Mason analyzes the situation.

He felt that his most important task at the moment was to quickly save Superman's son from the swamp monster's Green Order, and if something happened to Xiao Qiao, it would be difficult to ensure that Dachao would not go crazy and go to the extreme after waking up.

In fact, after confirming that Black Adam and the stars would collude, Mason had to think about the worst-case scenario.

Perhaps the kidnapping was a sinister ploy from the start.

It would be best if the Justice League could be lured to take them out in the temple of the Egyptian gods, but if the direct ambush fails, then it would not be a backup plan to kill Xiao Qiao to stimulate Dachao.

Obviously, in the eyes of the bad guys, it is more important to win by any means than to protect children's rights.

But this plan is obviously not the work of Black Adam or the swamp monster, and the mastermind behind the kidnapping of Dachao has not yet fully surfaced, but he is obviously a very cerebral guy.

It's a fierce rival!

After talking to the old lady on the phone, Mason guessed the identity of the guy as he walked into the gloomy swamp created by the swamp monsters.

It was clear that some mysterious force had obscured the communications, preventing him from contacting Harley and Zha and Ivy, and a strange green mist hovered around the swamp, leaving him with the only eye and perception to discern what was nearby.

But that trick didn't work for Mason.

Because he has a "special weapon" in this muddy environment.

"Quack"

With a strange mud splash, Kevin, the puppet monster, jumped in front of Mason's eyes, turned around and changed into Harley's appearance, scratching his head and begging Mason for a hug.

As a result, he was driven away by His Excellency the Captain with a disgusted face.

"Where are they?"

Mason asked, and Kevin, who was covering his face "sad", stretched out his hands and pointed in two different directions, representing the two directions of Poison Ivy and Xiaozha in the swamp.

As a sludge, it simply loves swamps.

Just as Mason has near-infinite control over water sources when he is close to the ocean, the power and abilities of the divine power Kevin are greatly enhanced in the muddy swamps.

It has divided itself into several sections, operating in different swamp areas, acting as Mason's "living radar" to monitor what is happening throughout the swamp.

But the guy never learned to speak, or he preferred to use body language to express himself, which would have made Kevin more and more expressive to Mason what he had seen in the swamp.

"Ivy and Groot were chased around by the swamp monsters, and Zar and Hallie defeated the members of the Green Order on the other side but still didn't find the kidnapped Joe?"

Mason roughly understood what Kevin's "sign language" meant, so he frowned and asked:

"Where's Little Joe? He wouldn't have been sacrificed, would he? ”

"Quack"

Kevin shook his head vigorously and turned into Little Joe's appearance again.

It had seen a picture of Little Joe at Kent Farm, and it was not a perfect imitation, but as soon as he bent down in the mud, he grabbed a torn coat and handed it to Mason with both hands, and crept around in the mud with a gesture.

This time Mason understood, and he raised his eyebrows and said:

"So Little Joe escaped? It's really unusual, he should be just an ordinary child, right? ”

Kevin shook his head vigorously, his eyes widened and he gestured with a laser in both eyes, correcting to Mason that he had just seen Little Joe in the depths of the swamp using heat rays to attack the vines that were infested by the swamp monsters.

"He awakened the Kryptonian abilities under pressure?"

Mason nodded suddenly.

But then he reacted, looked at Kevin, and scolded:

"Did you see Little Joe just now? Why don't you bring him here? ”

He thought it was a soft mud monster playfulness.

But in fact, Kevin is also very aggrieved, he wants to bring Little Joe back to Mason to invite credit, but the problem is that the bear child will fly as soon as he awakens his power!

Before Kevin could get closer, the frightened Supercub took off and plunged deeper into the swamp, where two of its mud clones searched.

Hey, the bear kid is the most annoying, and I obviously want to say hello to him.

——

The perspective shifted to Little Joe's side.

This farm boy is running wild in the dark swamp in rags, he wanted to fly all the way out of this dark place, but on the one hand, his Kryptonian power has only just awakened, and the time is not working.

On the other hand, the terrain created by the swamp monster seems to have some kind of "forbidden air" power, and he can only fly to the treetops at most to be spotted by the surrounding vines.

Those monster plants that emit poisonous gas like snakes are difficult to deal with, and it is not for him to deal with a Kryptonian cub.

"It's too dangerous here."

Jonathan Kent was a little tired from running, so he hid by a large tree with his arms crossed and gasped.

Stained with mud, he looked around with a slight fear, vigilantly watching any wind and grass around him, and his senses would be strengthened as he concentrated his energy, so that this dark place could not blind his eyes, and even the conversation of the cultists a kilometer away could be heard by him.

"There are living plants, cultists shouting about the power of nature, and bewitched superheroes. And the mud monsters! That mud monster that can transform into anyone! ”

Little Joe thought so.

He remembered the strange lump of mud he had encountered on the road after he had managed to escape, and the latter seemed to want to talk to him, but it chose to turn into Superman, which made Little Joe very vigilant and immediately run away.

Dad told him that when you meet such a guy, you must use your brains to defeat the enemy!

But Daddy.

