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*****
He doesn't need them.
Just a simple sentence, yet it sent a chill through Walter's entire body.
He looked at the men huddled in the corner. Although he was terrified of them, he knew with absolute clarity that if he revealed even a shred of fear right now, the man kneeling before him would be an example of his own fate.
And so, he mustered his courage and, in a voice as calm and cold as he could manage, slowly said, "This man is under my protection from now on. None of you are to touch him."
Damn it, where did he get this courage?
Walter questioned himself inwardly, his heart pounding like thunder.
But after hearing his words, the other criminals actually revealed suggestive smiles and said fawningly to Walter, "Of course, sir."
As long as they weren't the ones being killed, anything was permissible.
Hearing this, Allen, who was still kneeling, was momentarily stunned. He felt both relief and a new sense of fear. He glanced carefully at Walter and said in a low, submissive voice, "Sir, my name is Allen."
Walter nodded and said to Allen, "Get up."
Allen, out of habit, revealed a fawning smile. He slowly stood up and sat down on Walter's bed.
Seeing this, Walter's heart began to hammer.
What should he do next? Accept? Or refuse? If he refused, would it expose his cover?
Just as he was agonizing over it...
"BOOM!"
The wall right next to him was blasted open. Several fully-armed individuals appeared before them, met by the terrified gazes of the other inmates.
"Who is Walter!" the leader, a brawny man, demanded coldly. His gaze swept across everyone in the cell. When he saw everyone's eyes turn toward Walter, who was sitting on the bed, his cold gaze snapped to him. Then, he paused, slightly stunned.
He saw Walter sitting calmly on the bed, looking as if he had fully anticipated someone would come to rescue him. The leader couldn't help but nod, praising, "Truly worthy of being the man captured by the Avengers. Impressive indeed."
Impressive? Impressive my ass!
I was just scared stiff and had no idea what reaction to make. And also, what are you people here for? What do you want from me?
Just then, he saw the leader walk over to him and say, "Mr. Walter, please come with us. Our boss wants to see you to discuss a very important matter!"
Boss? Important matter?
Walter screamed internally, but he didn't dare refuse. He didn't even dare to show the slightest hint of fear, lest he be shot in the head on the spot. Listening to the sounds of combat outside, Walter was terrified beyond belief.
And so, he could only move his body with great difficulty, slowly inching his way off the bed, all the while roaring in his mind.
I don't want to leave here at all! Guards, guards, come save me!
Watching Walter's deliberate movements, the mercenary leader's eyes flashed with renewed astonishment.
Truly impressive. Even in a situation like this, he maintains his calm, constantly exuding an air of unhurried composure.
But Walter was destined to be disappointed. The weapons these people had brought to "rescue" him were far too advanced. They were completely suppressing the prison guards. By the time he had dawdled and shuffled his way to the large, blasted hole in the wall, the prison guards had still failed to break through the mercenaries' line of fire.
Suddenly, Walter stopped. He looked over at Allen, who was cowering to the side, and commanded, "You, come with me."
Damn it, he needed an assistant, and this Allen fellow looked a bit dim-witted. He seemed like a good candidate...
Allen was stunned, and then his face lit up with ecstatic joy.
He, a man who was supposed to rot in prison until he died, actually had a chance to leave this place. To him, this was nothing short of a gift from God.
The way he looked at Walter completely changed.
Walter nodded faintly and stepped out.
He was starting to understand. If he wanted to live, he absolutely had to maintain his current "super-criminal" persona. Otherwise, the only thing waiting for him was a dead end.
But... he really regretted it.
If he hadn't decided to steal that car that one night, he would still be a happy, carefree car thief right now.
"Rat-tat-tat!"
"Boom! Boom!"
Walter walked out of the cell, feeling as if he had just stepped onto a battlefield.
He looked around, his eyelids twitching.
The prison had descended into utter chaos. Inmates were being released from their cells one after another and were now fighting fiercely with the prison guards. The team of fully-armed men who had come for him acted like a sharp blade, using their advanced weapons and equipment to suppress the guards so completely that they couldn't even catch their breath.
"We must go, Mr. Walter. This prison is in complete chaos. It's likely to attract the attention of superheroes."
Superheroes?
Walter's legs nearly gave out, but he simply nodded with a calm expression.
"How are we leaving? Do we need to fight our way out?" As he said this, a faint smile even touched his face.
