A Strange Man

Alex had no idea about the conversation between Emma and Howard in the Floating Temple. After wiping out all the Biochemical Mutants, he continued deeper into the secret base.

Having witnessed the Biochemical Mutants’ power, Alex became even more determined to drive AIM completely out of the Savage Land. At the same time, another idea arose in his mind. It was impossible to guard against thieves forever. Rather than worry about the Descendants of Atlantis becoming Strucker’s support, why not bring them under his own control?

Mulling over this sudden idea, Alex continued inward.

For no apparent reason, Alex’s heart jolted. His sense of danger made him choose Teleportation without hesitation.

The instant Alex vanished, a deafening boom erupted. The spot where he had been standing became a massive crater, exposing the secret base.

Still shaken, Alex looked at the enormous crater, his back already soaked in cold sweat. Though he possessed numerous abilities, Alex believed he still would not have survived that explosion. Energy Absorption had its limits, and it also required time. Before Alex could have absorbed all that energy, the torrent of power would have blown him to pieces!

The sudden explosion also startled Emma and Howard, who had been watching from the Floating Temple. Only when they saw that the image on the screen had not disappeared did they breathe a sigh of relief. All the candidates had returned, so if the screen still showed an image, it could only be transmitted from Alex.

The smoke and dust from the explosion lingered for a long time before slowly dispersing. A thin young man with a gaunt face jumped out through the opening, a faint smile resting on his indifferent face.

"Who are you?" Looking at the young man, an inexplicable thought surfaced in Alex’s mind: this was the person responsible for the explosion. Alex was amused by his own thought. He did not even know why he had come to such a conclusion.

"Who I am isn’t important." The young man’s lips curled slightly as he looked up at Alex, a trace of heat in his eyes. "Are you Alex?"

Alex silently nodded, his gaze full of confusion. He felt that there was something strange about this young man.

"You’re the one I’ve been waiting for!" The young man’s smile suddenly widened, even turning slightly crazed. With a low shout, he shot upward like a launched rocket, charging straight at Alex.

At the same time, the young man flicked his left hand, sending a fist-sized purple-red Energy Ball flying from his palm at tremendous speed. The Energy Ball passed the dodging Alex and finally struck a high-rise building. It exploded like a bomb, and the building collapsed in an instant.

Alex froze for a moment, then flashed down to the ground and waved his hand. "Friend, I’m a mutant too. We can’t kill each other!" As a mutant, Alex did not want to see his own kind slaughtered. People like Sebastian Shaw had merely been imprisoned.

"A mutant?" The young man sneered, his mockery undisguised. "Nothing but lowly mongrels."

Alex was stunned once more. He was not a mutant? Then what were his abilities?

"You dare lose focus while fighting me? You’re courting death!" Seeing Alex distracted, the young man did not take the opportunity to attack. Instead, he angrily shouted at him, feeling that he had been slighted.

The young man’s voice jolted Alex awake. With an awkward dry laugh, he asked again, "Just who are you?"

"Beat me first, then we’ll talk!" The young man ignored Alex’s question and rushed forward once more, launching a fierce assault like a tiger pouncing on its prey. Purple-red Energy Balls continuously emerged from his hands.

Alex was in a difficult position. He did not dare touch those Energy Balls; the earlier explosion had already proven their power. He could only keep dodging them while avoiding the explosions that followed. He did not even dare make contact with the young man’s limbs, since an Energy Ball might suddenly be flung out at the moment of contact.

Unable to fight at close range, Alex could only choose long-range combat. After using Teleportation to widen the distance, five steel beads that had reverted from fine needle-like projectiles shot out in an instant. The steel beads were tiny and flew as fast as streaks of light, yet they seemingly did not escape the young man’s notice. He dodged them several times in succession.

"Metal Control!" The young man suddenly moved both hands. Ten Energy Balls, each only slightly larger than marbles, appeared in an instant and flew out, surrounding one rapidly flying steel bead before Alex’s shocked eyes.

After the explosion, that steel bead was gone. It had been vaporized completely, and Alex could no longer restore it.

"You know my name, and you know my abilities. Who exactly are you?" Alex was deeply unsettled. The young man before him was absolutely not easy to deal with. Not only were his abilities powerful, but his physical qualities were exceptional, and his fighting skills were even stronger than Alex’s. He was a formidable opponent.

While Alex was horrified, Emma and Howard in the Floating Temple were utterly dumbfounded, only barely recovering their senses at that moment.

After exchanging a glance, Howard swallowed and said nervously, "Who is this guy? How can he be so powerful?"

"He really is incredibly powerful!" Emma was even more shocked than Howard, because she knew Alex’s abilities very well. For Alex to be forced into such a state meant that he had effectively already lost. After all, many of Alex’s abilities had been copied and came with time limits.

"Not a mutant, and he can’t be human. He’s even less likely to be a Biochemical Mutant." Howard wiped the sweat from his forehead and began analyzing the situation. "Could he be an alien?" After witnessing the special nature of the Savage Land, Howard was full of expectations about aliens. Having ruled out every possibility on Earth, aliens were the first thing that came to mind.

Emma nodded at his words. She strongly agreed with Howard’s guess. Judging from the young man’s performance, aliens were the only possibility. "Could Strucker have found an alien ruin as well?" If Earth could have an alien place like the Savage Land, then other alien locations could also exist on Earth. It would be perfectly normal for one or two aliens to appear.

"I just hope there aren’t too many aliens like him!" Howard’s expression changed as he spoke worriedly. One had already left Alex in such a sorry state. If several more appeared, there might be no one on Earth capable of dealing with them.

"Probably not too many, right?" Emma said uncertainly. She had not considered this before, but Howard’s reminder immediately put her on alert. Alex, who had copied four abilities, could be considered the strongest person on Earth. Yet even someone like him had been beaten until he had "no ability to fight back." If several more appeared, especially a warlike one, Earth would be in danger.

Howard did not dare place any hopes on that. With a faint bitter smile, he said, "Let’s hope so."

Who exactly was this strange man? Take a guess.