"Cough—cough—!"
Sebastian Shaw's coughing echoed through the thick cloud of smoke filling the courtyard. Even though he could absorb enormous amounts of energy, the gas bombs Rorschach had thrown were not something he could neutralize instantly.
After all, his ability wasn't a ventilation system.
The irritating gas burned his throat and eyes, forcing him to stagger slightly as he tried to regain his composure.
Of course, Shaw's physical constitution was far stronger than that of an ordinary person. A few gas bombs alone could never defeat him.
That had never been Rorschach's intention.
From the beginning, the gas was meant only to delay Shaw.
Even if it couldn't incapacitate him, the smoke and irritation would still disrupt his movements long enough for the others to escape.
By the time Shaw fought through the coughing and burning haze, Rorschach and the rest of the mutants had already fled the courtyard.
Outside the building, the group quickly regrouped.
Everyone instinctively turned to look back toward the smoke-filled base.
When they realized Shaw had not followed them, several of them finally let out long breaths of relief.
The pressure they had felt in front of him had been overwhelming.
"Rorschach… where did you even get those things?" Darwin asked in confusion.
It made no sense for someone attending a casual party to suddenly pull out gas bombs.
"We'll talk about that after we get out of here," Rorschach replied quickly.
Without wasting time, he pulled out several more gas canisters and tossed them toward various exits around the building.
Hissssss—
More smoke began spreading through the surrounding corridors.
If Shaw managed to leave the courtyard quickly, he would still have to fight his way through additional clouds of irritating gas.
The thicker the fog, the longer it would delay him.
"Get out?" Angel asked nervously. "Where exactly are we going?"
"Anywhere except here," Rorschach said firmly. "This base has already been exposed. Staying here is suicide."
"He's right," Hank agreed immediately. "This place isn't safe anymore."
He pointed toward the parking lot.
"Follow me. I have a small supply car parked in Lot C. It's not very big, but we can squeeze in if necessary."
"That won't be necessary," Darwin said suddenly.
He walked toward several parked vehicles nearby while pulling out a keychain filled with small metal tools.
Among the keys were several thin pieces of metal most people wouldn't recognize.
But Darwin clearly knew exactly what they were for.
He crouched beside a Ford sedan and began working the lock.
Click.
Buzz.
The door popped open.
Bang!
At the same time, Siren had already shattered the window of another car with a burst of sound waves.
"Sorry!" he said hurriedly. "Are you done yet?"
Crash!
Elsewhere, Rorschach simply punched through the window of a third vehicle.
He turned to Darwin impatiently.
"Stop wasting time. You know how to hotwire a car, right? Hurry up."
He glanced around at the others.
"If anyone else has a trick like that, now would be a great time to use it."
Unfortunately, the cinematic trick of twisting a few wires together to start a car was far harder in reality than it looked in movies.
None of the others had that skill.
In the end, Darwin quickly hotwired two vehicles.
Everyone piled inside as fast as possible.
The engines roared to life.
Moments later, the cars sped away from the base, racing down the empty road.
Within minutes, their headlights vanished into the darkness of the night.
…
Back at the base.
Several minutes later, Shaw finally emerged from the lingering fog.
He leaned against the wall, coughing violently as tears streamed from his irritated eyes.
For someone who had just battled a group of mutants, the scene looked almost comical.
Once he regained control of his breathing, Shaw straightened up and looked around the courtyard.
The result was obvious.
The ground was littered with bodies.
But the mutants were gone.
Every single one of them had escaped.
Shaw's expression darkened immediately.
This operation had been a disaster.
Not only had he lost two of his most trusted subordinates, but he had also failed to recruit a single mutant.
He hadn't even begun the recruitment process before everything collapsed.
It was a complete failure.
The worst one Shaw had experienced in years.
"Rorschach…"
After a few seconds of silence, Shaw murmured the name slowly.
"That was his name, wasn't it?"
It was clear to him that this entire failure had been caused by one person.
That young mutant.
…
Meanwhile, far away from the base.
Two cars raced along a deserted highway before finally slowing down as they entered a small town.
Inside the vehicles, the atmosphere remained tense.
"Are we safe now?" Siren asked anxiously.
"How would I know?" someone else replied. "Just keep driving. Don't stop."
"There's a railway ahead. If we go any farther, it'll be a dead end."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I used to drive a taxi!"
Even though they had escaped, the fear from earlier still lingered heavily in everyone's minds.
They had witnessed something terrifying.
The CIA base—a place they once thought was untouchable—had been completely slaughtered.
Before coming there, most of them were simply teenagers who had barely experienced the real world.
Only Hank had any real professional background as a technical consultant.
What happened tonight would haunt them for a long time.
"Alright, everyone, calm down," Hank said, trying to steady the situation.
He glanced through the rear window repeatedly.
"I've been watching the road behind us. No cars are following."
He paused before adding quietly.
"So I think… we're safe."
The tension in the car loosened instantly.
Several people let out deep sighs.
"By the way… who were those guys?" someone asked.
"Yeah, they were clearly after us."
"Why would they want us?"
"I have no idea," another muttered, "but I swear I never want to see that helmet guy again in my life."
Once the immediate danger had passed, the young mutants quickly began talking over each other.
"Everyone!" Darwin shouted from the driver's seat, raising his voice over the noise.
"We can figure that out later."
He glanced back at them briefly.
"The real question right now is where we're going to stop and talk about what to do next."
At that exact moment, Rorschach heard a familiar notification in his mind.
[Mission Completed]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 300 Origin Points]
Rorschach kept his expression perfectly calm.
In front of the others, he showed no reaction at all.
Quietly, he opened the system interface.
The updated data appeared immediately.
[Host: Rorschach]
[Age: 16]
[Speed: 61 m/s]
[Strength: 15.2 tons]
[Physique: 144 (Average adult male: 10)]
[Mental Strength: 102 (Average adult male: 10)]
[Current Template: Homelander (Unlock Progress 2%)]
[Abilities: X-ray Vision (Elementary), Super Hearing (Elementary), Flight (Unlocked), Heat Vision (Unlocked)]
[Origin Points: 300]
The balance had increased exactly as expected.
A new prompt appeared.
[Host possesses available Origin Points. Would you like to strengthen immediately?]
There was nothing to hesitate about.
"Enhance," Rorschach answered internally.
The system responded instantly.
[Host: Rorschach]
[Age: 16]
[Speed: 85 m/s]
[Strength: 39.2 tons]
[Physique: 204 (Average adult male: 10)]
[Mental Strength: 162 (Average adult male: 10)]
[Current Template: Homelander (Unlock Progress 5%)]
[Abilities: X-ray Vision (Elementary), Super Hearing (Elementary), Flight (Unlocked), Heat Vision (Unlocked)]
[Origin Points: 0]
The numbers changed across the panel.
At the same moment, Rorschach could clearly feel the surge of strength spreading through his body.
Every physical attribute had improved dramatically once again.
.....
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