Angel Missing

Three days passed before anyone knew it, yet the catastrophe The Watcher had spoken of never came. Ever since the High Evolutionary had been captured, the entire world had entered a rare period of peace. Even the Brotherhood of Mutants and Hydra, who usually loved stirring up trouble everywhere, seemed to have vanished without a trace.

The strange calm did not relax Alex. Instead, it made him increasingly tense, because this was the calm before the storm.

After taking some time to enhance Tony, Alex had nothing to do all day. He could not help with the High Evolutionary’s affairs, Alex City did not need his assistance, and even the X-Men had Charles watching over them. With no way to pass the time, Alex could only roam the Earth every day like a headless fly, hoping to stumble upon something by blind luck.

Unfortunately, after several days, Alex had found nothing, while the tension and frustration in his heart only grew heavier.

After running around all day, Alex returned once more when night fell over Alex City. After greeting Emma and the others, he headed toward the X-Men’s base, intending to talk with Charles.

As Alex knew, one of the X-Men’s reserve members could foresee the future. Although the ability was sometimes unreliable, and although the predictions had no clear timeline, it was still something to hold on to.

The moment Alex entered the base, Charles rushed out with several people, including Alex, all dressed in yellow uniforms bearing the X-Men emblem. They appeared to be heading out on a mission.

"What happened, Charles?" Alex reached out and stopped Charles’s group, his face full of confusion.

Charles stopped at the sound of his voice and looked up at Alex, his expression anxious. "Something happened to Angel!"

"Angel? That little brat?" Alex froze slightly, immediately recalling that crazy movie fan from before. After a brief daze, he pointed at Charles and the others, looking even more surprised. "What happened to him that requires such a lineup?"

Charles shook his head uncertainly. "I don’t know either. But ever since he went home, there’s been no word from him for three days." He paused slightly, the anxiety on his face growing more obvious. "Later, I used Cerebro to look for him, but I couldn’t find Angel. It was as if he had vanished into thin air."

Cerebro was something Charles and numerous mutant scientists had developed together. It was much like the one in the movies, only more powerful. With Cerebro’s help, Charles could connect to the minds of any living creature on Earth and thereby control or influence them. This included not only humans, but also countless birds, beasts, and insects.

"What exactly is going on?" Alex frowned slightly, instinctively sensing that something was unusual. It might even be connected to the catastrophe The Watcher had mentioned. At that thought, Alex’s expression turned grim. He looked at Charles and said in a low voice, "Explain it clearly."

"When you brought Angel here, I made an exception and recruited him into the X-Men." Charles seemed to have vaguely realized something as well and did not hide anything. "Later, he said he wanted to return to New York first and tell his family. But once he left, he never came back, and then he disappeared without a trace."

Alex’s brow furrowed more deeply. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Did you search his home?"

"We did. Angel did return home, but he left again not long afterward. After that, there was no trace of him." Charles paused briefly and caught his breath before continuing, "It seems Angel disappeared while heading to X-Film Company!"

X-Film Company was an important X-Mansion stronghold in New York and a transit point connecting Alex City to the real world. Anyone entering or leaving Alex City had to pass through here first. Alex was naturally an exception.

"Any clues?" Alex’s expression changed at once, and killing intent faintly surged from him. Angel was already one of the X-Men. Anyone targeting him was targeting X-Mansion, and that was something Alex would never allow.

Charles smiled bitterly and shook his head. Pointing at a disheveled young man behind him, he said, "So I specifically found someone skilled at tracking, hoping he might uncover something."

"Then I’ll come with you!" Since he had nothing else to do, Alex decided to go along. Maybe he would gain some unexpected leads.

Charles and the others, along with Alex, used Teleportation to arrive directly at Angel’s home in New York. It was daytime in New York, the busiest time of the day, and the streets were filled with hurried people in suits and formal wear.

Alex had prepared in advance, so their appearance did not attract anyone’s attention.

"Alright, it’s up to you now!" Alex turned to look at the disheveled young man beside him, then fell a step behind and began surveying the surroundings. At the same time, his Psionic Power swiftly spread outward as he searched for Angel’s whereabouts.

The disheveled young man was somewhat nervous. He stood there blankly for a while before reacting and immediately using his ability to investigate.

Before long, the disheveled young man seemed to have found something and sprinted wildly in one direction. Charles and the others hurried after him, while Alex kept pace right behind them.

Alex split his attention in two, following the disheveled young man while continuously sweeping New York, the Big Apple, with his Psionic Power. Yet what confused him was that he found nothing. No one had even seen Angel.

Meanwhile, the disheveled young man’s pace gradually slowed, and his expression became faintly agitated. It seemed he had found nothing either.

Alex was somewhat disappointed and was about to expand the search area when he unexpectedly noticed something unusual. More than half of New York’s population seemed to be sick, though all with minor illnesses. At first, Alex had not noticed this. He only discovered it thanks to Elixir’s ability.

Elixir could cure any disease at the genetic level. When Alex had been infected by the energy virus, he had copied this ability from Elixir. After he was unfortunately stranded in the universe, Alex’s abilities underwent a mutation, and all copied abilities became permanent, including Elixir’s healing power. However, since this ability was usually of little use to Alex, he had barely used it.

Elixir possessed formidable healing abilities, but before that, it also required an equally formidable ability to detect illnesses.

While searching New York just now, Elixir’s ability had unexpectedly been triggered. Batch after batch of New York citizens had been found to be sick. By the time Alex realized this abnormality, nearly everyone in New York had fallen ill, and that was clearly not normal!

"Something’s strange!" Alex stopped walking and looked around, his eyes sharp and fierce like a cheetah stalking prey.

Charles noticed Alex’s unusual behavior and followed his gaze around, but found nothing. He could not help feeling surprised. "What is it, Alex?"

"Charles, haven’t you noticed? These people are all sick!" Alex gestured casually around them, his expression extremely grave.

Charles was even more surprised. Turning to look, he indeed found that quite a few people looked abnormal, appearing weak and sickly. Yet Charles still did not understand what Alex was trying to say. "So what?"

"From what I’ve discovered, everyone in New York has contracted one illness or another, some mild and some severe!"

"What?!" Charles cried out in disbelief. Then his expression abruptly changed as he immediately understood something. With a grave look, he said, "It seems someone really is up to something!"

Scorpion would first like to apologize for the missed updates over the past two days. I won’t go into the specific reasons; talking about them only brings tears.

It was getting colder and colder late at night, and there was no heating. My hands and feet were already freezing cold…