The mercenary leader's mouth twitched. "No, please follow me."
With that, he led the secretly relieved Walter to a nearby armored vehicle, and they charged toward the prison exterior.
As long as they could get outside the prison's perimeter, they could directly board a helicopter and leave.
They took several vehicles, fanning out as they departed the prison grounds. Just as Walter's group was preparing to transfer to their helicopter, the superheroes finally arrived: the Fantastic Four and several Avengers.
Faced with these criminals—who, although ferocious, were still just ordinary humans—the heroes were like tigers pouncing on a flock of sheep. With overwhelming power, they brought the prison riot under control.
Although many criminals had participated in the riot, numbering in the hundreds or even thousands, they only managed to delay the superheroes for a few minutes.
"Some of the criminals have escaped. I'll go get them back."
Pietro rubbed his feet on the ground and vanished from where he stood, like a gust of wind.
At the same time, the Human Torch flamed on and soared into the sky, joining Pietro in pursuit of the escapees.
Steve looked over at Mr. Fantastic, who was nearby, and gave him a nod. He then led Natasha, Barton, and Sam (Falcon), along with Wanda, to start helping the prison guards round up the inmates.
This was New York's largest prison, and this incident was going to have extremely severe consequences.
"The fortunate thing is, there weren't any major super-criminals here. Otherwise, this would be real trouble," Natasha commented lightly.
Most of the super-criminals were incarcerated in the deep-sea prison.
A nearby prison guard, hearing Natasha's remark, corrected her: "We actually do have a super-criminal here. One was just transferred in today, named Walter. He's that super-criminal you all cornered."
Walter?
Cornered by the Avengers?
Had they cornered any major super-criminals lately?
The group thought about it and shook their heads. It didn't seem so. But they had captured a lot of people; perhaps it was someone from a while back who had just been transferred here.
"Let's not get distracted. Keep an eye on these criminals," Steve said. He glanced at the time and added, "Given the military's reaction speed, they should be arriving soon."
Once the military arrived, they could leave.
The others nodded.
Meanwhile, Walter had already been carried far away.
He had considered finding an opportunity to escape on the way, but he hadn't anticipated they'd be taking a helicopter, which gave him absolutely no chance.
Although this was his first time in a helicopter—which might normally be something to be happy about—the moment he thought about flying to an unknown location to meet the boss of these ferocious and terrifying mercenaries, all of his internal organs couldn't help but tremble.
He, Walter, was terrified.
Somebody, please, save him.
Finally, after some time, the helicopter they were in landed on the roof of a large building.
The mercenary captain disembarked and said to Walter, "Mr. Walter, you will now go to meet our boss."
Walter nodded faintly, motioned for Allen to follow, and then, with a heavy heart, trailed after them.
They arrived at the top floor of the building. Upon reaching a luxurious office, the mercenary captain gestured for Walter to go inside, but then held out an arm to block Allen.
Walter walked in, trembling with apprehension.
When he entered the office, he saw someone sitting in a floating chair, wearing a jeweled headband, with an incomparably large head.
He was stunned for a moment. Looking at the person's strange and comical appearance, he secretly took a breath, put on the cold-faced expression he had been practicing all the way, and said slowly, "Thank you for saving me."
"Saving you? No, I merely provided a small amount of help. With your abilities, you would have been able to escape from that place on your own soon enough."
Escape my ass! Besides, that place was perfectly fine! Walter roared in his heart.
"Oh, by the way, you can call me M.O.D.O.K."
The large-headed M.O.D.O.K. said casually, then immediately continued in an excited tone, "I need you to join my project. Are you interested?"
Walter's heart was bitter. Did he dare to not be interested?
"Tell me about it," he said, affecting a relaxed tone.
"The Nano Project," M.O.D.O.K. said with a smile, and then suddenly asked, "By the way, what abilities do you have? What was the reason the Avengers cornered you?"
Walter: "..."
He fell silent.
What "abilities" did he have?! He was cornered because of... car theft?
"I was discovered while I was stealing the property of the Avengers."
M.O.D.O.K. stared intently at Walter, and then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Haha, so, you are a high-IQ talent, just like me! Exactly as I thought!"
M.O.D.O.K. laughed with glee, then suddenly said, "It's a pity you didn't succeed. By the way, what area of research do you specialize in?"
Walter: "..."
