The Coming Catastrophe

Both matches ultimately ended with Black Bolt’s defeat, much to Crystal’s delight. She kept praising Alex without a care for Black Bolt’s increasingly dark expression.

In the end, Alex himself could no longer take it and interrupted Crystal’s endless stream of praise. "Since you’re here, let me take you to meet someone!" He had merely been making conversation, but the moment the words left his mouth, he realized he had said the wrong thing.

"There’s someone else on the moon?" Medusa reacted immediately, scanning the surroundings with a guarded expression as her long red hair began to grow wildly of its own accord.

Alex had originally planned to brush it off, but since Medusa had already said it aloud, he nodded. "A bald man lives here. He calls himself The Watcher. He’s a pretty arrogant guy." Though he had let go of his inner misgivings, Alex had never had a favorable impression of The Watcher.

"The Watcher?!" Medusa cried out, her expression growing even tenser. "Are you sure? It really is The Watcher?"

"You know The Watcher?" Alex stared at Medusa in surprise. He had not expected her to know of The Watcher.

Medusa looked at Black Bolt and Crystal, who were both watching her with the same expression, then nodded solemnly. "The Watchers have appeared several times in the historical records of the Inhuman race. They are elders of the universe." She turned back to Alex as though confirming something. "The Watchers do not involve themselves in the affairs of any lifeform in the universe. They merely witness and record major events concerning the universe as observers."

Alex shrugged, looking unconcerned. "That’s what the bald guy told me too. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know."

Speak of the devil, and he appears. As soon as Alex finished speaking, The Watcher Otu appeared, his enormous bald head exceptionally conspicuous.

"You’re here." Alex greeted him casually, then pointed at Black Bolt and the others. "These are all my friends. I probably don’t need to introduce them, right?"

Alex dared to be so casual, but Black Bolt and the other two did not. They hurriedly bowed in greeting.

Otu swept an indifferent glance over Black Bolt and the others, then fixed his gaze on Alex. His expression turned grim, carrying a trace of hostility as he slowly said, "I came to inform you that Earth will soon face a catastrophe that will sweep across the entire world. I hope you can prepare in advance." After a brief hesitation, Otu turned to Black Bolt and added, "The Inhuman race will not be able to stay out of it either. One misstep could bring about the destruction of your people."

Otu came and went in a hurry. After dropping those words, he vanished immediately without lingering for even a moment, leaving the four of them staring at one another.

"That bald guy couldn’t have been telling the truth, could he?" Alex stared at the spot where Otu had just disappeared, dazed for a moment before speaking skeptically. Yet despite his words, his eyes were filled with concern. From what Alex knew of Otu, he would not make such a joke.

Medusa clearly understood what Alex meant. She shook her head with a grave expression and said sternly, "No matter what, we need to prepare ahead of time."

"Once we return, begin the renovations of Alex City immediately!" Before Alex could speak, Medusa directly gave the order. "We also need to press ahead with the High Evolutionary matter and strive to make progress as soon as possible."

Alex had no reason to oppose Medusa’s decision and nodded in agreement. "I’ll tell Emma when we get back. We’ll cooperate fully!"

Because of Otu’s warning, Alex and the others hurried back to Earth.

After staying in Attilan for a while, Alex took Crystal, along with the geneticists Medusa had specifically assigned, straight back to Alex City. After handing the geneticists over to Emma, Alex hurried to New York and found Nick Fury.

According to Otu, this crisis would sweep across the entire globe. It would inevitably affect governments around the world, and S.H.I.E.L.D. was far more skilled at dealing with governments.

"Is what you said true?" After listening to Alex, Nick was surprised, but even more doubtful. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were spread all over the world, and its intelligence network was the strongest on the planet, yet he had not received the slightest word of it.

"I’m not sure whether it’s true either." Alex did not mind Nick’s suspicion. No one would believe news like this at first. With a bitter smile, he sat on the sofa, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he explained, "This information came from a godlike being—a godlike being you can’t even imagine. He shouldn’t be lying to me."

"A godlike being?" Nick repeated in surprise, not understanding what exactly Alex meant by that.

Alex did not know how to explain it either. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Someone incredibly powerful, almost godlike." Noticing Nick’s dismissive expression, Alex paused before adding, "Against him, I didn’t have the slightest ability to fight back."

Nick’s expression changed instantly. Seeing that Alex did not appear to be joking, he finally calmed down, though disbelief still lingered on his face.

"So, what do you want us to do?" After a long while, Nick let out a deep breath and took the initiative to ask.

"I don’t know." Hearing Nick’s question, Alex slumped dejectedly against the sofa and stared up at the ceiling, muttering, "The bald guy didn’t say anything. I don’t know what this catastrophe he mentioned actually is, and I don’t know how to deal with it."

Nick froze for a moment, then shrugged. "All right. I understand."

"You understand?" Alex sat upright and turned to Nick, his face full of surprise.

Nick raised his brows and said seriously, "I’ll secretly notify the governments of various countries and have them heighten their vigilance. At the same time, I’ll intensify our intelligence gathering. Hopefully, we’ll find something."

It sounded as though Nick had done a great deal, but in reality, he had done nothing at all. Still, Alex understood that with no information whatsoever, Nick’s arrangements were reasonable enough. At the very least, he had warned the governments of the world.

"Fine. Do your best on your end!" Alex vigorously wiped his face, abruptly stood up, and left after tossing out one last sentence. "I’ll have people keep a closer watch on things too. Hopefully, it won’t get too out of hand."

After leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., Alex had no idea where to go for a while. Emma was in Alex City, Charles was with the X-Men, and there was truly very little that required him personally.

"Forget it. I’ll go see Tony!" After thinking it over, Alex decided to visit his nephew Tony and strengthen his body while he was at it, lest Tony die in the coming catastrophe. That would be letting Howard down.

With a thought, Alex arrived directly at Stark Industries. But to his surprise, after searching the entire company, he found no trace of Tony.

"That kid hasn’t gone off somewhere to fool around again, has he?" Alex knew Tony’s character well. He was just like Howard in his youth—carefree and unruly, with his greatest hobby being surrounding himself with beautiful women.

Muttering to himself, Alex walked out of Stark Industries and thought, Should I do something drastic to Tony and turn him directly into Iron Man? Alex had actually considered it long ago, but Tony’s temperament had never settled down. Alex worried that if Tony became Iron Man, he would only become even more excessive, which was why he had never acted.

As he thought, Alex released his Psionic Power and continuously searched for Tony’s whereabouts.

"Huh?" He had not found Tony, but Alex did discover something unexpected: a mutant with a pair of wings who, judging by appearances, did not seem to belong to any mutant faction.

Guess who the newcomer is. It should be pretty easy to guess.