Beast Unleashed

Gu Qing shook his head in disappointment. "Only those with unwavering conviction, tempered by blood and fire, can become true Magnetic Field Masters.

"This power requires you to drive it with the utmost emotion—be it conviction, hatred, rage, greed, or loyalty!

"When necessary, you must even burn your own life to defend it! If you lack even that resolve, then I can only say that you'll accomplish nothing!"

Matt stood dumbstruck, staring at the figure that had become so imposing.

For a moment, he seemed to see Andrew.

For the first time, he felt that Gu Qing and Andrew possessed a certain quality of the same kind.

But Steve refused to accept it. "Enough talk, Erik. I don't think you're necessarily stronger than us. Otherwise, why didn't you stop Andrew yourself?"

Gu Qing suddenly laughed.

"Are you questioning my strength?

"Fine, then let's make a bet.

"I'll stand right here. Let's see whether you can make me move from this rock!

"If I lose, I won't say another word of nonsense.

"But if you lose, throw away all those goddamn hesitant thoughts! Or just do nothing and give up altogether!"

Seeing the tension mounting between Gu Qing and Steve, Matt hurriedly tried to stop them.

"Hey! Hey! You two, can we not do this?..."

Steve said to him, "Matt, aren't you curious about Erik's strength?"

"But..."

"He asked for this himself."

Gu Qing bellowed, "Stop dithering! You losers! Let me see your power!"

Steve and Matt exchanged a glance, knowing they had no choice but to fight today!

"Then bring it on!"

The two attacked almost simultaneously, accelerating with telekinesis as they drove the currents within their bodies to their peak!

"Current Propulsion, Thirty Thousand Volts!"

"Current Propulsion, Twenty Thousand Volts!"

The terrifying currents scraped through the air, exploding with piercing cracks.

In the blink of an eye, the two had arrived before Gu Qing.

Yet Gu Qing still stood with his hands clasped behind his back, as though he did not even see them.

Bang!

Bang!

Just as the two were about to touch Gu Qing—

He merely extended two fingers, instantly sending them flying.

Like cannonballs fired from a barrel, they tore through a series of exploding air tunnels, stirring up waves of gray-white currents.

The trees and rocks in their path were all crushed into fragments.

They plowed a massive trench into the ground.

Then crashed into a stretch of scorched earth.

White smoke continued to rise from their bodies.

Even so, the two had made no progress at all.

This only disappointed Gu Qing further.

He leaped over, scooped up the two blood-soaked men who had already passed out,

and took them back to Steve's house.

He casually tossed them onto the living room floor.

And left them to heal on their own.

The next day.

Steve and Matt, who had been gravely injured, had mostly recovered.

When Steve saw Gu Qing, he recalled what had happened yesterday and could not help feeling a lingering fear.

Just then, Matt suddenly rushed over in a panic. Without saying anything, he grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

"Hey, Matt, what's wrong?"

Matt looked rather pale.

"I just heard that there was a robbery in the city yesterday."

"Don't make such a fuss. There are thousands of robberies in the United States every day."

"This time is different, Steve! Someone said the robber flew away afterward!"

"Oh, shit! Then this really might be bad."

By then, Matt had already turned on the television.

The station happened to be broadcasting the news.

"This is Seattle Morning News. As you can see, yesterday afternoon, an Armored Cash Truck robbery took place outside Huntington Bank..."

The bank's entrance surveillance footage had captured the shocking scene.

Faced with the cash guards' shotguns, the robber in firefighter gear was completely unharmed. He could even deflect the bullets back, killing every one of the cash guards.

After robbing so many US dollars, he directly controlled them to float around him, then soared into the sky and vanished without a trace.

This supernatural phenomenon had already spread throughout Seattle.

There were even signs that it was spreading across the United States, and even the entire world, through the internet.

Fortunately, the internet was not yet very developed in this era, and the only evidence was a short surveillance clip.

It would not cause too great a stir.

But in Seattle, everyone knew that an Armored Cash Truck robber with superpowers had appeared!

After watching the news, Steve and Matt looked at each other, both wearing grim expressions.

How could they fail to recognize him?

It was obvious that the man who had killed for money was Andrew!

At Andrew's home.

He had returned to the attic.

He had no idea what kind of uproar his actions would cause.

He was merely immersed in the joy of acquiring a huge amount of US dollars!

One by one, he opened the cases, revealing stacks of green bills before his eyes.

Even by a rough estimate, there were no fewer than five million US dollars!

To the old Andrew, such a vast fortune had been unimaginable!

He probably could never have possessed it in his entire life!

But could he obtain it now?

The answer was absolutely yes—easily!

"With this money, not only can I buy medicine for Mom, I might even be able to hire the best doctors to treat her!"

Joy welled up in Andrew's heart, and he wanted to share the good news with his Mom.

But just as he was about to go downstairs, two figures flew rapidly toward the window.

After barging into the room, they looked at the opened money cases scattered across the bed and floor.

Their faces filled with shock and fury. "Andrew! It really was you! Do you know what you're doing?!"

When Andrew saw them, his expression darkened as well.

"The ones who don't know what they're doing are you two!

"You possess this unrivaled power, yet you're still content to hide among ordinary people.

"No! We should stand above everything! Because we're stronger—far stronger than them!

"Why can't you understand that?!"

Matt wore a pained expression. "Andrew, please, don't do this. Please come back!"

Andrew shook his head. "No, Matt, you don't understand. The current me is the real me.

"Go back? How could a Beast Unleashed from its cage, after witnessing the wonders of nature, ever be willing to return to that cramped cage?"

Steve said, "Andrew, let's return this money together. Maybe we can still make things right! Let's just... let's just pretend none of this ever happened!"

This money represented hope!

Hope for Karen's medicine and treatment!

So when Steve mentioned returning the money, Andrew instantly flew into a rage!

Like a dragon enraged after having its reverse scale touched!

He arrived before them in an instant.

His hands clamped around their necks, blazing electric light flashing in his eyes.

"I'll say this one last time—my business is none of yours!!"