Chapter 225: You Think You're That Strong?

Under the watchful gaze of the Schwarzenegger-like mutant, Alex strode confidently toward the hidden research facility’s entrance, Charles and Hank close behind.

For a place so clearly top-secret, they expected fortified gates, armed guards, maybe even drones in the sky.

Instead—

Nothing.

The entrance stood eerily silent and completely unguarded.

Clang!

The thick metal door creaked open on its own.

Charles and Hank exchanged wary glances. The message was obvious.

They knew we were coming.
And they want us inside.

“Cheap theatrics,” Alex muttered, stepping through the doorway without hesitation.

The door slammed shut behind them with an echoing finality. Ahead stretched a single path—a dimly lit corridor leading into the unknown.

They followed it until it opened into a cavernous underground hall.

Dozens of mutants lounged casually against the walls, watching them like predators waiting to pounce.

At the center stood a tall man with golden hair slicked into a sharp undercut, dressed in combat gear tailored like a designer suit. He looked relaxed, smug, like someone throwing a party in his own domain.

"Well, well… if it isn’t the legendary Alex Winters," he drawled, tone laced with mockery. "Invulnerable skin. Supersonic flight. Heat vision. X-ray sight. Maybe even telepathy? No wonder they say you’re the strongest. To most, you’re basically a god."

He flashed a wicked grin.

"Too bad I’m not most people."

Charles stepped forward, face tight. “You’re mutants too. Why are you attacking your own kind?”

The man barked a laugh. "My kind? Those weaklings don’t deserve to stand beside me.”

BOOM!

The floor cracked beneath Alex’s feet as he lunged forward like a missile. A compressed shockwave rippled through the air as his fist rocketed toward the man’s throat—

But it collided with glittering crystal.

In the blink of an eye, the blond man’s entire body had shifted—skin transformed into a dense, diamond-like armor.

CRACK!

The impact launched him like a cannonball through a reinforced wall, leaving a crater in the concrete.

Dust rained from the ceiling.

Alex stood unmoving, voice flat. “You think you’re strong?”

From the rubble, the diamond-skinned man—Nocturne—staggered upright, clutching at his fractured chest. The spiderweb of cracks across his torso shimmered under the lights.

"Impossible…" he muttered.

Diamond was among the hardest substances on Earth. And Alex had shattered it with one punch.

Gasps rippled through the surrounding mutants.

This was Nocturne—one of the Master's elite Horsemen. A weapon custom-built to fight Alex.

And he’d been flattened in seconds.

Hank’s brow furrowed behind his glasses. “Diamond form... and wait—heat vision?”

Because right then, Nocturne’s eyes flared bright red.

ZZZZAP!

Twin beams of searing heat shot toward Alex like twin lasers.

Charles tensed.

They’re just like Alex’s.

But Alex didn’t even blink.

His smirk returned.

His eyes glowed—

ZZZZAP!

Twin crimson rays burst forth, colliding with Nocturne’s in a thunderous clash of raw power.

The air between them sizzled and cracked as the two energy streams battled for dominance.

For a heartbeat, the beams held each other in perfect equilibrium—

Then Alex leaned forward.

And his heat vision surged.

Nocturne’s attack buckled, bent—

—shattered.

BOOOOOOM!

Fire consumed him.