Killing Enemies with a Thrown Pillar

"Trying to run? It won't be that easy!"

Hawking struck a pose and fired another Kamehameha, blowing up one of the combat helicopters.

Those were precious Justice Points. How could he let them get away?

But after firing that blast, he could clearly feel that his body could no longer gather enough energy for a second Kamehameha.

He looked around, quickly fixing his gaze on a decorative stone pillar to the left of the school castle.

He ran over and chopped the pillar above and below with his hand, swiftly cutting it free. Then, aiming at the last combat helicopter, now almost no more than a tiny black dot, he shouted and hurled it with all his strength.

The four-meter-long, half-meter-wide stone pillar shot forward under Hawking's full force like a missile, flying straight toward that nearly invisible black dot.

"Boom!"

The last combat helicopter also blossomed into a beautiful burst of fire in the sky.

Thirteen-year-old Goku had already climbed Korin Tower and fought Mercenary Tao. Hawking, with the Goku Template loaded, could naturally pull off Mercenary Tao's trick of throwing stone pillars with ease.

If he wanted, he could even leap after the pillar, ride it, and fly a great distance.

Back in Sokovia, if he hadn't been worried about becoming the main target of both sides' missiles in midair, he could have used this method to quickly fly out of the city from the start.

"I take back what I said before. You really are a very capable warrior!"

Watching the last combat helicopter explode in the sky, Wolverine turned to Hawking and raised the rightmost Claw on his right hand.

Hawking, however, held out his hand to Wolverine.

"What?"

Wolverine did not quite understand what Hawking meant.

"A cigar!"

Hawking pointed at the cigar in Wolverine's hand.

Wolverine hurriedly waved his hand.

"No, this isn't for you. You'll have to wait a few more years."

But in a blur, the cigar case and lighter from his pocket had already landed in Hawking's hands.

When it came to speed, he was no match for Hawking in his current state.

Hawking pulled a cigar from the case and lit it, then solemnly placed it between his lips.

He definitely wasn't going to smoke it. He was only teasing Wolverine, since the man was always giving him ridiculous nicknames.

"Oh, God, the professor will kill me!"

Wolverine's eye twitched as he watched Hawking holding the cigar in his mouth.

Professor X already disliked him smoking at the school. The last time he had smoked in the Cerebro Chamber, Professor Charles had specifically warned him.

He said that if Wolverine did it again, he would turn his mind into that of a six-year-old girl and have Jean braid his hair into little pigtails.

If he found out Wolverine had given cigarettes to a student at the school, then he was finished.

"Don't worry. If the professor catches me smoking or drinking, I'll say Logan taught me."

Hawking waved the lit cigar in front of Wolverine.

"Fine, I won't call you Little Monkey anymore. This has to stay secret!"

Logan rubbed his forehead.

After joking around, Hawking stopped chatting with Wolverine and got down to business.

"Logan, where did the professor and the others go tonight?"

"I'm not really sure. I only arrived at the school this evening. Professor Charles said he was going to visit an old friend. Jean and the others went to Boston. It seems to have something to do with a mutant attacking the president."

Because of Hawking's strength and his unusually mature behavior, Wolverine no longer treated him like an ordinary child.

The moment Hawking heard Logan's words, his pupils contracted.

"Not good, Logan. Do you know where the professor's Cerebro Chamber is?"

"Of course."

Logan nodded.

The school's Cerebro Chamber.

"So it really was that Colonel Stryker!"

Looking at the forcibly destroyed entrance and the missing Cerebro, Hawking was now completely certain who had ordered the attack on the Mutant School.

Colonel Stryker's full name was William Stryker.

Because his son was a mutant who had accidentally killed his wife after losing control of his powers, he had sworn to wipe out every mutant in the world.

He captured mutants everywhere for experiments, hoping to create the ultimate weapon to slaughter all mutants. That was how Wolverine, with his Adamantium skeleton, came to be.

Now, he had used his son's brain fluid to control Nightcrawler, who could use Shunpo, and had him assassinate the president. This lured Professor X into visiting Magneto in prison, allowing Stryker to capture him. At the same time, he drew the professors away from the school and sent people to seize Cerebro.

In the end, he planned to use his son Mastermind's ability to control Professor X and have him use Cerebro to kill every mutant on Earth.

"I just don't know whether Cerebro has already been taken away."

Thinking back, Hawking sighed.

He remembered seeing a transport plane parked on the lawn outside the school at the beginning, only for it to disappear later.

So there was a high chance that Stryker had already obtained Cerebro.

"Those people captured students and stole Cerebro. What exactly are they trying to do?"

Wolverine stared at the missing Cerebro ahead, confusion written across his face.

Thinking was clearly not his forte.

"The time's almost up!"

As Hawking considered what to do next, he saw the countdown for the Protagonist Template's loading time ending on his panel. He immediately said to Wolverine, "Go to the passage and find Piotr. Have him use the school's communications equipment to try to contact the professor and all the teachers. My power has reached its limit. I need to rest."

Before he could finish speaking, his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

"Little Monkey!"

Wolverine was shocked to see Hawking suddenly collapse and hurried over to catch him.

Only after checking and confirming that he had merely passed out did Wolverine breathe a sigh of relief.

"What a strange power."

Watching Hawking's hair return to normal, the staff behind him disappear, and his clothes change back into ordinary clothes, Wolverine carried Hawking toward the passage Piotr and the others had left through earlier.

Before many mutants had fully matured, prolonged use of their powers could overwhelm their bodies and make them pass out. He assumed Hawking was the same.

Dazed, drowsy.

"Older Brother! Older Brother!"

The familiar calls gradually made Hawking open his eyes.

The moment Wanda and Pietro saw Hawking wake up, they burst into tears and threw themselves onto him.

Born in war-torn Sokovia, they were far tougher than most children their age. But seeing Wolverine carry back an unconscious Hawking had still terrified them.

"All right, stop crying. I'm fine."

Hawking sat up, comforting the two siblings while looking around at his surroundings.

It was a luxurious mansion. All the mutant children from the school were here. It was probably a temporary shelter Professor X had set up outside the school in case of emergencies.

"You were unconscious for an hour. Looks like you're fine now."

Noticing that Hawking had awakened, Wolverine walked over with a bottle of beer in hand.

Hearing Wolverine's words, Hawking's heart stirred.

"Only an hour. So improving my real body's strength can greatly reduce the side effects of loading the Protagonist Template."