Turning the Tables

"How did they know?" Alex could not make sense of it. He stared at Erik in astonishment, then suddenly an idea sprang into his mind. "Maybe we can use this chance to wipe them all out!"

The more Alex thought about it, the brighter his eyes became. Excitement appeared in his gaze as he looked at Erik. He crouched down and leaned close to Erik’s ear, whispering, "Erik, I…"

Alex’s voice grew softer and softer, while a trace of delight gradually appeared on Erik’s face. He looked up at Alex, nodded firmly, and said loudly, "All right. I’ll definitely complete the mission."

As he spoke, Erik was about to jump out of bed, but Alex quickly reached out and pressed him back down. "Don’t rush. It’s not time yet."

After the earlier battle, Sebastian Shaw had already suffered grievous losses. There was little point in kicking him while he was down, and it did not fit Alex’s plan to catch them all in one sweep. He would wait until Sebastian Shaw brought in more people before carrying out the plan.

The next day, Alex brought Erik to the camp’s open ground as though nothing had happened. Natasha lay in the sun by the wall while Logan sat beside her. Human Torch was still hiding alone in a corner, playing the brooding loner. Steve and Nick were training in the open ground as usual, except Quicksilver had joined them.

"Where’s Namor? He still hasn’t returned?" After searching around without finding Namor, Alex frowned. A whole night had passed. At Namor’s speed, he should have been back long ago.

"Who knows?" Natasha shrugged, her pretty face casual. "Maybe he couldn’t stand it here and went back to Atlantis to be emperor."

Alex nodded without giving it much thought. It would actually be better for the team if that thorn in their side, Namor, had left. After a brief greeting, Alex walked out of the camp and headed toward Howard’s laboratory.

The success of the plan still depended on one crucial item, and he needed Howard’s help to get it. Alex had no desire to end up like Shaw, failing to kill someone only to be killed himself.

"Restricting Teleportation?" Hearing Alex’s request, Howard shook his head without hesitation, looking helpless. "We’ve never worked in that field. Making what you want will probably be difficult."

"Difficult?" Alex found that strange. Both Hydra and the Hellfire Club seemed capable of making devices that restricted Teleportation. He had thought they would be easy to manufacture.

Seeing the doubt on Alex’s face, Howard became somewhat agitated, and his voice unconsciously rose. "Of course it’s difficult! This involves spatial science. It’s incredibly complicated. It requires…"

Seeing Howard grow increasingly excited, apparently ready to launch into a lengthy explanation, Alex wisely chose to retreat. Once outside the laboratory, he thought for a moment and remembered someone else.

The moment he emerged from Teleportation, Alex hurried over to the respectfully waiting Strucker and asked bluntly, "Strucker, does Hydra have any devices that can restrict Teleportation?"

Before Strucker could answer, Alex grabbed a gun from a nearby lab bench, gestured with it a few times, and continued, "I once saw Red Skull with equipment like that. He wanted to imprison me, but he failed in the end, and I survived."

Beneath Strucker’s lowered head, a sharp glint flashed through his respectful eyes, vanishing in an instant.

"There are indeed such devices, but their effectiveness has yet to be confirmed." Strucker raised his head slightly and secretly studied Alex’s expression. "We lack the necessary test subjects, so we haven’t actually conducted many human experiments."

Alex hesitated at that. He wanted a one-hundred-percent chance of success. But on second thought, using them at least gave him a chance. If he did not use them, then there would be no chance at all.

"Then set up several of them. If one isn’t enough, use two. If two aren’t enough, use four." Alex spoke bluntly. "This time, I’m definitely taking down Shaw and all his mutants!"

"Master, are you going to war with the Hellfire Club?" Strucker suddenly interjected. His voice was quiet, and his expression became strange.

Alex’s brow furrowed slightly. He looked at Strucker, nodded, and asked in surprise, "What is it?"

"I heard that the Hellfire Club will be receiving powerful reinforcements. Master should be careful."

Alex’s expression shifted slightly, but he quickly calmed down and asked evenly, "Powerful reinforcements? Who are they?"

"I don’t know." Strucker’s expression turned exceptionally grave, and his tone grew heavy. "It is said that they are all Level 4 Mutants. They are extremely dangerous."

Alex appeared not to care about Strucker’s words at all, as though he had forgotten them the moment he turned around. In a stern tone, he said, "Get everything ready for me. When I need it, I’ll come collect it." After pausing for several seconds, Alex emphasized, "Remember to prepare plenty. The more, the better."

In truth, Alex was not as calm as he looked. Strucker’s words had affected him deeply. Level 4 Mutants could practically sweep through their entire group.

After leaving Strucker, Alex returned to the Howling Commandos camp. Namor, who had been gone all night, had actually appeared. With his arms crossed over his chest, he glared resentfully at the suddenly appearing Alex, the blazing fury in his eyes seeming ready to burn Alex alive.

Alex kept his head lowered and did not spare Namor even a glance. He slowly paced back and forth across the grounds, seemingly deep in thought.

When Namor realized he was being ignored so completely, he nearly exploded with rage. He let out a furious roar and suddenly moved, charging rapidly toward Alex.

Just as the two were about to collide, the prepared Steve threw his shield in time, forcing Namor back. The others also rushed over, all standing together beside Alex.

"Namor, what are you doing?" Of everyone present, Quicksilver was the angriest. He regarded Alex as his idol, and seeing his idol bullied was unbearable. He was just short of rolling up his sleeves and fighting Namor.

Steve had tolerated Namor several times before, but even he now felt a little dissatisfied. "Namor!"

Namor craned his neck and straightened his back, glaring fiercely at Alex. Then, full of unwillingness, he turned and left. As he walked away, he still shouted, "I’ll prove myself! Namor is stronger than him—one hundred times stronger, one thousand times stronger, ten thousand times stronger!"

Perhaps Namor’s voice was too loud, waking Alex from his tangled thoughts. Alex turned to look around, his face grave. "We just received word that the Hellfire Club is preparing to send additional reinforcements."

He looked around and found that no one’s expression had changed. They seemed not to have taken his words to heart at all. Alex secretly rejoiced, yet he still had to pour cold water over them. "It is said that they are all Level 4 Mutants."

Everyone’s expressions finally changed slightly, though they still seemed rather casual. "So what if they’re Level 4 Mutants? What’s the big deal?"

"What’s the big deal? Even if they come, it won’t matter!" Seeing that everyone wore roughly the same expression, Alex smiled. Their morale was excellent!

P.S. Something came up at Scorpion’s home. He had been busy all day and had no time at all. This chapter was rushed out overnight, so he hoped everyone would understand. Including the chapter owed from before, he was short by two updates in total. Scorpion would try to make them up tomorrow.

Also, the bookmarks have stopped moving. Please bookmark it more, everyone. Thank you!