunk… Huh? I can talk? My hands have become scythes? My feet… these are mantis legs! I’ve turned into a mantis?”

The small, exquisite green body awkwardly took a few steps. It felt strange to walk on four legs, each leg had its own idea!

When it approached the water and saw its reflection, Tian Xiaoban finally knew who he had become!

Mantis!

One of the Furious Five from 《Kung Fu Panda》. Don't be fooled by its small size, it possesses amazing strength and speed.

Tian Xiaoban turned around to check himself, and found the Omnitrix symbol on the back of his head. He could undo the transformation whenever he wanted.

With no worries, Tian Xiaoban began to think about how to use this form.

“Damn it, I don't know Mantis Kung Fu, and Mantis's speed is its advantage, but… for me… could this become a disadvantage?”

It can't really become a disadvantage! Maybe next time I transform into an insect, the current learning experience can help with the next transformation.

Mantis walked stiffly and shakily on the lawn, trying to adapt to its new body as soon as possible!

At this time, I have to say, current drive is awesome!

While adapting to its body, it instinctively used current drive. Although the current was weak at first, Mantis was a martial arts genius, and within seconds, the current in its body gradually grew stronger!

Golden currents began to flow through Mantis's body, and the current brought more direct feedback from the body into its little brain.

Its movement speed became more and more like a mantis, and its four thin legs became more and more flexible in training!

It began to learn to jump, and its wings would instinctively open when jumping, acting as a glider, allowing it to move across all terrains, and quickly!

It turned into a golden-green lightning bolt, practicing its mantis arms in this lawn!

Current Drive, Musou Grass Cutting!

Wherever that figure passed, everything except the grass roots was cut into grass clippings.

“Wuhu~~~, what a soaring feeling!

Lightweight, immense strength, gliding! No wonder it's called Mantis! It's fast enough! Fierce enough! Strong enough!”

When it had fully adapted to this body, it rushed towards the ‘Living Dead Tomb’ with a serious face!

Now that there were rats, there would be snakes and wild cats that fed on them, who knows how many were hiding inside!

As soon as it entered, it saw dozens of rats in the corner of the tunnel, seemingly from the same nest.

Mantis ignored them. With a flash of lightning, it continued forward on the wall.

After circling around, it had a basic understanding of the 420-square-meter space.

A large group of rats, at least hundreds, dozens of pythons, and countless spiders and other insects.

“Tsk, good thing I wasn't stupid enough to rush in directly before, it would be a bit troublesome to drive them all out!”

Seeing so many, so dense insects, made Mantis feel a little nauseous.

Because there were too many, it was too small, if it had to drag them out one by one, how long would that take!

Just as it was in a daze, several large spiders were already crawling towards it.

“You’re asking for death!”

Mantis's twin blades flashed with lightning, and the spiders were completely cut to pieces!

The scythe-like forelimbs that could easily cut through metal, cutting these insects was a piece of cake.

However, looking at the tissue fluid remaining on the mantis scythes, Mantis muttered in disgust: “New and clean!”

Magic surged, and its twin blades became clean again, along with the spider webs around it being cleaned up by magic!

The sudden fresh air made its brain a little clearer: “Magic! Oh, my little brain must be overheated! I can use magic to get rid of them!”

Although there were no high-risk spells in the magic book left by Teacher Zatanna, the home magic was still very comprehensive!

Mantis frantically waved its scythes, engraving magic circles on all the walls!

Engrave a hexagram magic circle, with runes engraved inside the circle:

[Gale], [Flame], [Flash], [Clean], [Repair].

These five runes were engraved on all the walls, using interconnected magic arrays as leads.

After Quick Mantis ran out of the 'Tomb of the Living Dead,' it immediately activated all the runes inside!

Boom!

Whoosh——

After the flames burst out of the entrance of the 'Tomb of the Living Dead,' the stench of burning protein wafted out!

Immediately afterward, a ghostly howl of wind swept everything out of the 'Tomb of the Living Dead'!

Those charred corpses stuck in the corners were cleaned up completely under the effect of [Purification].

The [Restoration] rune restored the damaged areas inside the 'Tomb of the Living Dead'!

Quick Mantis slapped the back of its head and turned back into Ben Tennyson.

He strode into the 'Tomb of the Living Dead' and began to transform this secret base using Counterspell magic!

He activated [Flash], and the magic arrays on the walls lit up like fluorescent lights, illuminating this dark place.

[Gale] was also activated, allowing the air to circulate, making the environment suitable for habitation.

