During the experiment, an inmate named Billy Bob, who held a grudge against Carl, broke into the lab intending to harm him. By sheer accident, he accelerated the chemicals already in Carl's body, causing all of Carl's cells to mutate. His strength skyrocketed, and he gained bulletproof skin.
After that, Carl used this power to break out of prison. After returning to New York, he decided to use his power to uphold justice while also making money. So he changed his name to Luke Cage and accepted paid jobs to fight crime.
Of course, once Zod set his sights on him, Luke Cage probably wouldn't get to play hero.
Luke Cage's muscle tissue and bone density were enhanced, giving him tremendous strength. He could lift roughly 2525 tons (after further enhancement, he could lift 5050 tons or more). He could punch through a 44-inch-thick steel plate.
Don't look down on him just because he wasn't as strong as little Spidey. Spider-Man was a superhero among superheroes. Out of New York's six thousand plus superheroes, Spider-Man could easily rank in at least the top one hundred. So Luke Cage was already very impressive.
His skin was tough (medical laser scalpels could cut it open). He could withstand the impact of a 11-ton object, endure attacks from blades and daggers, even tank close-range shots from regular handguns and an explosion of 150150 pounds of TNT. He also had a regeneration rate three times faster than an ordinary person.
Hell's Kitchen!
A place with a reputation so bad it was practically a cliché. Poverty and violence were its calling cards. If Manhattan land weren't so valuable, the U.S. government wouldn't even bother managing it.
Life was hard, so people could only find humor in misery.
People who lived in Hell's Kitchen had a few basic traits: they were bold, broke, and loved causing trouble. So even with terrible public security, they still dared to wander outside at night.
Luke Cage had originally been a street thug. As he grew older and lost family, he turned over a new leaf and decided to live properly, and then…
He went to prison.
In prison, Luke Cage hit the turning point of his life. To get out sooner, he volunteered for a super-soldier enhancement experiment. By a twist of fate, he gained bulletproof skin and greatly increased strength.
He used that power to escape prison, took a new name, settled in Hell's Kitchen, and planned to fight crime while also working hard to make money…
But who could tell him what was happening right now?
Looking at the terrifying monsters surrounding him on all sides, Luke Cage almost thought he'd wandered into another world.
"Four Beast Soldiers should be able to take him down, right?" Zod said, looking forward to it.
Blonsky stood straight beside him. As for Luke Cage, Blonsky treated him like air. Even if Zod said they'd probably modify Luke Cage after capturing him, Blonsky didn't care.
After all, he was Super Abomination now.
What Zod didn't expect was that Luke Cage took down four Beast Soldiers.
There was no helping it. Luke Cage's ability was basically born to take a beating. Besides great strength, he had enhanced muscle tissue and bone density. Whether it was blades and other cold weapons, close-range handgun fire, or even heavy blunt strikes, he had extremely high defense.
Combined with regeneration three times faster than normal, his endurance was excellent. His stamina was very solid.
Panting hard, Luke Cage was just about to leave when his body stiffened in place.
Killing intent. Terrifying killing intent, completely undisguised.
A man wearing a black leather coat walked out, looking at Luke Cage the way you looked at a dead thing.
Blonsky was dissatisfied with his men. Four Beast Soldiers, with base abilities similar to Luke Cage's, even stronger than him, and they still lost?
This was in front of the boss. What if the boss thought I hadn't trained you properly?
When we get back, all of you are doing extra drills!
Luke Cage had never felt killing intent this scary. He couldn't even tell if it was really "killing intent" or not.
Blonsky didn't bother with politeness. He had watched every underground fighting tape as well, refining his killing skills. So even in his normal state, dealing with Luke Cage wasn't difficult.
In just a few moves, Luke Cage was taken down.
Luke Cage was indeed tough enough to surprise Blonsky, but it only served as a warm-up.
Then Luke Cage was dragged away, packaged up, and delivered to Zod's laboratory.
Zod first placed a psychic suggestion on him, and also left a thought-wave in his mind. Then he started modifying Luke Cage.
With Luke Cage, Zod wouldn't use Red Hulk Serum or Abomination Serum. The potential ceiling of those two serums was too high. Zod planned to reserve them only for core cadres, like Bucky and the planned Crossbones, Brock Rumlow.
As he became stronger and stronger, Zod started losing interest in Beast Soldiers. Their ceiling was obvious. The Beast God General plan would probably be delayed indefinitely. Without key biotech engineering techniques, it was better to produce a few powerful subordinates instead.
The kind of ultra-elite who could fight hundreds or tens of thousands alone!
Luke Cage fell into a sleeping state. Zod transplanted mutant genes into him. He had obtained quite a few new mutant genes lately, and as his control over electromagnetic force became more precise, rejection reactions had become rarer and rarer.
Not to mention Luke Cage, whose body had become so strong while his genes and cells somehow remained completely the same as a normal human's, something modern science shouldn't even be able to produce.
With electromagnetic force involved, the transformation didn't require time for the mutant genes to slowly remodel Luke Cage. It finished quickly, turning Luke Cage into a mutant.
Luke Cage opened his eyes. Under the psychic suggestion Zod had planted earlier, he believed he was a second-generation member of World Serpent, with both parents in the organization. And now, he had been recognized by the current leader of World Serpent, Zod Heath, and given the chance to be modified into a World Serpent warrior.
"Boss." Luke Cage was a little excited. The modification was complete?
"Mhm. Your modification is done. I added a few interesting genes for you," Zod nodded.
The mutant genes Zod chose for Luke Cage were excellent.
First was the gene that originally could only regenerate arms. After Zod modified it, it became a regeneration ability on the level of Wolverine and Sabretooth. It just didn't include their ridiculous longevity. Before dying of old age normally, even if his head was cut off, he could grow it back.
Then came a newly acquired mutant gene: by touching a substance, he could transform his body into the same material as what he touched.
Zod prepared a vibranium ring for Luke Cage. That way, he could turn into a "vibranium man" at any time, making him extremely hard to injure.
However, Luke Cage could only transform into solid matter. He couldn't transform into an energy state by touching energy, like a flame-man or lightning-man.
/-\
~ +20 Advanced Chapters (Only 5$) Available on my Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally.)
/-\
~# Keep the chapters coming - Support with Power Stones!
~# Every 50 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter