Half an hour later, everyone gathered at headquarters.
Lucian had already changed back from Atomix. He was sprawled out on the sofa, comfortably reading a book.
The novel was called The Strongest Evolution of the Alien Stranger, written by Jin Lingzi. It told the story of a brave, quick-witted young man who punished evil and defended the innocent.
It was an intensely thrilling adventure story.
Lucian was completely engrossed in it.
"Cuz, what you did just now was seriously awesome!"
At that moment, Brother Ben walked in, his face full of admiration.
Gwendolyn flew in through the door as well, bringing Ben and Gwen with her.
"Cuz is super cool!" Gwendolyn said loudly, giving him a thumbs-up.
"Those ten Way Bigs were wiped out just like that. Dr. Animo must've been furious, right?" Future Lucian said with a slight smile, clearly just as excited.
Hearing that, Ben burst out laughing. "No, no. Dr. Animo didn't die of anger. Cuz blew him up to death. Hahaha!"
"Hahahaha!" Everyone roared with laughter.
"By the way, Cuz, what's your new hero called? He's way too awesome!" Ben asked eagerly.
At some point, the novel in Lucian's hand had ended up covering his face. From underneath it came four muffled words.
"Atomix."
"Cool! That name is amazing!" Ben cheered. He looked cool, fought hard, and even his name was this flashy.
After that, everyone went back to chatting.
Gwendolyn suddenly froze, as if she had just remembered something, and quickly said, "Today is Grandpa's 80th birthday. We still haven't celebrated it yet."
Brother Ben scratched his head. "Right! Look at my memory. Hurry, let's set it up!"
...
One minute later.
Ben 10000 Headquarters, Control Room.
With the help of the three XLR8s, an elaborate birthday party was put together at incredible speed, almost like riding a rocket.
A delicious birthday cake sat there covered in candles, with all kinds of snacks arranged around it, giving off an irresistible aroma.
The family of four. No, seven, sat around the dining table, laughing and chatting in high spirits.
"Grandpa, happy birthday!" everyone said in unison.
Grandpa Max, his hair already gray, smiled kindly. "Seeing all of you together is the best 80th birthday gift I could ask for."
The screen in the control room suddenly lit up.
"Sorry, Brother Ben. Danger alert. The Circus Freak has appeared in Special Zone 92J and is causing trouble."
Ultimo's face appeared on the screen.
Brother Ben paused for a moment, then gave a sly grin, draping an arm around Grandpa's shoulders. "Can't you see I'm celebrating Grandpa's birthday? You guys handle it."
"Really?" Ultimo was stunned. Based on past experience, Brother Ben always handled these things himself and never let anyone else interfere.
"What, you can't deal with it?" Brother Ben shot back.
"No, I mean, no problem!" As soon as he said that, Ultimo disappeared at once, afraid Brother Ben might change his mind.
The screen went silent again.
Gwen looked thoughtful and turned to Gwendolyn. "The crisis you mentioned before probably had nothing to do with Vilgax. It's Brother Ben's attitude that really needs fixing."
"You're very smart, Gwen." Gwendolyn said, gently patting her hair.
Half an hour later, the birthday party came to an end.
Gwendolyn opened a temporal passage, preparing to send them back to their original world.
Before leaving, Future Lucian, wearing an old face flushed red like a ripe apple, shuffled up to Lucian and awkwardly asked him for some Atomix liquid.
Seeing how bashful Future Lucian was, Lucian just smiled and didn't mind at all.
As expected of someone in research. He probably hardly ever goes out, being that shy.
Even though he kills monsters without blinking.
Lucian pressed the Omnitrix and openly transformed into Atomix.
Then he gave Future Lucian a big barrel of nuclear energy liquid, enough to keep him researching for years.
Anyway, Atomix would recover after a while, so for Lucian, this amount was nothing at all.
But for Future Lucian, it was like finding a priceless treasure.
He hugged the specially made glass container in his arms, so excited he could hardly contain himself, and kept thanking Lucian again and again.
Then he took off running toward the lab, hair all messy, looking exactly like a mad scientist.
"Cuz, please don't mind him. That's just how Lucian is, haha. We're all used to it," Brother Ben said with an embarrassed smile.
"It's fine." Lucian waved it off.
"Alright, the passage is about to close. You should get going," Gwendolyn said, standing beside the portal with her robes fluttering.
"Okay."
"Wait." Brother Ben stopped them, walked over to Ben, pulled out a Rubik's Cube with a red button on it, and handed it to him.
"What is this?" Ben asked, confused.
"It's something I should've given Grandpa twenty years ago." Brother Ben patted Ben on the shoulder. "Go on. Grandpa is still waiting for you."
Ben nodded solemnly, then entered the golden temporal passage with Lucian and the others, disappearing from sight.
...
A clear stream. An old, beat-up RV sat quietly by the bank like a lonely sparrow.
Grandpa Max came walking out of the deep mountains with a bundle of firewood over his shoulder.
A bleak wind swept past. There was no one around, and for a moment Grandpa Max felt strangely abandoned.
"Huh? Where did everyone go?" Grandpa Max muttered in confusion.
Suddenly, a strange sound came from behind him, like a fan spinning, as if the gears of fate had started turning.
Grandpa Max turned around, and his eyes immediately shifted.
At some point, Lucian and the other two were already standing behind him.
"Grandpa!"
Ben and Gwen rushed forward impatiently and threw their arms around him.
Grandpa Max chuckled and patted them on the back.
It somehow felt like they'd been apart for a very long time.
Well, whatever. You spoil your own grandkids.
At that moment, Lucian took out the Rubik's Cube and pressed the button on it.
Whoooom.
The cube spun rapidly and transformed into a pink birthday cake, its sweet aroma spreading everywhere.
"Grandpa, happy birthday!"
Grandpa Max froze for a moment and slowly lifted his eyes. The confusion in them gradually gave way to joy and emotion.
In the end, the four of them celebrated Grandpa's 60th birthday by the stream.
They talked and laughed, their voices full of cheer as they ate sweet cake together, wrapped in the warmth of family.
Lucian was happy too. Besides the family warmth in front of him, he had gained quite a lot from that trip to the future timeline.
First, he had unlocked the Atomix gene. Later, he had also received a random hero chest, which he still hadn't opened.
Before they left, Future Lucian had also given him a necklace.
Thinking of that, Lucian pulled a silver necklace from his pocket.
Its design was simple, shaped like a snowflake, a hexagon with intricate patterns carved into it.
According to Future Lucian, he couldn't just take Lucian's liquid for nothing, so he gave him the necklace in return as thanks.
Lucian had originally wanted to refuse. He didn't have a habit of wearing necklaces.
But the moment Future Lucian heard that, he panicked.
"My necklace isn't ordinary at all. It can instantly summon a Gundam!"
Lucian accepted it on the spot.
Then he asked what the Gundam was called.
Future Lucian curled his lips into a smile and slowly said, "White Snow Princess!"
Ben had also gained a lot from this experience. He had seen his future self in a near-obsessed state, having lost the innocence of his younger years and lacking care for his family.
That served as a warning to Ben, so he wouldn't go down the wrong path in the future.
And to show his gratitude, Brother Ben had input the genes of three new heroes for him.
They were Sandbox, Toad Beast, and Arctiguana.
Toad Beast was that giant toad.
As for Gwen, Gwendolyn gave her a copy of The Five Elements Magic. Besides water magic, it also recorded spells for fire, earth, wood, and metal.
As long as she trained properly, Gwen's strength would increase dramatically.
After the birthday celebration ended, the group set out once again.