Ch. 261 Joining the Justice League

Join the Justice League?

After hearing Russell's words, Skye showed a shocked and incredulous expression.

When the Justice League was first established, Russell publicly stated that it welcomed those with aspirations to join.

While many people did send self-recommendation letters to the Justice League, and the number of members in the Justice League was steadily increasing, those who had successfully joined so far were mostly individuals with superpowers.

To be precise, they were the few individuals Russell had pre-selected.

People like Gwen, Peter, Kara, and others.

Although Skye knew that the Justice League had a tradition of recruiting new members, she hadn't expected Russell to invite her to join.

Wasn't this development a bit strange?

Skye furrowed her brows in caution, and various thoughts raced through her mind.

After thinking for over ten seconds, she slowly spoke, "I don't have any superpowers, and I don't meet the Justice League's recruitment criteria."

"You just don't have superpowers right now," Russell replied calmly.

Skye didn't know her own origins, but Russell knew them very well.

Furthermore, he knew how to activate Skye's latent superpowers.

"What do you mean?" Skye's expression became even more wary and puzzled.

"It means what it says. You're not an ordinary person; you have latent superpowers within you."

Russell didn't pay attention to Skye's increasing wariness and confusion and said calmly.

After hearing Russell's response, Skye furrowed her brows once again.

Then, she suddenly thought of something.

"Do you know who I am? Do you know my parents?"

Skye asked quickly.

"Strictly speaking, I don't know your parents."

"However, I do know who your parents are and why you were adopted."

While Skye might not know the full story of her origins, Russell had a clear understanding.

Moreover, he also knew how to activate Skye's latent superpowers.

"My parents? Who are they?" Skye stood up, placed her hands on the desk, and asked excitedly.

"I can't tell you their names right now, but one thing I can tell you in advance is that they are still alive, and your father has never given up searching for you."

Looking at Skye, who was now completely excited, Russell calmly said.

"If I join the Justice League, will I be able to know their names?" Skye continued to ask.

"Yes!"

Just telling Skye their names wouldn't have a significant impact.

Aside from the fact that her mother, Jia Ying, was now in the gathering place of the Inhuman, her father Calvin was not easy to find.

Especially after Daniel Whitehall was killed by Russell.

If Whitehall hadn't died, they could have used him as bait to lure out Calvin.

Now, no one knew where Calvin had gone.

"If I join, I'll join now!" Skye  said seriously.

"Calm down a bit. After you join the Justice League, I will indeed tell you your parents' names, but not right away."

"No. 3 will watch over you. She's not a good baby; don't let her infiltrate the Justice League's database."

"Understood, sir!"

The voice of No. 3 immediately responded.

After giving instructions to No. 3, Russell thought for a few seconds.

Then, he took out his phone and dialed Perkins's number.

Initially, Russell had planned to train Skye in the manner of a special agent, but he changed his mind after giving it some thought.

This wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D., and there was no need to train Skye in the direction of a special agent.

In that case, he might as well let Perkins be Skye's combat instructor.

Previously, Perkins had been just a cold-blooded female assassin.

However, after injecting the Enhanced serum and possessing the body of the White Zetsu, Perkins's current strength was on par with ordinary superpowered individuals.

Letting her be Skye's combat instructor would be more than sufficient.

The phone was quickly answered.

Hearing Perkins's voice on the other end, which was cold but carried a hint of allure, Russell gave her instructions directly.

"No problem, leave it to me!"

Although Perkins didn't know Skye, she was sure of one thing: anyone whom Russell personally called to invite must not be an ordinary person.

In other words, Russell valued Skye.

After giving instructions to Perkins, Russell temporarily put aside matters related to Skye and the Rising Tide organization.

While Skye might activate some rewards related to the Inhuman, it wasn't something that could be resolved in a short time.

Moreover, now that he possessed the Kryptonian physiology, Russell's need for other superpowers had decreased significantly.

Even if he encountered problems that couldn't be solved with Kryptonian physiology, he still had the ace up his sleeve: magic.

After contemplating the arrangements for the near future in his study, Russell left his study and headed to Diana's study.

Although he could recruit others into the Justice League according to his preferences, Diana was currently the head of the Justice League.

From any perspective, he needed to explain things to Diana.

Diana's study.

After listening to Russell's narration, Diana furrowed her brows slightly and looked at Russell with a meaningful gaze.

"This Skye, isn't she another delicacy you've prepared for yourself?"

