You're Awake

X-Men world, New York, 1962.

Before a dark alley.

A rough, low voice rang out.

"Ladies, stick close.

Be careful some punk might run out of the alley and scare you."

Before the dark alley entrance, a man with two sharp tiger fangs, like some savage beast, had his arms around two scantily dressed, seductive women. He took a gulp of liquor, and his teasing words drew a round of ingratiating giggles from them.

After he passed by.

Ron slowly emerged from the alley and glanced down beside him.

Under the dim streetlight, beside a green metal dumpster, lay a newspaper more than half soaked through with filthy water.

On it was a black-and-white photograph of a president known for his bright, sunny smile at the time of his death, delivering a solemn speech during a special period.

The date on the newspaper—1962.

"1962. Sabretooth, Victor..."

Sabretooth was huge, with a mane-like beard and two sharp fangs in his mouth. He looked fierce, and behaved like a beast with no understanding of manners.

He and his brother Logan, along with the other members of X-Force, had just completed a mission assigned by Stryker. During their rare downtime, they had gone their separate ways to indulge themselves. Half-drunk, he had picked up some streetwalkers and was about to take them back to a hotel for fun, only to run into Ron, who had arrived in the X-Men universe.

Ron walked out onto the street.

America in the 1960s was not yet so modern or developed, but the great city was still bustling. There were even a few high-rises in sight, amid flashing lights and extravagant decadence.

In his view, Sabretooth had a woman under each arm, telling filthy jokes as he laughed and entered a nearby hotel with a neon sign.

Watching that hotel, with people constantly coming and going, Ron smiled faintly.

"Self-healing and longevity no worse than Wolverine's. In terms of strength and speed, he should theoretically be slightly superior to Wolverine before the Adamantium injection.

I'll start with you."

Ron remembered that, in 1962, a Major Event was taking place in the X-Men world.

To reasonably take part in that Major Event, he needed an admission ticket—a mutant identity.

He was not one, but... that was fine. He soon would be.

Knock, knock!

"Who is it?"

The faint rustle of clothes being removed and heavy breathing came from inside.

"Sir, pardon the interruption. Would you be interested in learning about our merciful Heavenly Father..." After two coughs, a man's magnetic voice sounded, carrying a trace of refined gentleness.

"Fuck off!"

Before he could finish, an irritable roar came from inside.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Sir?..."

The knocking continued without pause. The voice outside remained polite, but was unbearably annoying.

"I hope that when I pin you to the ground and beat the shit out of you, you can still keep your faith in that so-called Heavenly Father of yours..."

The door was violently flung open.

Sabretooth, brutal by nature and half-drunk, grabbed the person outside and slammed him against the wall. Looking like an enraged beast, he raised a fist the size of a sandbag, ready to teach this bastard who had interrupted him at such a crucial moment a harsh lesson.

Hiss!

The instant the door opened, Ron raised his hand. An exquisite miniature vial sprayed out a cloud of white mist straight into Sabretooth's face.

"What is this? Damn it..."

Sabretooth inhaled a mouthful and staggered backward.

The next second, his head immediately began to feel heavy and muddled.

"No matter who you are, when I open my eyes again, I'll send you to meet your Heavenly Father right away. I promise!"

Having been attacked, Sabretooth shook his foggy head without the slightest panic and instead flashed Ron a vicious smile.

His extraordinary regenerative ability gave him an equally extraordinary resistance to drugs.

Something that could leave an ordinary person unconscious and powerless for a whole day would last at most a dozen minutes on him.

"Heh..."

Ron, covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, gave a disdainful smile at the threat.

The world before Sabretooth's eyes began to sway and blur, while the sounds by his ears grew distant.

With a bang, his massive body crashed to the floor.

"Ah!..."

Inside the room, the two half-dressed women saw this and, thinking it was a robbery, screamed.

"Shh. Security Bureau business..."

Ron lightly placed a finger against his lips and smiled.

A few minutes later.

Ron easily carried Sabretooth, who weighed nearly two hundred pounds, down the hotel corridor.