When he thought of Clark, Little Joe's heart suddenly tightened, he knew that his father was caught by that strange woman because of his own reasons, and he was brought here by those wizards who could teleport.

If it weren't for the fact that he had an awkward fight with his father last night and was still wandering outside at dinner, his father and son would not have suffered such a nightmare.

I don't know how my dad is now?

Although he is the most powerful person in the world, these cultists also look very strong.

Maybe I should save him?

Jonathan thought so.

He couldn't help but clench his fists, and he could feel the tremendous force coming from his arm.

This power had only been awakened before, just when the cultists were about to take themselves into the swamp to kill, the fear of death and the weight of emotions made him finally awaken the power of Krypton in his blood.

Thankfully, Aunt Kara had taught him some Kryptonian martial arts before, and of course it was just for fun, but with Little Joe's awakened power, even a playful dash and punch could still knock the weird cultist who fused with the trees to the ground.

"Whew, Whew"

The Kryptonian cub hid in his hiding place and took a deep breath, which was a method taught to him by his mother, who is a "journalist man", to get rid of the chaos and calm down.

He knew that the whole swamp was now full of bad guys looking for him, and he had to find a way to escape.

But this swamp is like a magical labyrinth.

The terrain was constantly changing, and Little Joe couldn't get out on his own, but soon he heard footsteps and the sound of battle in the other direction, which made him blink and rush over there.

"Burn! Burn them with fire! Ashley, Franklin threw up again! He's getting sicker, who's coming to see him, don't let him spit on me, what the hell! ”

Damian's roar echoed through the dim swamp, followed by a large explode of flames from Miss Ironheart's arm flamethrower.

The high heat ignited the cultists of the Green Church of Everything as soon as they came into contact with them, and the monsters, which had used disgusting methods to fuse flesh and plants, screamed and retreated, only to be quickly devoured by the mechanical ant colony that emerged from the mud.

"I still think it's a bad idea for us to rush in, Damian."

Jimmy Houtley stood on the perimeter, looked around vigilantly, and then turned back to Damian and shouted:

"Our task is to attract attention, and we did a good job, just waiting outside the capital of Kandak as originally planned instead of rushing into this place that looks terrible at first sight.

We're trapped, this ghost enemy is changing itself and can't find a way out. ”

"And Franklin needs help, you see what he looks like now."

The Wasteland Spider Maiden will be half-kneeling on the ground, and the ant king Franklin will be held in her arms.

The latter's face turned pale, especially after driving the ant colony to tear apart the attacking cultists, as if it had hit his brain, making him convulse like an asthma attack.

He kept saying that he was not feeling well before he left for the mission.

At the time, Damian thought that the cunning creature was trying to be lazy, but now it seemed that he was not lying, and his breathing rate and heartbeat were not very regular.

As captain, Damian felt the pressure again.

He also regretted a little that he had taken the lead, which had put his team members in danger.

Damian crouched down next to Franklin and grabbed the Ant King's wrist and injected a potion to heal his injuries, but the problem was that Franklin wasn't hurt at all, he just had a high fever and couldn't tell where his discomfort was coming from.

"Could it be some kind of mutation?"

Iron Heart, who had burned the remains of the cultist, returned to her companion's side, flicked off her visor and activated a biometric monitoring program and put it in the ant-king's hot ears, the feedback reading that made Morgan Stark look grim.

She said to Damien:

"The pressure in his skull is rising, and the white blood cells in his blood are rising, like the immune system fighting some kind of invading foreign body, but like an allergic reaction.

We must send him back to Osborne Tower at once. ”

"But you can't get out here."

Damian clenched his fists and said:

"The swamp monster has shaped this swamp with its own power, and we are equivalent to being trapped in its body, I have seen it in Batman's database, unless the body of the swamp monster is defeated, such a magical swamp cannot be broken with external force."

"Damian!"

Jimmy, who was on guard on the perimeter, suddenly shouted in the team's comms, and at the same time quietly reported a direction, and Damian quietly took out three batarangs from his arms, raised his head and made eye contact with Iron Heart.

Miss Morgan immediately turned on the protection process of the armor and nodded faintly to the captain.

In the next moment, Damian suddenly got up and slammed the batrang to his side, and then pulled out his kinetic pistol and fired a wave of fire suppression with Jimmy's wild charge.

Ironcore's armor folds and ejects a missile pod from behind to create a wave of explosions in the direction of the target, before watching as Damian and Jimmy rush into the swampy jungle on the left.

Seconds later, they dragged a messy guy out of the bushes.

"Wow"

The famous knife came out of its sheath, and the sharp blade pressed against the neck of the struggling little Joe, and Jimmy next to him grinned in pain, and the bone claw of his left hand was broken in the collision just now.

This hidden bastard's skin is so hard, it's as hard as steel!

"Who are you! What are you doing here? ”

Damian would have been in a hurry because of Franklin's strange illness, and he was merciless when he scolded him, and the chill emanating from his body made Jonathan, the farm boy, a little afraid.

But just now he saw these young men burn the cultists to death, and let him know that they were not in the same league as those villains, so he said:

"I was kidnapped by them, I have no malice!"