Diana stared at Russell without blinking, asking slowly.

"If we have to put it that way, there might be some connection," Russell replied, not admitting outright that he was lusting after Skye's body and superpowers, which was why he had the idea of inviting her to join the Justice League.

Although he had done similar things before, Gwen and Kara were clear examples.

But Skye was different from Gwen and Kara.

Skye currently had no combat abilities whatsoever, and as for her hacking skills, they were inconsequential to the Justice League, which had a super AI like No. 3.

"An Inhuman? What kind of Inhuman?"

Diana's face displayed a puzzled expression.

"In simple terms, Inhuman are Earth humans who have been modified with extraterrestrial technology to possess superpowers."

"During the time of the Mayan civilization, some extraterrestrial races came to Earth."

"After arriving on Earth, they captured a portion of Earth humans for experiments, and the Inhuman are the products of those experiments."

"The original Inhuman were created through experiments, but now they have become a stable race."

"Due to certain events, these extraterrestrials exiled the first Inhuman created through experiments to another planet."

"Their goal in founding HYDRA, the organization that ultimately became the Hydra organization, was to bring that first Inhuman back to Earth."

"As for Red Skull and people like Bakshi, they are just branches of the mainstream Hydra organization."

To better explain what Inhuman were, Russell briefly explained the history of HYDRA.

"Is this Inhuman called the Hive still alive?"

Diana continued to ask.

While she had encountered various long-lived races, she had a hard time believing that artificially modified Earth humans could have such long lifespans.

Although humans had tremendous potential as a species, their potential was limited.

Even with extensive modification, it was difficult to make an Earth human have such an extraordinarily long life.

The Mayan civilization dated back to 1500 BC, and while Russell didn't specify in which period the Hive was created, even if it was created during the classical period, which was at the height of the Mayan civilization from 300 BC to 900 AD, the Hive would still have lived for over a thousand years.

For some long-lived races like the Asgardians or the Amazons of Themyscira, a lifespan of over a thousand years wasn't particularly long.

But for Earth humans, a lifespan of over a thousand years was purely a matter of fantasy.

"If things go as expected, he should still be alive."

"The mainstream Hydra organization has the means to send people to the planet where the Hive was exiled. They say they send someone over from time to time."

Russell said slowly.

Even though he said this, he couldn't be sure whether the Hive was still alive. He would only know once he obtained the Kree monolith from the mainstream Hydra organization.

"You've been wanting to deal with the Hydra organization all along, and this Hive is related to that?"

Diana continued to inquire.

"To put it that way, there is some connection."

"However, I'm more interested in that planet. It's a planet suitable for Earth humans to live on."

Since they were already on this topic, Russell briefly mentioned his plan to claim Maveth.

After listening to his plan, Diana shook her head helplessly.

She had always known that Russell wasn't the type to stay out of trouble, but she hadn't expected him to set his sights on an entire planet now.

But then again, if Russell wanted to become the ruler of Earth, she would still help him achieve that goal.

Of course, as long as he didn't have any plans to slaughter Earth humans.

Having finished discussing Skye and Maveth with Diana, Russell left Diana's study.

Returning to his own study, he instructed No. 3, "Dispatch a few White Zetsu soldiers to Sokovia and investigate the information about Wanda Django Maximoff and Pietro Django Maximoff, the two siblings."

"Understood, sir!"

No. 3's voice responded immediately.

After giving the order to No. 3, Russell didn't have any other tasks at the moment. He went to the room where the Cloak of Levitation was kept and played games with it.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

During these three days, Russell had remained at the Justice League headquarters and hadn't gone anywhere else.

Justice League training ground.

After sparring with the Hulk in the training ground for over ten minutes, letting out some excess energy, Russell headed to the indoor training room at the Justice League headquarters.

In the Justice League headquarters, there was only one outdoor training ground, but there were several indoor training rooms.

Upon entering one of the indoor training rooms, he saw Skye and Perkins sparring.

More accurately, he saw Skye taking a beating while Perkins was instructing her.

Perkins hadn't been living at the Justice League headquarters before, but she had returned after Russell's call and taken on the role of Skye's combat instructor.

Upon entering the training room, Russell didn't interrupt Skye and Perkins's sparring. Instead, he sat down on a chair to the side of the room, watching their exchange with great interest.

It had to be said that women fighting each other was often more visually appealing than men fighting.

Both Skye and Perkins had good looks and figures, and watching two beautiful women spar had a certain indescribable beauty.