Apocalypse Retreated

Without the protection of his armor, Apocalypse knew that his current body simply could not withstand such a violent energy impact. No matter how unwilling he was, he could only let go of Alex and teleport away. What surprised Apocalypse even more was that the ability Alex had just displayed—his ultimate control over his body—was in no way inferior to his own.

Free from Apocalypse’s restraint, Alex did not immediately give chase. He calmly restored his body, a delighted smile appearing on his face.

Ever since the abilities he copied had unexpectedly become permanent, Alex’s copying ability had seemingly failed. Over the following decades, he had never managed to copy another ability.

But just now, when Alex had felt that his body was about to be crushed to pieces by Apocalypse, that once-familiar electric current had appeared again. His copying ability had returned. What sent Alex into a frenzy of joy was that the copied ability was still permanent!

An absolute windfall.

The moment copying returned, Alex had prepared to copy Apocalypse’s abilities. But to his horror, Apocalypse possessed far too many abilities. It seemed that Apocalypse had every ability Alex knew of. For the first time, his copying ability stalled, as though a computer had crashed from overload.

After some thought, Alex chose Apocalypse’s ultimate control over the body: molecular-level control that allowed him to alter and control his body’s size and form at will. With this ability, Alex had successfully damaged Apocalypse’s armor and broken free of his restraint.

Although he had escaped Apocalypse’s control, Alex did not dare press his advantage. He merely watched the fleeing Apocalypse with a wary expression.

Apocalypse soon noticed that Alex had not pursued him. A flash of disappointment passed through his eyes before he gradually stopped and turned to look at Alex, his expression growing serious.

Through their earlier battle, Alex had figured out Apocalypse’s abilities and strength, while Apocalypse had likewise sounded Alex out. Because he understood, Apocalypse knew very well that dealing with Alex would be equally troublesome.

"Why don’t we work together, Alex?" Apocalypse smiled faintly as he tried to persuade Alex. At the same time, his body continued to twist and change. In the blink of an eye, a new suit of armor appeared over him, its dark metallic sheen making it impossible to imagine that it had transformed from Apocalypse’s own body.

Alex had kept his eyes fixed on Apocalypse. Seeing his transformation, his pupils contracted slightly, and bitterness crept into the corners of his mouth. I defeated Thanos, for heaven’s sake. Who would have thought I’d end up this miserable today?

When Alex failed to respond for so long, Apocalypse looked closely and discovered that Alex was actually lost in thought. His face immediately darkened. Taking a deep breath, he snapped in irritation, "Alex!"

The moment his words fell, Apocalypse had already rushed to within a few steps of Alex and swiftly swung his right hand. Before Alex could react, Apocalypse’s hand transformed like a Transformer, becoming a thick metal rod in the blink of an eye. Glowing with a cold, ghostly blue light, it swept toward him like an autumn wind scattering fallen leaves.

Alex possessed Energy Absorption and had no fear of Apocalypse’s attack. Yet instinctively, he still defended himself, twisting aside and leaping out of Apocalypse’s attack range.

Seeing Alex leap away, Apocalypse could not help feeling disappointed. He had originally intended to use this to lower Alex’s guard, then turn his hand into a cage and trap Alex when the opportunity arose. Against a superpowered individual with Energy Absorption, the most effective method was to isolate him from energy and eliminate any possibility of him absorbing it.

Unfortunately, Alex’s vigilance caused Apocalypse’s plan to fail.

Neither could do anything to the other, yet neither could abandon his opponent. In the end, the two could only trade blows back and forth, fighting with great enthusiasm while remaining unable to inflict any truly threatening injuries on each other.

As Alex and Apocalypse clashed once more, the stunned superpowered individuals finally came back to their senses. Their gazes toward Alex were filled with admiration.

Of course, once they recovered, everyone resumed attacking. Energy attacks poured down like rain, along with bullets and more, flying toward Alex and Apocalypse in an indiscriminate barrage.

Faced with the crowd’s attacks, both Alex and Apocalypse chose to evade immediately. This assault differed from the previous ones. Everyone seemed to have gone all out, and the powerful instantaneous damage exceeded both Alex and Apocalypse’s expectations and the limits their bodies could endure. The two had no choice but to separate and use their own methods to defend themselves, looking rather disheveled for a moment.

This delighted Red Skull and the others, and their attacks became even fiercer.

Alex gradually adapted as he endured the assault. Just as he was about to turn his attention toward dealing with Red Skull and the others who were kicking him while he was down, he noticed that Apocalypse’s condition was worsening. He seemed to be running out of steam.

"What’s going on?" Alex was somewhat baffled. He knew Apocalypse’s abilities. If he himself could withstand this, Apocalypse should have had no problem. Yet Apocalypse was clearly weakening, and even the armor he had just created was beginning to show damage.

Alex observed Apocalypse closely for a long while before finally discovering the anomaly. The energy within Apocalypse was decreasing rather than increasing. It did not resemble someone who had absorbed energy at all.

Just as he was puzzling over it, Alex suddenly noticed that among the countless attacks striking Apocalypse, some were behaving very unusually. They seemed capable of weakening Psionic Power, even blocking it.

Alex had always believed that no ability could exist without powerful Psionic Power. Without a certain level of Psionic Power, an ability user could not properly control their abilities. Moreover, the stronger the ability, the stronger the Psionic Power would be.

Apocalypse’s Psionic Power was incredibly strong, but after it was weakened and even blocked, he became increasingly unable to control his own abilities. That was why Apocalypse was growing weaker and weaker.

Alex was suffering the same kind of attacks, but his Psionic Power had already reached a cosmic level. Even weakened and blocked, it remained immensely powerful. In addition, Alex did not possess many abilities and could control them easily, which was why he had not weakened like Apocalypse.

Once he understood, Alex immediately abandoned any thought of going after Red Skull and the others. Taking advantage of Apocalypse’s weakness, he focused entirely on dealing with him. In Alex’s eyes, Apocalypse was a greater threat than Red Skull and everyone else combined.

Apocalypse had already been struggling to hold on. With Alex becoming the final straw, he immediately thought, Better leave first. The instant that thought arose, Apocalypse did not hesitate for even a moment and chose to disappear. He did not even leave behind a threatening remark, departing with remarkable decisiveness.

Apocalypse’s departure came as a surprise. At the very least, Alex had not expected such a scene, and he stood there blankly for quite some time before recovering.

But the moment Apocalypse left, all of Red Skull and the others’ attacks immediately shifted onto Alex. They even abandoned High Evolutionary, and Alex instantly felt the pressure multiply.

People really shouldn’t talk big…