"Cough, cough, cough!"
A harsh coughing sound echoed from within the thick smoke—Black King had been hit.
Sure, he could absorb energy, but unfortunately, he wasn't a smoke extractor.
He had no way of dealing with these kinds of irritating gases.
Of course, as a powerful mutant, Black King's physical resilience far surpassed that of ordinary people. It was a fool's dream to think a few gas grenades could take him down.
From the beginning, Alex had never expected the gas to defeat Black King. Its only purpose was to buy them time.
Even if the smoke couldn't knock him out, it could still slow him down.
While Black King was still coughing, Alex and the others had already slipped out of the building.
They turned to glance back and saw no sign of pursuit. Only then did they finally let out a collective sigh of relief.
Heaven help them—just standing in front of that man had felt like bearing the weight of a mountain.
"Alex, where the hell did you get that stuff?" Darwin couldn't help but ask. No way Alex had been carrying all that while partying earlier, right?
"Let's talk once we're out of here," Alex deflected vaguely, then pulled out a few more gas grenades, placing them at every possible exit outside the building.
He was making sure the smoke would spread to its fullest range.
Only that would give them the maximum delay.
"Out? Go where?" Angel asked, looking a little lost.
"Anywhere but here. This base is compromised—we need to evacuate now," Alex said firmly, not giving room for argument.
"He's right. It's no longer safe here," Hank agreed, pointing in a direction. "Follow me—I parked a supply van in Lot C. It's a bit cramped, but it'll do—"
"No need."
Darwin shook his head, then strode toward a line of parked cars and pulled out a keyring.
Aside from regular keys, there were several "metal trinkets" most people wouldn't give a second glance.
Darwin knelt down and started fiddling with one of the nearby Fords, clearly preparing to hotwire it.
Buzz!
Crash!
Siryn shattered the window of another car with a directed soundwave. "Sorry, are you done yet?"
Smash!
Crash!
Alex smashed the window of a third car with a single punch and shouted, "Stop dawdling. You can hotwire it, right? Then hurry! Everyone else—if you've got any tricks left, now's the time."
Too bad those movie tricks of sparking a few wires to start a car weren't so easy in real life.
Only Darwin had that kind of skill.
In the end, Darwin successfully got two cars running. Everyone piled in and sped away from the base like their lives depended on it.
Moments later, the two cars melted into the night.
Only after they had completely disappeared did Black King finally emerge from the thick fog, bracing himself against a wall, coughing uncontrollably.
Tears and snot streamed down his face.
Once he regained his composure, he looked around—but aside from corpses scattered across the ground, not a single soul remained.
Every last mutant had fled.
Black King's face turned visibly darker.
Not only had he lost two of his most trusted subordinates, but he hadn't even managed to take a single mutant with him—he hadn't even gotten to the recruitment phase.
This was a disaster. No—a total humiliation.
The worst defeat of his life.
"Alex... That's his name, isn't it?"
A few seconds later, Black King muttered the name through clenched teeth.
This humiliating failure was entirely thanks to that young mutant.
---
"Phew, I think we're in the clear now," someone said.
"How should I know? Just keep driving!"
"There's a railway crossing up ahead—if we go any farther, it's a dead end!"
"How do you know that?"
"Buddy, I used to drive a cab, alright?!"
---
Elsewhere.
The group of mutants had finally left the base far behind and arrived at an unfamiliar town, but they were still visibly shaken.
Inside that base, they'd been scared out of their minds—and now, thinking back, the fear only seemed worse.
They knew exactly what kind of organization the CIA was—and now, everyone in that facility was dead.
Other than Hank, who had some experience as a tech consultant, the rest were just kids.
What happened tonight would haunt them for a long, long time.
"Okay, everyone, calm down. Just breathe," Hank, older and steadier than the rest, was the first to regain his composure. He glanced repeatedly at the rearview mirror. "I've been watching—no one's following us. I think... I think we're safe."
Huff—
At his words, the tension inside the vehicle finally began to lift. One by one, they exhaled deeply.
"Who were those people anyway?"
"Yeah, it felt like they were after us."
"What the hell did they want?"
"I don't know, but I swear I never want to see that guy again."
They were just a group of young people. Once the pressure lessened even a bit, they couldn't help but start chattering again.
"Guys, guys! We can discuss this later," Darwin raised his voice several notches from the front seat. "Right now, we need to find somewhere to regroup and come up with a plan."
[Task complete. Congratulations, Host! You've earned 300 Source Points!]
As the group kept arguing, a clear system notification rang out in Alex's head.
But outwardly, he didn't show any joy. He maintained a calm expression and quietly opened the system interface.
[Host: Alex]
[Age: 16]
[Speed: 61 m/s]
[Strength: 15.2 tons]
[Physique: 144 (Average adult male: 10)]
[Mental Strength: 102 (Average adult male: 10)]
[Current Template: Homelander (Unlock Progress: 2%)]
[Abilities: X-Ray Vision (Basic), Super Hearing (Basic), Flight (Locked), Heat Vision (Locked)]
[Source Points: 300]
Sure enough, the number next to "Source Points" had changed from 0 to 300.
[Source Points available. Would you like to spend them to enhance your abilities now?]
The prompt popped up again.
Was there even a question?
"Enhance."
[Host: Alex]
[Age: 16]
[Speed: 85 m/s]
[Strength: 39.2 tons]
[Physique: 204]
[Mental Strength: 162]
[Current Template: Homelander (Unlock Progress: 5%)]
[Abilities: X-Ray Vision (Basic), Super Hearing (Basic), Heat Vision (Unlocked), Flight (locked)]
[Source Points: 0]
At that very moment, the data on the system panel changed.
Every stat on Alex's body had taken a massive leap forward.
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