American Comics: Trading Tom Cat

The risk is too great; those two test subjects might not be able to withstand Locke, who has undergone unknown enhancements.

Baron Strucker immediately returned to his room and began packing his things, especially the most important items. He packed quickly, finishing in just a few minutes, and then opened the door to leave.

However, after taking only a few steps, Baron Strucker retreated, raising his hands high, no longer caring about the prepared treasures.

Locke pressed a gun against the man's forehead, the cold muzzle making Baron Strucker feel utterly unsafe.

“My good friend, it’s a misunderstanding, believe me.” Baron Strucker forced a smile.

"bump!"

A bullet grazed Baron Strucker's forehead and entered the wall behind him, sending a chill from the soles of his feet straight to his head.

“I really want to forgive you, but, my good buddy, this gun has a different mind.”

Looking at Locke's enigmatic smile, Baron Strucker fell silent. This time, he was truly doomed.

"Sit down!" Locke gestured to the sofa next to him.

Baron Strucker's expression shifted; was he not going to kill him?

Locke sat casually on the other side, saying nothing, as if waiting for something.

Time passed slowly, and Baron Strucker grew increasingly uneasy; the unknown was always something to be wary of.

"Dong dong dong..."

A light knock sounded on the door.

"Enter!"

The door opened, and a stunningly beautiful woman walked in. In that instant, Baron Strucker's face turned deathly pale.

Because following behind that unnamed, stunningly beautiful woman was a guy who looked exactly like Baron Strucker.

However, at this moment, the man who looked almost exactly like Baron Strucker had empty eyes, as if he had completely lost consciousness.

Baron Strucker murmured, his face pale, "You actually... no, that's not right, you shouldn't know!"

"What's wrong with this? How can underground rats be open and aboveboard? Persecution complex is almost a common characteristic of you underground rats. So, creating a fake body, a substitute, to disguise yourself is not your usual practice."

Locke glanced at the imposter Baron Strucker, then casually picked up a bottle of wine—whose brand he didn't recognize but which looked very expensive—and began to taste it.

"Why do you think I attacked this base? To kill you? I have more than ten ways to send you to meet your God without you even knowing it. It's all to force that guy out."

The imposter Baron Strucker took a deep breath and surprisingly calmed down.

"Let's do it."

“The real Baron is already in your hands, and I, the imposter, have lost my value.”

"Kill you? Why would I kill you?"

The imposter Baron Strucker paused for a moment: "You're not going to kill me?"

"Make a deal."

"What deal?"

"You help me take complete control of this base. In exchange, you will become the second-in-command of this base, the real second-in-command, no longer someone's substitute, nor a sacrifice that can be made at any time."

The imposter Baron Strucker's expression shifted several times, and soon his breathing became uncontrollably hot.

He was already doomed to die, but now not only does he not have to die, he can even turn a false identity into a real one?

If given the choice, who would want to be someone else's stand-in?

As for having an extra boss above him, so what? He already had a real Baron Strucker above him; it's just a change of boss. Most importantly, the new Baron Strucker seems genuinely willing to delegate authority to him, which makes it even more appealing.

He took a deep breath: "I agree to the deal."

“Boss!” the imposter Baron Strucker bowed respectfully.

Locke nodded: "Then what are you waiting for? Go and stop this riot."

"Okay, boss."

Watching the intrigued imposter Baron Strucker leave the room and head towards the control room, the White Queen casually sat down next to Locke.

"You trust this guy that much?"

"Trust?" Locke scoffed.

"That kind of thing is meaningless."

"If he wants to live and stop being a fake substitute, he has no choice but to listen to me."

"As for whether you will have other ideas in the future, I remember that your mental power can modify memories."

The White Queen suddenly understood: "No wonder you've always told me to preserve my mental strength."

"If it's a temporary modification, I can complete it at any time. But if it's a permanent modification to a person's memory, it will take a little time."

"Then let's do it. Once we control that guy, this base will be pretty much in my hands."

The White Queen nodded and looked at the real Baron Strucker, whose eyes were vacant, and asked, "So, what should we do with this guy?"

“Extract his memories, then use them to find out the core high-ranking individuals who know there are two Barons Strucker, and then… kill them!”

"Kill all those who know the secret, and the secret will no longer be a secret."

The White Queen nodded, glancing at Locke out of the corner of her eye, a strange light flickering in her eyes.

The White Queen now understands all of Locke's operations. Attacking this base is just a pretense; the real Baron Strucker is to be forced out, and then, by taking advantage of the chaos, all the core high-ranking officials who know the truth will be eliminated. Finally, through the imposter Baron Strucker, the White Queen will completely take control of the base!

It's likely that even approaching her and Hellfire was just part of the plan.

The plan wasn't too complicated, but... Locke, this man in front of him!

They have strength, power, ambition, and most importantly, they're ruthless!

If a man like this can't succeed, then what kind of guy can?

Once this man has complete control of this obviously unusual base, he might actually be able to rescue her true form!

"Following such a guy doesn't seem so bad," the White Queen thought to herself.

Chapter Twelve: The Temptation of Immortality

In just a few days, the entire base returned to normal.

Deep within the base, Locke stood before a window, gazing down at the scene below. Control of the base was now completely in his hands.

Suddenly, a plump arm reached out from behind and encircled Locke's neck, and at the same time, a mesmerizing softness came from behind him.

"My boss, when are you going to rescue my true form?"

Locke turned around, letting the alluring White Queen cling to him. He reached out and gently stroked her hair. It had to be said that, thanks to her mental power, she was almost indistinguishable from a real person; the touch was nearly identical to that of a real person.

“Emma, ​​I won’t try to fool you with excuses like the situation at the base hasn’t been resolved yet.”