He walked out and cleaned up the remaining branches and twigs, transforming them into wooden beds, wooden chairs, and wooden benches with Transformation magic, and moved them all into the 'Tomb of the Living Dead.'

With a place to sleep at night settled, next was to set up some more troublesome runes.

Ben Tennyson pushed Electrical Propulsion to the limit, gathering all his strength into one finger, enduring the pain caused by the finger's overload.

He inscribed [Blaze], [Frost], [Teleportation], and [Illusory Hazard] at the entrance.

[Blaze] can heat the air in winter, commonly known as heating.

[Frost] can be used as air conditioning in the summer.

[Teleportation] is a means of escape and a safe location when going out!

[Illusory Hazard] is very simple, it confuses people's perception, making it impossible for them to get close to here.

(Ahem, these four magic arrays are common magic tricks that Zatanna uses, so her grimoire also contains super detailed records.)

Now, Ben Tennyson's secret base is basically complete, all that's missing is a source of magic that can keep these things running!

After all, he is going out, and it's impossible for him to supply magic to this base all the time.

So, time to sleep, everything will wait until tomorrow...

Chapter 36: Got a Problem, Ask the Teacher

The first thing in the morning was to call teacher Zatanna. When it comes to expertise, you still have to rely on those with a lineage.

"Hello~, is that teacher Zatanna? Good morning, I have a question I wanted to ask, do you have time?"

"Oh, Ben... um... what is it?"

Zatanna's voice was still a bit groggy, she probably wasn't fully awake yet.

"That, teacher Zatanna, are there any magic sources that can exist for a long time? I need to use a stable magic source to modify something!"

"Magic source... emmm~... let me think~ Angel feathers, the hearts of Hell demons, the weapons of ancient gods, inherited magic gems, various sealing artifacts..."

As she spoke, she fell asleep again.

Ben Tennyson: "Eh? Hello, teacher, are you still there? Hello?"

"ZZZZZZ..."

The sound of deep sleep continued, it seems she must have slept very late last night, after all, the sun is already high in the sky now.

Ben Tennyson hung up the phone speechlessly.

Recalling what Zatanna said, tsk, these things all seem quite difficult to obtain!

"Angel's feathers, this... seems like I need to find Constantine, because there's always an angel watching him; Demon's heart, it seems like I need to find Constantine for this too, there are demons wherever he goes; Ancient god's weapon... uh... am I going to find Wonder Woman Diana? I'd probably get chopped up.

As for gems containing magic power... this is possible, with the Black Card, I can afford to buy a gem, but the problem is where to find someone who sells gems?"

Ben Tennyson walked out of the base and came to the puddle from yesterday. Due to the gambling dog mentality, he wanted to see what he could transform into today.

Daily lottery start!

The Omnitrix dial popped up, Ben Tennyson slapped it to transform!

Boom!

"I! Am revived ~"

The huge dragon-shaped figure roared to the sky, and it instinctively shouted this sentence! It felt like it could increase its momentum.

Its appearance suddenly caused the magic power between heaven and earth to desperately drill into its body, making it suddenly feel full of power! With inexhaustible magic!

"Cough cough, what's going on? Eh? Why is my throat hoarse?! Good fellow, this is even hoarser than Batman's voice. Cough cough cough, and there's no phlegm stuck in my throat!"

It bent down and looked into the water pool. In the mirror image, there were blood-red eyes, a scale-covered face, a body with green and yellow skin, and purple shorts on its lower body. The Omnitrix was on its chest.

This character is easy to recognize.

"What the frick, I'm actually Shendu!!!!"

It scratched its head with its claw full of scales, and for a moment, sparks flew from the scales on its head!

"emmm... what can this guy do?"

Sensing Shendu's body, a lot of "switches" suddenly appeared in its mind!

Those were ability switches between instinct and active activation!

It pressed one with its mental power.

Buzz——

The huge scarlet eyes began to gather yellow light, and shot out lightning-like lasers in the next second!

It hurriedly closed its eyes, that one just now, blasted a tree thousands of meters away.

"Wow oh! This is the Ox Talisman! Electric eyes are forcing!"

Those ability switches are like cheat codes in single-player games, they need to be turned on and off using mental power, otherwise they won't activate, very rigid.

A huge body is ultimately inconvenient. Although Shendu's body is terribly strong, it's too big, making it seem troublesome in this small place.

"Monkey Talisman, possessing the ability to transform! I can turn myself back into a human first!"