Howard Stark Was Stunned

"Yes, sir!"

The secretary acknowledged the order, then immediately hurried off to contact the other two S.H.I.E.L.D. executives as Howard Stark had instructed.

After pondering for a moment, Howard Stark headed toward a secret laboratory within the base.

Before the other two arrived, he very much wanted to see what exactly was going on with that mechanical lifeform.

Beep!

After passing the access check, Howard Stark took the elevator all the way down to a secret underground laboratory.

There, Arnim Zola was leading a group of people in studying the Decepticon's "corpse."

"Arnim, how is it? Have you found anything?"

Howard Stark hurried to the lab table and looked at Arnim Zola impatiently.

"Incredible, absolutely incredible, Stark!"

Arnim Zola pushed up his glasses, his face filled with a scientist's fervor. "This big fellow has no power module whatsoever! At least, I haven't found any kind of power source."

Without a power source, how could such a massive robot move?

That clearly defied scientific common sense!

Could it be...

Rorschach had been telling the truth? This thing really wasn't a robot, but a... lifeform?

"Come over here."

Arnim Zola led Howard Stark to another instrument and pointed at several curves and data readings on it. "Do you see this? There are actually faint energy fluctuations inside the metal of this pile of scrap!"

"As unbelievable as it sounds, I have no choice but to reach this conclusion."

"This robot is alive!"

"It's actually... alive!" Howard Stark wore an utterly dumbfounded expression.

Rorschach had not lied. His car really was a mechanical lifeform!

He had only gone to have a meal with Howard Stark, yet who could have expected so many things to happen along the way?

One thing after another had delayed him for quite some time.

By the time Rorschach returned to Xavier's Manor, it was already completely dark.

However, most people at the base were young and still in the mood to have fun. They had all gathered in the living room to chat and joke around instead of returning to their rooms.

The moment Rorschach appeared, he immediately became the center of attention.

"Hey, Rorschach, I flew today!"

Banshee immediately showed off excitedly to Rorschach, unable to hide the excitement on his face. "I'm telling you, buddy, it felt incredible! Soaring through the sky like a bird—can you imagine that?"

"Banshee, you've been bragging about it all day. You're doing it again?" Havok could not help teasing from the side.

"Strictly speaking, that only counts as gliding. It doesn't qualify as true flight." Darwin calmly poured cold water on Banshee's excitement.

"Darwin, you're such a killjoy."

Banshee accused Darwin without mercy, then continued looking at Rorschach with a smug expression. "Rorschach, want to know how I did it?"

Having seen the movie, Rorschach naturally knew all about it, but he would not spoil Banshee's fun at a time like this.

"Of course. I'm interested. Tell me about it." Rorschach sat down in an empty seat and joined the group.

"It was Charles and Hank!"

Banshee began gesturing animatedly as he explained to Rorschach. "You know Charles has been teaching me how to control my sound waves these past few days, and I've already made a lot of progress. Then Hank made me a set of 'bat clothes' today. I used the recoil from my sound waves and the bat clothes to adjust my balance, and that's how I flew!"

"Hank, thanks, buddy. You're amazing!"

As Banshee spoke, he gave Hank a thumbs-up.

"It's just basic fluid mechanics, Banshee. Nothing special."

Hank's words sounded like he was showing off, but he really was not.

To Hank, basic physics like fluid mechanics truly was just that—nothing special.

"Rorschach."

Hank suddenly looked over at Rorschach. "Do you have time tonight? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Although he did not know what Hank wanted, Rorschach did not hesitate much before agreeing. "Of course."

"Hey, Hank, why are you being so mysterious? Is there something you can't say here?" Havok called out from the side.

The others also started egging him on.

Mistique Raven, however, could not help casting Hank a meaningful glance, as if she knew exactly why he wanted to talk to Rorschach.

"Hank, come to my room."

After chatting idly with everyone for a while longer, Rorschach said goodbye to the group and brought Hank to his room.

He had to admit, it felt pretty strange!

If he did not know what kind of person Hank was, Rorschach might really have suspected that Hank had some improper intentions toward him.

"Have a seat, Hank." Rorschach invited Hank to sit down, then got straight to the point. "What is it? Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Rorschach, you know, sometimes I envy you." Hank sat down across from Rorschach and spoke with a sigh.

Rorschach smiled. "What do you envy? My handsome face? Buddy, you're not bad yourself!"

Hank smiled too. "Rorschach, you know that's not what I mean."

That bit of joking eased the somewhat serious atmosphere in the room.

"You, Charles, Erik... you're different from Raven and me. Even though you're different from ordinary people too, you don't need to hide who you are."

"Do you understand what I mean? My big feet aren't normal. They make me look like a monster, and I don't want to be a monster."

Hank paused to organize his thoughts, then began explaining himself to Rorschach.

At this point, how could Rorschach not understand Hank's intentions?

Hank had developed a serum because he wanted to cure himself, then injected it into himself.

In the end, not only had he failed to cure himself, he had instead truly turned into Beast Hank.

Rorschach remembered that Beast Hank had once drawn Mystique Raven's blood while researching that serum. Could it be that Hank had come to draw his blood this time?

As it turned out, Rorschach had guessed correctly.

For Hank, studying only his own blood and Raven's blood was not enough. Since he wanted to make his appearance normal, he naturally needed a mutant with a normal appearance as a reference sample.

Hank did not dare tell Charles or Erik about such thoughts. He knew those two would never understand.

He did not want to tell the other young people, such as Darwin and Banshee, either.

Those people were all too immature. After thinking it over, Rorschach was the only suitable choice.