A Supergirl from the Sky

As General Ross brought several military higher-ups into the super soldier program, Russell finally understood just how satisfying it was to spend taxpayer money.

The military gets funds from Congress, Congress gets funds from the Treasury Department, and the Treasury Department gets funds from the IRS. The money from taxpayers flows through this chain!

Aside from the enjoyment of spending taxpayer money, Russell also experienced another benefit of having military support.

All legal and procedural matters were resolved swiftly by these military higher-ups.

The progress of the experiment accelerated at an astonishing pace.

In less than three months, the laboratory produced the first batch of enhanced serums with relatively stable effects.

Although these serums couldn't enhance regular soldiers to the extent of creating a Hulk-like transformation, they weren't even as strong as what Blonsky had become.

However, the stability of the serum had significantly improved, eliminating the tendency for subjects to lose control after injection.

More importantly, the cost of producing such an enhancement serum was less than a million dollars when all the expenses were added up.

When the serum was successfully developed, Russell even questioned whether he had misread the costs.

After seeing these costs, he silently changed the initial number "1" to "5" and reported the new cost of the serum to General Ross and the other military higher-ups.

Developing this serum had taken months of hard work from Betty and Dr. Sterns, and even Hulk contributed a fair share of sweat and blood.

In these months, Hulk had been brought into the laboratory multiple times for blood tests.

Fortunately, Hulk was physically robust; otherwise, he might not have withstood the process.

After sending the cost and effects of the serum to several military higher-ups, including General Ross, Russell put on his battle armor and left the laboratory, which had already been designated as a military restricted area.

To prevent unnecessary interference and, more importantly, to ensure the confidentiality of the entire experiment, General Ross and the others had turned the laboratory into a military zone.

Apart from surrounding the laboratory with electric fences, there were many soldiers patrolling around the clock.

Since revealing his true identity, Russell had been using his Superhero Serum form less frequently to build his reputation outside.

Now, he appeared in public wearing his Endosymbiotic Battle Armor No. 1, with a low-profile helmet that revealed his true appearance and hair.

Although the Superhero Serum form was impressive and even had a bit of a couple's outfit feel with Spider-Woman, Russell intentionally reduced its appearances to better promote Octopus Monster Industries.

Even when he transformed into the Superhero Serum, people knew it was him.

Given this, he preferred to appear openly in his original form.

In addition to this, wearing the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor had another benefit: it subtly linked him to this battle armor's form, which was associated with Octopus Monster Industries.

He wanted people to associate this battle armor with him and Octopus Monster Industries, making the Tony Stark and Mark series armors serve as background for his appearances.

Wearing the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor, he first flew around the city, performing a few good deeds and upholding justice.

Then, he headed towards the Natural History Museum where Diana worked.

He had made plans to have dinner with Diana tonight.

Although it was only five in the afternoon, going there a bit early wouldn't hurt.

As he looked forward to the candlelit dinner with Diana tonight, the once clear sky suddenly filled with dark clouds, resembling the approach of a storm.

However, what truly captured Russell's attention wasn't the sudden darkening of the sky, but the alert from No. 3.

"Sir, abnormal energy concentration detected, please take evasive action!"

Abnormal energy?

Upon hearing No. 3's alert, Russell's focus shifted from tonight's candlelit dinner back to reality. He looked at the energy concentration point displayed on the helmet's screen.

The energy concentration point marked by No. 3 was directly above New York.

To be precise, it was directly above Stark Tower.

Did Tony invent something new?

Upon seeing the position marked by No. 3, Russell's initial reaction was that Tony had developed some new invention.

However, he quickly dismissed this assumption.

Because he saw red lightning that defied logic.

Roaring thunder!

Uncommon red lightning continually surged through the rolling black thunderclouds.

These strange red lightning bolts tore through the sky as if ripping through space and time.

What was even more bizarre was that these large and small red lightning bolts suddenly converged, forming an immensely massive bolt of lightning.

Subsequently, like laser beams descending from the heavens, it struck directly toward Stark Tower.

The enormous red lightning bolt struck the top of Stark Tower, shattering the roof and blasting through dozens of layers of glass walls.

Even the Stark emblem on the outer wall of the tower had two or three letters blasted away.

The eerie red lightning appeared suddenly and disappeared just as quickly.

In a matter of seconds, both the red lightning and the black thunderclouds vanished from the sky.

Flying in the air, Russell witnessed this highly unscientific anomaly.

Before he could make sense of what was happening, he saw a red figure fly out from the top of Stark Tower, wobbling and flying into the distance.

At first glance, he thought it was Tony in Mark III armor flying out.

However, in a moment, 3D holographic projection displayed the distant red figure on the helmet's screen.

This is...

As he recognized the slightly awkward flying posture of the figure in the distance, Russell couldn't help but take a sharp breath.

What was flying swiftly into the distance wasn't Tony in Mark III armor—it was a girl wearing a red cape.

To be precise, it was a girl with golden hair, wearing a blue midriff-baring top, a mini-skirt, and red knee-high boots.

What the hell!

This couldn't be real!

Russell immediately recognized the uniquely dressed golden-haired girl.

He couldn't possibly fail to recognize her, especially when the blue midriff-baring top had a symbol he knew all too well.

A diamond-shaped outline with a pattern resembling the letter "S."

This was the crest of the House of El from Krypton, the emblem of the Superman family.

If he failed to recognize the girl with this emblem, he'd be quite slow on the uptake.

Supergirl, Kara Zor-El!

Or, in simpler terms, Supergirl!

While there were several characters in the DC world referred to as Supergirl, Kara Zor-El was undoubtedly the most widely known.

After confirming that the girl flying wobbly into the distance was indeed Supergirl Kara Zor-El, Russell immediately told 3, "Contact Diana."

"Understood, sir!"

Without hesitation, No. 3 dialed Diana's number.

Within seconds, Diana's voice came through.

"I just saw strange red lightning and witnessed a superpowered individual."

Russell had intended to say that he had seen Supergirl Kara Zor-El.

However, just as he was about to speak, he suddenly realized an issue.

Diana didn't know Supergirl Kara Zor-El!

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