Before anyone could get close, they smelled the heavy alcohol reeking from Sabretooth and covered their noses as they moved aside. Not a single person suspected that Ron was abducting a hotel guest.

Several women even came up to flirt with him. He was handsome, and his body was strong and powerful. Carrying such a large man over one shoulder without effort, he surely could provide some entirely new experiences. Just thinking about it made their legs go weak.

"My apologies, ladies. I need to take my dear friend to sober up. I don't have time at the moment."

With a bright, gentlemanly smile, he politely turned the women down.

People were visual creatures. A better face and physique could help accomplish many things.

For example, in the room, he had casually taken out his wallet and flashed it open, making them believe he was from the Security Bureau and had come to capture a foreign spy who had infiltrated America to plot terrorist attacks.

Sabretooth looked vicious, rough, and rude. It would be hard to convince anyone he was a good man, but if someone said he was a bad man, no one would doubt it.

Snikt!

After leaving the hotel and reaching a shadowed spot.

Ron, carrying Sabretooth over one shoulder, lowered his head and looked at his right hand. Sharp, tiger-claw-like nails extended from it, and he frowned.

"Though they're a little ugly, they'll do for now."

After coming into contact with Sabretooth's body and spending three thousand Ability Points, Ron instantly gained all of Sabretooth's abilities: rapid regeneration, exceptional speed and strength, enhanced vision and smell, as well as sharp claws capable of tearing people apart whenever needed.

Ron carried Sabretooth down the street, his body brimming with strength as though he possessed inexhaustible energy.

After walking for some time, he stopped before a construction site and considered it.

"I originally wanted to find a factory, but a construction site will do just as well."

After directly or indirectly coming into contact with someone, the system could record that person's ability template for purchase and enhancement. Sabretooth's abilities were in hand, but Ron had yet to squeeze out all his remaining value!

Bang!

At the construction site, Sabretooth was thrown to the ground like garbage. Stones jabbed into his back, and the sharp pain forced him to open his eyes as he groggily looked around.

"Oh?

You're awake."

Ron crouched on the ground, looking at the awakened Sabretooth with a hint of surprise on his face as he spoke unhurriedly.

"Congratulations. You won't leave this world unconscious. You can witness your own death firsthand."

"Do you remember what I said before, kid?"

Sabretooth gave a ferocious grin as soon as he awoke. He immediately wanted to give the brat in front of him a proper welcome with his sharp claws, making Ron regret ever provoking him.

But the next moment, he discovered that his entire body was weak. His limbs had gone soft, and he could not even raise a hand.

"Don't struggle. It's an anesthetic spray specifically developed to incapacitate powerful superhumans."

Ron disdainfully patted Sabretooth's face, then stood and walked away.

"The minimum standard is being able to punch through walls and withstand rifle bullets with the body.

Even an Asian elephant weighing several tons would be unconscious and powerless for a day after one spray."

"You... don't quite measure up!"

"Kill me? With a bastard like you?"

After failing several attempts to get up, Sabretooth coldly recounted his past before he had been recruited into the X-Force where he now served, in response to Ron saying he would kill him.

"On the Vietnam battlefield, I disobeyed orders, fucked a few women, and killed some civilians.

Those idiots executed me for an hour.

The shell casings piled up like a small mountain. In the end, they pissed themselves when I still wasn't dead.

I was so bored back then I nearly fell asleep. What tricks do you have, kid?"

He and his brother Logan had taken part in many meat-grinder wars over the years. It was only after they committed crimes, survived execution, and exposed their abilities that they were recruited into Stryker's X-Force. Injury and pain were everyday occurrences to him.

"Even the military couldn't kill me. They were helpless against me!

Once the drugs wear off, I'll show you what cruelty is, what hell is!

"Is that so?"

The next second, with a swish, two headlights came on in the distance, cutting through the darkness. Under the blinding light, Sabretooth could not help narrowing his eyes.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Ron drove over in a massive, heavy Steamroller. Its enormous steel drum rolled thunderously over sand and gravel, while his voice drifted over like that of a devil.

"I wonder whether you can survive the trial of a civilian Steamroller?"

"Hmm?!"