Does researching how to hotwire a car count?
He remained silent, not knowing how to answer. M.O.D.O.K., however, interpreted this as him protecting his secrets.
So, he smiled, unconcerned, and said, "I am currently researching nano-suits, similar to the ones Tony Stark has. I hope you can provide me with some assistance, specifically, help me solve the energy problem."
"Iron Man?" Walter was startled, and then he subconsciously blurted out, "Why a suit? Can't you just turn people into nano-warriors?"
"Turn people into... nano-warriors?" M.O.D.O.K.'s eyes lit up. He exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "You truly are a genius!"
Walter: "..."
I just said that off the top of my head.
But M.O.D.O.K. was already spinning around excitedly in his floating chair. He said to Walter, "You go and rest for now. I'm going to try this idea immediately! If this succeeds, you will be the single greatest contributor!"
With that, he hurriedly piloted his floating chair through a secret passage in the office and departed.
Walter let out a sigh of relief.
Regardless of what had just happened, he had passed this particular test, at least for now.
Later... he absolutely must find a chance to escape!
...
Early in the morning, at the Kent residence.
A sleepy-eyed Gwen came downstairs, yawning.
She had been out fighting crime with her little buddies last night, and as a result, she could barely wake up this morning.
However, she had officially graduated from elementary school. She was now about to enjoy a long, three-month happy vacation.
No being late, no classes...
Just thinking about it made her happy.
"I'll go back to sleep right after breakfast," Gwen muttered.
She ambled toward the dining room, and then her footsteps abruptly stopped. She took two steps back, peering into the living room.
Her somewhat hazy, sleepy eyes instantly widened.
She saw that little Lamb was already learning to walk, holding onto the sofa for support.
"He's grown again!" Gwen cried out in surprise.
It had already been a week since her graduation ceremony. Calculating based on little Lamb's growth rate...
Was little Lamb already ten months old?
In that case, it was perfectly normal for him to start learning to walk.
Moreover, little Lamb had also inherited the Kryptonian physique.
"I'm so envious," Gwen muttered under her breath.
"What are you standing there in a daze for? Hurry up and eat your breakfast, and wash the dishes while you're at it," Mike, who was watching little Lamb, called out to Gwen.
"Oh!"
"Status dropping, my status is dropping..." Gwen replied, walking into the dining room, still muttering non-stop.
"At this rate, I won't have any time to flex my 'big sister' authority before little Lamb becomes a big kid... No, that's not right! Little Lamb might grow up to be even bigger than me!"
"Hehe, that's pretty good too. When little Lamb grows up, I can take him out to pick up girls."
Gwen mumbled happily to herself. As she thought of this pleasant scenario, she couldn't help but take a large bite of her bread.
Raven, coming out of the kitchen, heard Gwen's quiet muttering and couldn't help but smile.
"Ding-dong!"
Just then, their doorbell rang.
Raven walked to the door, opened it, and smiled when she saw Emma standing on the doorstep. She gave her a light hug and said, "Come in, dear."
Emma's icy expression warmed slightly. After following Raven into the house, she asked, "Where's Mike?"
Raven pointed toward the living room. Her gaze sharpened as she noticed Emma's expression, and she asked with concern, "Did something happen?"
Logically, shouldn't Emma be busy preparing for her wedding right now? Had something unexpected happened?
Emma nodded, her face grim. "Logan has lost contact."
"Lost contact? What happened?" Raven's expression immediately turned serious.
Emma gestured toward Mike, who was now looking over, and said, "Let's just say it together."
Mike sat on the sofa, holding little Lamb. He asked Emma as she approached, "What's wrong?"
Emma sat down and said quickly, "Logan has lost contact. It's been two days."
"Two days? Could it be that he's just busy, so..."
"No!" Emma said with absolute certainty. "Logan promised that this time he went to Japan, he would call me every single day. And he was doing just that for the first few days, calling me right on time."
"But the night before last, it was very abnormal; he didn't contact me. At first, I thought he just got busy and forgot. But then he didn't call last night either. And when I tried to call him, his phone wouldn't go through."
Emma unconsciously bit her lip.
"This is highly abnormal. So, I used the brainwave device to search for him. The result... I can't find him at all."
Hearing this, Mike's expression turned grim.
That was very wrong.
He looked at Emma and said, "Then we're going to Japan."
(End of this chapter)