The strange new field of vision amazed Layla.
However, her powerful combat instincts and sharp neural responses immediately turned this unfamiliar sensation into a battlefield advantage.
In that instant, various weapon diagrams and operational instructions appeared directly in her mind.
The Scarab was transmitting neural signals, allowing Layla to quickly understand the basic functions of the armor.
Layla raised her arm.
Her right forearm rapidly transformed, reshaping itself into a circular cannon barrel.
The five criminals stared at her in confusion.
A pale blue glow began to gather inside the cannon.
Before they could react—
Rings of blue-white energy shot out from the barrel.
The waves struck the criminals directly.
All five were blasted backward, slammed into the wall, and collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Layla stood there, stunned.
This suit immediately reminded her of the flying armored hero in New York—
Iron Man.
She quickly turned toward Lucas.
But he was already gone.
---
At that moment, Lucas had already arrived outside the hospital, standing beside the police car that had earlier been blasted off the road by an RPG.
Inside the wrecked vehicle were four officers, all unconscious and bleeding.
Lucas tore the twisted car door open with his bare hands.
Then he carefully pulled each officer out of the vehicle.
"Who exactly are you?!"
Layla rushed outside wearing the Blue Beetle armor. She had also come to rescue her injured colleagues.
Faced with the classic question, Lucas glanced at an officer whose thigh had been pierced and replied calmly:
"You should focus on getting your colleagues into the hospital first."
Bang!
A blur flashed.
Lucas suddenly raised his hand to his temple.
A large-caliber sniper bullet had stopped between two of his fingers.
Only after that did the sound of the gunshot reach them.
"A sniper!" Layla shouted.
But Lucas had already vanished.
---
On a skyscraper 1,600 meters away, a man wearing a baseball cap and mask had already leapt off the building.
A glider deployed from his back as he attempted to escape.
He didn't even bother retrieving his sniper rifle.
Through his high-powered scope, he had just witnessed something terrifying.
But before he could glide more than a few hundred meters—
A voice cut clearly through the roaring wind.
"Flying through the sky… feels wonderful, doesn't it?"
Lucas was hovering beside him casually.
"!!!"
The sniper turned his head, eyes wide with shock.
The powerful airflow prevented him from speaking.
"Want to talk?"
Lucas smiled slightly.
"Let me help you."
Lucas wrapped the man in his ki, shielding him from the wind.
Both of them stopped midair, floating hundreds of meters above the ground.
They stared at each other.
"Not talking?"
Lucas stroked his chin.
Then his smile vanished.
His eyes became cold and deep—like black holes pulling the sniper's consciousness inward.
"Who sent you?" Lucas asked calmly.
"…"
The sniper remained silent.
Lucas narrowed his eyes.
This wasn't a traditional mind-control technique, but ordinary humans couldn't resist his mental pressure.
Although he couldn't read memories, he could easily force someone into a confused truth-speaking state.
Then Lucas suddenly realized something.
The next second—
He vanished.
---
Moments later, Lucas reappeared in the living room of his house, dragging the sniper with him.
"Elaine, take a look at this guy and find out who sent him," Lucas said while pouring himself a glass of cola from the refrigerator.
Elaine looked up from the ancient book she was reading.
"Do you really have nothing better to do?"
She sighed.
"Honestly, anyone who knows you would have to be insane to send an ordinary human to assassinate you."
"So the more likely explanation is that you were just caught in the crossfire."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Lucas said as he dropped onto the sofa.
"But I'm curious who the real target was."
Suddenly, the sniper slowly stood up and spoke.
"I'm just a hired killer. I accepted a contract from the Dark Web."
"Alpha, trace the client who posted the contract," Lucas said.
[Understood, Boss.]
Within ten seconds, multiple data windows appeared before Lucas.
[Primary client: Augustine Hayden. Resident of Casper, Wyoming. Identity confirmed to have been stolen.]
[Secondary identity used: Horace Wolf. Resident of Hondo, New Mexico. Also confirmed as identity theft.]
After eliminating more than ten layers of fake identities, a final profile appeared.
[Wallace Garrison. Resident of Kingman, Arizona. All evidence traces back to him.]
"Good," Lucas said.
"Where is he now?"
Lucas had absolutely zero tolerance for anyone targeting his town.
Anyone who dared reach even a single finger toward it—
He would reduce them and their entire organization to dust.
After a brief pause, Alpha replied:
[Apologies, Boss. Wallace Garrison has just been officially confirmed dead.]
Lucas laughed.
"What a neat little cleanup operation."
"Only large organizations work this meticulously."
"Interesting. Very interesting."
Alpha spoke again.
[Boss, while reviewing surveillance footage from the area where Wallace Garrison died, I identified a suspicious individual.]
[Data analysis suggests a 65.47% probability that she was responsible for his death.]
[However, the system cannot determine the method she used.]
Lucas leaned forward.
"You can analyze something like that?"
Normally, even Jarvis wouldn't be able to make such a conclusion from this data alone.
[Boss, I was created by Phastos. He added numerous mystical-analysis models to my database.]
"I see. That explains it."
Lucas turned to the enhanced footage.
The video showed a completely ordinary woman sitting inside a café several kilometers away from Wallace's location.
She calmly snapped her fingers.
According to Alpha's 3D spatial reconstruction, the direction she was facing pointed exactly toward Wallace's location.
And at the exact moment her fingers snapped—
Wallace Garrison collapsed to the ground.
His life signs disappeared instantly.
....
Translator's Note:
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— Translator-Sama