Chapter 168: Debut Match

When Gu Chongyan appeared at the Baxter Building, it was in the midst of unprecedented chaos.

On the streets, explosions echoed endlessly as if the area had fallen into a war zone, while groups of terrified New York citizens screamed and wailed as they fled in all directions.

In the epicenter they were fleeing from, five extraordinary beings were engaged in a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering battle.

In front of the Baxter Building, a man wearing a dark green robe and a metallic mask was recklessly unleashing bolts of electrical current.

The man possessed silver skin with a metallic texture. As his cold fingers swept through the air, dazzling arcs of lightning blasted outward, directly sending the Thing—whose entire body was composed of indestructible stone—flying backward.

Mr. Fantastic stretched his body to the extreme, wrapping around the man like rubber in an attempt to restrain his movements.

The Invisible Woman also extended her hands forcefully, releasing an invisible force field to suppress the man and prevent him from moving.

The Human Torch was completely engulfed in flames, his hands rapidly forming massive fireballs that he hurled fiercely at the man, bathing him in a sea of fire.

What is going on here?

Seeing this scene, Gu Chongyan was slightly stunned before quickly realizing the truth: Doctor Doom, Victor von Doom? Is this the Fantastic Four's debut battle?

The plot from his memories surfaced in his mind one by one.

Doom had financed Mr. Fantastic's space project, but due to a sudden solar storm, the space station crashed, and the four individuals who faced the cosmic rays directly mutated, becoming the Fantastic Four.

Upon returning to Earth, with the space station destroyed and tens of billions in investments turned to nothing, Doom Industries—built through Doom's painstaking efforts—was declared bankrupt.

The blow to his career was already infuriating enough, not to mention that Susan, the woman he loved, had now gotten together with Mr. Fantastic.

Furthermore, during their time on the space station, the Fantastic Four were not the only ones affected by the cosmic rays; Doom had been there as well.

When the Fantastic Four were irradiated by the cosmic rays, Doom was inside the observation booth, which blocked a portion of the radiation. However, as the rays penetrated the metal, they absorbed some of the metal's properties and infused them into Doom along with the cosmic rays.

These properties left a few scars on Doom's face.

Although these scars were not severe and even added a certain rugged aura to Doom, Doom himself was a perfectionist who could not accept any blemishes on his face, prompting him to forge a metal mask to conceal his appearance.

The Fantastic Four were thrust into the public eye and became the new darlings of the media, while he lost his career, his love, and his appearance, becoming the biggest joke in financial history due to the space station's failure.

Old grievances and new hatreds combined, causing Doom to turn completely to the dark side. He believed that Mr. Fantastic was entirely responsible for all of this; if not for his miscalculations, the space station would not have been destroyed head-on by the solar storm, Doom Industries would not have gone bankrupt, and Susan would not have left him.

Discovering that he, too, possessed superpowers, he became obsessed with amplifying this power.

In the original plot, because the Thing desperately wanted to return to his original form, Mr. Fantastic designed a machine capable of simulating cosmic rays, only for Doom to hijack it and enhance his own powers.

In the end, through the combined efforts of the Fantastic Four, Doom was subdued, and this battle was hailed as the debut of the Fantastic Four.

However, because of Gu Chongyan's intervention, Mr. Fantastic had never continued his research, meaning Doom naturally had no machine to use to amplify his superpowers.

Yet right now, why did he appear even more powerful than he was in the original plot?

Under Gu Chongyan's puzzled gaze, Doom launched a frantic counterattack.

Facing the suppression of the three, Doom merely let out a roar, and dazzling arcs of electric light suddenly expanded outward like a flashing sun, sending Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch flying away in a crackle of energy.

"Reed! You took everything from me, and today, I will take it all back! Die!"

Amidst the roar, the silver electric current surging over Doom's body escalated once more. The terrifying electromagnetic force caused him to float in mid-air, his green cloak whipping violently in the gale. Between the crisscrossing bolts of lightning, half the block was illuminated as brightly as day.

A half-meter-wide silver-white lightning bolt blasted from his hands, lighting up the night sky of New York, connecting the heavens and the earth, and hurling toward Mr. Fantastic like a charging silver dragon.

Theoretically, Mr. Fantastic's rubbery body could immunize him against all physical attacks, including electrocution.

However, nothing in life is absolute. While the Mr. Fantastic of a later era might ignore the violent currents Doom was currently displaying, the current Mr. Fantastic certainly lacked that level of strength.

Fortunately, the Fantastic Four still had the Thing.

Seeing that the lightning was about to strike Mr. Fantastic, the Thing roared, crossed his arms, and leaped into the air, using his massive body to block the blinding flash of light.

With a thunderous explosion, the lightning descended from the high altitude like a wild, untamed dragon, radiating a dazzling, blinding white light and carrying awe-inspiring might as it struck the Thing directly.

Weighing hundreds of pounds, the Thing was knocked backward like a rubber ball by the terrifying current, flying nearly ten meters before crashing into Mr. Fantastic and finally coming to a halt.

"Reed! Ben! Are you alright?!" the Invisible Woman cried out with deep concern.

Then, as if remembering something, she spun around quickly and looked toward the Human Torch.

"Johnny, quick, use that move!"

"Got it!"

True siblings indeed; without needing the Invisible Woman to say more, the Human Torch knew precisely what she meant.

He clenched his fists tightly, and intense flames instantly engulfed his entire body as he shot forward, flying in a frantic circle around Doom. The raging fires converged into a massive column of fire, trapping Doom within its core.

Under the scorching heat, the flames on the Human Torch's body turned faintly white, and the surrounding air warped visibly from the extreme temperature.

Seeing this, the Invisible Woman took a deep breath, thrusting both hands toward the sky as an invisible force field was released, encasing the outer perimeter of the fire like an invisible chimney wrapping around the pillar of flame.

Utilizing the chimney effect, the already explosive fire grew even more terrifying. Had it not been contained by the invisible force field, the ambient temperature in New York would likely have spiked instantly to forty or even fifty degrees Celsius.

In the film, the Fantastic Four had used this exact tactic to successfully defeat Doom and claim victory.

However, the movie's plot had already been altered; the current Doom was not the Doom from the film, and a trick that worked in a movie did not guarantee success now.

As the temperature of the flames continued to soar, within the fiery furnace, Doom showed no signs of being defeated whatsoever.

From beneath the metal mask came his cold, chilling voice.

"Is this your ultimate trump card? Pathetic!"