Bucky Delivers a Letter

Upon returning to the Floating Temple, Alex immediately went to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, intending to put his current body and abilities through intensive training. After losing the Replication Ability he had relied on, Alex no longer had any real offensive edge. Energy Control was the only thing he could still bring to the table, and now he had to train it up.

Before beginning, however, Alex first went to see his frozen body. After completing the Consciousness Transfer that day, he had immediately brought his body back to the Floating Temple and entrusted it to Howard to freeze.

"How long can it last?" Alex asked, looking through the frosted glass at the faintly blue ice within. His feelings were strange, indescribable.

Howard stood beside Alex. Hearing the question, he paused briefly, then said with a light laugh, "Don’t worry. As long as the Floating Giant Island doesn’t sink, it can stay frozen forever!"

Alex chuckled and said nothing more. After taking one deep look at his frozen body, he turned and left.

He casually found a training room and locked the door before preparing to begin his intensive training. But before that, Alex needed to decide on a direction so he could develop combat effectiveness as quickly as possible.

Broadly speaking, Alex believed Energy Control could advance in two directions. One was precision control—controlling energy with extreme finesse, or simply put, making energy do whatever he wanted. The other was intensity control—the stronger the energy one could control, the greater its power. An Energy Ball the size of a fist naturally could not compare to one as large as a head.

Of course, the best way to improve Energy Control was to advance both at once. But Alex did not have that kind of time. AIM and the Hellfire Club were watching like tigers eyeing prey, and he had to raise his combat strength as soon as possible to make up for the loss of his Replication Ability.

Logically, Alex should have chosen the second option. Yet after careful consideration, he chose the first as his direction for improvement.

In the end, it was still a matter of time.

It was unrealistic to drastically increase the intensity of his Energy Control in a short period. That was a slow, grinding process. It was like an empty reservoir with only one inlet; if he wanted to fill it, he could only wait bit by bit. No matter how fast that inlet was, it could only flow so quickly.

Precision control was different. Though it too required practice to make perfect, with Alex’s powerful Psionic Power, rapidly improving in this area would not be too difficult.

Once he had settled on a direction, Alex began training without sleep or rest. His current body was one of energy, so he did not feel fatigue at all. As long as his Psionic Power could endure, he could keep training indefinitely.

Yet after only two days of training, Emma called him out because Strucker had made a move.

"How are you, Alex?" Emma asked worriedly as she watched Alex emerge in high spirits. She had not wanted to disturb him, but things had become troublesome. Bucky, the Winter Soldier, had come in person, leaving her no choice but to call Alex out.

Though only two days had passed, Alex had made tremendous progress, enough to show at a glance.

Alex’s current body was that of a Flame Spirit. His fiery red form resembled a blazing flame, and without his control, its scorching heat could burn everything nearby to ashes. But now, just from his appearance, no one could tell that he possessed a Flame Body. He looked more like a somewhat strange human, much like the Red Devil had back then.

"Better than ever!" Alex said as he reached out and pulled Emma into his arms. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, grinning playfully. After everything that had happened, Alex had changed greatly. Intimate gestures he had rarely made before now came naturally to him, practiced and effortless.

Emma’s face flushed slightly, but she did not push him away. On the contrary, she felt even happier inside.

Using Teleportation to bring Emma back to the Floating Temple, Alex had not even had time to greet everyone before his gaze fixed on the figure standing proudly in the center of the temple. That familiar back was none other than Bucky Barnes.

"Bucky?!" Seeing Bucky’s familiar back, Alex excitedly let go of Emma and ran straight over. He did not approach too closely, instead stopping several steps behind Bucky, his expression caught somewhere between tears and laughter.

Hearing the commotion, Bucky the Winter Soldier turned around. His face was unnaturally pale and cold, as though covered in frost. His indifferent gaze swept over Alex, and he casually tossed out a letter. "The letter has been delivered. Goodbye!" he said in a low voice. The moment he finished speaking, Bucky the Winter Soldier turned to leave, his steps resolute and without the slightest hesitation.

Naturally, Alex would not let Bucky leave. He caught the letter, flashed in front of Bucky, and said earnestly, "I’m sorry, Bucky, but I have to keep you here!"

"I have a bomb on me. If I don’t leave this place within ten seconds, it will explode immediately." Bucky the Winter Soldier looked at Alex expressionlessly. His tone was so calm and flat that it was as if self-destruction had nothing to do with him.

Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly. His fiery red pupils radiated dark killing intent, yet he had no choice. He could only slowly step aside and let Bucky walk out of the temple.

Seeing Alex act this way, the other X-Men blocking the path did not dare make a move either. They could only let him pass.

"Who knows whether he’s telling the truth?" A quiet mutter came from the crowd. It was soft, but in the somewhat silent temple, it sounded exceptionally loud.

Alex abruptly turned around and glared fiercely at the person who had spoken. He spat out a single word: "Get out!"

The speaker froze. Looking up and seeing Alex’s expression, he instinctively shrank back. Not daring to utter a word of complaint, he carefully slipped out of the crowd and vanished.

Alex turned his gaze back toward Bucky, who was nearly out of the Floating Temple. After a long silence, he suddenly called out loudly, "Bucky, do you really not remember me, your brother?" Alex was not sure whether Bucky’s earlier threat was real, but regardless of whether it was true or false, he did not dare gamble.

Hearing Alex’s call, Howard’s eyes reddened slightly. He had followed Alex all this way and knew well the bond the three brothers had once shared. Now, one was missing with his fate unknown, one had lost his memory and was being used by others, and the only one still clear-minded had nearly died not long ago. The three brothers truly had been battered by fate.

If Howard felt that way, Monroe felt it even more deeply. Of everyone present, she alone had been close to both Alex and Bucky—closer even than Howard. Monroe was Alex’s sister, and she was Bucky’s sister as well! What was more, this was her first time seeing Bucky again since learning of his sacrifice. How could she hold back her tears? In an instant, her face was streaked with tears, pitiful and heartbroken.

Unfortunately, no matter how sorrowful everyone in the temple was, Bucky the Winter Soldier did not slow at the doorway. Without the slightest hesitation, he walked out, disappearing among the buildings in the blink of an eye.