High Evolutionary

"Now we can have a proper talk!" Having lost the trail of Red Skull, Sebastian Shaw, and the others, Alex suppressed his disappointment and turned his gaze toward the only one still remaining—Magneto.

Magneto was deeply frustrated. He glared at Alex with an ugly expression and demanded in a hostile tone, "There’s nothing for us to talk about!" In truth, the moment he had sensed that the situation was turning bad, Magneto had already prepared to flee, even before Red Skull made his move. Unfortunately, when Magneto tried to escape, he discovered that Alex seemed to have locked onto him. He simply could not get away.

"Erik, come back," Alex said, staring at Magneto for a long while, his expression earnest.

Magneto sneered, turned his head, and ignored him as though he had heard nothing.

Alex had always felt regret where Magneto was concerned. Magneto had suffered greatly as a child, and his hatred for humanity had accumulated since then. If Alex had paid a little more attention to looking after Erik back then, perhaps there would not be a Magneto today.

His thoughts churned. After pondering for a moment, Alex opened his mouth, intending to persuade him further.

Before Alex could speak, Magneto rudely cut him off. "Fight me if you want to fight. If not, let me go!"

"I’m sorry, Erik." Alex’s expression darkened slightly before he shook his head. "Now that I’m back, I won’t let you do anything that threatens mutants again."

"Humans are the threat to mutants!"

Seeing Magneto roar those words with a twisted face, Alex wisely shut his mouth. He had no confidence in persuading the stubborn Magneto. With a point of his finger, an invisible rope wrapped tightly around Magneto. Alex’s control over energy had already reached an extraordinary level, and this was proof enough.

"Come back with me and reflect on yourself properly!" Erik was different, after all. Alex could not bring himself to harm him, but neither could he release him, so Alex decided to imprison Magneto for life.

Magneto seemed to see his own fate and immediately became agitated, struggling with all his strength. But he did not even understand what Alex was using to restrain him, so how could he break free? He could only watch helplessly as Alex dragged him away, flying swiftly into the distance.

The reason Alex did not immediately use Teleportation to leave was because he had noticed something interesting.

Just now, while Alex had been fighting Red Skull and the others fiercely, there had been someone outside the battlefield. This person was not a mutant and looked like an ordinary man at first glance, yet Alex had sensed something familiar from him. That piqued Alex’s interest.

However, once Alex had finished dealing with the battlefield and turned back to find the man, he discovered that the man had vanished without a trace. Even Alex’s Psionic Power, powerful enough to cover the entire Solar System, could not find him.

"Interesting." Alex glanced around, muttered softly, then used Teleportation to bring Magneto back to Alex City.

Not long after Alex left, a figure slowly emerged from the air less than fifty meters from where he had just stood. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he muttered incessantly, "So powerful… I almost got discovered!"

After grumbling nonstop for a few moments, the figure suddenly shuddered all over and froze in place as if struck by an immobilizing spell. His eyes stared fixedly ahead, his face filled with terror.

"Who are you?" Alex had returned. Wearing a calm smile, he looked at the man before him, a trace of confusion in his eyes.

The middle-aged man looked utterly ordinary, without anything unusual about him. Yet Alex could sense an aura from him that was extremely similar to Adam’s. It felt as though the middle-aged man before him and Adam were the same kind of person.

As the middle-aged man watched Alex approach slowly, he unconsciously took a step back. Unexpectedly, he lost his footing and fell backward. His face was full of panic, and shrill cries kept spilling from his mouth.

Alex watched the middle-aged man fall to the ground with an impassive expression. His brow creased faintly, and a flicker of surprise passed through the depths of his eyes.

The middle-aged man floundered on the ground for a while before finally struggling to his feet. He looked timidly at Alex, who stood several steps away, his gaze evasive as though he were desperately trying to conceal something.

"Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you." Alex did not pay attention to the middle-aged man’s gaze. Smiling calmly, he explained, "I just think you resemble a friend of mine. There’s no other meaning behind it."

The middle-aged man froze at those words. Deep suspicion filled his pale blue eyes. He did not believe that a superpowered person like Alex would be so bored.

Seeing the middle-aged man’s expression, Alex shrugged, looking somewhat puzzled and curious. "You don’t look alike at all, but the feeling you give me is very similar to his." He paused briefly, seemingly choosing his words, before saying in an exceptionally certain tone after a long moment, "I feel like you and he are the same kind of person!"

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment. Then inspiration flashed through his mind, and his expression changed accordingly. But it vanished in an instant, replaced by a blank look.

The middle-aged man’s expression had changed quickly, but it still did not escape Alex’s notice. Out of curiosity, Alex could not help using telepathy to sense the man’s thoughts from moments ago. The result both astonished Alex and filled him with deep admiration for this middle-aged man.

"Although this may be a little presumptuous, I still have to say this: you’re truly incredible!" After learning what the middle-aged man had in common with Adam, Alex did not linger any longer. He left those words behind and used Teleportation to depart.

Watching Alex vanish once more, the middle-aged man’s expression hardened. Not daring to remain for even a moment, he immediately ran down the mountain and disappeared into the depths of the forest in an instant.

Upon returning to Alex City, Alex unexpectedly met several familiar faces. He greeted them happily, "Charles, Alex, hello!" When Alex returned, Charles and the others had been training the newcomers in the Savage Land, only coming back today.

"Hello, Alex!" Charles had not yet gone bald or taken up a wheelchair. He looked like an elegant young man with an extraordinary bearing. Hearing Alex’s greeting, Charles smiled in reply. "What happened? You were in such a hurry when you came and went."

"I ran into a very interesting person," Alex answered casually. He briefly explained the middle-aged man’s situation, his words full of admiration.

"Could the person you’re talking about be High Evolutionary?" The more Charles listened, the more familiar it sounded. His expression gradually turned serious. "As far as I know, he’s a mad geneticist."

Alex shook his head, clearly disagreeing. "Although he is indeed somewhat crazy, what he does is truly great."

"All right, I have to admit that he is an absolute authority in genetic research." Charles nodded with a bitter expression, but he still objected firmly. "However, his delusions are simply too insane."

"Delusions? What do you mean?" Alex had not delved deeply into High Evolutionary’s mind and did not know much. Hearing Charles say this, he was somewhat surprised.

Charles looked at Alex strangely, then suddenly understood. "So you didn’t know!" He smiled lightly before explaining, "High Evolutionary believes that humans on Earth are imperfect. He has always wanted all humans on Earth to evolve to a higher level."

"All right, that really is incredibly insane!" Alex was slightly stunned. After a moment of silence, he let out a long breath. "And extremely dangerous!"

Without pressure, there was no motivation. Once I relaxed, I almost did not want to do anything. The longer I stayed idle, the less I wanted to write. After deep reflection, Scorpion decided that from now on, he had to work hard, work hard, and work even harder!

PS: I searched all night for High Evolutionary’s name and found nothing. If any friends know it, please tell Scorpion! My obsessive-compulsive disorder is acting up—I feel terribly uncomfortable when I don’t know!