Honestly following the agreement, Mark no longer flew, and the two only fought on the ground. For someone whose speed was nearly three times that of the other, the battle naturally had no suspense.
No matter how great the strength, it's useless if you can't hit.
The ground of the canyon was uneven, as if it had been bombarded by cluster missiles. Mark, who had been knocked down multiple times, raised his hands in surrender and slumped to the ground, deflated.
"No more fighting, I give up, Cousin."
Anyone who is constantly beaten will lose interest in fighting.
The battle was over, but the system did not include Mark's panel. Russell frowned.
"Only recognizes a real defeat?
Doesn't recognize playful fighting?"
Forget it, he still had so many powerful templates that hadn't been solidified onto him, so he wasn't in a hurry to acquire the Mark template.
As for safety, the fastest man on this planet was him, no one could keep up, not even Omni-Man.
If it was just ground combat, even Mark, whose abilities were not yet proficient, was no match for him.
"The current Mark is not yet the blue-suited Mark who has gained 149% in strength, 65% in speed, and 70% in endurance after extensive combat experience and long-term training in the mid-stage."
Moreover, Russell thought of a question.
"Can one person's template be copied twice?"
If not, should he save the opportunity to copy the Mark template until after he becomes the blue-suited Mark?
He looked back at Mark, walked over to him, and called out.
"Get up."
"I said I'm not fighting anymore."
"This time is different, you can fly, I'll help you get familiar with your strength." Russell squatted down and flicked his forehead.
"Really, Cousin?" Mark sat up abruptly, his eyes shining.
"Of course it's real."
Perhaps due to Russell's presence, Mark had a cousin of the same age to go to school and grow up with, making him more cheerful than the Mark in the original anime.
However, the fact that his father, Omni-Man, who had always provided a safe haven for his family and even the Earth, was severely injured and fell into a coma by an unknown assailant, gave Mark a sense of urgency and responsibility.
He worked hard to follow in his father's footsteps, to become a true Superhero, to protect this home, and to protect the Earth.
Russell then accompanied Mark and trained with him until noon, helping him get familiar with his abilities.
After the two left to eat.
"Finally here, tourists, the beautiful Grand Canyon of Colorado!" A tour guide held up his phone to record his life, holding a small flag, and led a group of tourists to the rim of the Grand Canyon.
As he recited the landscape introduction he had said thousands of times, he turned his head with a smile, and his voice stopped abruptly.
"A natural wonder formed by millions of years of river erosion, every rock layer records the history of the Earth..."
The scene before them plunged the entire tour group into dead silence.
Some tourists looked at the beautiful and magnificent Grand Canyon of Colorado, created by the great power of nature, in the brochure, then looked up at the Grand Canyon before them, their faces blank.
The majestic canyon in the brochure now looked as if it had been severely ravaged by a giant's fist.
Dozens of rock pillars were broken in half, and the canyon walls were covered with terrifying cracks.
The ground of the canyon was covered with dazzling paths seemingly formed by high-temperature friction, the sand and rocks showing strange crystallization, reflecting a dazzling light in the sun.
The most chilling thing was the hundred-meter-diameter pit in the center of the canyon, which spiraled deep into the ground like a vortex, as if a giant hurricane had just raged here.
"How did the Grand Canyon become like this?"
Jack the tour guide was stunned, cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
"Could it be... some kind of special geological movement..."
A middle-aged man in the tour group suddenly took off his sunglasses, his eyes wide with disbelief.
He was a geological engineer who had come specifically to see the unique Grand Canyon of Colorado on Earth, and he knew better than anyone the terrifying energy required to cause damage of this magnitude.
"This is definitely not a geological movement..." Looking at the pitch-black deep hole large enough to fit an Eiffel Tower upside down, his voice was hoarse, "It's as if gods fought here."
A gust of hot wind blew through the canyon, carrying fine crystallized sand particles, sparkling in the sunlight.
The group of tourists gasped, truly feeling a sense of insignificance before this canyon whose terrain had been reshaped by terrifying power.
...
After Mark started flying freely, he still couldn't defeat Russell, Russell was too fast.
Similarly, Russell had no way of dealing with the flying Mark. During this time, he tried to unleash his full power to instantly create a giant hurricane to pull Mark down from the air and restrict his flight, but he still failed.
For the time being, neither of them could do anything to the other.
Inside the Global Defense Agency, watching the entire battle playback, Ciscel stroked his chin, his eyebrows raised as if by an invisible thread, small laugh lines blooming at the corners of his eyes, unable to help but reveal a joyful smile.
"Russell Hanson's ability is no less powerful than Mark Grayson's power from his Viltrumite bloodline," assistant Donald said in surprise.
"It's a pity that our Earth now only has one Russell Hanson, and as for the Viltrumites... we now have two on Earth."
At the mention of this, Ciscel's eyes narrowed slightly.
Frankly speaking, Omni-Man's performance on Earth over the years has been flawless. Even the Global Guardians were impressed by the power and character he displayed. Even when he attacked them, their first thought was that he was being affected by some kind of mental power.
But people like Ciscel rarely absolutely trust someone.
Especially the demise of the Global Guardians, as far as he knew, there was only one person on Earth with this ability.
With only one suspect capable of committing the crime, the case could basically be solved, but Ciscel did not dare to make a hasty decision, or rather, he did not dare to imagine that Omni-Man, who had the power to destroy the world, was indeed the murderer.
He had already hired a specialist to investigate the Global Guardians tragedy, hoping that it wasn't what he thought, otherwise...
"Russell has only had his abilities for a short time, maybe he can still grow?"
Donald cautiously tried to suggest a beautiful possibility, comforting the director.
"I hope so." Ciscel rubbed his temples, a headache coming on.
Now the two of them seemed evenly matched, each excelling in their own way, but Mark Grayson had Viltrumite blood, and he would definitely continue to grow stronger.
Hopefully Russell's ability wasn't at its peak the moment he awakened it.
...
"Stop looking at me like that, Mark."
Early the next morning, on the way to school, Russell was at an altitude of ten thousand meters, flying side by side with Mark, and glanced helplessly at Mark beside him.
"Cousin, do you feel like any new abilities are emerging?"
While flying, Mark kept glancing at Russell like a thief.
After visiting Omni-Man at the Global Defense Agency's internal hospital yesterday, Mark and Russell returned home and didn't stay there, after all, they were still in school.
When Mark woke up this morning, he saw Russell practicing flying outside the window.
He was shocked beyond words.
"Cousin, you... you can fly?"
After all, he had only avoided being defeated by his cousin yesterday because he could fly, and his advantage in this area hadn't lasted more than twelve hours.
This morning, his cousin Russell could fly.
Fortunately, Russell's next sentence made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"Found it when I woke up this morning.
My abilities seem to be able to switch between different modes.
Although I can fly and my strength has increased a lot, my speed in this state is far slower than before."
"I call the previous mode Speed Type, and the current state Air Type."