"But you also need to understand that saving you won't be so easy."

The White Queen's eyes showed a complicated expression. She understood, but she really didn't want to wait any longer. After all, if she waited even a minute longer, her true form might die.

A finger was used to seal the White Queen's red lips.

"Don't overthink it, listen to me first!"

The White Queen took a deep breath and nodded.

"Emma, ​​you may not be aware of your own strength."

The White Queen looked puzzled; how could she not know her own strength?

"According to the classification of mutants, you are at the level of a Level 4 mutant, second only to the legendary Omega level mutants."

The White Queen nodded. An Omega-level mutant has never truly appeared yet; they can only be considered to be at the level imagined by some advanced mutants. Some mutants with great potential can only be said to possess Omega-level potential, but none have actually been able to demonstrate it to date.

"In this world, there are currently only three publicly known Level 4 mutants: you, Magneto, and Professor X. I know some more secretive information and some hidden powerful mutants, but even so, the number of Level 4 mutants would not exceed two hands."

"If we also include other exceptional individuals such as mages and demons, Emma, ​​your strength is enough to rank you in the top twenty."

The White Queen frowned. She felt that the ranking was a bit too low. Of course, she didn't explicitly refute anything, since that wasn't the most important thing.

"so what?"

Locke gazed into the distance: "The ability to easily defeat one of the top twenty strongest people in your world, even with the help of his understanding and restraint of mutants, is definitely not to be underestimated."

"Don't be fooled by how easily we destroyed this base. It was only because it happened so suddenly. If that baron had had enough time to prepare, we would have faced a threat of dozens, or even hundreds of times more force."

"And this is only the power that cannot be made public. If I'm not mistaken, the force that attacked you is most likely a military force."

"To defeat a military force that can take you down head-on, you'll need at the very least two strong individuals of your caliber, as well as the assistance of some other strong individuals. Otherwise, the chances of success are extremely slim."

The White Queen fell silent. Locke's words were not an exaggeration at all.

However, Magneto would definitely not intervene against two powerful figures comparable to the White Queen, and Professor X would most likely not intervene either, as that good-natured man is very wary of violating taboos. As for the others, according to Locke, there seem to be some other experts of her level, but it would definitely not be so easy to invite them. It would be difficult to invite even one, let alone two.

For a moment, the White Queen even felt a sense of despair.

Seeing the increasingly silent White Queen, Locke gently pinched her chin.

"Emma, ​​there's no need to be so disappointed. That's not the only way."

The White Queen immediately raised her head and stared intently at Locke.

Locke smiled slightly: "You know, the country we live in is very strange. Even the president of a country is not the absolute ruler of this country. It's also very interesting because in this country, as long as you have enough capital, you can be almost omnipotent."

"The military? So what if they're the military? As long as you accumulate enough capital and power, even military giants will have to bow down!"

The White Queen pondered for a moment: "So, what should we do?"

"Do we need to leverage the network of contacts at this base?"

"No, no, no..." Locke shook his head.

"So, what are you going to do?"

Locke did not answer directly. In fact, according to Locke's original idea, the first step was to take over this branch of Hydra, then continue to develop Hydra, and finally become the king of the underworld.

Locke doesn't have any clear likes or dislikes towards Hydra or S.H.I.E.L.D.; to him, there's not much difference between the two.

But now, his thinking has changed. Hydra can be used, but its reputation is not good. If there are no other options, that's fine, but if there are options, using Hydra as a backup is not a bad choice.

As for better options...

"Emma, ​​rebuild Hellfire!"

"Back then, Black King Xiao was, in some respects, a genius."

"But he failed, didn't he?" The White Queen did not explicitly refute this, but there was some worry in her voice.

"No, no, no, the Hellfire organization is fine. Black King Shaw failed in two ways."

"First, his vision is too narrow, limiting his attention to the mutant circle. You should know that the strong in this world are never just mutants, but also mages, demons, ancient witches, aliens, and even some genius scientists who can rival gods with mortal bodies."

"Broaden our horizons, establish some truly grand clubs of the strong, gather all kinds of powerful individuals, and then supplement them with conglomerates, the military, high-ranking officials in the political arena, etc. At that time, Hellfire will be the uncrowned king of this world!"

"At that time, with just a word from me, the head of the guy who took your body will appear where it's supposed to be, like the toilet~"

An unprecedented gleam appeared in the White Queen's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.

“My dear, your idea is perfect, but it’s also hard to succeed. Just like why those powerful entities joined us, and those tycoons and the military, they can cooperate when there are benefits, but once the benefits are gone…” A cold glint flashed in the White Queen’s eyes.

Hellfire wasn't without some friendly military allies back then, but once the Black King died and she was captured, all of them quickly disappeared without a trace.

Locke smiled and said, “That is the second point I wanted to make. Shaw’s idea is not wrong, but he lacks something. He lacks a foundation and something unique enough to tempt those powerful people and tycoons and make them crazy.”

The White Queen frowned and pondered for a moment before looking up and asking, "For example?"

"For example... immortality!"

Chapter Thirteen: Who gave you permission to treat my cat like this?

Outside a brightly lit room, two figures stood side by side, gazing at the scene inside. Inside was a woman, a stunningly beautiful woman with an extremely hot figure—Wanda.

Wanda was curled up, her brows furrowing from time to time, clearly indicating that even in her sleep, she was not in good condition.

The White Queen looked at Wanda in the transparent room, her expression grave: "This little girl, the power within her is terrifying!"

Locke smiled and nodded. That was chaotic magic, one of the three great forces of the universe, far more than just terrifying.

"Of course, she is the top combatant I'm looking forward to in the future Hellfire Club."