"Kidnapping?"

Damian was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted, and said in a strange tone:

"You're Jonathan Kent? The son of Dachao? ”

"Yes, I am."

Little Joe immediately answered, but Damian asked rhetorically:

"How do you prove you're Superman's son?"

"Whoosh"

Little Joe struggled to focus on his eyes, and then a short, but hot ray burst out of his eyes, igniting a nearby tree.

"Alright, identity confirmed, Jimmy, let him go."

Damian was a little surprised, but put his knife into the sheath anyway.

He didn't expect that he had actually rescued the owner by mistake, and Jimmy next to him touched his broken claw with some sadness, and glanced at the ignorant Xiao Qiao and his outrageous steel body beside him.

He secretly decided in his heart that after he went back, he would have to find Mason to arrange for him to be infused with Andeman alloy, and this feeling of not being able to break the defense was too bad for a man.

"We've found little Joe to retreat, his steel body can help."

Damian turned to Miss Ironheart and said:

"Morgan, you prepare fire support, let Little Joe fly up with Franklin on his shoulder, you give him fire support to knock down those vines, let him send Franklin out quickly and then call Mason's rescue."

"Look at Franklin!"

Ashley screamed suddenly, and she jumped from the spot with great agility as if she had encountered something fearful.

Everyone's eyes turned to Franklin, who was lying on the ground, and saw that the muddy ground around the wasteland ant king began to writhe strangely and shape into a steel creature that resembled an ant.

It swallowed Franklin whole, hissed at the people around it, and attacked.

"What the hell is this?"

Iron Heart fired three shots at it, and the latter's skin was not broken, so he could only keep retreating, but Damian pounced on it as soon as possible, but was quickly knocked headlong by the latter, and was quickly caught in his hand by Xiao Qiao's eyes.

Seeing that the Junior K Team was about to be wiped out by this strange thing, a few clumps of mud jumped next to it, turning into the appearance of Super and Batman, and pounced to stop the steel monster from wreaking havoc.

"There it is! Mud Monster! ”

Little Joe screamed and was about to alert everyone, but Damian shouted to the mud that was constantly being torn apart and reassembled as if he saw hope:

"Kevin! Fast! Call Mason. ”

"It's a good tactic to shout adults when you know you can't deal with them, and didn't I come? What to shout. ”

In the water transformation, Mason appeared behind Damian with a helpless tone, and glanced at the unharmed Little Joe before he was relieved.

But then when he looked at the big steel ant that had "swallowed" Franklin Richards, his expression immediately became strange.

As a mutant, Mason was familiar with the apparently out of control thing in front of him, not the ant itself that had been converted into steel with mud, but the power that caused the transformation of matter.

It is not surprising that this power that transcends reality and cannot be explained by any scientific theory is placed on mutants.

"Franklin Richards' X-Gene has awakened, and that's bad news."

Mason narrowed his eyes and said to the children around him:

"Stand back, this semi-awake mutant is the most dangerous, and they will indiscriminately attack anyone around them who makes them feel uncomfortable or threatening.

You can't handle that. ”

"Huh? Was Franklin still a mutant? ”

Damian was stunned when he heard this, and he said suspiciously:

"Didn't you check before? He's just an ordinary kid. ”

"All mutants are ordinary people when their X genes are not activated, but the devil knows what happens to them and they will suddenly explode, although I am also a mutant, but I don't know more about this thing than you do."

He complained.

Thinking that he had thought that Franklin Richards, who had been picked up from the wasteland, was an inferior version of "Gathering Powers", it turned out that this little bastard had now done a whole job for himself, and he actually began to awaken mutants quietly.

Maybe it's because he went to another world after joining Team K and felt the pressure of growing up?

Stress is also said to be necessary for the awakening of the X gene.

"Kevin, take these kids to Zha and Hallie, and let them go to Ivy to help deal with the swamp monsters."

Mason rolled up his sleeves to play himself, and gave another word to his ooze monster.

"Wait!"

Damian stretched out his hand to stop:

"I don't think the strength of the Junior K Team can compete with the swamp monsters, maybe you should send us out?"

"Trust me, Damian."

Mason pushed the frame of his glasses on the bridge of his nose and said to Damian and the young people:

"It's definitely safer for you to fight the swamp monsters now than if you continue to stay here."

While driving the children of the Junior K Team to safety, he intends to take matters into his own hands to suppress the rampant Franklin Richards.

But seeing the ant monster in front of him hissing at him made Mason feel a toothache.

If he remembered correctly, Franklin Richards was not only an omega-class mutant, but the most dangerous and powerful of all mutants.

His reality bending can even reach the all-power level, and he is nicknamed "The Universe Shaper", which is much more powerful than the mad Scarlet Witch.

Mason pulled out the magic jar of the zombie Scarlet Witch from his bosom, and said to the strange ant monster that Franklin had created to protect himself in a coma:

"I say, young man, you're a big guy who can call the invincible Uncle Swallow, and for my sake of bringing you back from the wasteland, if you really want to beat me up later, remember to do it."

(End of chapter)