Time to Train

Watching the direction Mandarin had vanished into from afar, Alex let out a long sigh. Full of disappointment, he activated Teleportation. Instead of returning to New York, he went straight back to the Savage Land.

In the Floating Temple of the Savage Land, Crystal, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately ran over. The worry had yet to fade from her face as she grabbed Alex by the shoulders and asked impatiently, "How did it go, Alex?"

Alex glanced at Crystal, who was tightly hugging his arm to her chest. His expression shifted slightly, but he casually pulled his arm free and shook his head with a bitter smile. "He got away." Before Crystal could react, Alex walked deeper into the temple, cursing under his breath as he went. "That guy was too cunning. I couldn’t get an opening at all!"

Crystal did not realize how improper her earlier actions had been. She lifted her foot and hurried after Alex into the temple, her face still full of concern.

"You’re back?" The moment Alex entered the temple, Emma, who had been busy at the control console, turned around. She looked him over and asked with a light smile, "How did it go?"

Hearing Emma’s voice, Crystal, who had been practically pressed against Alex, shuddered all over and instantly came to her senses. She proactively put some distance between herself and Alex, though her clear eyes remained fixed on him.

Alex did not notice Crystal’s change behind him. Seeing Emma was like seeing family. He quickly strode over and dropped into the chair beside her, scratching his head as he said gloomily, "It was a failure. That guy had a way to block my Metal Control."

The reason Alex had fought Mandarin was for the ten magic rings on Mandarin’s hands. Unfortunately, not only had he failed in the end, he had nearly lost his life. Thinking back on that battle, Alex still felt lingering fear. He had been suppressed throughout the entire fight and only turned the situation around at the very end. It had truly been a close call.

Hearing Alex’s answer, Emma shrugged and said indifferently, "A failure is a failure. It’s not like you’re lacking such things."

Knowing that Emma had great confidence in him, Alex still blushed furiously at her words. With an embarrassed smile, he recounted the entire battle in great detail. When he finished, he sighed with feeling. "My abilities are still too limited."

The copying ability Alex had always relied on depended entirely on the powers he copied. Though it had improved repeatedly, with both its duration and the number of abilities he could copy increasing, its limitations were still enormous.

Energy Control, the special ability granted by the Terrigen Mist, was undeniably powerful and miraculous. However, since he had only acquired it recently and was not yet proficient, the amount of energy he could seize and control was limited. For now, it could only serve as a support ability.

Alex had always known about Teleportation’s flaw. It had cost him his life in his previous life, but in this life, due to the influence of the Tesseract, that flaw had almost been concealed. If not for this battle with Mandarin, Alex might have nearly forgotten about it.

"What, you finally want to train?" Emma looked at Alex meaningfully, a faint smile in her eyes. Alex had always been extremely lazy. With the miraculous ability of copying, he had been very lax about training and improving his own powers, usually working at it only sporadically. Emma had tried to persuade him several times, only for Alex to brush her off each time. She was truly delighted that he was finally thinking this way.

Alex also knew his own temperament. At Emma’s words, he smiled sheepishly, then nodded with a serious expression. "Yeah, it’s time to train and improve!" After his fight with Mandarin, Alex had clearly realized his shortcomings. In this dangerous world, the stronger his abilities were, the safer he would be.

"What do you have in mind?" Seeing Alex become serious, Emma’s smile faded as well. She suggested solemnly, "Why not go to the school to study and fill in the gaps? You might gain something."

It was extremely difficult for Alex’s various abilities to break through. Setting copying aside, Energy Control required slow, painstaking effort; it could not be accomplished overnight. Teleportation had already reached its peak. Alex could go anywhere on Earth he wanted. If he improved it further, was he supposed to start running into outer space?

His thoughts raced as Alex shook his head with a bitter smile. "I’ll strengthen my fighting ability first!" Mandarin’s close-combat skills had left an extremely deep impression on Alex. With no way to make breakthroughs in his other abilities, this was the only choice he could make.

"I’m afraid I can’t help with that!" Emma shook her head helplessly. Other areas were fine, but close combat was the weakness of all the X-Men. After all, the combat classes at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters had originally been taught by Alex. Although they later asked Nick Fury to bring in several fighting experts, combat was still a weak point.

Alex understood that as well. He nodded without minding it, though he was already thinking about how to train and strengthen his fighting ability. At the same time, he involuntarily asked, "How are things with the Brotherhood of Mutants?" After half a year of pressure and war, the Brotherhood of Mutants’ power had shrunk drastically, yet they still could not be eradicated completely.

"Same as always. We’ll just keep wearing them down slowly!" Emma shrugged, her face bitter. Then she turned and pointed at the control console. Her expression abruptly changed, becoming grave as she said, "What we need to consider now is AIM."

Alex turned his head and stared at Emma in surprise. "What has Strucker done this time?"

"He stole a large number of Tyrannosaurus Rexes and turned them into weapons of war. He’s clearly planning something big!" Emma pointed to AIM’s location on the holographic map, her unadorned face full of worry.

Because AIM possessed a devastating weapon capable of destroying the Savage Land’s ecosystem, Emma had never dared to make a move against AIM over the years. However, she had never relaxed her surveillance of them either. Strucker had kept his secrets extremely well, and it was only recently, when he could no longer conceal this dinosaur army, that Emma had finally learned of it.

"They’re just dinosaurs. What’s there to worry about?" Alex looked completely relaxed. The forest region of the Savage Land was the training ground for Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters’ students. No matter how powerful the dinosaurs were, they were only sparring partners for the X-Men.

The worry on Emma’s face deepened. Shaking her head, she said, "These dinosaurs aren’t ordinary dinosaurs. As far as I know, they’ve all been implanted with normal human minds and enhanced in various ways. They’ll be hard to deal with."

Alex was stunned for a moment, then laughed again. "Don’t worry. With me here, they’re perfect for practice!" To improve his fighting ability, he naturally needed combat. Strucker’s dinosaur army was a pillow delivered just as he was getting sleepy.

Seeing that Emma was still frowning, Alex gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said solemnly, "I’ve got this!"

Emma froze for a moment, then broke into a brilliant smile. She immediately relaxed.