After breaching the firewall in the computer, Ximu Chenggong accessed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database and learned everything.
Understanding it all, Ximu's face was about to crack from smiling. The symbiote Voracious, when bonded with its host, could greatly enhance the host's speed, strength, and neural reaction time, aid in combat, and transform into weapons. Its drawback was that the symbiote's operation required a large amount of energy. When the host's energy was depleted, the symbiote would draw from the host's energy. Conversely, when the symbiote had excess energy, it would feed the surplus back to the host.
Experiments proved that electricity, thermal energy, and organic matter could all be absorbed by the symbiote as energy reserves.
What else was there to think about? This was tailor-made for him.
To be honest, if Ximu were to envy any other demon's abilities, it wouldn't be the Holy Lord's fire manipulation, nor Pasha's ability to merge with seawater and create countless clones, nor Zhou Lan's gravity, Xiaofeng's hurricane, or Zhong Su's lightning. What Ximu envied most was Bogan's ability.
Some might find it strange, what ability did Bogan have? Wasn't he just big and able to eat?
That's right, he could eat.
As the demon of the mountain, Bogan could eat anything and convert it into his own energy. If given enough time and allowed to eat without restraint, Bogan could even swallow an entire planet. This meant that as long as there was enough food, Bogan was a terrifying existence with no upper limit to his power.
Even in hell, Bogan could replenish his energy by devouring the floating stones. If all demons were locked in hell, Bogan would be the one to last until the end.
However, his slow-witted brain and gluttonous nature greatly hampered Bogan's overall strength.
This symbiote Voracious before him, wasn't it just a weakened version of Bogan?
As long as he obtained it, he could recover to his peak state in no time by consuming large amounts of food.
Impatient, Ximu flapped his wings, the resulting hurricane fiercely rubbing against the ice surface, causing the large ice block to melt at a visible rate.
Once the solid ice completely melted, Diana, who was inside, collapsed on the ground. By then, she had been so depleted of power by Voracious's absorption that little remained.
Under the influence of the cold, Voracious had been in a dormant state. Now, awakened from dormancy and lacking energy, it immediately became agitated.
Watching the black viscous substance surge on Diana's body, Ximu slowly approached, spreading his arms and saying, "Come, come to me."
As if summoned by Ximu, or perhaps sensing the immense energy within him, Voracious, which was inhabiting Diana, immediately became restless. Without delay, it detached from Diana's body and, like a child rushing into its mother's arms, plunged into Ximu's embrace.
After entering Ximu's body, Voracious behaved like a sponge thrown into the ocean, frantically absorbing energy from within Ximu. Ximu did not resist, instead allowing it to absorb his energy.
After all, Ximu was a demon, and his body contained a vast amount of energy. He could let Voracious absorb it all without any issue.
Soon, Voracious's absorption speed began to decrease. After a while, Voracious was full and completely stopped absorbing Ximu's energy.
"Alright, let me see your power."
As Ximu's voice fell, a stream of black, viscous liquid enveloped his entire body. Then, numerous terrifying tentacles shot out from the viscous substance. These tentacles grabbed onto the surrounding metallic instruments, gradually engulfing and absorbing them.
Once all the metal in the laboratory was absorbed, the viscous liquid began to solidify, exhibiting a metallic sheen.
At this point, the viscous liquid that enveloped Ximu had solidified into a suit of black metallic armor.
Did you think that was all?
Voracious, now sated, was eager to display its power. Ximu's symbiote at his hands began to change. His left hand transformed into a massive battle axe, while his right hand materialized a dark cannon barrel. The symbiote on his shoulders coalesced into two rocket launchers, and behind Ximu, thrusters formed from the condensed symbiote appeared.
After this display, Ximu looked less like a demon and more like a mechanical Gundam armed to the teeth.
Looking at his transformation, Ximu nodded with satisfaction. It was truly a masterpiece after he had fed it so much energy. Physical enhancement, close-range and long-range combat capabilities, all equipped at once.
Ximu was happy, but he didn't know that Bai Qi was even happier.
Let's return to the present.
The Sky Carrier was attacked, and Diana's symbiote was stolen. The remaining Diana was naturally no longer of research value. Nick Fury, upon his return, was angry but helpless. Cleaning up was the only option. As for Diana, after receiving medical attention from S.H.I.E.L.D., she quickly woke up and left on her own.
Looking at Diana, who was still a bit weak but comforting him, John gave a wry smile and shook his head, saying, "I'm fine."
As time ticked by, not just John, but the others also gradually lost their patience. They exchanged glances. Although no words were spoken, they all understood the implicit question: should they go in directly or continue waiting?
Fortunately, just as they were about to make a decision, the palace gates opened. Rem, dressed in a maid's uniform, emerged. She bowed slightly to them and said, "His Majesty has agreed to receive you. Please follow me."
With that, she turned and walked away, regardless of the Justice League's reaction.
The Justice League exchanged glances and chose to follow.
Led by Rem, they soon arrived at a side hall.
The moment the doors of the side hall opened, all members of the Justice League were stunned by the opulent scene before them. Even Batman, who always maintained a stern expression, showed a hint of shock.
Indeed, compared to a great demon like the Holy Lord with millennia of history, the Wayne family's wealth was insignificant. Although this was called a side hall relative to the main hall, in terms of sheer luxury, this side hall far surpassed the imperial palaces of all human history.
While Rem didn't particularly like these impolite outsiders, she still maintained the proper courtesies, lest it appear as a lack of decorum.
After preparing exquisite refreshments for them, Rem bowed slightly and said, "Please wait here. His Majesty will be here shortly."
"Wait again?"
Hearing that they had to wait, everyone became restless. After all, they had already waited outside for a considerable time. It wasn't that they lacked patience, but with the recent Xena-gon incident having just passed and countries newly stabilized, many places required the Justice League's attention. They didn't have much time to spare here.
John looked at his companions and said, "Why don't I wait here, and you guys go back first?"