Missing

The moment the Floating Giant Island flew out from beneath the dome, everyone looked at the Milky Way stretching across the Antarctic sky and erupted into cheers. Even more people silently shed tears, their eyes fixed unblinkingly on the world outside.

Not to mention the Descendants of Atlantis and the savages of the Savage Land—even among the older mutants, aside from the few who had joined the X-Men and gotten the chance to leave the Savage Land, most had not seen the outside world in over a decade.

In midair, Alex’s perpetually tense face gradually softened. As his gaze swept over the delighted faces, he knew all his efforts had been worthwhile. The Floating Giant Island carried over a million lives away from the Savage Land, but this was not the end. It was only the beginning. Now, the urgent question was where the Floating Giant Island should go next.

As his thoughts raced, Alex did not relax his vigilance. He continued guiding the Floating Giant Island forward, letting it drift out of Antarctica. The Antarctic ice and snow sealed off the heavens; without the dome’s protection, the Floating Giant Island simply could not survive here. The only possible place Alex could think of was the vast ocean. After all, the mutants did not possess the Inhuman race’s advanced technology. Moving the Floating Giant Island to the peak of the Himalayas was simply impossible.

After flying for a while, Alex suddenly shuddered. Looking down, he discovered that his body was gradually rotting away! Black Energy Toxin spread upward from the soles of his feet, replacing his flesh bit by bit before dispersing into the wind like smoke.

Alex tried to stop the Energy Toxin from spreading, but it was useless. Instead, he provoked it, causing it to spread even faster. In an instant, both his lower legs vanished.

How ruthless! Alex’s heart trembled slightly, and a bitter smile crossed his face. From the very beginning, he had known that this operation would likely end badly for him. Now that the moment had truly come, he felt neither fear nor terror—only a faint sense of dejection and helplessness.

Naturally, he could not help but resent the Black Queen and Strucker.

"Fine, what’s done is done!" With a soft sigh, Alex activated the Tesseract one final time, at the cost of his life potential. At the same time, his powerful Psionic Power spread outward, enveloping the entire Floating Giant Island in an instant. Looking down at everyone on the island, Alex smiled faintly and slowly said, "Teleportation!"

The lightning of the Savage Land had not pursued them beyond the dome, so it naturally had no effect on Alex’s Teleportation.

With Alex’s shout, the Floating Giant Island, which had still been flying over the Antarctic ice fields, vanished into thin air. When it reappeared, it was already above the ocean outside Antarctica.

The massive Floating Giant Island suddenly fell onto the sea like a boulder smashing into a pond. Water surged dozens of meters into the air, while enormous waves roared toward the distance.

The people on the Floating Giant Island had no time to react. They merely blinked, then found themselves in the middle of the ocean. Before they could recover, the immense impact struck them. Caught off guard, many could not steady themselves, and in a chain reaction, not a single person on the Floating Giant Island remained standing properly.

Fortunately, the island’s energy barrier had not completely dissipated. It absorbed part of the impact and blocked all the waves; otherwise, everyone would have been even more miserable.

The impact came quickly and left just as quickly. Soon, the Floating Giant Island stood firmly upon the sea. Only then did the bedraggled people on the island gradually regain their senses. Staring at the surrounding ocean, they were dumbfounded and immensely relieved.

Emma was among the first to recover, but when she came to, Alex was nowhere to be seen in the sky. After searching for a long while without finding anything, Emma anxiously grabbed Tessa’s arm and asked in a panic, "Tessa, did you see Alex?" Emma had long been mentally prepared for the possibility that Alex might not survive this, but when the moment truly arrived, she still panicked.

Seeing Emma’s vulnerable side, Tessa gave a wry smile and shook her head. She looked up at the sky, inwardly somewhat puzzled, but still comforted her aloud. "Maybe he’s already down there. Let’s wait a little!"

"I searched. He’s not there—there’s nothing!" The instant Emma realized Alex had disappeared, she used telepathy to search the entire island. Yet after several searches, she found nothing at all. Alex seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Don’t panic! Don’t panic!" Tessa soothed the nearly tearful Emma as though comforting a child. Then she glanced around, took a quiet breath, and said, "There are so many people on the island. A telepathic search is bound to have blind spots. Let’s get everyone settled first, then we can search slowly afterward, all right?"

Although Emma was frantic with worry, she accepted Tessa’s suggestion. Suppressing her concern for Alex, she began to busy herself with the work.

There were over a million people on the giant island. Such an enormous crowd was packed shoulder to shoulder, filling every inch of the island and making even walking difficult. Therefore, the most urgent task was to immediately rebuild the island and disperse the crowd.

Emma’s ability to handle affairs was beyond question, and with Tessa assisting at her side, she assigned all the work within five hours—the island’s expansion, the reconstruction of its buildings, and more.

Once all the work was proceeding in an orderly fashion, Emma finally set everything aside and focused on finding Alex.

"No need to look anymore!" Just as Emma was about to leave, Tessa reached out and stopped her. Her expression was somewhat grave, and a trace of worry could be seen in her dark eyes.

Emma turned to look at Tessa, who was holding her wrist, with some surprise. "Why?" As she spoke, Emma seemed to realize something. She looked both delighted and nervous. "Tessa, do you know something?"

Tessa hesitated for a long while without speaking. In truth, she had learned something two hours earlier, but she had not dared say it aloud, afraid of upsetting Emma.

"Tell me!" Emma frowned. She stared at Tessa for a moment, then suddenly shouted. Her face was so serious that it was frightening.

Tessa was startled by Emma’s reaction and became even more afraid to speak. But when she met Emma’s gaze, she finally stammered out the words, though she still did not forget to warn her first. "Promise me you won’t get agitated! Don’t get agitated!"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Emma impatiently cut Tessa off. Her widened eyes glinted with savage fury.

Tessa awkwardly touched the bridge of her nose, gave a light cough, and said, "Alex… seems to be missing!"

"Missing? What does that mean?" Emma looked at Tessa suspiciously, but an idea that made her tremble uncontrollably rose in her heart. Tessa is only saying that to comfort me. Alex is actually… Unable to think any further, Emma shook her head and cut off her thoughts. She steadied herself and looked at Tessa, her expression unnaturally calm.